A PRISONER IN RUSSIAN HANDS 193 
I had some good friends “ at court,” and when 
the property and personal effects of the captain, 
hunters, and crew, were restored, there was nothing 
left but the bare hull, sails, and boats, to be 
confiscated. We got possession of all the stores, 
ammunition, guns, rifles, nautical instruments, 
chronometer, barometer, and other articles, selling 
the stores in Vladivostock, and taking our remaining 
possessions back with us, with the exception of one 
Winchester rifle and some ammunition, which went 
to the Chief of Police. We left by the s.s. Baikal , 
which sailed at midnight on November 1, our stay 
in Vladivostock covering two months all but two 
days. 
On November 5 we arrived at Nagasaki, where 
the skipper and hunters went to the British Consul, 
who took charge of them as distressed British 
seamen, and sent them on to Yokohama. My 
object in this, as in my other actions, was to get 
the British authorities interested in the matter as 
much as possible, so that the case would be taken 
up by the home Government. On November 10 I 
arrived in Yokohama, and next day received a letter 
from the British Charge d 5 Affaires, Mr. Trench, 
asking me to call on him. This I did without delay. 
He asked me to give him full particulars in 
writing, saying that he would put the matter before 
the home Government, and would do what he could 
personally when he got to England, which he 
expected would be soon. I put in a claim for the 
vessel and loss of season, and compensation to 
captain, hunters, and crew, etc., amounting to 
$50,000. This was duly presented, and corre¬ 
spondence went on for some time between the two 
13 
