The Natural History Museum of London website features an online collection of some of the artworks that were created by the members of the First Fleet, the group of nine ships that set sail from Portsmouth to establish a colony in New South Wales, Australia. The artworks are considered to be "outstanding drawings of aboriginal people, the environment and wildlife found on arrival as well as of the early foundation of the colony." Bird lovers out there will find this collection quite a treat, as there are a slew of drawings of birds. Mammal lovers will get to see drawings that are some of the only know record of species that have become extinct since 1788. The drawings are divided up into four different topics, "Natural History", "Ethnography", "Topography", and "History", and can be accessed by their links on the homepage. Each topic can be viewed as a "list" or "gallery", with the gallery view providing thumbnails and the title, and the list providing the title and the name of the artist. Once visitors have chosen a drawing to view, they can click on it to see the dimensions and date of the drawings, as well as an enlarged image of the drawing. Those with interest in more details, such as the donor of the drawing or where it's held at the Museum, should click on "show notes". The "interactive enlargement" link below the image allows visitors to zoom and pan within the image.
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