52 Kenneth S. Latoiirette, 



less than a third of that for the season of 1809-10."^ In the 

 Canton factories the merchants of the two nations hved together 

 amicably enough/^- but at the mouth of the river conflicts fre- 

 quently took place. In 1814 H. M. S. "Doris" blockaded the 

 American shipping, made several captures, and on one occasion 

 chased a vessel up to Whampoa and captured her in defiance of 

 Chinese neutrality. The Americans at Whampoa armed their 

 boats and captured her, and the Chinese, aroused at last, took 

 measures to punish the aggressors, ^^^ saying that if the two 

 nations had any "petty qaurrels" they should "go to their own 

 country to settle them."^^* 



The struggle was not all one-sided, however. American 

 privateers cruised off the mouth of the river, taking prizes and 

 bringing them in for condemnation,^^^ although they did not 

 equal in number those taken by the British."^ American ships, 

 moreover, occasionally avoided the dangers and brought home 

 cargoes which sold at war prices and netted their owners large 

 profits."' From December 20, 1812, to May, 1813, fifteen 

 American ships were brought to Canton and condemned."^ 



"' Sen. Doc. 31, i Sess., 19 Cong. Total exports and imports from the 

 United States to Canton, 1812-3, 1813-4, 1814-5 $3,096,500, for 181 1-2, 

 $5,903,810, for 1809-10, $11,459,600. 



"" Doolittle, Sketches, p. 41, says, "They lived together as brothers." 

 He himself was there during the war. 



"' Davis, China, i : 78-80. 



"* Auber, China, pp. 242 ff., Wheeler, The Foreigner in China, p. 68. 

 It is interesting to note that the differences between the Chinese and the 

 English arising as a result of this incident, led to important concessions 

 by the former, and ultimately to the sending of the Amherst Embassy by 

 the latter. Williams, History of China, pp. 105, 106. 



"^ The "Rambler," Captain George Lapham, in 1814, the "Jacob Jones" 

 of Boston in 1815, are two American privateers mentioned by the American 

 consul. Consular Letters, Canton, I. 



"" Ibid. 



"' Niles Register, 7 : 128, Oct. 29, 1814, tells of a New York vessel 

 which had arrived at Newport from Canton with a cargo worth nearly 

 half a million dollars. Parton, Life of Astor, p. 58, says that during the 

 War of 1812 all of John J. Astor's ships from Canton arrived safely 

 when tea had nearly doubled in price. This statement, however, is not 

 strictly reliable. 



"* Consular Letters, Canton, I. 



