Over a decade before the 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, a French exile was sent on an official mission to find a crossing further south. It was country of the Gundungurra people. Francis Barrallier's account of his three "incursions" (as he himself called them) is the most detailed and intriguing of the early colonial first-contact stories in Australia.

Referred to as "the Frenchman" by Captain Macarthur, Barrallier also explored and surveyed at the Hunter River, Jervis Bay and Western Port. His prospects in the colony were bright, but he suddenly became a victim of the feuding between Governor King and Rum Corps officers. Instead, his talents as an engineer, surveyor and cartographer were employed by the British in the West Indies. Among other things he surveyed Barbados, and his map is now proving valuable in the campaign for restorative justice for the descendants of the slaves of that former colony.This is the story of Barrallier's long and fascinating life, with emphasis on his brief but significant time in New South Wales. How did he fit in with the English colonists, and was he influenced by his countrymen, members of the visiting Baudin expedition? What were the motives for the Blue Mountains expedition, what happened, and who were the many Aboriginal people involved?