<p>This sepia drawing is from an album of coastal profiles. It was created on board the East India Company ship Ponsborne, during a return voyage to Madras and Whampoa between 1783 and 1785 under the command of William Hammett. The album is signed ‘Hodson’, who is most likely the ship’s purser John B. Hodson. The profiles highlighted prominent landmarks to assist navigation and were accompanied by latitude and longitude. In 1557, an agreement with China allowed the Portuguese to establish a permanent trading factory at Macao on the western side of the Pearl River estuary, which developed into an important commercial centre.</p> <p>See Janus record <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FRCMS%206'>here</a> </p>