Ports of the world - Canton/Clipper-Ship Days

by the United States Bureau of Naval Personnel

CLIPPER-SHIP DAYS

N THE early days of the last century, when the American merchant marine sailed in the first rank of the trading fleets of the world, largely because of the perfection to which the clipper ship had been brought by shipbuilders and designers. Canton was the destination of hundreds of sailing vessels from the United States and other countries.

American clipper ships sailed from the ports of Boston, Salem, and New York—laden with cotton goods and other American products proceeded through the Straits of Magellan to the Pacific Coast, where they traded their cargoes for furs, and sometimes stopped at Hawaii where they traded their cargoes for sandalwood.

Sandalwood and furs, prized by the Chinese, were taken in the clipper ships across the Pacific to Canton, and there exchanged for silk and tea. The voyage usually required two or three years, and when the clipper ships returned to their respective

 

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ports, and their cargoes of tea and silk were disposed of, the owners often found they had made a fortune on the single voyage. Prosperity came to American ports as well as to Canton during the days of the fast clipper ships, and Chinese, as well as Americans, mourned when the advent of the steamer spelled the end of the clipper. For many years trade between Canton and American ports continued to decline as a logical result of the decline of the American merchant marine; but now that the flag is again seeking out new trade routes, as in days of old, trade between Canton and other Chinese ports and the United States is beginning to assume something of its former proportions.

History relates that the first traders to enter Canton came from Arabia more than a thousand years ago, at which time they built the minaret known in Canton as the "Plain Pagoda." Besides engaging in trade with the Cantonese, the Arabians introduced Mohammedanism to the natives, and now, although the Arabian trade with Canton stopped many years ago, the religion of Mohammed still remains in the port. Portuguese traders entered Canton in the early part of the sixteenth century (1511). They were followed about a century later by the British, who sent ships to Canton from Liverpool, as the Americans later sent clipper ships from Boston, Salem, and New York.

 

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