Page 16 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

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last over a year.

Capt. Bancroft's voyage on the "Sachem" in 1818-19 was

typical of American commercial ventures in the East India trade.

The major objective in this trade was China with its teas and

silks. But Americans called their commerce with China the East

India trade because it involved many more ports outside of
China. The trade was in fact a very complex venture, encompas-

sing virtually the entire globe. Americans had very little

native produce and no manufactures to offer the Chinese as im-

ports. They relied on specie and merchandise procured else-

where for their inward cargoes to Canton. American merchants

in the China or East India trade, therefore, not only sent their

vessels to Asia for teas, silks, coffee and spices. They also

despatched vessels to Europe, the Mediterranean, South America

and the Pacific Ocean in search for specie and cargo to trade

in the China market. For Americans the China trade was essen-

tially a global venture.

Two major trading routes led from the United States to

East India. The less traveled of the two was around Cape Horn

into the Pacific Ocean. American vessels in search of fur,

sandalwood and beche-de-mer were the only ones to use this route.

Because of extreme hazards in sailing around Cape Horn and in

procuring these articles, most merchants shied away from send-

ing their vessels to the Pacific Ocean. The risks limited this

l . .
Ins t ructions, Bryant & Sturgis to Capt. H. Bancro t,
f
Dec. 1818, Harvard Business School, Baker Library, Bryant &
Sturgis MSS. Bryant & Sturgis' Letterbooks are full of these
instructions as are the Letterbooks of Perkins & Co., Harvard
Business School, Baker Library, Perkins & Co. MSS.