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In 1791, the British government sent a major survey expedition to the northeast coast of the Pacific as part of its campaign to dominate the fur trade between America and Asia. The next year, the British also sent a delegation to China to seek changes to the terms of trade between the East India Company and the Qing Empire. Astronomical instruments played a crucial role in both these enterprises—signs of British power, they were also capable of taking high precision measurements. Presented in theatrical demonstrations and displayed in ways that highlighted how ingenious they were, they could also be stolen, or even broken, and sold. This paper examines the way that, during these expeditions, astronomical equipment mediated between various population groups, locals, merchants, administrators, scholars, and travelers. Because these instruments could represent different values and cosmologies, their trajectories provide a useful means of tracing the courses and consequences of cross-cultural encounters.