AustLit

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.