Drums of Mer
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To one who for a good many years has lived among the tropic isles of Torres Strait, and whose constant regret has been that their romantic attractiveness is so little known even to Australians, the Drums of Mer comes with very strong appeal. There are some who may think that Mr Idriess is giving us simply an imaginative picture, but the author has travelled the Strait with the discerning eye and contemplative soul of the artist who is satisfied only with first-hand colour, and who, while blending history and romance with subtle skill, at the same time keeps within the region of fact. The records and documents placed at his disposal by those who have patiently collected them in the interests of history, of ethnological and scientific research, and (if one may be allowed to say so) even of missionary theological science also, provide the rich store upon which he has drawn for the thrilling story he has woven round the people of Mer and the other islands of Torres Strait. We have been waiting for someone to catch the charm and appealing mysteriousness of these islands, and to visualize the days, not so very long past, when the great outrigger canoes, with their companies of feather-bedecked headhunters, traversed the opalescent waters a couple of hundred miles down the Barrier, to return perhaps with cowering white captives or grim human trophies for the ceremonies of the 'Au-gud-Au-Ai,' the 'Feast of the Great God.' And if it seems that the starkness of tragedy throws a cloud here and there over the dramatic episodes which the author has so well narrated, possibly it is a good thing for present-day tourist-travellers (and others too!), to realize that a trip along the Barrier and through the Strait on the way to China was not always so free from danger.<br />(from Foreword by Wm. H. MacFarlane), Mission Priest, Torres Strait; Administrator of the Diocese of Carpentaria. 31 July 1933.)
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Ion Idriess. Drums of Mer
FOREWORD
AUTHOR’S NOTE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. THE DANCE OF DEATH
CHAPTER II. PREPARING FOR THE END
CHAPTER III. FORCING THE SECRETS OF HEAVEN
CHAPTER IV. THE HEART OF THE PRETTY LAMAR
CHAPTER V. THE COMING OF KEBISU
CHAPTER VI. WAR DRUMS OF MER
CHAPTER VII. THE MASSACRE ON THE TWO BROTHERS
CHAPTER VIII. THE RETURN
CHAPTER IX. JAKARA MAKES LOVE
CHAPTER X. WHEN THE BLOOD LUST CALLS
CHAPTER XI. VELVET CLAWS
CHAPTER XII. THE MENACE OF THE LAMARS
CHAPTER XIII. THE LEADEN FIST OF THE LAMARS
CHAPTER XIV. WITHIN THE CRATER OF MER
CHAPTER XV. WOMEN
CHAPTER XVI. THE PEARL SHIPS OF THE LAMARS
CHAPTER XVII. THE DANCE
CHAPTER XVIII. THE TROUNCING OF KEBISU
CHAPTER XIX. THE SAILING OF THE FLEET
CHAPTER XX. THE LOOTING OF THE LAMAR SHIP
CHAPTER XXI. THE RAID OF THE TUGERI
CHAPTER XXII. THE PEOPLES OF THE AUWO OROMO
CHAPTER XXIII. THE GREAT TRADE
CHAPTER XXIV. THE BATTLE ON THE FLY
CHAPTER XXV. THE CYCLONE
CHAPTER XXVI. A GIRL’S PLAN
CHAPTER XXVII. THE DUEL
CHAPTER XXVIII. THE COMING OF GAREEB
CHAPTER XXIX. IN WHICH GAREEB LEARNS THERE ARE. OTHER PEOPLES, OTHER LIVES
CHAPTER XXX. VIRGINS OF WAIAT
CHAPTER XXXI. PLANS AND COUNTER PLANS
CHAPTER XXXII. AS IS WRITTEN IN THE COURSES OF THE STARS
GLOSSARY
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Ion L. Idriess (1889-1979) is one of Australia’s best-loved writers, with fifty-six books to his credit and millions of copies sold. When he returned from the First World War he wrote The Desert Column, about his experiences with the 5th Light Horse. Prospecting for Gold was his first major successful work; it immediately sold out and was reprinted constantly in the following years, as were many of his books. Idriess spent much of his life travelling throughout Australia, collecting material for his true-life stories, including Flynn of the Inland, Lasseter’s Last Ride and Back O’Cairns. He was awarded the O.B.E. in 1968 for his contribution to Australian literature.
Also by Ion Idriess from ETT Imprint:
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THE COMING OF GAREEB
IN WHICH GAREEB LEARNS THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLES, OTHER LIVES
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