James Porter, Cockney fingersmith, sailor, adventurer and chancer, led a
colourful life until his misadventures finally caught up with him in 1823.
Thrown onto a prison-ship, he was transported in miserable conditions to the
wild outpost of Van Diemen's Land, modern-day Tasmania.
But captivity did not prove to be to his taste, and he soon set about
plotting numerous audacious escape attempts, one managing an eighteen-day stint
as a fugative, before being dragged back to be flogged and shackled to the chain
gang. At last the cunningly resourceful Porter and nine other convicts hijacked
a ship from "Hell's Gates' Harbour and crossed the South Pacific to Chile over
6000 miles of treacherous waters, with the enraged British governor snapping at
their heels.
Passing themselves off as shipwrecked mariners, the thieves enjoyed a year's
refuge until betrayal led to discovery and recapture. Had luck finally run out
for the inveterate bolter?
Sian Rees discovered Porter's astonishing long-forgotten writings, and,
inspired by his charisma and defiance in the face of authority, has retold his
extraordinary story with all the brio of her enormously popular 'The Floating
Brothel'. Mixing flawless research and vividly evocative prose, this salty tale
of adventure on the high seas will delight all who read it.
Contents:
1. The Chain Gang
2. A Place of Ultra Banishment
3. The Boat Crew
4. Leaving the Island of Misery
5. North Until the Butter Melts
6. The Coast of Araucania
7. Playing Cat and Mouse
8. The 'Blonde' and the 'Beagle'
9. The Persistence of Colonel Walpole
10. The Voyage of the 'Sarah'
11. The Piracy Trial
12. The Infernal Regions
Epilogue
A Note on Sources
Acknowledgements
Picture Acknowledgements
Index
Reviews:
'Rees's strength as a writer lies ... in her astonishing eye for detail and
her vivid evocative reconstruction of physical suffering' - Guardian
