AustLit

A supercargo spending a few months at home on his mother's N. S. W. property meets an American sailor prospecting on the beach and caring for his sick mate. The sailor, Alvord, proves to be a man of extraordinary luck.

A ship's bosun tells of his experience with a sawfish at the mouth of the Macleay River.

Tells of illegal gun-running in the Pacific at a time when the British and Germans were promoting their own interests by supporting warring Samoan factions.

A trader rescues two hundred survivors of the ill-fated French settlement in New Britain, established by the Marquis de Rays and known as Nouvelle France. He insists they live on board their steamer until he can send them to Sydney. When two of the Frenchmen become rivals in love a duel is arranged, with farcical results.

A man, recovering from malaria at a friend's inland property, longs to be by the sea.

A shipwrecked sailor lives in a New Guinea village for three years. Eventually a ship anchors near the village to carry out repairs. When a young woman from the ship offends the local inhabitants and is taken prisoner, the sailor leads an expedition to rescue her.

A trader sets out on an expedition seeking pearlshell, but his ship runs aground. While fighting off the local inhabitants there are several explosions and the ship is destroyed.

A young boy seeks a place on a 'labour' ship after running away from his brutal father and stepmother. The ship's captain takes the boy on because of his red hair, which he says will attract the islanders and help 'recruit' labourers. However this plan is disrupted with men from an inland village kidnap the boy.

Becke describes a fishing expedition with his friend, village headman Kusis, and a party of villagers. Gives detailed descriptions of the island and the villagers' houses.

A prospector carrying gold to the coast is saved from his travelling companion's plot to kill him by four Chinese fishermen.

Tells the story of Rima, a man from Tuvalu, who leads an expedition to destroy a German ship. The ship's captain has allegedly been supplying islanders with firearms and encouraging them to attack British crews.

The narrator, a recruiter for the labour trade in Samoa, writes of his experiences with the notorious slave trader 'Bully' Hayes. Following the wreck of Bully's ship, the Leonora, the narrator spent a year living with the village headman and his family. He describes this time as the happiest months of his life, which ended when he returned to Sydney. The tale appears to be based on Becke's own life although he omits mentioning that he was arrested and returned to Sydney to face trial for piracy.

A billygoat, being taken from Samoa to Fiji to fight with a hated businessman's much-feared ram, is trained to attack the businessman instead.

Two traders triumph over a rival trader who has attempted to ruin them.

A trader, noted for his refusal to indulge in the dissolute practices of his fellow traders, has amassed a small fortune in pearlshell. But he is betrayed and robbed by his fiancée and a man whom he believed was his friend.

A ship's mate survives a murderous attempt to steal his ship and her cargo of firearms.

A plantation owner tries to force his only daughter to marry their elderly neighbour in return for financial assistance.

A woman commits murder to save her husband from ruin by his enemy.

A former South Sea labour recruiter relates a story that reveals the methods used by some of the ships' crews to deceive and kidnap Pacific Islanders for plantation labour.