First Fleet artwork collection

Harbour scene with an Aboriginal man, woman and child paddling a canoe which has fishing spears in the rear and a camp fire burning in the centre. The two adults are facing forwards, looking out towards the viewer, while the child is depicted in back view, looking out to sea. The water is represented by a gradated wash of blue through yellow and pink to blue again, overlaid with short horizontal grey brush marks in the foreground. The horizon is low, with a low-lying island to the left and a headland to the right, so that the sky occupies approximately three-quarters of the picture. The sky is represented by a gradated wash of pale blue through yellow to pink on the horizon. The drawing is framed by a single ink-line border, and annotated in brown ink below the border.