A port side view, just forward of the broadside, of the Liverpool Salvage Company ship Hyaena (1856) anchored bow and stern over the wreck of the cargo steamer Zelda (1874). A white ship's lifeboat is alongside the port bow with crew standing and sitting in it and a wooden ladder over the side into the water. Off the stern the ketch Edmond is anchored with a small boat off its starboard side. A rowing boat with people standing in it is moored to the rocks in the foreground. All three small boats look to have air pumps on board. The photographer was standing on the rocks of Maiden Bower looking out over the site.

The new cargo steamer Zelda was on its maiden voyage from Liverpool with a mixed cargo when it encountered thick fog on 15 April 1874. The ship did not reduce speed and at about 1230am on 16 April struck the rocks of Maiden Bower, southwest of Bryher. The crew were saved, but the ship broke up. Salvage of the cargo commenced soon after 18 April and was completed around the end of September 1874.