148 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
again in the kelp patch. I pulled close up to the 
rocks, which were so formed that the otters had to 
come towards me to get into the sea. There was 
a heavy swell and rough sea on, and my boat was 
tossed about considerably, rendering shooting very 
difficult. I fired a number of shots, most of which 
missed their mark, but we secured nine otters 
altogether, and returned on board well satisfied with 
our morning’s work. It was on this occasion I had 
a good opportunity of observing the appearance 
and movements of the sea-otter when on land, as 
described in the first Appendix. 
The next day the weather was more suitable for 
hunting. Whilst “ running ” an otter, my third 
hunter was struck by a ricochet bullet from my 
second hunter’s rifle, on the outer corner of his 
eyebrow. It cut into the bone and glanced off, 
fortunately doing no serious damage. It appeared 
to have a stimulating effect on the man, for he 
killed seven out of the thirteen otters we got that 
day. On the 23rd we killed two, on the 24th six¬ 
teen, on the 25th three, and on the 26th ten—fifty- 
three big otters and several small ones for the week. 
We had so many that we could not attend to them, 
and get them staked out on the frames and dried, 
so had to put a number in salt. Not being satisfied 
with the good thing we had found, I left the island 
and proceeded to Onekotan, where we fell in with 
two other schooners, the Cygnet and Alexander . 
The latter had secured the cream of this ground, 
and we got only three. Thence we went to Makan- 
rushir, and saw none. On July 14 we got back to 
Shiashikotan, to find the Cygnet there, she having 
caught thirty otters whilst we had been wasting 
