Part of the text accompanying the illustration reads This scene is taken at low water from the rocks of micaceous schist that extend between Rapid Bay and Cape Jervis: it commands a fine view of the Cape, with the opposite shores of Kangaroo Island, about Antichamber Bay. Between Kangaroo Island and the mainland at Cape Jervis is one of the entrances to St Vincent's Gulf, called Backstair's Passage ... The birds represented upon the rocks in the plate, are cormorants, which abound along the sea shore.

This is one of 60 coloured lithographs found in the 1847 edition of South Australia Illustrated by colonial artist George French Angas, together with a descriptive passage for each. The lithograph was created by JW Giles from Angas' original painting. The date assigned is assumed to be approximately when the lithographs were created; the original paintings were done in earlier years.

George French Angas (1822-1886), naturalist and painter, was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He was the eldest son of George Fife Angas, one of the men behind the establishment of the new colony of South Australia. The young Angas repudiated his father's world of commerce and decided upon a life involving art and nature, studying natural history art and lithography before embarking on his travels. He sailed for Australia in 1843 in the Augustus, reached Adelaide in January 1844.

In July 1844 Angas left the colony for New Zealand. He returned to South Australia in January 1845 and remained for six months. During the visits to South Australia, Angas travelled with William Giles to the area in the vicinity of the mouth of the River Murray, and accompanied Governor (Sir) George Grey to the south-east of the province, Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln. Angas recorded these journeys in water-colour drawings which were shown in the Legislative Council Chamber in Adelaide in June 1845.

Angas, George Fife, 1789-1879

Angas, George French, 1822-1886

Giles, J.W.

Gill, S. T. (Samuel Thomas), d1818-1880

Bye, John A. T., Gunn, B.W. and Nikpalj, C.V. The wave climate off Cape Jervis, South Australia between June and November, 1974, Bedford Park, S.A. : Flinders Institute for Atmospheric and Marine Sciences, 1975

Light, William. Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island [cartographic material] / from a sketch by Col. Light, Surveyor General for South Australia ; and circulated by John Gliddon, South Australian agent. 3, Austin Friars, Adelaide : Surveyor General's Office, [1896-1920] (Adelaide : Alfred Vaughan, Photolithographer)

Kwan, Elizabeth Living in South Australia: a social history Netley, S. Aust.: South Australian Government Printer, 1987

Tregenza, John George French Angas, artist, traveller and naturalist, 1822-1886 Adelaide: Art Gallery Board of South Australia, 1982

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: George French Angas

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