84 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
gone. Some hours later our old friend of the Kuril 
Islands, the gunboat Osaka Kan , passed us, bound for 
Hakodate, with two of her masts gone and much 
damage about the decks. Not having a spare foresail, 
we set a spare fore-staysail and jib between our fore 
and main masts, and headed for Hakodate, which 
port we reached next day, thankful to have saved 
ourselves and our vessel, including the spoils of 
the hunt. The storm had caused the loss of 
many ships, hundreds of native craft, and a con¬ 
siderable number of lives. It had passed from 
one end of Japan to the other, Nagasaki suffering 
severely. 
On arrival in Hakodate, I found that the Consul 
had not received my letter from Nemuro, or any 
word of our having been there. I therefore wrote 
out a report and a claim for damages, which I handed 
in. The crew were paid off, and the skins shipped to 
Europe. The British Minister, Sir Harry Parkes, 
happened to be in Hakodate on a visit at this time, 
so I took the opportunity to call on him and inform 
him what had happened when we called in at 
Nemuro, and also of our adventure with the Oapron 
Maru. Sir Harry said he would see the Governor 
of Hakodate about it, and informed me there had 
been some correspondence with the Japanese authori¬ 
ties about hunting vessels, and that they had been 
warned not to interfere with any British vessel 
without very good cause. He asked me to call 
on him again in a couple of days’ time. I did so, 
when he informed me that he had seen the Governor, 
who expressed his regret and said that it was all 
owing to some mistake, and he would have all the 
Swallow's things sent down to Hakodate at once. 
