The travelers spent several days in Boston and neighboring Charlestown and Cambridge. On July 6, Bodmer and Maximilian visited the monument being erected in memory of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Building blocks were scattered about the site, and Maximilian took the liberty of acquiring several small granite souvenirs.

According to Maximilian's account, Bodmer made a number of drawings of Boston Bay and the distant shoreline and city of Boston on the morning of July 4. One of these features a view of the island in the harbor from which a flag telegraph transmitted signals to vessels.

Nearing Boston early on the morning of July 4, Bodmer executed several hasty studies of the approach to Boston Bay. This distant view of the shoreline would be difficult to identify today were it not for the descriptive caption on the reverse.