216 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
side, and, as may be imagined, I was not in the best 
of tempers. The moment we got on deck I am 
afraid I made use of some very vigorous language, 
and, grabbing the shipkeeper by the back of his 
collar and seat of his trousers, I ran him down to his 
room, where I told him to stay for the rest of the 
voyage. We then made sail in order to beat up to 
the island, which we reached about daybreak, and 
the men came on board. The sea had gone down, 
and the wind was light; a hasty breakfast was taken, 
and then our spare big boat and a smaller one in 
charge of S. pulled round to where our skins were 
lying. The boats went close in, and soon had all 
the skins aboard, getting back to the ship about 
noon. We then set the course for Yokohama, feeling 
very well satisfied with what we had accomplished. 
It had been, however, one of the most strenuous 
undertakings of the kind I ever engaged in. 
The next day, November 11, the shipkeeper 
begged me to let him resume his duties, so, feeling 
in a more charitable mood now that we had 733 seals 
and 17 otters under hatches, I relented. Light 
winds for some days caused us to make a long 
passage down. On the night of the 18th a strong 
wind sprang up from the north-east, increasing to a 
heavy gale after midnight; we ran before the storm 
under a double-reefed foresail until it was dangerous 
to do so any longer. About five o’clock a.m., as we 
were making preparations to let the vessel come to 
the wind, the man at the wheel, scared by the tre¬ 
mendous following seas, let the wheel out of his 
control, and the schooner broached to, flinging the 
helmsman up against the rail with great force. She 
was round like a flash, giving one heavy lurch, and 
