Heaphy, Charles 1820-1881 :Ye landing of ye diggers [1852]

A line of naval officers being carried from a rowboat to the shore, three climbing the rocks beyond, with digging equipment. A number are falling in the water and all have humorous captions applied to them, including 'ye dog Robert'. The party included officers from H. M. S. Pandora T. Morton Jones, Oke, Stanley, Cuming, Blackney, Farmer, Leck, Hooper, and Ellis as well as Gold Commissioner Charles Heaphy.

'Ye Purser' (aboard the Pandora) was Mr Simmons. 'Ye first Lieutenant' was Theodore Morton Jones; 'Mr Stanley' was William Stanley, 'Ye medical officer' was the ship's surgeon, John Joliffe, 'Mr Blackney' was William Blackney, who later changed his name to Blakeney; 'Master Ellis' was one of the midshipmen, 'Master Hopper' was Thomas Hooper Kerr.

Inscriptions: Recto - Ye Pandora in ye distance [above the ship in the left distance]; Ye purser wishests go further in [of Mr Simmonds, purser of the Pandora, in the rowboat attempting to come closer to shore]; Master Oke perceiving difficulties ahead secureth his seat before starting [of the first officer on the left in the water, appearing to strangle the man carrying him on his shoulders]; Horizontal parallax of Mr Stanley [of the second officer from the left in the water, William Stanley, who is about to fall forward off the shoulders of his bearer]; Mr Cuming as comfortable as circumstances will allow [of the 3rd officer from the left being carried]; Ye 1st Lieut [4th officer from left, Theodore Morton Jones]; Ye medical officer seeth before him an Aqua Marine [of the 5th officer, Dr John Jolliffe, being carried and looking down on a Marine who has fallen into the water]; Mr Blackney in exuberance of spirits precedeth his horse (Marine) [the 6th officer, William Blackney, or Blakeney, who has fallen from the shoulders of his marine and landed in the water at its edge]; Ye Master Hooper welcometh ye comers; so doeth ye Dog Robert [of the officer, Thomas Hooper Kerr, and dog on shore]; Trusteth to a rotten stick [of the officer climbing the cliff on shore and falling from a poor handhold]; Master Ellis resteth [of Ellis, a midshipman, the officer half-way up the cliff]' Ye refreshments [of two bottles atop the cliff]; [an illegible sentence of the man seated on the cliff top to the right]. The handwriting is that of Theodore Morton Jones, in pencil.

Quantity: 1 watercolour(s).

Physical Description: Pencil & watercolour 139 x 229 mm