VIEWS AUST NT

Dumont d’Urville visited Raffles Bay in the corvettes Astrolabe and Zelee between 27 March and 6 April 1839 whilst on his final voyage, which resulted in the discovery of Antarctica as a continent. Located at the eastern end of the Cobourg Peninsula, Raffles Bay was the site of the second abortive attempt at settlement on the northern coastline of Australia. It was named by Phillip Parker King in 1818 after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore. Like Flinders before him, d’Urville made contact with the Maccassar trepanging fleet and visited their encampment. Dumont D’Urville arrived at Victoria Settlement, commonly known as Port Essington, only five months after its establishment. The government intended that Port Essington be established as a major trading port like Singapore. Unfortunately, this attempt also failed and the settlement was finally abandoned in 1849. From Voyage au Pole Sud et dans L’Oceanie.

Dumont d’Urville visited Raffles Bay in the corvettes Astrolabe and Zelee between 27 March and 6 April 1839 whilst on his final voyage, which resulted in the discovery of Antarctica as a continent. Located at the eastern end of the Cobourg Peninsula, Raffles Bay was the site of the second abortive attempt at settlement on the northern coastline of Australia. It was named by Phillip Parker King in 1818 after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore. Like Flinders before him, d’Urville made contact with the Maccassar trepanging fleet and visited their encampment. Dumont D’Urville arrived at Victoria Settlement, commonly known as Port Essington, only five months after its establishment. The government intended that Port Essington be established as a major trading port like Singapore. Unfortunately, this attempt also failed and the settlement was finally abandoned in 1849. From Voyage au Pole Sud et dans L’Oceanie.

In 1855 Baines joined Augustus Gregory’s 1855–1857 Royal Geographical Society sponsored expedition across northern Australia as official artist and storekeeper. The expedition’s purpose was to explore the Victoria River district in the north-west and to evaluate the entire northern area of Australia in terms of its suitability for colonial settlement. The Baines River was named after him.

In 1606, the small Dutch ship Duyfken sailed from the Indonesian island of Banda in search of gold and trade opportunities on the fabled island of Nova Guinea.

Under the command of Willem Janszoon, the Duyfken and her crew ventured south-east. They sailed beyond papua New Guinea and explored and chartered part of the coast of Nova Guinea. They did not find gold but they did find the northern coast of a huge continent: Australia. Captain Janszoon was the first European to map and record any part of Australia so Duyfken's voyage marks the beginning of Australia's European recorded history.

An American artist, Schell was brought out to produce views for this series which was made to mark 100 years of Australia’s settlement. He was active in Australia from 1886-1889.

This engraving is from the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia which was the most ambitious publishing venture in Australian history up to the 1900's. It was conceived and financed by American publishers under the name of the Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co Limited, Sydney and Melbourne. It's ambitious aims of using the best artists, the best paper, the finest printing engraving techniques and for it to be the most comprehensive survey of Australia's colonial history ensured that it inevitably was doomed to be a financial failure. The legacy that it left on the other hand was some of the finest engravings and maps printed in Australia in the C19th.

Good early view of Darwin.

Forrest's third expedition in 1872 started from Geraldton to the source of the Murchison River, and then east through the uncharted centre of Western Australia, to the overland telegraph line from Darwin to Adelaide.

In 1855 Baines joined Augustus Gregory’s 1855–1857 Royal Geographical Society sponsored expedition across northern Australia as official artist and storekeeper. The expedition’s purpose was to explore the Victoria River district in the north-west and to evaluate the entire northern area of Australia in terms of its suitability for colonial settlement. The Baines River was named after him.