Although largely an 'outsider' to the world of politics, Alexander Harris was a perceptive observer of the world he knew and of Australians, 'with whom it is one of the worst reproaches to be a crawler', He is concerned to expose the evils of the convict system of discipline, with its emphasis on brutal floggings for even the most minor offences, and he relates many incidents demonstrating the 'low moral character' of the Sydney police and the incompetence and tyrannical behavior of the magistracy. These and other themes are illustrated by Harris's experiences as a free emigrant in Australia. He responded warmly to bush hospitality and the mateship which tempered the dangers and hardships of bush life. He was trapped by a flash flood, surprised by a gang of bushrangers, and later arrested on suspicion of being a bushranger himself, to be released without redress. 'Aggressions' by Aborigines and the retaliation of settlers-punitive expeditions, massacres and poisoned flour-are dealt with at length: Harris attributed the increasing aggressions to the government's policy of protection. Other evils he deplores include the pervasive influence of alcohol on the community, the existence of innumerable sly grog shops and the prevalence of sheep and cattle stealing. Professor Manning Clark's illuminating Foreword probes the mys' tery of Alexander Harris's identity and assesses his achievements.