In the days before photography, everyone who could sktech sketched. It was the popular way of keeping records and conveying information. Many drawings and paintings were done by visiting Europeans to satisfy the curiosity of their compatriots concerning the subcontinent of Australia.Most were intended to be engraved for books, and they often gave a hazy idea of the native flora, fauna and inhabitants after they had been adapted by engravers a world away who had never seen a gum tree, a kangaroo, or an Aboriginal. Cedric Flower's lively text describes the life and work of these artists.