It is 1872 in Sydney and gold fever is seriously running high. High enough to inspire swells and diggers alike to set sail for exotic New Guinea.
They call it New Guinea Isla del Oro -- Island of Gold. But even to reach these mythical gold fields they first have to navigate the treacherous seas of the Great Barrier Reef in the monsoon season, the time of the great cyclones.
This is the story of their ill-fated voyage, their shipwreck off Hinchinbrook Island and their sometimes lucky and sometimes tragic encounters with bands of Aboriginal warriors. Peter maiden paints fascinating portraits of the hotheads and the heroes, the brave and the bumbling, the daring and the doubtful men who risked everything in their lust for gold.
From bustling Sydney to the tropical outpost of Cardwell, this is a real-life story of adventure and the ultimate test of courage.
Contents:
Prelude
Part 1. Sydney
Chapter 1. Twp Septuagenarian Clergymen Preach Gold in the Temperance Hall
Chapter 2. Hargrave, Campbell and Lang: December 1871
Chapter 3. Of Blackbirding, Rifles and a Petition to the New South Wales Colonial Secretary
Chapter 4. A Leaky Tub with not Enough Lifeboats
Chapter 5. The Blackbirder, 'Peri', and the Township of Cardwell
Chapter 6. 25th January 1872: The 'Maria' Sails Through Sydney Heads
Part 2: Sailing up the Queensland Coast in Monsoon Season
Chapter 7. Crommelin, Coyle, Forster and Tanner; Swells and Plebs
Chapter 8. Slow Progress Through Squalls, or the Rotten Topgallant Spar
Chapter 9. Some of the Swells Vote to Quit
Chapter 10. HMS 'Basilisk' Shows the Flag in Torres Strait
Chapter 11. An Incompetent Captain Set Sail Through a Coral Maze
Chapter 12. 'There She is Boy, Hard and Fast'
Part 3: Shipwrecked off Hinchinbrook Island
Chapter 13. Stratman Deserts the Sinking Ship
Chapter 14. As the Ship Goes Down, Confusion Reigns Supreme
Chapter 15. The Angry Sea Takes a Deadly Toll
Chapter 16. At the Mercy of a Rising Sea
Part 4: The Castaways in the Cardwell Hinterland in 1872
Chapter 17. Out of the Frying-pan into the Fire
Chapter 18. 'Our Rifles and Revolvers Were of no Use to Us'
Part 5: The Rescue Operations Out of Cardwell
Chapter 19. More Dead than Alive, the Survivors Straggle into Cardwell
Chapter 20. The Masts are Empty
Chapter 21. The Natives Had Left Behind then Sixteen Men, Eight Dead and Eight Wounded
Chapter 22. Forster's Party Struggles to Survive
Chapter 23. The Race to Find the Survivors Begins
Chapter 24. Their Lives Depended Upon the Aboriginals
Chapter 25. A Bloody End For Polin's Men
Chapter 26. 'They Are Going to Kill Us, For Certain'
Chapter 27. 'Several Unfortunate Blacks Were Shot Down'
Chapter 28. 'Never Did I Feel Such Pleasure in Grasping an Honest English Hand'
Chapter 29. The 'Basilisk' Arrives in Cardwell with Forster's Party
Epilogue
Appendix: The Brisbane Court of Enquiry
Sources
End Notes
Index
