AustLit

A village chief tries to poison a diver and his two companions who have been separated from their ship in a cyclone. The stranded party take a brutal revenge.

Becke bemoans the passing of the age of the sailing ship and criticises the crews of the steamers that have replaced them.

A ship's captain is struck blind by lightning during a shipwreck. He and his wife and young daughter live as castaways on an uninhabited island until rescued by a passing ship.

A ship's captain returns to an island in the Solomons to avenge the massacre of a party of his crew members. The mission is assisted by a crew member who survived the massacre and has been held captive by the village chief.

Becke writes about his experiences during two mutinies.

Tells the story of Pacific Islander, Mani, and her violent French husband.

Becke describes the peace of a typical night on a Pacific island which was 'owned' by Bully Hayes. He and his partner lived on the island for several months with a group of Hawaiian workers.

Tells the story of 'The Island Brothers' Association of Christians', an American religious group with utopian desires and missionary intentions. Becke describes how he persuaded them to abandon their ill-fated mission. He condemns such groups as often being no more than a front for stealing land.

The story of an unfortunate dingo, captured in North Queensland as a pup, who is taken on board as a ship's dog.

Kala-Hoi, an old man, shares his memories with the narrator, including the tragic deaths of his wife and twin sons.

Becke outlines the history of the labour trade in the Pacific, known as 'black-birding', from its start in 1863 to the deportation of Pacific Islander workers from Queensland, beginning in November, 1906.

While Becke condemns the early practices he himself worked as a 'recruiter' and he attempts to present a benign picture of the trade under British regulation. He gives a detailed account of how the labourers were 'recruited', as well as portraying the 'recruiter' as a supposedly fearless hero.

Becke relates a number of anecdotes, including tales from his own experiences, amongst allegedly cannibal tribes in the Pacific region, particularly New Guinea.

In response to an enquiry from an English acquaintance, Becke dispels the belief that 'recruiting' is a gentlemanly and leisurely occupation.

Becke writes of the financial realities and physical hardships of earning a living in the Pacific Islands. His essay is written in response to a series of articles that extolled the ease with which fortunes were to be made in the Pacific region.

While hunting wild boar with a group of Islanders Becke learns the history of Tokolme, the site of an ancient fortress where an act of terrible treachery once occurred in pre-European times.

Becke describes the beauty of a mountain lake inland from the capital, Apia, on the island of Upolu.

Becke describes the day to day life of a small group of prospectors in the Upper Burdekin district in North Queensland, and reveals the origin of the name ombre chevalier.

While on a hunting trip, Becke meets a man who lives alone in the bush. The man tells Becke his rather tragic story and joins him on his expedition.

Recovering from malaria, Becke encounters the notorious outlaw Te-Bari, an islander from Miana in Kiribati Group, who has a tumultuous past. Seeing that Becke is unwell, Te-Bari invites him back to the cave where he lives.

Tells the story of the people of Nukutavake, in the Tuamotu Group, who were decimated by an outbreak of smallpox, which killed a third of the island's population in two months. Becke also visits the grave of a young boat-steerer, the 'dandiest boy' of the title, who was killed in a whaling accident twelve years before.