AustLit

Author's Preface: I have paved the way in my first Canto for the kindly interest of more than six hundred readers,...If I cannot - not being a native Australian - lay claim to sufficient originality in describing the natural features of our colonial scenery, let me hope, at least, that I may not be refused that meed of justice which might be ungrudgingly accorded to one who loves the land of his adoption with a sincerity that must conduce to inspire a generous love of simple truth, when treating, even in romance, of a land as beautiful in its favoured features as it is unique in its peerless progress and illimitable resources. The Author. Clifton Hill, May 1879.(pp.vii-viii).