to England on their own account, were limited at first to 3 per cent, of the ship's tonnage, and later to a total of two hundredweight (224 lb.) for every hundred tons of the ship's tonnage; the ships of that time were usually of 350 tons burthen, and under this rule their private ventures in tea might amount to seven hundredweight. It was, however, the cargo space of the ship that was most carefully safeguarded; and in their cabins and berths, so long as they did not encroach on the tonnage capacity of the ship, they might still bring ventures which were not articles of commerce, such as fans, ivory carvings, embroideries, and articles having a value as curiosities greater than their intrinsic value. Restrictions placed from time to time on the private ventures of captains and officers were not long retained; and in 1729 we find the captain of the ship Lynn having private trade from Canton valued at £3,744, being £2,500 in gold and £1,244 in goods, including 7,750 lb. of tea.[1] The Company was, however, always struggling to check this tendency.
The supercargoes were, on the contrary, treated more and more generously in the way of allowances, in proportion as their private trade was restricted. At first, as has been said, their zeal was stimulated and their efforts were rewarded only by the private trade allowed, with, apparently, no unreasonable restrictions imposed. Then some limitation was placed on the articles which might form part of the private trade, and on the proportion of the ship's carrying capacity which might be taken up by it; but the court had no wish to diminish the reward which their supercargoes might earn, and what they took away with one hand they gave with the other. At first, as they began to limit the amount of private trade, they gave their supercargoes a commission on the prime cost of the return investment by the ship. Against the payment of unduly high prices, the court trusted to the honesty and loyalty of their supercargoes, and they have never been impeached; the court's principal aim was to stimulate their supercargoes' zeal, and so to secure a full lading of the most profitable commodities. During the seventeenth century, when the individual ship formed the unit of a venture, the number of supercargoes on each ship was usually three, and the commission paid was generally either 3½ or 4 per cent.—divided to give the chief 1¾ per cent., the second 1 or 1¼ per cent., and the third ¾ or 1 per cent. By the Aurungzebe, at Amoy in 1702, the return investment was invoiced at 122,150 taels, and the commission debited to the Company for division between the three supercargoes amounted to 4,275 taels. When the commission was only 3½ per cent, they had in addition some private trade, but its amount on the Aurungzebe is not recorded.[2]
