THE CASTAWAY

AARON FLETCHER

The first volume in The New Zealanders series is a magnificent tale of adventure and romance in an untamed land. William Pollard, a deserter from the British Navy, is rescued from drowning by Huia, the beautiful daughter of the chief of the Arawa tribe. Together they flee to a remote part of the Arawa territory. A raiding party from another tribe is driven by a storm to their hiding place, but Will and Huia, who is now pregnant, kill the warriors and return to the tribe to warn them of an imminent attack. A successful ambush is staged and Will is accepted as an Arawa warrior and as Huia's husband.
   The years pass and Will's status - and his family - grows. One day a British ship drops anchor in the bay and Will is sent out to meet it. He and the captain become firm friends, and together establish a gum and flax trade in exchange for muskets and other European goods.
   On a trip to Sydney, Will meets and falls in love with the beautiful, and blind, Constance Wyndham, and is torn between the comfortable European world and the life of the tribal Maori.
   The Castaway is a spectacular novel which vividly evokes the customs and culture of Maori society before it was changed irrevocably by colonisation.