This coloured aquatint shows the paddle steamer Milwaukie, in port broadside view, steaming past a brick-built light house which is on the left-hand side of the image. Black smoke pours from the funnel. Figures standing around the light house survey the scene, as do the passengers crowded on the decks of the steamer. The ship's name is on the side of the vessel and on a pennant flying from the stern. A company flag flies from the bow and a flag on the mast appears to bear the symbol of an eagle with outspread wings. Dark, billowing clouds indicate an approaching storm.