From the Illustrated London News comes this amusing image of people dancing on a raft amidst a group of ships and boats. According to the text on the side, this occurred during the Squadron Regatta in Cork, Ireland in July of 1851. Those on the raft were sailors from the HMS Leander who has dressed up to perform various dances on the raft for the amusement of all at the regatta. As a finale, the performers jumped into the water and then continued to amuse onlookers with their antics.

So far I haven’t been able to find out any more information about the occasion displayed in this piece, but I thought it was probably still interesting enough to share.