From 1746 to 1749, the Swedish rigged brig Götha Lejon sailed on a mercantile mission to Canton. Several accounts of what transpired have survived. This handwritten journal, compiled by Carl Johan Gethe, recounts the long journey to and from Canton and relates Gethe’s impressions of Cadiz, Canton, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Java. The journal includes astute observations of daily life, descriptions of local customs and the great variety of forms of the Chinese language, and reflections on the journey itself, as well as an enthralling account of the flora and fauna encountered on the voyage. The captain of the Götha Lejon was Bengt Askbom. The journal of Carl Fredrik von Schantz (1727-92) provides another view of the same mission to Canton.