Patterson sails from Providence.

The ship arrives at Whampoa on January 1, 1804. On board are Perkins Company agent Ephraim Bumstead and his new 16-year-old assistant, John Perkins Cushing. Bumstead soon becomes ill and returns home, and Cushing replaces him, establishes a close relationship with the Chinese trader Houqua, described later as the richest man in the world.