A highly stylized portrayal of a naval recruiting party driving across London Bridge following a Thames regatta. A cart positioned in the centre holds several volunteers. The man in naval uniform on the left holds out the bounty notice, while his companion holds an orange and a knife. A naval recruiter stands to the left in front of the white horses, holding enrolment papers. He looks towards a wide-eyed, young Thames waterman in his dress uniform. The narrative of the painting invites us to read him as a potential recruit. Two women flank the young man and appear to be presenting the oarsman to the recruiter. The young woman on the left wears a bonnet and yellow shawl, and on the right an old woman in black holds a rolled-up umbrella. Behind the waterman another recruit similarly coaxes him towards the recruiter. On the right are two orange sellers with baskets of oranges; one looks at her companion while the other glances towards the recruit on the cart, holding the orange. Behind them, on the bridge, a sandwich-board man in an ancient top hat carries boards inscribed 'THAMES REGATTA'. Further on the bridge, built between 1823 and 1831, other figures convey a sense of the variety and force of the crowd. In the distance to the far right some of the buildings of the north bank, such as the Monument, are implied. Below, the tops of masts suggest the presence of the River Thames.

The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860. There is some pictorial evidence that it may have been altered between 1864 and 1869 although the reasons for this remain unclear. The recruiter wears chin-encircling side-whiskers that were not introduced until this date. The white ensign flying from the waggon was not adopted as the Royal Navy's flag until 1864, and so the earlier flag was probably depicted as the Union, appropriate to setting up a base for 'raising and entering' men. The artist has also changed the collar style of the seaman sitting on the waggon holding out the bounty notice. The style on the left side of the collar reflects a new standardization post-1860, yet the right side of the collar has remained unaltered. The text on the sandwich-board to the right uses a wording that was not introduced until 1863, since between 1856 and 1862 the event was known as the 'Thames National Regatta'. The coat and badge of the young waterman shows the uniform of the Temple Rowing Club, which first rowed in 1863, two years after the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy.