National Library of Australia
The Flower Hunter | Ellis Rowan

Wild Tropical Jungle

Jungle on the Pioneer RiverScarlet, yellow-eyed dragonflies skimmed over its surface, while presently a great butterfly tremulously fluttered past, and the sunlight, catching the metallic lustre of its wings, changed them to every rainbow hue.

—Ellis Rowan, 1905

By 1888 Ellis Rowan had become the most recognised painter in Australia and was rapidly becoming a household name. That year she was awarded first place for Chrysanthemums and second place for Marguerites in the Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition. Although they were large, competent oil paintings—a medium in which she had not exhibited before—there was a storm of protest from her male rivals.

Rowan had produced these oil paintings during the winter of 1887, when she had made the first of six trips to Queensland. Overwhelmedby the luscious colour and succulence of the tropical vegetation, she did some of her best massed compositions.

Albizzia vaillantii 1887Rowan returned to the tropical warmth of Queensland during the winter months of 1891 and 1892, claiming a need to escape Melbourne’s winters for the sake of her health. She took Puck with her for a few weeks on the first trip. Captivated by the variety of the lush tropical vegetation, she sent 65 paintings back to Ferdinand von Mueller for identification. According to the records of these trips she visited Normanby, Rockhampton, Mount Morgan, Mackay, Thursday Island, Cape York, Cooktown, Somerset, Murray Island, Jervis Island, Cairns, Hambledon, Muldiva, Chillagoe Caves, Barron Falls, Myola and Herberton (J. McKay,Ellis Rowan: A Flower-Hunter in Queensland, p. 9–12).

Suspense ‘My first walk in the wild tropical jungle … I cannot forget. I entered, sketchbook in hand, by a narrow little pathway, probably made by an alligator. I kicked, as I thought, a grey stick aside—it was a snake, and quick as lightning it darted off, while I grew hot and cold in turns …’

—Ellis Rowan, 1905

So began her account of her fascination for the exotic plant and insect life of tropical Queensland. Her vivid descriptions reveal the eye of an artist, while her tales of near disaster satisfied her need for adventure. She suffered bruises, a black eye and the occasional fever, complained of stinging nettles, mosquito bites and sunburn. Amongst other things in her quest, she dangled by ropes over precipices, defied turbulent seas, a bolting horse and a hair-raising trip by rail.

A CorroboreeWhile she marvelled at the vegetation and wildlife, she was less than complimentary about the Indigenous people. In exaggerated letters to her husband she suggests the practice of cannibalism, and describes witnessing a corroboree and sexual rituals.

The Artistic Debate