FIRST EXPERIENCES 
55 
Islands. They described the otters as existing in 
large numbers, and as tame as cats, with skins worth 
from $80 to $90 each. 
At that time I had been in Japan some four years, 
and, though a sea-life had always had a certain 
amount of fascination for me, I knew nothing 
whatever about seamanship or the manner in which 
an undertaking of the kind described should be carried 
out. However, the hankering after a life at sea, my 
sporting instincts, fondness for an open-air life, 
and the apparently brilliant prospects of making 
a pile of money in a short time, caused me at once 
to make up my mind to enter into a sea-otter hunt¬ 
ing venture, if I could find a suitable vessel and 
get people to go with me. I was then twenty-four 
years of age, strong and healthy, and with a few 
thousand dollars at my command, which I did not 
mind if I lost, since, being young and steady, with 
lots of good friends, I considered I could soon make 
good my position again, should the venture not turn 
out a success. 
My first step was to consult my old skipper 
friend, and ask him if he would take command of a 
vessel, and could induce the men who had been on 
the Cygnet to go, as without someone who knew 
where to look for the sea-otters, and knew one when 
he saw it, it would not be of much use starting out. I 
informed him that I would buy and fit out a vessel 
on my own account, or that he and they could take 
shares if they had the money and so desired. The 
result of the proposal was that the two men consented 
to go as hunters, and take a small interest in the 
vessel, the old skipper agreeing to take command, 
and an interest if he could raise the money. After 
