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.

Bodmer executed a watercolor of Cape Lands End at sunset on the evening of May 23 . By the morning of the following day, England's southwestern coast appeared only dimly in the distance.

Bodmer's unfinished sketch of a small sailing craft observed in the Boston Bay area was one of several made during the morning of July 4, as the Janus neared the port of Boston

Bodmer's unfinished sketch of a small sailing craft observed in the Boston Bay area was one of several made during the morning of July 4, as the Janus neared the port of Boston

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 Janus passed Cape Hart or Hart Point, England, around eleven o'clock on the morning of May 22. Between four and five in the afternoon, Bodmer made a sketch of the English coastline off Dodbrook near a large promontory known as Bold Head.

Prince Maximillian's party reached Helvoet on May 15, and found lodgings at Hobson's an English packet hotel. While awaiting the arrival of the American ship Janus to take them across the Atlantic, they spent two days inspecting the town and its environs. Among the ships anchored at Helvoet at this time was the frigate Adriana. Bodmer produced a small study in watercolor of this vessel on May 16.

On May 15th, Maximillian's party left Rotterdam for the port of Helvoet. On their arrival, Bodmer took advantage of the oppurtunity afforded by a delay in transporting the luggage ashore to make a quick pencil sketch of the city as seen from the waterfront.

The voyage to North America began on the morning of May 7, 1832, when Prince Maximilian departed Neuwied for the Dutch port of Rotterdam on the Rhine steamer Concordia. With him were Bodmer and David Dreidoppel, an experienced hunter and taxidermist. Arriving at Rotterdam on May 9, the travelers put up at a hotel to await transport to the channel mouth at Helvoetsluys. On May 13, Bodmer made this watercolor study of an American ship in the harbor.