62 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
off the vessel, we resolved to haul out on the rocks 
until the wind moderated ; but the gale increased, 
and the rain came down in torrents. After lunch we 
had nothing left to eat, and all our water was gone. 
That night we slept under the boats, turning them 
over so as to act as a protection from the rain. It 
blew a gale all the next day, making it impossible 
to launch our boats. We had no means of making 
a fire; the raw flesh of an otter we had killed the first 
day was tried, but, hungry as we were, it was too 
rank for our stomachs. Another night passed under 
the boats, with the gale still blowing and everyone 
in the worst of humour. In the morning a small 
fish thrown up by the heavy surf was eaten raw by 
the man who secured it. Still another night under 
the boats, and then a change. We quickly launched 
boats and pulled to the north-eastward, to try and 
find the schooner. My boat-pullers had chewed 
a quantity of tobacco, and, being without water, 
they suffered severely from thirst, so much so that 
one of them had to give up rowing. About twenty 
miles up the coast we saw a hut in a small bight, and 
landed. Here we found some Ainu, who gave us 
food ; and with boiled rice, seaweed, and dried fish, 
we made a kind of soup, which we declared to be the 
finest meal we had ever eaten. Refreshed, we started 
for the schooner, which we could just see a long way 
out at sea. After three or four hours’ pulling, we 
got on board in time for another blow, which com¬ 
pelled us to run for what was then called by the 
hunters *' 6 Jap Bay,” its proper name being Hitokapu 
Bay, a large inlet in about the middle of the Pacific 
coast of the island. 
This bay we frequently used afterwards; for 
