First Fleet artwork collection

Tonal pencil drawing of Sydney Cove looking East at sun-rise, with a ship leaving the harbour. On the hillside in the foreground are two figures in European dress, one of whom holds a telescope to his eye and appears to be looking across the cove toward the hut at the end of Bennelong Point. On the shore at right there is an open hut-like construction, with two figures approaching a boat or canoe in which three others are sitting. The composition is framed on the left by a large tree in the foreground, and the north shore, which is visible behind it. The ship, in full sail and flying the naval ensign of Queen Anne, can be seen in the mid-distance heading towards an island and the headlands of the north shore. The sky occupies almost half of the picture, with the rising sun just above the horizon and positioned almost in the centre of the composition, slightly obscured by cloud and casting rays upwards. The drawing is framed by a pencil border, signed by Watling, and inscribed with the title at bottom.