Chinese School, circa 1810

The view taken from the heights of Dane's Island, overlooking the Protestant burial ground, and shows East Indiamen at anchor during the six month trading season, masts lowered, while their captains and supercargoes are upriver at Canton. The traders' warehouses ('bankshalls') are seen on the banks of Whampoa Island beyond the anchorage, each flying its national flag. The famous nine-stage pagoda stands just behind the town of Whampoa, and the river to Canton is seen just to its left in the distance.