70 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
When passing through the woods, we found in 
many places wild fruits in abundance; the wild 
raspberries were delicious, as were also the wild 
grapes and the Jcolcowa . The Icolcowa is a fruit 
growing on a vinelike creeper, light green in colour, 
in shape something like the top joint of one’s thumb, 
but not so large, and growing on a single stalk. 
The inside consists of a pulp not unlike a very ripe 
gooseberry. These and the grapes we ate to such 
an extent that the skin of our lips and tongue came 
off, making them so sore as to put a stop to further 
indulgence in the fruit until they had healed again. 
We arrived in Hakodate on the twenty-third day 
out from Nemuro, after what was on the whole a 
very enjoyable journey. We were formally handed 
over to the British Consul, who duly gave a receipt 
for us, and our escort, the “ Captain,” started on 
his return journey to Nemuro. On the arrival of the 
rest of our party, an inquiry into the loss of the vessel 
was held, after which the various people belonging 
to her were paid off. The sea-otter skins which I 
brought down with me were purchased by Mr. Haber, 
the German Consul, who had recently established 
himself in business in Hakodate, and thus ended the 
first of my hunting ventures. 
There is a melancholy interest in recalling that 
some time afterwards Mr. Haber was murdered by 
an anti-foreign Japanese fanatic. The Consul and 
a friend, a German doctor, had gone a few miles out 
of the town for an afternoon stroll, and on turning 
back had an argument as to which of two roads 
was the shorter way into Hakodate. To test this 
they separated, Mr. Haber taking the upper road, 
and the doctor the lower one. The road taken by 
