The octant has an ebony frame and limb with a brass index arm, fittings, and a stop for the index arm which is now missing. It also has inlaid ivory plates on the crossbar and on the back of the frame. There is no tangent screw and the clamping screw is located on the back of the index arm. The octant has three socket shades, two red, and one green. Index-glass adjustment is made by a screw and on both horizon glasses by levers, wing nuts, and milled clamping screws. The sight vane has two pinholes and a swivelling shutter, whereas the back sight has one pinhole. A pencil or screwdriver is missing from the crossbar. An engraved decorative floral pattern is found on the lower half of the index arm. The octant has no box.

The instrument has an inlaid ivory scale from -5° to 95° by 20 arcminutes, measuring to 92°. The octant has an ivory vernier measuring to 1 arcminute, with zero at the centre.