%zo A V O Y A G E T O T H E
ij&8. Every particular refpefting the defoliation of the Imperial Eagle,
February. Captain Berkley, lias already been mentioned; fo that it will be
needlefs for me to repeat them here : her cargo confifted of 800
fea-otter lkins, chiefly of a fuperior quality; they were not fold
when our Captain left Canton, but the price fixed on them was
^0,000 dollars.
The Spaniards within thefe two years have imported the fea-otter
.to China -, they collect their lkins near their fettlements of Mon-
trery and San Francifco, and they are all of a very inferior quality.
The Padres are the principal conductors of this traffic.
In 1787 they imported about 200 Ikms, and the beginning of
this year near 1,500c Thcie furs were not fold when wé left Canton
; they are fent from the fettlements before-mentioned to Acapulco,
and from thence by the annual galleon to Manilla; but
they havé not as yet attempted to fit out veffels from any of their
fettlements to the Northward.
The L ’Aftrolabe and Boufiale, two French ftiips, Commanded
by M. Peyroufe, and De Langle, failed from France in 1785;
they are faid to have traced the North Weft Coaft of America from
the Spanifh iettlement of Montrery, to 60 deg. North latitude;
but this feems rather improbable, for though thefe velfels were
profelfedly fitted out on difcovery, yet the Commanders did not
forget that furs were a valuable article, and accordingly, whilft on
the American coaft, they procured about 600 fea-otter lkins, chiefly
in pieces, of a very inferior quality, and evidently the fame as
thofe imported by the Spaniards ; whereas had thefe gentlemen
been well fo with the coaft to the Northward, they undoubtedly
muft
N O R T H -W E S T C O A S T OF AM E R I C A . 321
muft have met with fea-otter lkins, of a quality far fuperior to ^88.
what they procure^. e— ,— j
Thefe Ihips arrived at Macao in January, 1787) an(l their furs
were fold at Canton by the Swedilh Supercargoes, for 10,000 dollars.
I have already furnilhed thee, with moft of the particulars re-
fpeCting the fale of our furs, and mentioned, the places where we
collected them ; it only remains for me to obferve, that the total
amount was 54,857 dollars.
By comparing the fale of our furs with thofe already mentioned,
thou mayeft at once perceive how very fluctuating this article is in
the China market: out of 2,552 fea-otter lkins, which we brought
to Canton, at leaft 2,000 of them ought to have fetched fifty dollars
each, and the remainder a price in proportion.
What furs the Ruffians procure on the American coaft, it is im-
poffible to afcertain, as they never bring them to the Canton market.
We are pretty certain, that their traffic extends very little to.
the Eaftward of Cook’s River, and that place certainly does not
produce fo many, fea-otter as King George’s Sound; fo that I
Ihould imagine they do not collect 500 lkins annually.
From this Ihort Iketchof the fur-trade, thou mayeft eafily perceive,
that very great advantages would be derived from it, if placed
on a permanent footing, to eiFcct which, I Ihould conceive the moft
eligible plan would be, to eftablilh a fafitory on the coaft, and the
North end. of Queen Charlotte’s, Iflands feems peculiarly well
adapted for that purpofe; the fituation is nearly central, between
Ss - Cook’s