Away - away - in the wilderness vast,
where the White Man's foot has never passed"
- Thomas Pringle, "Afar in the Desert," 1881

In 1770, British explorer James Cook sailed along the east coast of what is now Australia. He mapped the land and claimed it for the British Empire as the colony of New South Wales.

Over the course of the next 100 years, the British colonized the rest of the continent. In addition to providing space for penal colonies, Australia served the empire as a trade resource for pearls, gold and wool.

Many subsequent expeditions picked up where Cook left off, forging into the interior of the continent and across to the western coast.

As explorers crossed the land, they encountered its aboriginal tribes, whom they saw as heathens in need of conversion, sources of free labor, and subjects of anthropological study.

Britain's exploration of Australia during the 19th century is well-documented - not only in writing, but also in sketches, paintings and photographs.