The EIC chartered Fortitude, of 500 tons, Hughes, master, to bring 450 Chinese settlers and a cargo of piece goods to Trinidad.

[4] She was at Saint Helena on 28 August and arrived in Trinidad on 12 October 1806 with 192–194 men, out of some 200 who had embarked.

When Fortitude arrived in Trinidad, Lieutenant Briarly, of the British Royal Navy seized her for violation of the Navigation Acts.

The EIC's agent in Trinidad, Joseph Marryat, objected to the importation of the goods, reporting that it undercut the local merchants who had purchased their goods from the EIC.

Fortitude was admitted to registry in Great Britain on 20 April 1808.