This caricature satirizes the stream of young English women who travelled to India in the hope of catching a wealthy husband. They were uncharitably referred to as 'The Fishing Fleet'

The watercolour, from which this print is taken, was sold in these Rooms, 12 November 1991, lot 68, illustrated. The composition is a variant of an earlier plate by Gillray of the same title which was originally published in 1786. By 1810 stocks of Gillray's print had run low, and Rowlandson probably executed a second version of his friend's caricature to satisfy the demands of the publishers and the public, for whom the subject remained popular. Gillray by this date had fallen prone to dementia. The auctioneer to the left is perhaps intended to represent James Christie