FIRST EXPERIENCES 
53 
in the previous autumn, had been caught in the ice 
in the vicinity of Bering Strait and frozen in, the 
crews having to desert them and leave them to their 
fate. A rich prize in whalebone awaited anyone 
who should be fortunate enough to find these deserted 
vessels, if still afloat, when the ice broke up in the 
following summer. 
In order to get as early as possible into the 
Arctic, it is necessary to advance along the Asiatic 
side of the Bering Sea, which is free from ice in that 
quarter much earlier than elsewhere. Having to 
cross to this side, Kimberley intended to search 
the small islets to the east of Yezo, where it was 
thought there might possibly be some fur-seal 
rookeries, and then take a look along the Kuril 
Islands on his way north, on the chance of finding 
a few sea-otters. If these ventures came to nought, 
search was to be made on the return voyage among 
the Aleutian Islands, where sea-otters were known 
to exist. 
Funds not being very plentiful, the equipment 
of the Cygnet was neither very elaborate nor costly. 
The ship’s company, including the owner, Captain 
Kimberley, consisted of only some half-dozen men. 
She carried but two small boats, and for hunting 
weapons three or four Kentucky muzzle-loading 
rifles, with a fair supply of powder, lead, and caps. 
The first land visited on the Japan side of the 
Pacific was Shikotan, or Spanberg, as it was marked 
on old charts, an island lying off the extreme east 
of Yezo, and then uninhabited. It is about seventy 
square miles in extent, and contains many small 
land-locked harbours. Names were given to these 
harbours by Kimberley, such as “ Frying-pan Bay,” 
