India-Based Expeditions of Trade and Discovery in the North Pacific in the Late Eighteenth Century

Abstract

Subsequent to James Cook's third voyage, which advertised the possibilites of a new branch of commerce, merchant adventurers outfitted expeditions of exploration and especially trade to exploit the sea otter resources of the Northwest Coast of North America and to barter with the local Indians. Significant in this avenue of business were the mariners John Mcares and James Strange, based in Calcutta and Bombay respectively. Nine India-based vessels sailed for the Northwest Coast. Gradually the trade's Asian focus shifted to Macao and Canton, as certain corporate interests within the East India Company concentrated their capital and ships at Macao and Canton, closer to the Chinese market for the sale of sea otter skins.