The Voyage of the ‘Frolic: New England Merchants and the Opium Trade
In the summer of 1984, Layton (archaeology, San Jose State Univ.) and a handful of his students unearthed evidence of Chinese artifacts at a dig north of San Francisco. Layton later discovered that his findings were the result of the wreck of the clipper Frolic in 1850. Tracing the story of the Boston-owned, Baltimore-built ship led the author to discover the real purpose for which the Frolic was constructed?the opium trade between Bombay and Canton. Layton's story is the tale of the "illegal" opium trade, to which British authorities in India often turned a blind eye. Along the way, we meet Capt. Edward Faucon and a young slave laboring in Baltimore's Gardner Brothers shipyards?Frederick Douglass. A business history focusing on one firm's involvement in a lucrative drug trade at the middle of the 19th century, Layton's work is extremely well conceived, well written, and exhaustively researched. Highly recommended for all libraries.?Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.