Hand-coloured.; Page No.279.

The prolific caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson uses this image to play both on the voyeurism of telescopic observation and on the instrument’s phallic likeness. The scene appears to be a fortified sea-front, with a large cannon pointing out to sea. The most prominent figure is an elderly sailor, standing between two romantic couples, who leers through a telescope. The erotic overtones of the sailor’s telescopic observations are heavily emphasized by the rather unsubtle placing of the gun barrel.