First published as articles in the Melbourne Herald, the articles (later republished in pamphlet form in 1875) claim to be an account of a journey into the islands. Cole sought to capitalize on the public fascination with the island to Australia's north. He responds to both the interest in New Guinea and Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory by claiming that a race of human beings with tails could be found within the New Guinea interior.
Source: Brawley, Sean and Chris Dixon. The South Seas: A Reception History from Daniel Defoe to Dorothy Lamour. Lexington Books, 2015.