This article divides into two roughly equal parts, both of which aim to address the "act" rather than the "art" of drawing. The second part focuses on a theoretical discussion of drawing. The first bears on a number of themes including the role of drawing in colonial history, drawing and data collection, and drawing and memory. It begins by describing an episode that unfolded as an encounter between two worlds, and two ages--an episode whose meaning and effects are still controversial today.