290 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
was given the monopoly of hunting sea-otter and 
seals in Japanese waters for five years. Its return 
of skins, as given by Mr. Hall, was as follows : 
1889 .. .. 53 otters; 33 fur-seals. 
1890 .. ..47 „ 381 
1891 .. ... 57 „ 40 
1892 .. .. 54 „ 3 
The gap in the above returns for the years 1887 
and 1888 I believe I can explain. The table should 
not commence with 1873, but with 1875, that being 
the first year the Government received a catch of 
sea-otters from Yetorup. These 299 skins were 
brought down to Hakodate in May, 1875, by the 
Karafuto Mam (Capron Mam). I was asked to 
inspect, classify, and value them, which I did on 
May 30 of that year, and so have a personal know¬ 
ledge of the matter. Moreover, I was hunting at 
Yetorup in 1873, and know that no hunting was 
then taking place on the Government account. The 
few skins the Ainu captured that year were traded 
off to the foreign hunting-vessels. It was not until 
the autumn of 1874 that the hunting-stations were 
established. When wrecked in December of that 
year, I stayed for three weeks at one of these 
stations, but no otters were captured during that 
time. Later on, when the ice set in on the coast 
in February, they made a good haul, taking near 
upon 300. 
In the foregoing account it is stated that a branch 
office of the Kaitakushi was established at Yetorup 
Island in 1869 cc for the regulation and management 
of the sea-otter hunting business, and for keeping 
guard against foreign poachers.” I venture to think 
this is wrong, for the following reasons : That a 
