A VOYAGE TO THE 



^j^ ^- Indians on the borders of Nootka Sound, who had fo far 

 advanced from their favage ftate as to refufe to fell to Mr. 

 Strange, for any price, tlie peltry which they had already 

 engaged to Mr. Hanna, thefe enterprifes have afcertained 

 this exhilarating truth to mankind, that civilization and 

 morals muft for ever accompany each other. 



In the effluxion of ages, periods often arife, when 

 mankind, by a confentaneous fpirit, purfue with ardour 

 analogous enterprifes. At the fame epoch Columbus and 

 Gama were employed, the one in difcovering the lands in 

 the Weft, the other in exploring the regions of the Eaft. 

 In the prefent times the Britifh, the French, and the 

 Spaniards, have, at the fame moment, bufied themfelves 

 in fearching every coaft and every creek, with the glorious 

 purpofe of benefiting the human race, by adding to their 

 happinefs. While thofe adventures were thus performed 

 from theEaftern extremities of Alia to theWeftern fhores of 

 America, private perfons undertook a more arduous voyage 

 of a like kind from England. It was in May 1785, that 

 Richard Cadman Etches and other traders entered into a 

 commercial partnerfhip, under the title oiThe Ki7igGeo7^ge s 

 Sound Company, for carrying on a fur trade from the 

 Weftern Coaft of America to China. For this purpofe 

 they obtained a licenfe from the South Sea Company, who, 

 without carrying on any traffic themfelves, ftand in the 

 mercantile way of more adventurous merchants. They 

 procured alfo a Similar licenfe from the Eaft India Company, 

 who at the fame time engaged to give them a freight of 

 Teas from Canton. This enterprife^of The Ki7ig George s 

 Eou7id Compa77y alone evinces what Englifh copartner- 



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