Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2), George Grey [robert munsch read aloud txt] 📗
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Which The Native Tribes Would More Willingly Engage Than Any Other I Am
Acquainted With.
Immediately Off North-West Cape Is Good Whaling Ground. The Schooner
Employed On The Expedition Fell In With Two Vessels--The Favourite,
Captain White, And The Diana, Captain Hamott, Whalers Belonging To
Messrs. Bennett & Co., Of London, And Then Fishing Between North-West
Cape And The Position Usually Assigned To The Tryal Rocks. Both These
Vessels Had Been Very Successful.
Commercial Prospects. Trade With The Asiatic Archipelago.
With Regard To The Commerce That Might Be Carried On By Northern
Australia With The Islands Of The Indian Archipelago I Have Made Many
Enquiries, And Have Gained From The Most Authentic Sources Some Important
Facts.
The Points Upon Which I First Endeavoured To Obtain Information Were:
1. What Desire Was Evinced By The Inhabitants Of The Islands Of The
Indian Archipelago And The China Sea To Become Possessed Of Articles Of
British Manufacture; And,
2. If They Were Able To Pay A Fair Price, Either In Money, Or By Giving
Goods For Which There Would Be A Demand In European Markets, In Exchange
For Such Articles Of British Manufacture As Might Be Introduced Amongst
Them.
Upon Both Of These Points I Received Very Satisfactory Information. In
Some Instances Most Respectable Merchants Detailed To Me The Result Of
Speculations Of This Kind In Which They Had Been Engaged; In Others
Mercantile Letters Were Placed In My Hands, Fully Corroborating What Had
Been Told Me; But The Information I Thus Obtained Bore Reference Also To
The Following Points:
1. The Degree Of Labour Necessarily Required To Transport Articles Of
British Manufacture To Such A Distant Mart As The One Here Contemplated
For Their Consumption.
2. The Length Of Time During Which Wages Must Be Paid To And Food
Provided For The Individuals Engaged In This Labour.
3. The Duties To Which The Articles Will Become Liable In The Various
Volume 1 Chapter 12 (Physical Geography Commercial Prospects) Pg 173Ports; And,
4. The Danger Of Loss Or Injury That May Be Incurred In Their Transport
Thither.
With Regard To The Two First Of The Above Heads It Appears That The
Profit That May Be Realized By The Trader Is So Considerable As Not Only
To Cover The Expenses That They Would Necessarily Entail Upon Him; But
After These Expenses Have Been Defrayed The Residue Of Profit That Would
Remain In His Hands Would Be So Large As To Render This Commerce One Of
The Most Lucrative In Which Capital Could Be Embarked.
Method Of Barter.
This Will Be Readily Conceived When It Is Considered That The Mode Of
Barter Is That Which Is Most Usual Amongst The Inhabitants, And That The
Trader Puts His Own Valuation Upon The Articles He Exchanges With Them.
One Of The Oldest And Most Respectable Merchants At The Cape Made A
Voyage Through These Islands For The Purpose Of Procuring Gold Dust, And
He Detailed To Me The Mode In Which He Conducted The Traffic. A Spanish
Doubloon Was Placed In One Of The Scales, And Gold Dust In The Other;
When The Quantity Of Gold Dust Was Equal In Weight To The Doubloon, He
Gave A Doubloon's Worth Of Goods They Required, At His Own Valuation; The
Profit Realized Was Large.
One Great Drawback To This Commerce At Present Is The Necessity Of
Coasting From Place To Place In Order To Obtain A Full Cargo. The Same
Inconvenience Was Felt Along The Coasts Of Africa And Madagascar Until
Some Enterprising London And Liverpool Mercantile Houses Established The
System Of Receiving Vessels, Which Remained Stationary At One Point
Whilst Smaller Vessels Collected Cargoes For Them. Now A Colony In Some
Northern Part Of Australia Would In The Same Manner Totally Obviate This
Inconvenience By Affording A Place In Which Cargoes Could Be Collected
From Small Vessels, And To Which The British Manufactures To Be Exchanged
Could Be Brought. Kupang In Timor At The Present Moment Is Used For This
Purpose By The Dutch.
Duties Levied At The Islands.
With Regard To The Third Point I Find That At The Native Ports, In
General, No Duty Is Required; But Where There Is A Rajah It Is Politic To
Make Him A Present In Goods. The Duties Levied By The Portuguese At Dili
In The Month Of June 1838 Was 10 Per Cent. With Regard To The Duties
Levied By The Dutch On British Merchant Vessels I Know But Little; But
The Duty Demanded At Kupang And Roti On Each Horse Exported, Or Each
Musket Imported, Was Six Rupees, Being Almost Equal To Their Original
Value. Arms Or Ammunition Are No Longer Contraband Either In The Dutch Or
Portuguese Possessions.
In Considering The Danger Of Loss Or Injury That May Be Incurred In The
Transport Of Merchandise To These Parts It Is Unnecessary To Compute The
Volume 1 Chapter 12 (Physical Geography Commercial Prospects) Pg 174Ordinary Dangers To Which The Merchant Is More Or Less Liable In All
Quarters Of The World; But Two Distinct Drawbacks To Commercial
Enterprise At Present Exist In These Countries, Which Are Peculiar To
Them, These Are The Prevalence Of Piracy, And The Constant Occurrence Of
Political Commotions In The Native States. The Establishment Of A
Settlement On The North Or North-West Coast Of New Holland Would Have
However The Effect Of Diminishing Both These Evils In So Great A Degree
That A Very Few Years Would Probably Suffice For Their Complete
Annihilation.
Success Of American Vessels. Causes Of It.
Notwithstanding The Drawbacks Occasioned To Commercial Enterprise By The
Circumstances Above Detailed, There At This Moment Exists A Very
Considerable Trade In The Indian Archipelago, Which Is, With The
Exception Of The Few Vessels That Sometimes Bring Ponies To The Isle Of
France And The British Settlements, Almost Wholly In The Hands Of The
Americans. Indeed No Fact Which I Have Met With Has So Much Surprised Me
As The Extraordinary Diffusion Of The American Commerce, And The Great
Spirit Of Enterprise Exhibited By Them. For In Many Places Where The
British Merchants Can Find No Commerce Apparently Worth Their Attention
The Americans Carry On A Lucrative And Prosperous Trade, And In
Half-Civilized Countries, Where The Largest Profits Are Always Realized,
The Americans Are So Eminently Successful That The British Merchant
Cannot Attempt To Compete With Them.
This Appears To Arise From The Following Circumstance. The Masters Of The
American Vessels Engaged In This Kind Of Trade Are, In Many Instances,
Whole, And In All Other Instances, Part Owners Of The Vessel And Cargo;
Whereas Masters Of English Vessels Have Frequently Little Or No Interest
In The Vessel And Cargo, And Are Moreover Frequently Tied Down By
Directions Issued From The Firm For Which They Act.
The Difference Between These Two Cases Is Very Great; The American Can
Turn Every Circumstance That Occurs To Account: He Can Instantly Enter
Into Any Speculation That Holds Out A Prospect Of Success; And Can Act
With Rapidity And Decision On His Own Responsibility. The English Master,
On The Contrary, Has Usually A Certain Prescribed Line Of Duty To Fulfil,
From Which He Cannot Vary.
Hence It Is That We Often See The American Whalers With Arms, Ammunition,
And Other Articles For Barter On Board. They Whale Off Madagascar, And,
Whenever An Opportunity Offers, Carry On A Lucrative Trade With The
Natives. From Thence Their Course Is Directed To St. Paul's And
Amsterdam, And Afterwards Along The Coast Of New Holland; And When It
Again Becomes Necessary For Them To Refresh They Touch At Some Island In
The Archipelago, And The Scene Of Barter Is Once More Renewed. Their
Cargo Eventually Consists Of Sperm Oil, Gum Copal And Other Gums, Ebony,
Tortoiseshell, Gold Dust, Seal-Skins, Shells, And Curiosities; Yet They
Volume 1 Chapter 12 (Physical Geography Commercial Prospects) Pg 175Originally Started Upon A Whaling Voyage.
Instances.
During The Years 1824 And 1825, When The Port Of Mombas Upon The East
Coast Of Africa Was Temporarily Ceded To The British Government,
Lieutenant Emery, R.N., Who Was Stationed There As Commander, Was Witness
To A Curious Instance Of This Nature.
Whilst This Port Was In The Possession Of The English But One British
Merchant Vessel Arrived There, Yet Three American Vessels Entered The
Harbour. The Master Of The English Vessel Was Not A Part Owner; The
American Masters Were All Part Owners And Carried On A Very Lucrative
Trade, Shipping A Large Quantity Of Ivory, Whereas The English Master Was
Placed In A Very Unpleasant Position, For, Owing To The Orders He Had
Received From His Owners (Messrs Tobin And Co. Of Liverpool) He Had Not
Been Able To Ship A Cargo Suited To The Market Of Mombas, And If
Lieutenant Emery Had Not Kindly Cashed A Bill For Him The Speculation
Would Have Been A Total Failure.
The Cargo These American Vessels Brought To Mombas Was Principally
Muskets And Ammunition, Which They Bartered With The Natives For Ivory;
And This Is The Cargo They Always Ship For Trade With The Inhabitants Of
The Indian Archipelago, And, As Muskets And Ammunition Are There Of Great
Value, The Profit They Realize Is Enormous.
As An Instance Of The Kind Of Persons These American Masters Often Are I
May State The Following Circumstance.
Captain Wickham, R.N., Was At Valparaiso In South America In The Year
1836, Where He Met A Purser In The American Navy Who Had Realized About
3000 Pounds Sterling; This Person Here Quitted The American Service And
Laid Out His Capital In The Purchase Of A Small Vessel In Which, Having
Embarked A Cargo Suited To The Trade Of The Country, He Started For The
Coast Of California; In A Short Period He Returned To Valparaiso, Having
In This Single Trip More Than Doubled His Capital; This Captain Wickham
Also Stated Was By No Means A Rare Instance.
Trading Products Of The Several Islands.
Having Bestowed Some Attention On The State Of Trade In The Indian
Archipelago, And Collected Considerable Information From Various
Individuals Who Had Been Engaged In It, I Shall Here Subjoin A Summary Of
Such Of The Principal Facts As I Think May Be Depended On.
Trade With Timor.
In All The Ports Of The Natives, As Well As Those Under The Dutch And
Portuguese Authorities, The Produce Is Much The Same. It Consists Chiefly
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