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by It's been called a "bloody shame." London's famous tea clipper, the Cutty Sark suffered an extensive fire, reducing the 1869 vessel to a charred wreck. Luckily, however, much of the ship had already been removed for a restoration project, saving at least the mast and coach house from destruction. Naturally, the cost of the restoration project is expected to mount significantly. The Cutty Sark was one of the last clippers ever built and participated in the highly competitive tea trade, which stretched from Britain out to China. She was named after a witch in the Robert Burns' poem Tam o' Shanter.
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And the Drug Trade by Suebarron :: NR5 :: on 12 June 2007
The tea trade was paid for by the opium trade which used the same ships on their outward voyage to China. Opium was collected from India (the British colonies that then included territories that are now in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Burma). This was then used to pay for tea in China with the aim of addicting the population and rendering it vulnerable to the trade. When the Chinese reacted to this and other forced trade measures (the Boxer Rebellion) Britain, the USA, Japan, and France put them down with a violent military response. The film "55 Days at Peking" covers this period.