186 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
board, and took her in tow back to Petropaulsky. 
This was, of course, “ nuts ” to our friend Gribnitsky, 
as he now had something tangible in hand. 
The authorities took possession, and all hands, 
except three Japanese sailors and the boatswain, 
were put on board the s.s. Vladivostoch . A thorough 
search of the vessel was made, but nothing was 
found on board but the outfit and stores, two young 
blue foxes, a raven quite tame, and a lot of specimens 
which I had collected for scientific purposes. These 
consisted of the skins and skeletons of hair-seals, 
sea-lions, foxes, and other animals, a number of 
bird skins and eggs, and some sea-otter skeletons. 
The sixteen otter-skins we had taken on the Kuril 
Islands had, fortunately, been got rid of before 
venturing near Petropaulsky. These skins were 
wrapped round with blankets, put into a large cask, 
and the cask buried under a heap of boulders and 
debris at the foot of a cliff on Cape Shipunski. They 
were recovered the next year in perfect condition. 
I had a lot of arsenic on board, and also a bottle 
of bichloride of mercury used in preserving specimens. 
These poisons made the Russians suspicious, and 
they emptied every drop of water out of the casks 
and tanks, and threw overboard all my specimens, 
and everything else that poison might be likely to 
affect. They also confiscated the young foxes, and 
wrung the raven’s neck. Most of the things on 
board were sealed up. My notes, charts, and 
sketches of the Kurils, were seized, with the remark: 
“ We shall take these, as it]wilFprevent"you coming 
up here again.” 
Two Russian officers and six Russian sailors were 
put on board the Otome, with orders to take her 
