Lawson writes about the remote town of Hungerford, which straddles the N.S.W. and Queensland border. Lawson's story is derived from his visit to Hungerford in January 1893, when he and James Gordon (and possibly Ernest de Guinney) walked there from Torale shearing shed, near Bourke.
Lawson writes about the perils and inadequacies of sea travel in the Antipodes, and the painful experience of losing a half-sovereign.