of the commerce with China before 1821, and the foregoing figures are taken from the returns of the Canton custom-house. But we have seen that American vessels were at that early period engaged in an indirect trade, and in addition it is known that they were also carrying on a considerable traffic from Canton with Mexico, Peru, and Chili; but if the large amount of smuggled goods is estimated, which do not appear in the returns, the relative proportions will not be materially changed. One reason for the enterprise and success of the American trade in the East may be found in its entire freedom from governmental restraint, while that of the European countries was controlled by the monopolies of the various East India companies.
It is difficult to arrive at any accurate estimate of the profits of the Chinese trade, but a reading of the narratives of early voyages and of other contemporaneous accounts shows that it was usually large and that it was highly prized. Consul Shaw states that the privilege of private trade was allowed to English captains in the East India Company's service, and that in a vessel of eight hundred or one thousand tons this privilege was worth from $25,000 to $35,000 per voyage. Captain Krusenstern mentions in his voyages meeting in Canton an American vessel of less than one hundred tons which in a single voyage from the northwest coast of America, with a cargo of furs, realized $60,000 on an investment of $9000. Other voyages are given where a capital of $40,000 yielded a return of $150,000; and one of $50,000 gave a gross return of $284,000. The merchants of the New England ports in the early part of
