SHIPWRECKED ON YETORUP 
109 
that took place between the officials and these men. 
The story they told was that they had been left on 
the island in the late autumn by the schooner 
Otsego , to hunt during the winter. The schooner 
was to return in April and take them away again. 
I learned privately from the Fanny's people that 
they had been commissioned to call in at Bear Bay 
and take them off, as the Otsego was not coming over 
this year, but they were two days too late. The 
officials would not seize their skins, but tried very 
hard to induce them to give them up voluntarily. 
This they refused to do, and kept possession of 
them. Eventually they sold the skins in Hakodate. 
Runyon the hunter reported that the winter in Bear 
Bay had been very severe, north-east winds mostly 
prevailing. No ice came in there until March. 
They saw numbers of otters, and shot most of 
their catch on or in between the floating masses 
of ice. 
Taking our baggage, we all left Furebetsu on 
the morning of May 17 for Onebetsu, and arrived 
about 1 p.m. Nothing had been put on board the 
steamer pending the Governor’s appearance. The 
Ainu house and the storehouse were both full up 
with people from the steamer, so that there 
was neither place to sit down in nor anything to 
eat. We had got wet through up to the thighs in 
fording the river, but could get no change of clothes. 
Eventually we turned in on some wet sails in a dilapi¬ 
dated shed, and spent a miserable night. Next 
morning the Japanese attempted to take a large 
cargo-boat into the river to get water for the steamer. 
There was considerable surf, and through bad 
management she went on the rocks, knocking holes 
