56 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
the understanding had been come to, my old 
skipper friend set out to seek for a suitable craft, 
and, after some little delay, found one in Tokyo, or 
Yedo, as the city was then called, for the modest 
purchase price of $2,000. She was an old fore-and- 
aft rigged schooner of about 118 tons, built in Naga¬ 
saki, and belonged to some department of the 
Japanese Government. She was very roomy; her 
copper had been recently renewed, but she was 
undoubtedly “ hogged.” However, the old skipper 
was satisfied, and quite willing to take her to any 
part of the world. I thereupon paid $500 bargain 
money, on the understanding that the vessel should 
be turned over to me in the course of a few days. 
Then the trouble began. Repeated applications 
failed in getting the craft transferred, because, it 
was said, there had been a change in the Govern¬ 
ment, and it was only through the intervention of 
H.M. Consul that the matter was put through at all. 
The old Swallow , as she was named, needed some 
alterations in her cabins, and boats had to be built. 
These having been completed and the vessel got 
ready for sea, I found there was no money forth¬ 
coming from the old skipper and the two hunters, 
so the whole undertaking fell upon myself; and they 
shipped on lays—that is, a share of the catch. Our 
fit-out was a somewhat scratch affair in every respect, 
arising partly from inexperience, and partly from 
the impossibility of obtaining more suitable material. 
Of my two hunters, I afterwards learned one had 
been cook on board the Cygnet; the other had headed 
one of the Cygnet's boats, and was a fairly good shot, 
but this was his only otter-hunting experience. He had 
previously been mate oia whaler, and knew nothing 
