
In the scorching heart of North Queensland’s outback, a lone cattle station owner battles a merciless drought that has turned the landscape into a sea of cracked earth and dying stock. As the relentless sun beats down on his weary horse, he pauses beneath a lone stand of sandalwood, confronted by the grim sight of hundreds of cattle that have perished from thirst. The heat‑baked horizon offers no relief, and every step forward feels like a march toward inevitable ruin.
Haunted by debt, a greedy bank, and the ever‑present threat of collapse, he clings to fleeting hopes of rain while the land itself seems to have abandoned him. Yet the story remains grounded in his quiet resilience, his moments of bitter reflection, and the stark beauty of a wilderness that tests the limits of human endurance. Listeners will be drawn into the raw, unforgiving world of the Australian far north, feeling every bead of sweat and echo of desperation as the protagonist confronts a fate that hangs in the balance.
Full title
In the Far North 1901
Language
en
Duration
~43 minutes (41K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by David Widger
Release date
2008-04-12
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1855–1913
A wandering storyteller of the South Pacific, he turned years of seafaring and island travel into vivid adventure tales and sketches of colonial life. His fiction and memoir-like writing helped bring the islands of Melanesia and Polynesia to a wide English-speaking readership.
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