The Beachcombers by Gilbert Bishop

Excerpt from The Beachcombers, or Slave-Trading Under the Union Jack:
The enormities herein related are no new development. The detestable trafic has existed for nearly a quarter of a century, in which time very many thousands of natives of the beautiful islands of the Pacific have been ruthlessly entrapped and kidnapped, cruelly treated, and worked to death. The shameful tale has been told again and yet again in pamphlets and blue-books and history, but the effect has been merely transient. Pamphlets, blue-books, and histories are seldom read except by those conversant with the subjects of which they treat. It may happen, however, that a romance embodying some startling incidents of the nefarious system will attract the attention of the British public to the evil, and that more powerful pens will be enlisted to attack the infamous trade, in which event the days of the labour traffic are assuredly numbered.
It will thus be apparent that The Beachcombers must be placed in the objectionable category of novels with a purpose nevertheless it is hoped that the spice of romance pervading the plot, the faithful portrayal of native customs, and the stirring adventures with which the story abounds will lighten the shadow cast by the barbarous slave trade and will impart intrinsic interest to the narrative.

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