First Fleet artwork collection

A view of Cape Town and Table Mountain as seen from off-shore, with several ships at anchor in the foreground. Three of the ships, including the largest one in the centre, are flying the Dutch flag; one on the extreme left is flying the French flag, and two to the right are flying the naval blue ensign with the Union Jack of Queen Anne. Two more ships in full sail are visible on the horizon to the right and a flotilla of small boats close to the shore towards the left. Two Dutch flags are visible amongst the predominantly white buildings of the settlement, which is backed by a band of rich green vegetation at the foot of Table Mountain. The mountains recede towards the right and are coloured grey to olive green with darker detail and some squares of cultivated land indicated on the lower slopes. The peaks on either side of Table Mountain are labelled "1" and "2" and identified in the key below the drawing, and two of them have flags on top. The sea is represented by a grey-blue gradated ash overlaid with grey horizontal lines in the foreground, and the sky has a faint pink stain on the horizon and washes of blue towards the top. The drawing is framed with a thick black ink line and a triple-banded border, the central band of which is coloured with a pink wash and contains the title panel at the bottom. The signature and date are located in the inner band at lower right. Most of the outer band appears to have been lost through the drawing having been cropped.