A first-person account of an escaped convict who sets out to 'realise [his] dreams and live among the savages'. Having travelled to Central Australia, he inadvertently makes his home in a sacred place. His actions cause the ceremonial blinding of one of the Arunta women and the threat of death to a young boy. The young boy flees into his care. After the death of young Eaglehawk's mother, the protagonist is welcomed by Achilpa (Wildcat) into the Arunta camp, and eventually into the 'tribe'.
Eaglehawk becomes the new 'chief of the tribe' and the protagonist is collected by 'a party of whites', sent by Governor Stuart, who on hearing of his sufferings as a convict, exempt him from further imprisonment and put him in receipt of a pension.
Depsite some glaring errors of ethnographic knowledge, this book presents quite a sensitive account of Indigenous culture for its time.
