This is a representation of the Wreck of the Reliance (East Indiaman) off the French Coast near Boulogne, November 12, 1842.
The print was designed and printed by G. Baxter from the description of R. Dickson, the only English survivor.
The Times of November, 1842, describes the wreck as follows: "She was of 1,550 tons, built in 1825 at Deptford and left Gravesend on June 15th, 1841. In a dreadful and terrific gale the ship went ashore, and the scene on the sandy beach was extraordinary from the number of boxes of tea washed up, and out of the 27,000 boxes she had on board, only 1,386 were recovered. The only persons saved besides Robert Dickson were Wm. O'Neill, a seaman, one Norwegian, one Prussian, and three men from Manila, and amongst those lost were the captain, 27 Chinamen who embarked at Whampoa, and 17 men from Manila who joined at Macao." The ship was bound from China to London, and was lost off Merlemont.
