File:Wreck of the Hercules East Indiaman, on the Coast of Caffraria RMG PU6381.jpg

English: Wreck of the Hercules East Indiaman, on the Coast of Caffraria

One of the illustrations of various shipwrecks in accounts published by Thomas Tegg.

This appears to be the frontispiece to ‘Interesting Particulars of the Loss of the American Ship Hercules, Capt. William Stout, on the Coast of Caffraria, June 16, 1796; The Consequent Sufferings and Subsequent Adventures Of the Crew, During a long and painful Journey over the Southern Regions of Africa, to the Cape of Good Hope’, published by Thomas Tegg in 1809.

The print is generally attributed to William Elmes. However, Elmes is better known for working for Tegg between 1811 and 1816 as a caricaturist. Notable caricaturists working for Tegg around 1809 included Thomas Rowlandson, Isaac Cruikshank, George Dadley, Charles Williams, and Henry William Bunbury.

Inscribed: ‘Wreck of the Hercules East Indiaman, on the Coast of Caffraria’

The image appears to be a series of vignettes illustrating the unforeseen arrival of the crew of the Hercules, during her voyage to Bengal, on the coast of Caffraria, where a population of indigenous people reside. In the left background are two ships in peril: the one on the left is probably the Hercules, with the one adjacent on the right possibly being the long-boat described in the account. Below, near the left corner, are three men lifting a wounded man to shore, composed in a manner reminiscent of a deposition scene in religious imagery. The figure on the right within the group could be one of the indigenous people – ‘the Caffree tribe’ – whilst the others are crew members. Giant waves clamour behind them. In the centre of the image are two dominant figures, both decorated with ostrich feathers on top of their heads. The figure on the left is the chief of the ‘Caffrees’, wearing a leopard’s skin. He gestures with his right arm towards the shipwreck in the distance whilst his left hand grasps an assagay at an angle – ‘a spear of about four feet six inches in length, made of an elastic wood, and pointed with iron, which the natives contrive to poison so effectually, that if it wounds either man or beast, death is the inevitable consequence’. He looks towards the other figure that is walking uphill, left hand open – as if gesturing to an attentive dog adjacent to him – whilst he supports his body with an upright assagay held with his right hand, his garment billowing in the wind. In the right background is a campfire surrounded by indigenous people, all turning to face the events in the foreground. Below them, in the right-hand corner, an indigenous figure supported with an upright assagay observes the aforementioned wounded crewman and his helpers. Trailing behind him is a dog caught in the act of sprinting. Beside him is a tall tree, its branches and leaves blowing violently in the wind.

In the far distance can be discerned rocky mountains, large clumps of expressive clouds, and birds fleeing towards the top left-hand corner.