Whampoa
Books
- Fast Ships, Bad Trade Opium Clippers and the Making of the China War · Liszt Think
In 1829, the East India Company’s monopoly birthed a vessel designed to outrun monsoons and defy imperial law.
- Matheson’s Calculated Gamble…in 1835, the firm had commissioned the first merchant steamer in China, the Jardine, intended as a mail carrier between Lintin, Macau, and Whampoa. On its first trial run from Lintin, forts on both sides of the Bogue opened fire, forcing it to turn back—a warning that the firm’s drive…
- Jardine’s Departure…departure. Jardine, Matheson & Co. had sent the first private shipments of “Jardines’ Pickwick tea mixture,” a blend of Chinese teas, from Whampoa aboard the firm’s clippers. The firm had expanded into the opium trade with the same aggressive efficiency, building a fleet of fast ships…
- The Jardine Papers Before Parliament…n and sail area sat beside calculations about the timing of monsoons and the disposition of receiving hulks. Market reports from Lintin and Whampoa shared pages with assessments of demand from coastal distributors. The correspondence showed, with the precision of an accountant’s ledger,…