254 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
amining it closely with a lighted match, I noticed 
a slight mould much resembling the bloom on fresh 
ripe fruit. On leaving the yurt , I saw my boat- 
steerer, Reilly, an Irishman, pulling towards us. 
I told my hunters to say nothing of what we had 
discovered—Reilly would be sure to want to see 
what was inside—and we would await developments. 
Sure enough, the first thing Reilly did was to go into 
the yurt , while we remained outside listening. He 
had a habit of talking to himself, and we heard him 
say : 44 Hullo, here’s a d——d fine rifle ; I’ll ask the 
4 old man ’ to let me take it. Darned good pair of 
rubber boots, too !” He then brought them out, 
and asked me if he might take them on board. I 
refused, and told him to leave everything as it was. 
He took them back, and we heard him say : 44 Books 
and bottles and a good pair of red blankets.” Then 
there was a shout, and he rushed from the place with 
his hair on end, crying out: 44 Holy Jasus! there’s 
a dead man in the bed !” We could not help roaring 
with laughter at the comical figure he cut. It 
appears, in feeling around in the dark corner, he had 
put his hands on the dead man’s legs. Nothing 
would induce Reilly to go into the yurt again. 
Believing Lieutenant Gunji and his people to be 
still on the next island, Shumshir, I made up my 
mind to go over to their settlement the next morning, 
after laying in a supply of wood and water, and 
report what we had found. We finished our work 
early, and then had breakfast, after which I went on 
deck to take a boat and pull up to the settlement 
on the other island, about three or four miles away. 
On looking in that direction I saw a boat coming 
towards us. As it came alongside I was hailed in 
