A monochrome view looking across Sydney Cove in an easterly direction towards Bennelong Point, and further out on the left in the direction of the harbour entrance which is hidden from view by overlapping headlands. In the foreground the composition is framed to the right by a leafless tree, in front of which is a small hut, and the figures of two Colonists chopping and carrying wood from a fallen tree. To the left, the land slopes down to the shore where a group of Aborigines, one paddling a canoe, are fishing. In the mid-distance a ship flying the naval ensign of Queen Anne is depicted moored in the harbour with two smaller boats attached. The eastern shore of the Cove includes recognisable buildings such as Government House, the Dry Store by Government Wharf, and Sydney's first church at centre right (see McCormick, 1987). In the distance another ship can be seen passing between small islands in the direction of the harbour entrance, where a flag is visible on the horizon at the extreme left of the composition. the sky is largely unpainted apart from washes towards the top representing clouds. The drawing is framed by an unevenly painted black ink border, and titled in black ink copperplate script below it.
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