The view from South Head looking across to today’s Middle Harbour includes an American naval brig entering the heads of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). It has been suggested that the vessel is the USS Porpoise, which visited Sydney on two separate American voyages of scientific exploration. The first visit with the Wilkes Expedition in December 1839 provided a wake up call with regard to the harbour defences of Sydney when the Porpoise and another American man-of-war entered the harbour unexpectedly overnight and were found anchored in Sydney Cove the following morning. The second visit was on the outbound voyage of the US North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition in December 1853. Later in this expedition, the Porpoise is believed to have sunk in a typhoon in the South China Sea.

This is one of four paintings held in the Mitchell Library that are titled in brushpoint in a similar hand. Better artists were less likely to title their work on the actual painting, indicating that this work is a copy of an original artwork, done by an amateur artist to sell to a broader popular market.