Page 37 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

23.

In 1783 the first American vessel to reach the Cape

of Good Hope was from Salem. From there the sailing route led

Salem captains and their vessels through the Indian Ocean and
Southeast Asian archipelagoes to Canton. Although most ports

in the Eastern Hemisphere were within the colonial empire of

a European country, Salem vessels ventured into them and

successfully opened the area to American commerce. These

seafaring pioneers expanded American trade to include ports

in Africa (Madagascar and Zanzibar), Arabia (Mocha and Muscat),
24
India, and the East Indies (Java and Sumatra) . On February

19, 1796 Salem newspapers recorded the return of the ship

"America" from Bengal with the first white elephant to land

on American shores. "It sold for $10,000." Newspapers re-

ported on December 11, 1798 the departure of the first American

vessel for Japan. The Dutch East India Company, which had a

monopoly for Western trade with Japan, had chartered the

"Franklin" to carry a cargo of European manufactures fran
25
Batavia (Java) to Japan.

Salem merchants ventured into the East India trade
1
after the Revolution. During the 1770 s they had constructed

privateers for use against the British navy. The merchants

found these privateers, successful in war, unsuitable for

their customary commercial pursuits. Salem's vessels before

24
charles S. Osqood and H.M. Batchelder, Historical
Sketch of Salem, 1626-1879 (Salem, 1879), pp. 127-37.

25
Joseph B. Felt, Annals of Salem (2 vols.; 2nd ed.;
Salem, 1845, 1849), II, 285-360.