Page 119 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

105.

of lading, invoice, etc. was written in triplicate to prevent

its loss. While most of this work was done by the pursers, the

partners had to write letters to all their correspondents and

consignors concerning market conditions and shipping at Canton.

More than a few merchants had to leave Canton before their term

had expired due to illness.

Participation in the China trade at an early age taught

a young man the art of international commerce. The Canton

experience became an excellent training-ground for his pro­

fession, as the trade here was as unstable, speculative and

complex as anywhere in the world. Some Americans such as

Cushing, the Forbeses, A.A. Low and John C. Green demonstrated

an apparently natural talent for the enterprise, but most had

to be taught. The seven-year term at Canton was a necessary

prerequisite to a career in the trad�. While a purser's life

was boring, his job required rigorous attention to detail, as

he was "occupied in the various processes of receiving and

despatching cargoes, with making out sales and interest calcu-
lations, copying letters, filing away papers, All

bookkeeping was double-entry, a principle that not all prospec-
9
tive merchants easily grasped. Their tasks wore on tediously

day after day with little relief.

Afternoon dinner was the chief diversion of the day. All

8
osmond Tiffany, jr., The Canton Chinese or the American's
Sojourn in the Celestial Empire (Boston, 1849), p. 223.
9
Letter, A.A. Low to W.H. Low, Sep. 17, 1838, in The China
Trade Postbag of the Seth Low Family of Salem and New York, 1829-
1873, ed. by Elma Loines (Manchester, Maine, 1953), p. 64.