Page 20 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

6.

Wages aboard ship, including those of the officers,

were uniformly low. But for the officers there were benefits

to supplement their salaries. Each officer, according to his

rank, had free use of an allotted amount of cargo space for

private ventures. In addition, merchants often granted their

officers a commission of the voyage's profits. By skillful

adventuring and expeditious reinvestment a master could become

wealthy in a relatively short time. In turn the master and

his officers gave their loyalty to the merchant-owner of the

vessel. Considering the difficulties a vessel faced in an

East India trading voyage, a merchant faced the problem of his

vessel not returning with a full cargo. The opportunities for

embezzlement were rife. So to protect his own interests a

merchant gave his vessel's officers a stake in the outcome of

the voyage. This system operated well, allowing both merchant

and master to reap profits. Seacaptains, often able to retire in

their thirties, perpetuated the process by becoming merchants

5
themselves.

For the many men engaged in the trade, a voyage to East
India meant unknown adventure and problems as well as profits.

In sailing to Asia a ship passed through varying climates,

including treacherous s::.orms, extreme temperatures, frustrating

calms. But these hardly fazed a vessel's crew. There were

further difficulties in sailing through uncharted waters, haz­

ardous especially in the East Indian archipelagos. One mistake

5
Emory R. Johnson, et. al., History of Domestic and For­
eign Commerce of the United States (2 vols.; Washington, 1945), p.
118. Morrison, Maritime History of Massachusetts, pp. 76-77, 113.
Marvin, American Merchant Marine, pp. 81, 91-92.