AustLit

Deserted by her mother as an infant, Pearl Grey has spent all her life on a cattle station in the Northern Territory. When the mother turns up unexpectedly the few characters who recognise her try to shield Pearl by keeping them apart. This situation causes some disruption to her romance with the hero of the play, however, as does a secondary story which involves an attempt to steal his gold. A review in the Argus suggested that the author's 'moralisings on the prospect of a white Australia' were the only low note in an otherwise beautifully staged show (27 December 1912, n. pag.)

Described as 'strangely old fashioned and domestic,' (Richard Fotheringham, Companion to Theatre in Australia 245), the play's principal characters include : a cattle king, a mine manager, a Port Essington pearler, a British Victoria Cross winner, an American geologist, a Japanese Pearl diver, a Chinese cook, and a comic boat captain, along with Aborigines and stockmen.