John Frewen, South Sea Whaler 1904

Louis Becke

1855–1913

A restless adventurer turned celebrated storyteller, Louis Becke drew on two decades among Pacific islands to create vivid tales of traders, sailors, island communities, and shipwrecks. His best-known collections, By Reef and Palm and The Ebbing of the Tide, helped establish him as a major Australian writer of South Sea fiction.