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''Imperial Eagle'', originally named ''Loudoun'' (also spelled ''Louden'', ''Loudin'', and ''Lowden''), was a 400-ton burthen (bm) British merchant ship, launched in 1774 at Liverpool. By 1780 her master was S. Rains, her owner Robertson, and her trade a transport out of London.〔 In 1786 she underwent refitting at Shadwell Dock, Thames, London. She then sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. She was under the command of Captain Charles William Barkley until confiscated in India. Although some sources, such as Miller,〔(Capt. Barkley in IMPERIAL EAGLE in Barkley Sound ), The Maritime Paintings of Gordon Miller〕 state that ''Loudon'' was a former East Indiaman, this appears to be incorrect. Hardy and Hardy do not list her, under any of the alternative spellings of her name, among the vessels that performed voyages for the British East India Company (EIC).〔Hardy and Hardy (1811).〕 The National Archives's guide to East India Company records in the "British Library: Asian and African Studies (previously Oriental and India Office Library)" also has no record of any vessel bearing her name, in any of its alternative spellings.〔National Archives:''Lord Melville'' (1) to ''Maitland''() - accessed 24 November 2014.〕 As ''Imperial Eagle'', she was among the first ships used in the trading system that developed in the 1780s, in which traders collected sea otter pelts on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, through trade with the indigenous peoples, and then sold them in Guangzhou (Canton) or Macau, China. The Hawaiian Islands, only recently discovered, were a key way station, with many trading vessels spending the winter there. This maritime fur trading system had originated from the voyages of James Cook, which unexpectedly had revealed the value of sea otter pelts in China. ==Austrian East India Company== Although ''Imperial Eagle'' was British-owned and operated, the ship masqueraded as a vessel of the fictitious Austrian East India Company, and sailed under the flag of Austria. In fact the ship was owned by various British supercargoes, including some in China and several East India Company directors in England. They called their partnership the Austrian East India Company.〔(BARKLEY, CHARLES WILLIAM ), Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online〕 John Reid and Daniel Beale were two of the supercargoes.〔A. R. Williamson, “John Henry Cox: the Founder of EWO”, in ''idem'', ''Eastern Traders: Some Men and Ships of Jardine Matheson & Company and their Contemporaries in the East India Company's Maritime Service,'' Ipswich (England), Jardine Matheson, (), pp.1-35; Louis Dermigny, ''La Chine et L’Occident,'' Paris, SEVPEN, 1964, tome III, p.1141.〕 Beale, operating out of Canton, acted as the Prussian agent in that port.〔Barry M. Gough and Robert J. King, “William Bolts: An Eighteenth Century Merchant Adventurer”, ''Archives: the Journal of the British Records Association,'' vol.xxxi, no.112, April 2005, pp.8-28.〕〔(Sea Otter fur traders on the Northwest Coast of North America ), John Robson〕 The real Austrian East India Company, also called the Ostend Company, which had existed from 1722 to 1731,〔(The Ostend East-India Company ), Paulus Swaen Old Maps and Prints〕 had nothing to do with the ''Imperial Eagle''. In 1775 the Austrian East India Company was briefly revived when Maria Theresa of Austria granted a charter to William Bolts to establish "Imperial Company of Trieste", which operated until 1785, when it went bankrupt.〔Franz von Pollack-Parnau, "Eine österreich-ostindische Handelskompanie, 1775-1785: Beitrag zur österreichische Wirtschaftsgeschichte unter Maria Theresia und Joseph II", ''Vierteljahrsschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgesichte,'' Beiheft 12, Stuttgart, 1927; H.H. Dodwell (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of the British Empire,'' Vol.IV, ''British India, 1497-1858,''Cambridge, 1929, p.116.〕 John Reid was the agent of his company in Canton; he was also one of the owners of the ''Imperial Eagle''.〔W. Kaye Lamb, “Barkley Papers”, ''The British Columbia Historical Quarterly,'' no.6, 1942, pp.49-50.〕 The ship's owners changed her name from ''Loudoun'' to ''Imperial Eagle'' as an attempt to evade paying for trading licenses from the East India Company and the South Sea Company, which together held a monopoly on all British trade in the Far East and Pacific. The East India Company controlled British trade in Asia and the South Sea Company controlled the Pacific trade on the west coast of the Americas.〔(BARKLEY, Frances ), ABCBookWorld〕 British traders wanting to work within the companies' domains were legally bound to acquire licenses. The cost was exorbitantly expensive.〔''Washington State Place Names'', p. 64〕 In the late 18th century a number of independent British traders, notably John Meares, sailed under false flags in order to evade paying for the required licenses. It was akin to flying a flag of convenience but due to the company monopolies, it was illegal for British traders to do so. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Imperial Eagle (ship)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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