Renowned Australian essayist Patsy Adam-Smith sailed six legs as a sailor and cook along the coast of Tasmania on a small merchant ship and traveled for four years to the islands of the Furno group in the Bass Strait, joining a research expedition that studied the flora and fauna of the islands. The impressions accumulated during this time formed the basis of this book. The author in a lively and entertaining form talks about the history of the islands, nature, wildlife and the life of the islanders.