AustLit

In colonial society, the theatre attracts a diverse range of patrons, but the narrator would much rather associate with those in the 'gallery' than those in the 'boxes'.

The narrator expresses his irritation at the gentlemanly convention of bowing. He describes the numerous styles of bowing exhibited by Australian men and how these reflect a person's character.

The narrator rants against the changing nature of letter-writing and correspondence between England and Australia, stating that 'Penny Postage and electricity have ruined correspondence' by encouraging the exchange of a proliferation of poorly considered, trite and irrelevant information.

The narrator, in describing the Australian landscape, compares it to those of Europe, Asia, America, Africa and the Pacific and declares that 'In Australia alone is to be found the Grotesque, the Weird, the strange scribblings of Nature learning how to write'.

The forests and bush of Australia's mountains are described as grotesque places of fear and threat.

The narrator describes his experience of helping to fight a serious bushfire while visiting a friend on a sheep station. Though the damage caused by the fire was immense, the arrival of rain some days later soon saw the vegetation regenerating.

Escaped convict, Rufus Dawes, is washed up, exhausted, on the shore at Coal Head. Upon waking he finds the coal huts, and the provisions within, abandoned. He determines to take a supply of bread and meat with him, cross the desert in eighteen days, and reinvent himself as a free man. However, his plans go awry.

Working on Dinkledoodledum Station for a penny-pinching boss, three mates live a spartan, but happy-go-lucky, existence.

A small and isolated country town without a resident preacher sees a succession of itinerant preachers, some of dubious credentials, lecturing at the pub.

Story of the seven-year-old shepherd's son who gets lost in the bush and dies.

The narrator fondly reminisces about his time spent living at a Melbourne hotel known as 'The Friars' upon his arrival in Australia. His fellow residents and the suburban locals provided stimulating companionship.

The narrator takes readers inside an inner-city Pawnbroker's shop on a busy Saturday night to explore the items within. He informs readers of the varied reasons people have for pawning items, and the innovative ways they have devised for using the pawnbroker's services.

A model legislator, according to the narrator, is easily identified by his clothing and his physical appearance.

The inner-city streets of 'Fawkner's-town' are home to a variety of businesses, residents, and patrons that lend a vibrant character to the area.

The many hotels of Melbourne each have their own character and attract their own distinct set of patrons.

The narrator muses on the different characters that constitute the Australian squatter. He takes as an example his friends, old Robin Ruff of the Murrumbidgee, and young Dudley Smooth of Murriowooloomoolooneriangtrotolong Station, and compares their distinctly different approaches to running their businesses.

Interested to test for himself the effects of Cannibis Indica on the creative imagination, the narrator persuades a pharmacist friend to supply him with a small quantity of the drug and monitor its effects, and to also act as the narrator's amanuensis while he is under its influence. The narrator offers readers the story he imagined, and includes explanatory notes about the objects that inspired him.

An author is confronted by a man demanding to be given a better job and accusing him of being unfair. The author is at first confused, then astounded when he recognises features of the man as belonging to one of his frequently used, though negatively stereotypical, characters. The author quickly understands what the man is objecting to when he becomes dangerously embroiled in one of his own plots and must write himself out of danger.

Behind a simple death notice lies the story of the intertwining of two young lives, and the damage caused by ambition and pride. As the famous Henry Greatorex sits by his dying wife's bedside, he has much cause for regret as he reflects upon her faithfulness to him, despite his callous disregard and contempt for her as he rose from penury and obscurity to riches and fame.

Two child convicts approach their overseer's wife to ask about a friend of theirs. Their sad little faces so move her that she impulsively kisses and embraces them, bringing a brief moment of tenderness into their abject lives. Her husband, however, has a very different regard for the boys, and when they summon up the courage to escape forever his control, it is his wife's words they derive comfort from.