A view of an out-rigger dugout canoe with five Torres Strait Islanders on board, in very shallow waters off a beach. The canoe has a large and long central hull with thin out-rigger sponsons (floats) on either side, attached to the hull across the top with long poles. The central area between the cross-struts has been boarded out and edged with woven split bamboo storage bins on each side. The four men have short-handled paddles on the port (left) side. A small child stands in the canoe next to the second man, behind the platform, inside a stitched raised bulwark or gunwale. The shading on the photograph suggests that the canoe hull was decorated.

The photograph is captioned: 'Canoe of Torres Straits Islanders.'

Dr Coppinger records arriving off Somerset and Albany Island in early June and remained in the Torres Strait area for four months. They left on 1 October for Port Darwin, arriving on 20 October 1881.