60 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
the following day lowered boats for hunting. We 
had small boats, 15 feet long by 5 feet beam, which, 
according to my hunters, we should have no difficulty 
in filling up with otters on a fine hunting day. We 
lowered three boats, the two men who had been up 
the previous year and myself each 44 heading ” a 
boat, with one man each to pull us around. After 
lowering the boats, we heard constant firing going 
on to the north-eastward ; and although some otters 
were seen near us, we pulled in the direction of the 
bombarding, as one of my hunters said there was 
probably a 44 school 55 of otters there. Approaching 
the spot, we saw three boats in line, and before the 
shots were delivered something was being called 
out. On getting closer, we made it out to be, 
44 There she blows—my shoot!”• then bang, bang, 
bang, from the three boats : they were “ running 55 
a half-grown otter. 
These boats belonged to the schooner Caroline . 
The hunters were old whalers who had never hunted 
sea-otters before ; they knew nothing of 64 running ” 
an otter, and I afterwards learned that, after three 
and a half months on the grounds, they got three 
otters only, and then left in disgust. 
There being no 44 school ” of otters, we pulled 
away; and coming to a large patch of kelp, we saw 
two or three otters in it, one carrying her pup. On 
firing, they all disappeared under water, and a head 
popping up shortly afterwards, some 60 yards away, 
I fired at it, and scored, killing, not a sea-otter, but 
a sea-lion. I soon learned to distinguish the differ¬ 
ence, and shortly after I killed our first otter. The 
mother and pup came up near my boat. Firing too 
quickly I missed, but the bullet went so close that 
