East Indiamen on the Madras Road, Bay of Bengal

Madras was not a natural harbour and as the sea broke into a heavy surf on an open beach, ships had to anchor in an open roadstead about half a mile from the shore. Passengers and cargo could go ashore only by special flat-bottomed boats called massoolas as seen in the foreground of this picture. The boats were made from planks of mango wood sewn together with coconut fibres. Although travellers wrote of the 'dreaded surf', landing by massoola boat was not as dangerous as it appeared due to the flexibility of the craft and the skill of the boatmen. The artist, George Chinnery made several studies of these flat-bottomed boats when he disembarked at Madras in 1802.

The Daniells arrived in Madras on 29 March 1792 to begin their southern tour. The National Gallery of Madras has another version of this scene by the artist.

Dr. Maurice Shellim will publish this picture in his next supplement of additional oil paintings by the Daniells.