This is one of the earliest oil paintings depicting the town of Sydney from what is now East Circular Quay. This work is in the tradition of British topographical painting with the precise delineation and positioning of buildings and a lack of true perspective. Note the scrubby cleared vegetation in the foreground, and a few remaining gum trees on the far side of the Cove.

Notable buildings are First Government House on the far left, the tall white tower was part of the first St Phillip’s Church, but blew down in a storm in 1806, the base of the unfinished Military Windmill, and Dawes Battery with the British flag flying at the far right.