DASTARDLY ATTACKS 
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undignified position. The sense of helplessness, and 
the struggle to maintain an upright position when 
lifted off the bottom by the undue inflation of the 
dress, were most unpleasant and exhausting, but I 
tried again, with better results. I had taken down 
a brush wherewith to scrub the vessel’s copper about 
her keel, and worked vigorously for a few minutes; 
but being soon out of breath, with a headache as 
well, I gave up. Evidently it is necessary under 
water to work slowly and deliberately. I concluded 
diving was not my forte. 
The first otter of the season fell to us on Urup on 
April 25. On May 1 we killed one, and on the 
2nd two. On May 4 we were lying in Ottomai 
Bay, in Little Kuril Strait, when it came on to blow 
a very heavy easterly gale with thick snow, the 
barometer falling to 28*45. We were sheltered from 
the heavy seas, but a high swell came round the 
point, and the force of the wind was terrific. The 
bottom where we lay was fine sand, but only a foot 
or so of it, on a smooth, rocky substratum, making 
such bad holding-ground that we dragged on to the 
sandy beach. To prevent the vessel bumping, we 
slacked out plenty of chain and let her go well up. 
Next day the wind shifted to north-west, but blew 
as hard as ever. As soon as the weather moderated, 
we took everything out of the schooner, sending 
down her topmasts and laying out fresh anchors 
ready to haul her off at the height of the spring- 
tides, which would be in about a week’s time. 
On the 11th I ordered the mate S. to take 
a couple of boats and pick up the anchors we had let 
down when we went ashore, but he declared it was 
impossible. He also refused to help to put the 
