Ill, p.327.non-fictionFactual account of life in the Northern Territory in the late 19th century; - 1st section - Authors adventures as a shipwrecked mariner at Wark Aboriginal Settlement and Port Essington; 2nd section - Detailed narrative of the authors work & explorations as a customs official and as a patrol police officer, stationed at Port Darwin; Description of Malays and their trading ventures by proas; Relations between Malays and Aborigines employment of latter in collecting, trepangs, pearls, tortoise-shells - physical and cultural influences (e.g. intermixture, and language) feuds and murders; Notes on food gathering and hunting (use of wommera) - tracking - corroborrees settling of disputes by simulated fighting - group murder and guilt rites (Malays and Chinese), canoes decorated - Maria Is. sacred burial ground qualities of Aborigines; noted; Intertribal fighting - Woolna tribe against local Darwin Aborigines; Cannibalism at Limba Luchumbo - King River; Contact between Aborigines and settlers, ranging from extreme cruelty to great friendships; Aboriginal girls stolen for domestic work causing trouble; Further accounts of Chinese - opium & gold smuggling; Search for Dylompo - Groote Eylandt unsuccessful. northern australia - description and travel, northern australia - economic relations

Ill, maps, p.373.non-fictionEarly history of N.T. and explorations; Detailed account of intercepting Macassan proas around coast of Arnhem Land whilst author was Sub-Collector of Customs for 14 years; Names of proas and masters, Malay camps & smoke houses along coast & nearby islands; Natives employed by Malays in trepang fishing and collecting tortoiseshell, relationships between Malays and Aborigines; influences (physical & cultural); Habit of exchanging children between tribes (Roper R. & Normanton) for the purpose of learning each others language & customs; Description of native camps at Fort Dundas (1895) shelters, finding of bark water bags, types of canoes used; Platform burial at Daly R.; Sacred burial site on Maria Island; Geographical features, vegetation, climate etc., general ecology, depredations & murders by natives; Cannibalism practiced by Fitzmaurice River tribes. northern australia - description and travel, ethnography