Recent photograph of the Darwin statue of explorer John McDouall Stuart (1815-1866) in the contentious "pork pie hat " which annoyed the late historian , publisher and author Glenville Pike . Pike scoffed that a man who endured the privations of three dangerous expeditions , suffering scurvy and the loss of an eye , finally making his first successful transcontental south to north crossing in 1862 from whence he returned a physical wreck , was depicted in such a comical hat.
An early illustration of the explorer , above, shows him , sporting a broadbrimmed hat . Pike discovered another drawing of the explorer in South Australia in which he wore a more elaborate and protective hat , which could have been reflected in the Raintree Park statue in the CBD .
Little Darwin inspected the statue over Christmas and agree that the chapeau is a wee bit small and bland for the great explorer who opened up so much of Australia , one trail used to build the Overland Telegraph Line , the Stuart Highway named after him . His arm outstretched , it makes a great perch for birds which have decorated it and the hat with droppings . The plaque at the foot of the statue is hard to read , a problem with so many plaques all over North Australia .
Our attention was drawn to a strange sight near the statue- a pair of feral high heels and two apparently empty handbags.
Born in Scotland , the explorer was the son of an ex-army captain , his mother's maiden name McDouall . One of seven children ,both parents died when he was in his teens; he studied civil engineering at Edinburgh . Stuart apparently had an unhappy engagement with a lady and soon after came to Adelaide in January 1839, the colony just two years old . Becoming a surveyor , spending much time in the bush , it prepared him for his daring expeditions which resulted in him being described as Australia's greatest inland explorer.
