The illustration is a portend to the approach of bad weather and it shows the insignificance of the tiny vessel in the vast southern ocean – as if, as some of the crew thought they were sailing to the precipitous edge of an ancient sea. Small waves break in exactly the same manner as tidal waves and the view of the break in the foreground is a visual clue to what lies in store. Bligh comments in his log, ‘in the afternoon, the sky is much streaked with high wind and I fear the worst.’ How right he was.