1 86 HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 



floating timbers and scarred ribs, the sole remains of many 

 a lofty junk and lowly sampan, and hide from our sight a 

 scene so full of sorrow and destruction. 



It was two days later, or four days after the typhoon, 

 when we rounded Hakodate Head and found ourselves at 

 last beyond the power of the current. As our little craft 

 lay almost motionless under the midnight shadow of the 

 great bluff, we were much exercised in our minds by the 

 passage of two great men-of-war that, with all lights out, 

 issued like vampires out of the darkness and stole silently 

 past us up the harbour. 



It almost seemed as if we had only avoided Scylla to 

 fall into Charybdis, for if they were Russian ships bent 

 upon a bombardment of Hakodate, our position could not 

 be over pleasant; while, judging by the state of affairs 

 when we left, and with no news for four months, it did 

 not seem at all unlikely that hostilities might have com- 

 menced. 



Daylight, however, dispelled our doubts ; and later, as we 

 fetched our old anchorage, we found the bay gay with the 

 flags of two English as well as a couple of Russian men- 

 of-war, intent upon nothing more serious than the usual 

 naval courtesies. Everything was bright and peaceful as 

 the sparkling water of this beautiful harbour. 



Amongst the shipping we found many evidences of the 

 violence of the typhoon from which we had so recently 

 escaped. One large barque, the Lizzie, from Shanghai, had 

 her bulwarks smashed and only her foremast standing. The 

 skipper, as well as the owner, who had come up for the 

 trip, told us afterwards that had not the crew which, by 

 the way, they described as the most desperate set of 

 ruffians they had ever handled worked as only British 

 seamen can when they choose, they would certainly have 

 been lost, for in the height of the storm she. lay for long on 

 her beam ends, until the cutting away of the masts 

 relieved her. 



Our hunting cruise was now at an end, and, leaving my 



