A N ANSWER TO Mr. GEORGE DIXON, Late COMMANDER of the QUEEN CHARLOTTE. [Price TWO SHILLINGS.] - , ^ , -V . T! ; Hi T I IIN ihl ■ I ' I iMlr ,^. "• AHD i^ESfävjp shiHäa '4 ^ VV answer T o MR. GEORGE DIXON, Late COMMANDER of the QUEEN CHARLOTTE, IN THE SERVICE OF MESSRS. ETCHES AND COMPANY; B Y JOHN MEARES, Esci. in which the remarks of mr. dixon on the voyages to the north west coast of america, fee. lately published. are fully considered and refuted. LONDON: PRINTED AT THE EopETsplli' 3P«rs i AND SOLD BY J. WALTIl, N" 169, FICC ADI 1,LY, OPPOSITI OLD BOND ITKEIT, M.DCt-.XCI. 3 ■ W' s : M f ■ I ■ A^ o 1 /roxia ap>J0ä0 m • • •'m ^^ ■ - O ; r»- ■ .HTTOJilAHa- M^tJfup „.J •tösä ,sail AH M. KH O^ "•.r.Jm'iÄ.J^ aar-.wft3rt inftt^ad of z z00' 25". You defire me to inform the public, on what authority I have Introduced the track of the Wafhington in my chart;—and, from that refpetfl which is due to the public, I fliall condefcend to comply with your requeft. Mr. Neville, a gentleman of the mofl refpedtablc cbara£ter, who came home In the Chefterfleid, a (hip in the fervice of the Eafl India Company, made that communication to me; which, on his authority, I have communicated to the public. Mr. Ken-drick, who commanded the Wafliington, arrived at China, with a very valuable cargo of furs, fome time previous to the departure of the Chefl-erfieid; and Mr. Neville, who was couthiually with him during that interval, and received the particulars of the track from him, was fo obliging as to flate it to me. Your farcafm. Sir, on the manner in which I fpeak of Captain Cook in my Obfervations on the North Weft PafTage, proceeds from the habitual liberality of your mind. I wrote the fentlmeut which I felt; nor do I fear to repeat it.— Though the Felice and Iphlgenia did explore the latitudes from j6° to 47® North, there is every reafon to lament, that Captain Cook was prevented from " making " making fiich ^n examination ns would have proceeded from him." Nor have I the leaft appreheafion, that the moft enthufiaftic admirers of Captain Cook, will confuier the foregoing fentence as containing an attempt to degrade him beneath, or elevate myfelf above, tiie very diftant liations we refpeäively hold in the fcale of profeflional merit, I have endeavoured, to tlic utmoft of my information, to particularize the merits of every Gentleman employed on the coaft of America. Captam Duncan did explore a confiderable part of the coafl: between 50° and 52®, I perfonally eAeem him, and think his merit too well eftabllHied to need fuch a champion as yourfelf. Nor have I neglefled that attention which is due to Captain Barclay; his name is continued by mc to the Sound to the Southward of Nootka:— But though his boat was In the Straits of John de Fuca, he never was, as appears from his own chart. But now comes the caufe of all this bitter feverity againfl me, for depriving great navigators of their jufl: honours, and finking their fuperlor merit in filence, 1 have certainly dared to rob the Channel of the Charlotte Ides of the title of Dixon', for no better reafon, than becaufc the enterprizlng, intelligent and humane navigator, who thought fo proudly to diftlngulfli It with his own name, never faw that Channel,—according to the evidence of the track on his own chart, I have, therefore, ventured to give it the name of the man who boldly pufhed through it:—I have ftripped the filly Jay of his borrowed plumage, I fliall here take the opportunity of obfervlng, that there is a port which unfortunately bears my name. I did not myfelf, however, affume this diftinc-tion,—but owe it to the partial remembrance of Captain Douglas, when wc were many hundred miles diftant from eaclr other. As to tlie cxilTience of the Straits of John de Fuca,—Captain Duncan faw them as well as myfelf; and the original failles of Captain D1 son's pleafantry, C z win will not prevent me from repeating m}^ opinion,—tb^t fomc further cccount -would have already been given of thefc Straits, if Captain Colnett had not been prevented by the fliips of his Catholic Majcfly from fulfilling the objefts of his voyage. I now come to that pnrt of your publication which mentions Cook's River, and its jirobable commimlcations with the fouthernmofl part of Baffin's Ray, or the nortliernmoft part of Hudfon's Bay. I find no data in Captain Cook's Voyage to determine the non-exiflence of a paffagc. There is no declaration from him that militates agalnf!: the navigation of a fhlp beyond the Narrows,— where we know there is fulficlent depth for a whale. But this is not abfolutely the point. The place in which the Iphlgenia anchored, was in lat, 59" 58' and her boat went as far as hf. 60° 42', which, indeed, was not fo high by many miles as the fiirvey of Mr. Bllgh : though, if I miflake not, there were feveral perfons onboard the Dlfcovery, who retained their opinions in favour of a paflage, independent of the furvcys made by the boats'of both fhlps. You, however, with your ufual eagernefs and ignorance, take pofleffion of the fhoal placed above the Narrows, in order to form a barrier agalnft all further navigation np the river: but to difpofTefs you at once of your Important fitLiation, I muft inform you, that fhips can navigate on each fidü this formidable flioal. No one confiders the character and abiiltieG of Captain Cook with more veneration than myft-!f; never-thelefs, I am free to obfervc, that there are thofe ivh have tahn the Hhcrly of correfling the furveys of the very parts which were explored b}' hrm. The Ruffians, Indeed, who In their galliots have navigated Cook's River much higher than any European veflel, confider it, in reality, to be a bay, filled with fr;ig-ments of iflands, whofe channels have been erroneoufly taken for rivers;—nor does it appear that a fingle river has been dlfcovered by any of the navigators on the American coaft. It Is, in niy opinion, by no nieans Improbable, that the fc3 feen behind Nootka, will be hereafter found to extend to the Northward as far as Cook's River. But this Is mere conjeClure; a"nd,iin ray Obfervatlöns on the North Weft Paflagc, 1 argue only on the probability' of its cxilleuce,—and leave leave my reiifonlngs, fuch as they are, on the Tubječl, to the candid iuveftigatioii of inquifitive and tlifceruing men. Whales were moft certainly feen by Captain Douglas at the anchoring phcc of the Iphigenia in Cook's River; and I myfelf faw them off Cape Douglas taking their courfe up it:—But the Pacific Ocean and the channels of the Charlotte Ifles are fo abundant In thefe animals, that it would be an idle excur-fion indeed to follow them eUewherc in thofe latitudes. In fl^orf, Sir, if you will perufc the Voyages of Captain Cook witli a little more attention than you nppear to have beftowcd upon them, you will add another difcovery to thofe you have already made,—that the great Navigator did not give over his furvey of tlie river, called after his name, from impediments, but opinion ; aud I defy you to produce, or even name any one who navigated Cook's River till he could navlgrite it no further. But,, after all, though Captain Cook found the rife and fall of its tides to be very confiderable, I am dilpofed to believe, that if a paflage fhould hereafter be difcovered, it will prove tobe in a more foutherly direction. The probability of a North Wed Paflage, for which I contend, appears to be a fLiimbling block of great ofTtnce to you; and, in a ditflatorial tone of inquifitive importance, you alk me, why I produced the voyage of the Tphlgenia to aid my obfervations on the fubjeft; when, as you are pleafed to fay, it was in niy power to have brougiit forward that of Captain Duncan ; which, in your unerring opinion, Is of faperior authority. 1 anfvver,—becaufe, without retracting from the acknowledged merit of Captain Duncan, 1 prefer the journal of the Jphigenia to every other__I confidcr Captain Duncan as the beft authority for the navigation between the Charlotte iQes and the Main,—or, at leaft, what wg take to be fo. This circumflancc, with Iiis traverfes from fliore to (liore, jufli-fies the application I have made of his voyage to my cliart. He undoubtedly i vifited ^ifited the great Northern Archipelago prior to Captain Douglas;—but, from his diftreflfcd fituation, he quitted tbofe pnrts without knowing there was fiich a channel as that through which Captain Douglas made his way. You had no fuch excufe;—and when I mention Captain Barclay as infinitely your fuperior both in navigation and commerce, I afTert that which he himfelfhas proved,— He performed the voyage from Europe to America, and from thence to China, in twelve months; and I maintain, that Inflead of employing two years to reacli Canton, you and your confort ought to have manifefted the fame expedition as that gentleman. Your charge againft me that, in the only place where I acknowledge Mr. Arrowfmith's afliftance, I have made fuch an extraordinary deviation from him as 19° 45', would be of a very ferious nature indeed, if it were true ; —bur the accufation, from its flagrant falfehood, proves nothing more than the mnd malice of the man who makes It. You here allude, I prefume, to the fca feen by Mr. Ilearne.—Now, Sir, to prove the captious ignorance of your objection, I mull Inform yon, that in Captain Cook's chart we find this fea in latitude 72" North, and longitude 240" Eaft of Greenwich.—In that of Mr. Arrowfmith, it appears in latitude 6S° 15'North, and longitude 248" 30' Eafl, agreeable to Mr. Turner, as I liave fince been informed, making the difference of 3° 43' in latitude, and 8" 30' in longitude; neverthelefs 1 have adhered to the pofition of Captain Cook. On the chart of the latter, we find no fea laid down in latitude of 68° 15', and longituGe 228" Eafl:; but in that of Arrowfmitli a fea is placcd precifely in thofe degrees, agreeable' to the account of the Canadian traders, given to him.—And fo much for your idle and ill-founded qucfllons concerning your fuppofed difference of 19" 45'of longitude between Mr. i^rrow-Imith and me.—But to proceed in fettling the reft of them, fuch as tliey are1 mufl inform you, that the reafon why 1 differ from the lafl named gen- gentleman, or rather from Captain Duncan, who was his authority, in the pofition of the land to Eaflward, at Nepean's Sound, Princefs Royal Ifland, proceeds from a preference I have given to the corretStions of Captain Douglas, who has fijced thefe parts of the coafl by numerous lunar obfervations. He has placed them i'30' to the Eaft of Captiun Duncan; and I believe myfelf to be juflified in following his example.—I am not confcious of any improper bias in feleding the authorities which have governed me. You are at a lofs, it feems, to account for my motives In mentioning the Capes Mendocino and dc Mendozim, ij) my delineation of the American Coafl: ;— becaufe, in your opinion, there is only one Cape Mendocino ; theotlier, you fay,^ is Cape Blanco^ which you accufe me, in your ufual way, of removing 1° 3a" to the Northward of its real fituation,-1 anfwer,—Captain Cook does not mention any Cape Mendocino ia latitude 40°, which Mr. Arrowfmith does 1 have therefore, as I conceive, very juftifiably mentioned both the Cape Mendocino of Mr. Arrowfmith, in latitude 40®, and the Cape de Mendozino ofCaptala-Cook, in latitude 42* 30', or thereabouts, which he places In his chart 42° 30'.— As for Cape Blanco, I have placed it in latitude 43" 30', agreeable to Captain Cook, by whofe chart I have arranged all that part of the coaft. You ftate my pofition of Port Sir Francis Drake, as an example of the liappy method I poflefs of removing land at pleafure. Captain Cook places it in latitude 38° 45', or thereabouts.—Mr. Arrowfmith in latitude 37° 30', and I have adopted the pofition of the former, latitude 38° 45'; while you infift upon its being in 47°30'; forming a difference of ten degrees from Mr. Arrowfmith, and of eight degrees fifteen minutes from Captain Cook. This, Mr. Dixon, is removing land with a vengeance.—The interior parts of America, as laid down in my cJiart, come in alfo for their fliare of dlfap p rotation. I fhall only add, with refped to-them, that they were arran-gcd from thebcft authorities. I lav i, ing Having, I trnft, very completely fixed the latitude and longitude of your charafter as a navigator, I fliall proceed to lay down, as I hope with tolerable accuracy, the exn£l pofition of your commercial excellence. In making my obfervations on this fubjct^-, I muft previoudy remark, that your malignity is fo predominant, as to annihilate in you the leading, and, as 1 fhould think, the inherent principles of a man of trade. You fecm to rejoice that your voyage round the world, as you call it, for the purpofcs of commerce, was not attended with the advantage expelled to be derived from it.—You appear to be proud of the inadequate and difpropoitioned fale of your cargo at Cliina ; and are, I doubt not, grateful to the Houang merchants of Canton, for having furchafed all your skins at lefs than half their value, in order that you migiit be furniflied with aplauiible, but fallacious argument, againft a new branch of commerce ; in which, having failed yourfelf, you would be glad, as far as your wretched teftimony would go, to prevent former adventurers from obtaining the remuneration of their risks and labours; or to difcourage the enterprizes of others, whofe knowledge, aäi-vlty and perfeverance, by enfurlng fuccefs, would fling added difgrace on thofe who have failed from the want of fuch eflential qualifications. \ - t ■ • - . • • V ■ You ftate, with an Infatuated kind of triumph, that your 255^ fea-otter skins, &c. fetched no more than 54,857 Spanifh dollars at the Chiiiefe market; and your flatemcnt is made in fuch a manner, as to Infer that It was the commou tnarketprice ofthat valuable commodity ; and that, of courfe, what has been faid by myfelf and others on the advantages of that commerce, is a deception on the public. At the moment you were writing that curious piece of information, or lnftru£ting others to wrice it, you knew that it was founded in falfehood. Nor dare you deny that the low prices given for the articles in queftion, arofe from the contract of your owners with the Eafl India Company, to leave the difpofitiou of your American cargo to the difpofal of their fervants at Canton, which neceflarlly gave an additional power to the Houang merchants, thofe thofe privUcgeO oppreflbrs of European commercc*. I repeat, thofe ckuis did not find nny thing like half the price for which otter skins have been fold in China, both at the time, and fince the period of their fale. You are plcafcd to add, if I wifli to be informed why thefe skins fold fur To fmall a fum, I may enquire of Mr. Richard Cadman Etches, who, you doubt not, can give me every fattsfa£tion on that fubječl. I perfefliy agree with you, that the gentleman to whom you refer me, is fully qualified to anfwer me upon the matter immediately before us ;—and I defire no better judge than him, between you and me.—Nor have I the lea/l doubt bxit he will be ready to confirm the explanations I am about to give, to ufe your own phrafe, of the ill fuccefs of your commerce ; which arofe, among other caufcs, from the mifconftru£lion your commander and yourfeif thought proper to put on the licence granted to your owners by the Honourable t!ie Eaft India Company, for the difpofal of your American cargoes, and the confequent coiitroul affumed by the fupercargoes over the fiile of them. I have alfo good reafon to think, Mr. Dixon, that a confiderable part of your furs were of a very, if not the moft, inferior nature, confifling of worn out garments of the Indians, pieces bedaubed with paint, and fewed to"-ethcr, fb as greatly to leflen the fuppofed aggregate value of your cargo. But let me ask you, Sir, wliether you did not encourage, as far as you had any power to do it, the firft opportunity of felling the furs, however difadvantageous to your owners, in order to fecure, from all future risk, a certain little advantage you were to receive upon the fale ? * Theliiftory of Uic Houang merchants, and the manner in which they are allowed by the Chi-ncfc government to opprefs the commcrce of the Europeans, is ftatcd at large in the Account of the Trade between the North Weft Coafl of America and. China, prefixed to my Voyages, D In In p:ige i yonr pnmplilet ftatcs an account of furs brought by the fevcral flilpÄ yon mention, amontiting to 5,033 fkins :—they fold, it feems, for 146,842 Spanifli cloMars in ClTina; which, at a medium, makes 110 more than about 29J tlo]lai s per fkiti : —butof theie furs wliich were brought to Canton in tlie years rySö, 17B7, and 1788, I nm authorifcd to fay, that fcarce three thou-faiid of them were fileable articles. And 1 do aflert, that in thofe very years, the prime Ikins fold in China from ninety, to one hundred and twenty dollan per Ikin, Jn the firft: voyages to the North Wefl Coaft of America, tlie adventurers purchafed whatever fkiiis the natives brought them ; and the latter fold only fuch as they had procured for themfelves,— many of which mufl have neceflarily been old, worn out and rotten,—having been employed as cloathing, and for other purpofes of perfonal or domeffic convenience. But as the inhabitants of the coafl are become more informed as to the nature and advantages of commerce, their attention is proportionably encreafed to the due preparation of the objeds of it.—They no longer dye or paint, or even wear the otter Ikius which they take, butconfider them merely as articles of trade, for which they can get commodities more fulted to their necefllties and comforts. The Nootkan people have already given a very decided preference to the woollens of England. The followingftatement will, I believe, fettle at once the prefent difference, Mr. Dixon, between you and me. Your 2,552 Ikins, fold for 54,877 dollars, which is fomewhat more than Hveniy-one dolliirs per fkin. My cargo, (carried to Canton when you were there, confifling of 370 fklns, 120 of which were of the river otter, worth only from eight fo nine dollars I cach)— each)—was foLl for 14,000 dollars; antl the merchant who bought them, not being able to make good his purchafe, forfeited his depofit of 1000 doUais.— Many of thefe Ikim were of an indifferent quality, but tlie prime parchment fkins fold from xoo to 120 dollars per ikin. In the year 1788, which is the perioü when your extraordinary fale took placc, I beg leave to bring to your remembrance, and Mr. Etches will confirm the aflertion, that the prime fea-^tter skins fold at Canton, at an average price, from »/»e/y to öWi? hundred Mexican dollan per skin. In page 13 of your letter, you addrefs me la the following manner : I fliould have been happy to have included in the above flatement, the furs brought to the China market by yourfelf, your fecond voyage; and aUb thofe belonging to the Prince of Wales and Prtncefs Royal;—Thefc atco'.ints you " had it in your power to have laid before the Public ; but, for renfons bed " known to yourfelf, you have thought proper to keep them fecret." To the Public I maft readily give the account both of the oue and the other; and my cbarader Hiali ftand pledged for the accuracy of them.—You are continually giving me opportunities, Mr. Dixon, of clearing away any and every im-preifion that may be made by your Infidious, malignant, and Blfe depreciation of the North Weft American commerce. I arrived at Canton, In the Felice, in the month of December, 1788; my cargo confifted of about 750 flcins.—1 had not to encounter the controul of the Honourable Eaft India Company's fupercargces, but poflefled a free, independent power over my cargo, which 1 fold for 38,000 dollars, being fometliing better than 50 dollars per Ikln. D 2 It Ir may not alfo be improper to obferve, that the Chmefe furriers forted thefc ikiiis into the following clafles: Of the firfl: quality the fecond the third the fourth the fifth the fixth lOO 200 200 90 120 40 Total 750 The tails of the fea-otter, which were promifcuoufly attached to thefe (kins, averaged about fix dollars per taiP. I Hiall alfo add another ciicumftance relative to this cargo, as it is in point to the general queftion. The Chinefe furrier, who had bought the whole of it for 38,000 dollars, being apprehenfive that the Hoppo, or ^Comptroller of the Cuftoms, would ex-ercife his arbitrary power, in taking fuch of the ikins as he might chufe, at Iiis own price, if he knew of the fale, requefted that it might not be immediately divulged; in confequence of which the Hoppo came on board the Felice, and felected eight of the befl: ikins, and twenty of the fineft tails : for the former he paid me 250 dollars each, and for the latter 15 dollars each ; which I, of courfe, allowed the Chinefe merchant, on completing the contrad between us. The Prince of Wales and Princefs Royal arrived off Macao the fame month, with a cargo, which was acknowledged by the Chinefe merchants to be in the bcH: condition of any brought to the Canton market; and many applications * The rcafon of the finali comparative number of tails ar'ifes from their being confidered as the cxcliifive right of the Aaiciican women, who employ them in their drcfs. were were made to Mr. J. Etches, the fupercargo of thofe /lilps,- for the tllfpofnl of his cargo, before he went up to Canton. He expofcd, however, only thofe (kins which were of the fecond quality to file, for which he was otfered fevcfjtv-ßvc dollars per (kin; and he and Captain Cohiett wrote an account of the öfter to their owners, and acquainted them that if they could not procure an higher price, they fhould clofe with the offer, and pay the proceeds Into the Company's treafury at Canton. He was offered fo high a price as one hundred and fifty ddlars for fome of the befl: fltins.—A few days after this offer, they received a petemptory order from the Eafl: India Company's Council, for the Prince of Wales to procced to Canton with the joint cargoes, whic]i was accompanied with a prohibition to difpofe of any part of their furs. On their arrival they found the fatal precedent, eflabUflied hy Captain Dixon's-commander, of leaving the fale of his cargo to the controul of the Company's Supercargoes, in full force ngainft them. So that, excUiflve of a large quantity of pieces of fea-otter fkins and other furs, which were left at tlicir own difpofal, they delivered to the Supeicargoes 1959 whole fca-oller skins, and ßxty-five cloaks made up of the furs of the fame animal^ for which tlicy granted Mr. Etches bills on the Eafl India Company for fifty fix thoufand dollars, amounting to no more than about twmty-feven dollars and an half per skin.—The difference between the price offered by the Chinefe merchant, and that whicli was paid by the Company's fupercargoes, renders all further obfervatlon iuperlluous.—And now, Mr. Dixon, I have laid thefe accounts before the Public, (vhich, with your ufual liberality, you fuggeft that I withheld from fome (inlfler and dif-honourable motive.—Your ignorance, to fay no worfe, has called forth thefe incontrovertible proofs of the falfhcod which pervades your ftatement of tlae North Weft American fur trade. I have one more item for your fatisfadion On this fiibjeÖ. The Spanilh commanders, in their tender kindnefs, thought proper to return 96 skins belonging to the cargo of the North Weft America, which they had felzed, as ftated ill the memorial prefented to the Houfe of Conmions. Thefe, with the maflcr. maAer and crew of tbntlittle vefl'el, were taken to Canton on board the American (hip Columbia, who took 24 of the 96 skins for freight. The account of their iale, from Canton, is thus ftated in a letter to me, by the Cbcflcrficld Indiaman, dated Canton, February 12, 1790. 1 have received from the Americans 72 skins, (cf the midMing, fi'cond, and third fjuality) ; they clcdučl: 25 per cent, for the freight; and thefe 72 I have fold for 4000 dollars." Thus, at fo late a period as in t!ie commencement of the laft year, fea-ctler f/chis, which are flated to be of the midJling, ßcondj and third qualities^ averaged at the Canton market at ßfty-ßve dollars and an half per skin. flaving employed fucli reafons as my own experience and uiformation fug-geftcd, to deteft the fallacy of tiie ftatement in your pamphlet, which is calculated to give the moft erroneous ideas concerning the fur trade between the North Weft Coaft of America and China,—I fliall proceed to flate a few corroborating arguments In favour of my opinions concerning that trade:—And the firft will be taken. Captain Dixon, from your own voyage, p. 300, 301.—The account there giveti, differs fo much from your opinions in your letter to me, that as you acknowledge you did not write it, I am difpofed to think alio that you have never read it. Tiie paflage I allude to proves, as I have already ajferted, that the low flile of your furs arofe from accidental circumftances, and by no means from the flate of tlie market for that article when you arrived at Canton. The pafliige is as follows: " In regard to the fale of our furs I fliould obferve, that there is at Canton a company of wealthy merchants, called the Houng Merchants, with whom our Eaft India Company tranfačt all their bufinefs, and pur'chafe from them the ** whole of the tea and China-ware fent to Great Britain. To theie people our " furs fars were offered, with an expe£latio]i of their iiijmedi:Ttely tal . • • • Vc-T- • -^^r^^Jk ■• ' ••.'-'i''- ■■ - f —r .■ t ■r.'-rs^- . \ • ^ • • 'i. < v . ,c" •.-.-I • •i'' * v, >s - - ^ A / f loi^}: -lJ I - 1 ;- a.- . .-irt'-Uü';, ■. , il. .. _ : •. ■ ; ....... r.rtrK*.:?-^ -r-A' ■ , r . .1 - . : j-fi i •VJiT" - : ---n —ii i- r i t t --i J, .-J. f.... . .-i.Vv-.^.- .M'- ^SÄ ••»'t . .... . ■WZ ...J, ' m J* W--f0 ■ W t Jv-tf/ Iv^i? ik ä/.-rSk vi^.ič^ vAi'^ -.i k v r H J. A /..Jt^'^