The recently restored Commissioner's House at the tip of Dockyard is not only a first class facility for special events, but it also holds fascinating and informative exhibits on both its ground and upper floors. Last week, Lifestyle focussed on the ground floor rooms, which highlight slavery, the Portuguese-Bermuda connection and the Ocean Yacht Race. This week, the spotlight is on the upper level, where a watercolour exhibition entitled Cruise of the HMS Vindictive on the North American and West Indies Station, 1845-1848 is beautifully presented by The Bermuda Archives.

In the days before photography, travellers -- explorers, botanists, military personnel and others -- used art to record what they saw in foreign lands.

Very often, military officers' overall training included draughtsmanship and accurate coastal profiles for navigational purposes, so the visual images they produced were accurate and meticulously detailed.

In many instances, they also kept journals of their travels, thus providing a more complete picture of what they saw and experienced.

Thanks to the prominent and imposing presence of British military officers in Bermuda during the 19th century, an impressive collection of their drawings and paintings have eventually found their way into the Bermuda Archives.

With the reopening of Commissioner's House at Dockyard, it is entirely appropriate that the first exhibition in two of the upper floor rooms should be a series of watercolours by Flag Captain (later Sir) Michael Seymour and Flag Lieutenant Herbert Gray Austen, a relative of the celebrated British author Jane Austen.

Entitled "Cruise of the HMS Vindictive on the North American & West Indies Station, 1845-1848'', the exhibition of paintings and text is divided into two rooms: the Bermuda station, featuring Captain Seymour's paintings of Bermuda, and the Halifax and West Indies Station, featuring Flag Lieutenant Austen's paintings of Canada and the Caribbean.

Behind these immaculate presentations lie two years of dogged detective work by Government Archivist Karla Hayward, whose vision it was to have the exhibition coincide with the reopening of Commissioner's House.

At the time, she set out on what would become a labyrinthine path, the painter of the Bermuda scenes was unknown, although it was felt more than likely that he was an officer on HMS Vindictive . She also had no idea whether any supportive journals existed, or where they might be.

Miss Hayward's quest was made even more difficult because she knew that because such paintings had intrinsic value, and were frequently separated from any related text to be sold and resold.

In the case of what are now known to be Captain Seymour's paintings, however, this pattern worked in Bermuda's favour, thanks to the generosity of Fay and Geoffrey Elliott, who donated their collection to the Bermuda Archives in 1994.

In 1997, a chance visit to the Archives by a grandson of Herbert Austen, precipitated efforts to determine whether the same artist had painted the Austen watercolours and the so-called Vindictive collection.

No firm conclusion was drawn, but in 1999 an unexpected break-through advanced Miss Hayward's search for hard evidence. The London dealer from whom Mr. and Mrs. Elliott had purchased the watercolours came into possession of a letter from a Captain Michael Seymour to his daughter. In it he wrote of a 1846 holiday in the US, and gave a detailed description of the drawings he had made en route. These matched exactly the list of US paintings in the original Vindictive portfolio, of which those in the Bermuda Archives were a part.

Impressive though the discovery was, more conclusive evidence was needed, and Miss Hayward set out with a will to find it. Her trail included researching 19th century newspapers at the great British Library, correspondence with the Courtauld Institute, Rockingham Castle in Leicestershire, England, and finally the Northamptonshire Record Office, where at long last Captain Seymour's journals were found.

Not only did this prove that the paintings in the Bermuda Archives were indeed done by Captain Seymour, but an unexpected bonus was discovering that he and a fellow officer, Lt. E.G. Hellewell, whose beautiful panoramic lithographs of Bermuda are well known to local viewers, had painted together.

With these vital pieces of the puzzle to hand, the way was now clear for the exhibition to proceed.

The paintings provide fascinating glimpses not only of Bermuda but also of other places, and one is immediately struck by the peace and serenity of the largely undeveloped landscapes and coastlines which they portray. Indeed, it is impossible to view them without feelings of remorse when contemplating the irreversible consumption of land which man has wrought in his insatiable quest for progress.

Miss Hayward's supportive text is both educational and informative, and the cooled air and subdued lighting add to the harmonious ambience, making a visit to this elegant exhibition well worth the journey.

In addition, she has produced an excellent take-away catalogue which provides a wealth of information as well as colour reproductions of some of the paintings.

Explaining the philosophy behind the show, the Archivist said: "I am trying to get the viewer to see Bermuda through the eyes of the artist, which is why the missing journal played such an important role in putting the text together. It is really a nice show, and while other pretty watercolours of 19th century Bermuda have been displayed, it is the joining of the journal's text with the visual which makes it different.'' Noting that Captain Seymour's Bermuda scenes are but part of a larger collection of his work, Miss Hayward revealed that enquiries are underway with a view to taking them to Canada to be exhibited alongside his Canadian scenes, which are on show in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Cruise of the HMS Vindictive on the North America & West Indies Station, 1845-1848 continues until September 30. Entry to Commissioner's House is included in the price of admission to the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Opening hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.