An artist is hoping her work will bring wider recognition to botanist William Carron, who was one of only three survivors of the Kennedy Exploration through Far North Queensland.
Botanical artist Janet Hauser recently retraced the path of the 13-man expedition led by Edmund Kennedy from Rockingham Bay to Cape York in 1848.
Eight of the original explorers died of suspected starvation, another from accidental gunshot, and Kennedy himself was speared to death by an unknown Aboriginal man.
Mr Carron, convict William Goddard and an Aboriginal tracker known as Jackey Jackey, were rescued and survived.
Ms Hauser said she was inspired to follow Mr Carron's footsteps after learning he had lost the plant specimens he had collected throughout the expedition.
"I was hooked on the idea of doing a project about him and that's because he contributed greatly to the knowledge of plants in Australia but he didn't get any recognition," Ms Hauser said.
However, Mr Carron did keep a diary of botanical descriptions, which Ms Hauser used to identify different plant species throughout her own trip.
"His descriptions were so good, I was able to find them and paint them sometimes in the exact location they were," Ms Hauser said.
"All the time they were travelling, William Carron was finding all of these magnificent plants.
"I can only imagine the excitement of finding all of those plants you'd never seen in your life."
Mr Carron went on to work for the Sydney Botanic Gardens and also charted botanical species in the rainforests of northern New South Wales.
He died in 1876 and was buried in Grafton, about 80km from Ms Hauser's home town of Iluka.
Ms Hauser's artworks, based on Mr Carron's findings, are on display in an exhibition at the Yamba Museum.
The exhibition opening was attended by Mr Carron's great grandson Tony Price.
"For me it's an emotional thing, but an interesting thing," he said.
"With Janet taking up this project, it's like a mirror.
"She's completing a work that William Carron couldn't do and I think that's lovely."
