ABSTRACT
The invasion and subsequent settlement of New Holland, as Australia was initially known, are documented in an enormous quantity of watercolours and drawings, along with the rather fewer oil paintings and prints that were produced from 26 January 1788, when the British landed, and throughout the early colonial period. This chapter focuses on the process of colonization and offers fascinating evidence to assist the understanding of what was actually taking place. It considers some of the earlier reactions to Australia before going on to look in closer detail at how the language in which that terrain was described and the ways in which it was pictured tell of the process of colonization. Because these were British settlers, bringing with them (to various degrees) British culture, they had to adapt that culture to accommodate the strangest of unfamiliar environments. Some of the first to encounter the place found it to be exotic beyond comprehension.
