Since the Experiment was sailing into waters considered dangerous, the promoters were determined to protect their investment. They equipped the sloop with two ten-pounder carriage guns, twelve small arms, four blunderbusses, and two pairs of pistols, together with gunpowder and ammunition, to keep pirates at bay. The company purchased two brass compasses, one of which was "second hand," a "New Wood Compass," and "Charts of Directions for sailing to, from, and in the Indian Ocean" to navigate the sloop safely to China. A "Medsin chest" and supplies costing £7.7.0 were to take care of the crew's health. ¹⁶

Procuring a suitable cargo posed a particular problem for the promoters because American merchants had little direct experience to draw upon in selecting the most likely items to sell well in Canton. The sole previous American venture, by the Empress of China, had taken out a mixed cargo including thirty tons of Appalachian ginseng, fifty tons of cordage, and thirty tons of lead, plus planks, cloth, and assorted wines and spirits. This had sold for just over $270,000; the ginseng alone accounted for $240,000. In addition, $20,000 in silver dollars had been shipped in casks to be used for further purchases. ¹⁷ Stewart & Jones' letter of 16 November makes it clear that the promoters of the Experiment voyage, from the start, viewed ginseng as the principal product to be shipped to China. The evidence of their weekly meetings at Bradford's reinforces this conclusion: on 29 November "It was ordered that if an addition of 2000 lb to the quantity of Ginseng already mentioned can be procured of a good Quality, that it may be purchased by the Committee," and a week later "That 6000 lb of ginseng be purchased even should the Shares

The appetite for the Empress of China's alcoholic offerings seems also to have impressed the subscribers. Four hogsheads of "Jamaica Spirits," at £98.6.6, and four quarter casks of "Old Madeira Wine," for a further £62.3.0, were part of the Experiment's cargo, but again the return was dismal -- the rum sold for a little over $80 per hogshead and the Madeira for barely $50 -- a gross profit of about £38 in total. Clearly, Chinese enthusiasm for Western wines and spirits had waned enormously during the previous two years: these exotic liquors had outworn their novelty. ²¹

The subscribers also made a token gesture toward satisfying the Chinese taste for luxurious pelts by including a cask of assorted furs. This represented a minimal investment of only £15.14.0 ($39 1/4), but Houqua valued them at a mere $12. His opinion of the four casks of "best Scotch Snuff" was even lower: he paid $100 for the entire 1078 pounds that had cost the shippers £122.7.0 ($305 7/8), while the sole cask of tobacco of the six they had loaded that was sold in Canton went for half its cost in New York. ²²

The remaining goods shipped to China were naval stores -- 101 barrels of tar, ten barrels each of turpentine and rosin, five barrels of varnish, and two barrels of spirits of turpentine -- that cost £130.4.2. These stores, together with anchor cables and one of the Experiment's boats, were sold to other Western vessels in Canton. In all, the goods loaded aboard the sloop in New York cost the subscribers £1657.3.10 ($4143), and sold for $7549 1/2. Captain Dean, however, incurred expenses of $4679 40/96 on the outbound voyage and while in Canton, of which $241 represented