76 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
which we needed badly, and which, unfortunately, 
was stored in another go-down. I informed them I 
would wait one day for them to make up their minds, 
but would then leave, and should hold them re¬ 
sponsible, and lay a claim for damages against them 
on my return to Hakodate. No further sign being 
forthcoming, I waited the twenty-four hours, and 
then sailed away for the otter grounds. 
Falling in with several other vessels, we gradually 
made up a sufficiency of cooking utensils and table¬ 
ware to last us the season. We soon found otters, 
and started hunting in the orthodox way—that is, 
“ running ” our otters with all three boats. For a 
time, owing to the want of experience of my two 
companions, we lost a number of otters, but gradu¬ 
ally improving, we succeeded in making a good catch. 
In “ running ” an otter my companions became 
fairly proficient, but neither got thoroughly used 
to the motion of the boat when shooting, so that the 
bulk of the catch fell to my rifle. 
All went well for a time, and then we had the bad 
luck to get lost in a fog when out hunting, and could 
not find our vessel; however, we made the land, and 
hauled our boats up on the beach in a little bight we 
christened Mosquito Bay. We had taken six otters 
that day. We made a fire, sat around it, and 
awaited daybreak. The weather remained fine and 
calm, and soon after dawn the fog lifted. We 
launched our boats, and proceeded round the point, 
sighting our schooner about a couple of miles away. 
We pulled for her, and went on board, had a good 
breakfast, and then started out hunting again. 
After pulling some miles to the south - west we 
sighted a steamer standing towards us, which I made 
