This engraving after a drawing by John Webber comes from the official account of Cook's third voyage, 'A voyage to the Pacific Ocean', published by Scatcherd and Whitaker in 1784.

Captain James Cook (1728-1779) made three separate voyages to the Pacific (with the ships Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure, and Discovery) and did more than any other voyager to explore the Pacific and Southern Ocean. Cook not only encountered Pacific cultures for the first time, but also assembled the first large-scale collections of Pacific objects to be brought back to Europe. He was killed in Hawaii in 1779.

John Webber was the artist on Cook’s third voyage from 1776-1780.

Cook's traveled to Nootka Sound (King George's Sound), Vancouver Island, on the north-west coast of America between March 29-April 26th, 1778.

Some of Webber's drawings can be dated precisely to 22 April. when he accompanied Cook to the village of Yuquot, where 'every thing that was curious both within and without doors' was drawn. Both this engraving and 'Habitations in Nootka Sound' have become popular images of the voyage. Webber kept to to the topographical features of the scene very well. Only a few subtle changes were made, such as the gradation of the houses on the left, and the heightening of the embankment, by which the houses are separated from the figures on the beach and gain a more towering position. These changes, minimal but decisive, bring the picture to life.

Mounted in album with PAI4078-PAI4164, PAI4166-PAI4214.; Page 209.; Plate No. 41.