1844—A motley party under Charles Sturt sets out to penetrate Australia's mysterious Centre. the hour is desperate: South Australia is sliding into bankruptcy and the colonials look to Sturt as the "Father of Australian Exploration" to find rich lands to rescue the economy. The massive, unwieldy expedition plods up the Murray, dragging along a whaleboat in the hopes of finding an inland sea.

The explorers' original diaries and letters are quoted from freely, to enable you to ride into the fierce, blazing deserts with them, to feel what they felt and picture what they saw. They encounter searing heat, flies, poor food, hostile Aborigines—and scurvy! One perished; each wondered who would be next. Could their steely resolve force the Inland to yield its secrets?