A NEW FUR-SEAL ROOKERY 147 
After plans were made and approved, I returned to 
Hakodate. The schooner’s keel was laid on 
January 5; she was launched on March 2. On 
March 6 I again left Hakodate for Yokohama. All 
arrangements were completed, and on April 9 we 
sailed for the north. 
The schooner was named Otome (which means in 
Japanese u a young lady it is also a woman’s 
name). War between England and Russia being 
then imminent, she was put under the American 
flag. My outfit was much more complete, and I 
had better hunters than on former occasions. We 
arrived on the hunting-grounds on April 21, and 
lowered boats for the first time on the 23rd. At 
the beginning of June I resolved to go north and 
try the smaller islands of the chain. The 19th found 
us near to Shiashikotan, where we sighted many 
otters, and resolved to remain if we could find an 
anchorage. 
We anchored near the middle of the island, on 
the Pacific side. Next morning, although the sea 
was rough, we lowered boats and pulled to the 
south-west. We saw several otters in a large patch 
of kelp, and started to surround them. To take 
up my position, I pulled down the coast several 
hundred yards, opposite and close in to some 
pinnacle rocks, with a flattish ledge extending from 
them to the shore, which ended in cliffs. My boat- 
steerer kept pointing towards these rocks, but, as 
I was looking for otters in the water, I saw nothing 
at first. Then I caught sight of a number (between 
twenty and thirty) on the ledge. I signalled my 
other boats to come, but they were busy with two 
other otters, which were still diving and coming up 
