This engraving shows the Royal Navy’s first encounter with Inuit in the Arctic. John Ross explored Prince Regent’s Bay in north-west Greenland during his 1818 expedition. Here, Ross and William Parry can be seen exchanging knives and mirrors with their new acquaintances.

The artist of this engraving, John Sacheuse, was the expedition’s Greenland Inuit interpreter, who came to Britain on a Leith whaler in 1816. He spent time in Edinburgh, where he developed a passion for drawing, and was taught by the Scottish artist Alexander Naysmyth. Ross met him at Deptford while the ships were being fitted out.

Ross praised Sacheuse’s service and recommended the Admiralty to employ him on further expeditions. Unfortunately, he died of typhoid shortly after Ross returned to England.