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| A schooner in Japan circa 1900s. |
By Robert Neff
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| An Ainu couple circa 1900s. |
We already know that Hodnett found great pleasure in "running along an unsurveyed and unexplored shore" but these ventures weren't often prosperous. So, when he declared in the summer of 1881 that he was going on a pleasure cruise to the northern islands of Japan, we have to look at his "secondary object of surveying some sand banks, which [he] had heard were frequented by seals," as his primary purpose.
In the 1880s, it was very common and lucrative for schooners operating out of Japan, Canada and the United States to poach seals in the northern Pacific. It was lucrative but dangerous. Russia, Japan, the United States and Canada all had conflicting claims and it wasn't uncommon for these schooners to be confiscated for poaching by one of the governments. Some schooners even carried several flags ― flying whichever nationality they thought would get them past the authorities.
Throughout the latter part of July and early August, Hodnett and the Zephyr explored the coast along Hokkaido. On August 7 he visited the small island of Tomosiri to replenish his supplies. Taking with him some biscuits (which seems to have been his go-to gift) and rum, he made his way to a small Ainu hunting camp. The leader of the group, identified by a Russian infantry button that he wore on his mantle of sea-lion skin, invited the Irishman into the hut ― "the floor of which was strew with sea-lion skins, which served as carpets, chairs and beds all in one."
While sharing the bottle of rum, Hodnett learned that the island had no seals ― only sea-lions, which had no commercial value. When asked what country owned the island, the Ainu all claimed, in Japanese, that the island had once belonged to the Japanese but now was part of Russia.
He also learned that they were from Sakhalin Island (some 30 kilometers away) and that they often traveled to this island to hunt sea-lions for food and clothing. In his memoirs he mused: "Yet on this uninviting fare [sea-lion and salmon] they thrive and have limbs like small giants."
Resupplied with fresh water, he gave them a small gift of rice (to supplement their "uninviting fare") and left them.
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| An Ainu villager carries wood circa 1900s. |
For the next month, the Zephyr sailed around Sakhalin Island. Hodnett wrote:
"All along the coast of Sakhalin, at intervals of about ten miles, are Russian posts, each guarded by about a dozen soldiers. At these stations the roving tribes halt and, when they can, barter their peltry for liquor. Then follow carousing and the dance."
It was at these posts, where he frequently stopped, that the Russians "made no secret that they hoped for and expected the speedy annexation of that island, which the Japanese call also the Hokkaido, or Northern Gate to the Empire." They claimed that Sakhalin was too cold and once the European powers were distracted by some "grave international complication," Russia would seize the island.
It is rather ironic, being Irish, that Hodnett believed Japan's best bet would be to encourage "respectable foreign immigrants," as well as Japanese, to move to the island and to "embody an efficient mixed foreign and Japanese militia; for all modern history teaches us that the liberty of no small and weak nation is secure, so long as Russian territory is within a short day's distance."
In September the Zephyr arrived at Robben Island (Dutch for Seal Island but now known as Tyuleny Island) ― "a small flat islet, about one quarter of a mile long, 35 feet high and one hundred feet broad." According to Hodnett, it was covered with seals from June to November and was a very valuable site. Even though it was Japanese territory, Russia claimed it and "in 1851 had made a bogus sale or lease of the island" to the Alaska Fur Company.
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| An Ainu hunter circa 1900s. |
Almost immediately the Zephyr was challenged by the Leon, a Russian schooner commanded by an American named Blair. The Leon was unarmed but not its crew. They were well equipped with rifles and ammunition and were tasked with preventing non-Alaska Fur Company ships from landing on the island.
Hodnett was impressed with Blair, describing him as a "fine specimen of a sailor and a gentleman," but he was not going to allow Blair to prevent him from landing. He demanded to know if Blair had a commission from the Emperor of Russia and when Blair replied that he did not, Hodnett insinuated that the American was dangerously toying with piracy.
Hodnett warned him that if the Leon encountered the British admiral and his fleet, things could go badly for the American.
"He [the admiral] is not to be fooled with; and if he finds you at your present work, he's likely enough to hang you."
For some time the two captains bickered back and forth and apparently Blair realized his position was rather tenuous. He offered gifts of furs if the Irishman would leave but Hodnett refused. He then offered him a map that showed the location of an island with more than 2,000 seals. In his memoirs Hodnett wrote: "I am not certain that he didn't try to persuade me that the seals would walk on board."
Still, Hodnett persisted in his right to be able to land and hunt seals if he desired. This time Blair appealed to his good nature as the seals were breeding and if any of Zephyr's crew went ashore they would scare the bulls, who would crush the pups in their effort to flee.
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| An Ainu gathers potatoes circa 1900s. |
Finally, Blair confessed that he had no moral power to prevent Hodnett from landing but if he did so it would do Blair's reputation "an infinity of harm." Hodnett agreed not to land but he did write a letter of protest denouncing the blockade of the island as an act of piracy and that copies of the letter would be submitted to the admirals of the various nationalities on the Pacific Station.
On September 19, the Zephyr "parted company with that queer craft, the Leon, and her jolly commander" and set sail for the place Blair had claimed was filled with seals. But Hodnett's crew urged him not to go as he was merely "chasing shadows" and that Blair had deceived him to get rid of him and there were no seals there. They also warned him that the region was strewn "with sunken rocks with tide rips running mountains high" and, somewhat surprising, Hodnett agreed and returned to Yokohama. He later wrote in his memoirs: "If I had gone to the place he [Blair] indicated, ten to one I should not have lived to write this narrative."
Hodnett's desire of "running along an unsurveyed and unexplored shore" is what brought him to Korea as we shall see in the next article.
[I would like to express my appreciation to Diane Nars for her assistance with this piece]
