74 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap, iv 



On arrival at Seattle, in order to save the heavy expenses 

 of freight by rail across the continent of America, we decided 

 to send home all the trophies by sea, via Yokohama. For 

 this purpose the whole lot was packed in two large wooden 

 cases, the latter unfortunately not being lined with tin. In 

 addition to this omission, we foolishly did not insure all the 

 valuable specimens. Glyn and Little, who personally super- 

 intended the loading of our cases on board ship, thoughtfully 

 saw that they were placed last in the hold and on top of 

 the other cargo, thus avoiding the chance of getting damp at 

 the bottom of the hold. The vessel conveying these things 

 belonged to a big Japanese steamship company, and as she 

 was a large and fast boat, by the fortune of war, on arrival 

 at Yokohama, she was at once commanded to unload her 

 cargo in order to be used as a transport by the Japanese 

 Government during the war which had just commenced 

 between Russia and Japan. In consequence, our cases and 

 the other cargo were transferred to another ship, and owing 

 to their position on top of the cargo in the first vessel, they 

 became the bottom cases in the other ship. This second 

 ship was named the Bingo Maru, and after escaping capture 

 by the Russians and other perils at sea, she safely arrived in 

 the London docks. Here, however, by the irony of fate, she 

 caught fire. The fire was eventually extinguished, but for 

 some extraordinary reason the cargo was left under water in 

 the hold for many days afterwards. Although not damaged 

 by fire, our cases were full of water when opened, and the 

 result was that all our skins, including a fine collection which 

 we hoped to present to the British Museum, were practically 

 ruined, little save the horns and skulls being left for us. It 

 has truly been since well described by a friend of mine as 

 " the disaster of a lifetime." 



