162 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
and then east. Next morning we sighted Shikotan, 
bearing west by north. Some of our planking about 
the bows was nearly chafed through from contact 
with the ice. In the evening we were off Yetorup ; 
the whole country was covered thickly with snow, 
its appearance being quite different from that which 
it presented the previous year at the same time. 
On the 23rd we put into “ Jap Bay,” when we had a 
visit from Captain Miller, who had wintered on the 
island. He had not succeeded in getting the Eliza 
afloat, and she had broken up. 
Cruising up and down among the islands, on 
May 24 we had a narrow escape at Shiashikotan. We 
were anchored on the Pacific side, near the middle of 
the island. Soon after midnight, a heavy swell 
setting in and the breeze freshening, we deemed it 
prudent to get under way, as the wind was blowing 
right on shore. The night was very dark, and we 
had to make two or three short tacks in order to 
clear a reef which lay to the south of us. On the 
third tack, finding ourselves right up to the outer 
breakers of the reef, with no room to go about, we 
took the chance of passing between the breakers and 
the end of the main reef. We got through the narrow 
channel without touching anything, but the few 
minutes it took to clear the danger were very anxious 
ones. In broad daylight, with a fair wind and smooth 
water even, no one would think of attempting the feat. 
When at Shumshir we visited the natives located 
there. There were but twenty-two of them, and 
they seemed much better off than their fellows on 
the central islands of the group. Off the coast of 
Shumshir we had lots of cod-fishing, laying in a good 
supply, which we salted down. 
