This sign/plaque reads:
Writers & Artists
"dreary, desolate grandeur"…
Writers, artists and naturalists were quick to travel the new road and record their perspectives. Their European eyes often struggled to see beyond the strangeness of the new lands.
Quoy, Gaudichaud and Pellion
Quoy, Gaudichaud and Pellion sailed with Louis de Freycinet on a scientific exploration of the South Seas. A particular interest was indigenous peoples. Alphonse Pellion was a midshipman and artist who produced historically important works.
In 1819 the expedition stopped in Sydney, where the three Frenchmen made a trip to Bathurst and wrote a joint account of the journey. At Governor Macquarie's request, they were accompanied by William Lawson.
1819: "Excursion to the town of Bathurst"
Spring-Wood is a place abounding in game of every kind…its tall woods harbour great flying phalangers, whose soft silky furs offer various shaded colours; the birds are no less numerous, and without counting the very brilliant family of parrots, on need only mention the Menura, or lyre-tailed pheasant…Another bird…is one whose song resembles the harmonious sound of a little bell struck hard…we delighted in listening to it…[and] succeeded in enriching our collection with it.
1839: "A Lady's Journey to Bathurst"
Lapstone Hill:"…among these lofty mountains and in their shady recesses the trees and shrubs grow in unchecked luxuriance, and yielded me many a new and beautiful flower. As we slowly wound up the sharp ascent, and the folding hills narrowed the view behind us, the scene was most picturesque and striking…gigantic crags, piled high overhead, were mingled with an endless variety of tree, shrub and flower…I was quite delighted, and thought that if all our progress over the dreaded Blue Mountains were as pleasant and interesting as the commencement, the journey would be much less wearisome than I expected."
The second night"… in New South Wales one universal reply follows the query of "What can you give us to eat?" and that is, "Ham an' eggs, Sir", mutton chops forming the usual accompaniment, if required. So ham and eggs we had, and mutton chops too, but from their being fried all together in the dame dark complexioned fat, the taste of these victuals was curiously similar, and both of impenetrable hardness.
Hartley Vale: "The weather…was excellent, the temperature mild, the moon, half veiled, shed light enough to guide our steps…the rhythmic beating of our horses feet was the only sound that reached our ears, silent, silent apart, we dared not break that religious calm which seemed to invite meditation.
Cox's Pass: "M. Pellion made a sketch of this feature that faithfully delineates it character. Built on the sides if the mountain…the ascent is thirteen or fourteen paces wide, its outer edge, which overlooks a frightful precipice, is protected by a wooden railing. Enormous blocks…seem to hang over the traveller's head and threaten to fall on it, at other times separate to leave between them a passage."
Visited: Monday, 3 October, 2016