Note 28 — Part II

9. Such is the lading of the said ships, which return to Europa with chà or tea, and with some porcelain, some articles of furniture in lacquered or varnished wood, rosewood escritoires, and candlesticks and other articles of white copper;28 and, finally, they carry a great amount of silk, both raw and in fabrics, which is their principal lading. The raw silk is used for the European manufactures, and with the fabrics they transact most of their trading. Each of the aforesaid nations has its agent in Canton, who during the year disposes of such goods as his ships could not sell; he furnishes to the Chinese the designs [for fabrics] which are every year invented, and they weave the stuffs of the same width as those of Europa. Afterward they sell these, as coming from Francia, Inglaterra, and other European countries, without any one being able to detect the fraud except those who have been in these islands—where it is notorious to all that this is true; and he who may doubt it will find this statement confirmed in the “Universal Dictionary” of Sabary.29 A large portion of the said fabrics or stuffs come to Nueva España in our trading-fleets, and, although they are of the same quality as those which the galleons carry from here to Acapulco—with only the difference that the latter are wider and somewhat more lustrous than the former—there is a very great difference in the prices; for the mere name of “French” or “English” confers value and estimation on the said fabrics throughout the kingdom of Mexico, and the mere name of their being “Chinese” renders those which go by way of Acapulco of little value.