ADVENTURES IN THE “ SNOWDROP 55 73 
and it was another three weeks before the Snowdrop, 
as she was named, was ready to sail. 
One delay after another occurred, and when 
everything else was ready the Consul refused to give 
the vessel a flag, as her master had not an English 
master’s certificate, even though this was not neces¬ 
sary or required by law, as she was of small tonnage, 
and not sailing out of a British port. The schooner 
was promptly put under the American flag, a 
mortgage being given, and we sailed away under the 
Stars and Stripes on May 10, 1874. 
Our first mishap after leaving was to lose one of 
our best men overboard, a Japanese sailor whom we 
called “ Dandy Jim.” A hard gale, accompanied by 
heavy rain, had been blowing all day. The night 
was pitch-dark, with a mountainous sea running. 
Soon after midnight the wind moderated, and the 
order was given to shake out some reefs. “ Dandy 
Jim ” got astride the mainboom to let go a reef 
earring, when the vessel gave a heavy roll and 
jerked him off into the sea. It was so dark that it 
was impossible to see anything a foot off. Notwith¬ 
standing the dangerous sea running, a boat was got 
out and manned as quickly as possible, lights were 
burned, and search made until daylight, but in vain. 
“ Dandy ” was heavily clothed, and had on long sea- 
boots, so he probably went down as soon as he fell 
overboard. His loss cast a gloom over us all. He 
was a great favourite on board, an excellent sailor, 
and had had two trips hunting, thus making him a 
valuable hand as boat-steerer. 
A few days afterwards we entered the port of 
Nemuro in order to obtain the anchors, chains, sails, 
and other gear, taken out of the old Swallow, which 
