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time to interfere. I had the man brought aft, and 
dressed his wounds, which quickly healed. Subse¬ 
quently, on his return to Yokohama, I sent him to 
a surgeon, who cut out the bullet from the side of his 
nose. The affair had a quieting effect, but I had 
great difficulty at times in preserving peace. 
The weather was unfavourable for hunting, and 
by the end of June we had secured only five otters. 
Our prospects being so poor for making a season by 
hunting otters, I resolved to run across to Robben 
Island and try for some seals. We arrived at the 
islet on July 4, and, seeing no sign of anyone there, 
ran in on the western side, and dropped our anchor 
underfoot, lowering nothing but our head sails, 
however, in case of having to leave hurriedly. As 
no one appeared, I ordered a boat to be lowered, 
and, accompanied by four Chinese boat-pullers, a 
hunter, and a boat-steerer, set out with the intention 
of taking a look on shore. I carried nothing but a 
bag, which, if occasion offered, I might fill with sea- 
fowls’ eggs. As we pulled towards the beach, I 
noticed a short piece of new-looking rope lying near 
an overturned boat stored alongside the salt-house. 
This made me suspicious, and I slued the boat 
partly round with my paddle, and kept on towards 
the northern end of the islet, thus soon shutting 
out the house from sight. This brought out half a 
dozen Russian sailors armed with rifles, who took 
up a position behind some iron water-tanks. The 
man in charge of the sailors hailed us, making signs 
for us to come on shore, an invitation I was not at 
all inclined to accept. He then gave an order, and 
the sailors pointed their rifles at us. By this time 
the boat was heading back to the schooner, the 
