Janus

On the morning of May 17, Maximilian and Bodmer took a stroll along the pier near Helvoet, where Bodmer made a sketch of one of the gunboats lying in the ship channel. In the afternoon the brig Janus arrived. Maximilian, Bodmer, and Dreidoppel boarded her that evening around nine o'clock, and she weighed anchor at three in the morning of May 18.

Gunboat near Helvoet, Holland

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.

View of Boston Bay

In his written account, Prince Maximilian noted that the Janus, a brig of r 70 tons, was not as well furnished as he would have liked: its small berths slept only six passengers. Bodmer's rendering of the ship's galley, made on July 3 off the coast of Massachusetts, furnishes additional evidence of the cramped quarters

Galley on the Janus

The Janus met numerous American fishing boats and other vessels off Cape Cod on the morning of July 3. Bodmer made several sketches from the deck that day. One of these includes the figure of the captain outlined against the ship's railing in the act of inspecting the coast of Massachusetts with a telescope. The figure shown sitting at a large barrel is probably Prince Maximilian.

Scene on the Janus

Nearing the coastal waters off Massachusetts on the morning of June 30, approximately one and a half sailing days from Boston, the Janus encountered large flocks of birds swimming upon a mirror-smooth sea. At nine o'clock a sounding was made, and near ten o'clock the ship's boat was taken out with Bodmer aboard. According to Maximilian's journal entry for this day, Bodmer made "a very accurate drawing" of the Janus as viewed from the smaller craft.

The Brig Janus

Sailing in a southwesterly direction along the French coast, the Janus passed the port of Calais on the morning of May 19. By midafternoon the ship was nearing Boulogne. On May 20 it passed near the Isle of Wight around four in the afternoon. Bodmer executed a view of the northern prospect of this island and another of the French coast opposite as the Janus made its way down the English Channel toward Cape Hart, England.

French Coast opposite the Isle of Wight

Sailing in a southwesterly direction along the French coast, the Janus passed the port of Calais on the morning of May 19. By midafternoon the ship was nearing Boulogne. On May 20 it passed near the Isle of Wight around four in the afternoon.

Isle of Wight