Early Relations bctzvccn the United States and China. 35 



normal voyage was to leave the United States in the summer or 

 early fall, and to arrive on the Northwest Coast in the spring. 

 The vessels would then trade with the Indians from inlet to inlet 

 along the fjord-broken coast, getting skins, preferably those of 

 the rare sea-otter, in exchange for trinkets, knives, fire arms, 

 blankets, .cotton and woolen cloths, and other similar wares."'* 

 In the fall they would go to Canton, or if they had not yet 

 obtained a cargo they would winter at the Hawaiian Islands and 

 trade a second and even a third season on the Coast before going 

 to China. (Jnce there they would exchange their cargoes for 

 teas and other goods, and return to the United States by way of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. The voyages were, as a rule, very 

 lucratixe. The original outlay for the cargo was small, the furs 

 for which it was exchanged sold at Canton at a large gain, and 

 the teas and goods which the proceeds purchased brought 

 another gain in the United States or Europe, thus giving three 

 chances for profit. The voyages were full of risk and required 

 experience, and the trade fell into the hands of a few large firms, 

 the Perkins, the Lambs, Dorr and Sons, the Cooledges, the 

 Lymans, the Sturgis family, all of Boston, D'Wolf of Bristol, 

 and a few others. The merchants of Philadelphia, New York, 

 and Providence, were for the most part not engaged in it.^^ 

 Small traders occasionally ventured out but the dangers from 

 shipwreck, and especially from the natives, were great, and only 

 a firm with several ships could survive the losses incident to such 

 accidents."'' 



'" Bill of lading of the "Louisa" to the N. W. Coast, Oct. 5. 1826. 



'"Tufts' account of vessels in the sea otter trade gives the names 

 of these firms. William Sturgis, The Northwest Fur Trade, in Hunt's 

 Merchant Magazine, 14:532-537, gives the facts about the other ports. 

 He was himself connected with the trade. 



'" Numerous examples of these accidents can be cited. The "Columbia" 

 suffered the loss of three men from the Indians in 1791 (Extracts from 

 the log of the ship "Margaret," commanded by Captain James Magee. 

 Voj-age to the North West Coast, 1791-1792. Copy MS. in Essex Insti- 

 tute. This may be the incident of which Fleurier heard when in Canton 

 in November, 1791. Voyage Autour du Monde. 2:377). Vancouver 

 found in Hawaii a survivor of the "Fair American," an American 

 schooner manned by the younger Metcalf, that had been captured and 

 had had its crew murdered by the natives in retaliation for punishment 

 inflicted by the elder Metcalf for the murder of some of his men (\"an- 



