First trade with the East. other produce for her own country. In September 1788, Captain Read, the commander of an American merchantman, arrived in Philadelphia from a voyage to China, wherein he had performed the outward passage by stretching from the Cape of Good Hope to the south of New Holland (Australia), and runing northwards along the east side of that vast island, until he reached his port of destination. As we have seen, other American merchant vessels had reached the British possessions in India at a time while as yet prolonged voyages to the most distant regions of the globe were deemed such arduous efforts of nautical skill, as only to be performed in safety by a few experienced commanders in the service of Spain, Portugal, Holland, and England, who had been accustomed to the navigation of those distant seas, and were familiar with the routes, and the prevailing periodical winds. So rapid indeed was their progress, that out of the million tons of sea-going vessels owned in the United States at the commencement of this century, no less than seven hundred and twenty thousand were employed in their trade with foreign nations. Although some historians[1] attribute this prosperity in great measure to their protective laws, it will be found mainly due to the facilities which the United States afford for maritime pursuits, the abundance and cheapness of timber suitable for shipbuilding purposes, and especially, as we have just mentioned, to the energy of the people and the advantages they derived as a neutral nation.
- ↑ Tybert's 'Statistical Annals of the United States.'
