The first draft of these memoirs was written in Cambridge, England (30 April – 4 July 1980) entirely from memory. I had kept no journal or diary or other notes.

It was revised in Canberra (11 March – 24 August 1981) and I did then try to check up on as many points as possible, referring to linguistic texts and notebooks, looking at photographs and listening to tapes. During field trips in November 1980 and June-July 1981, I was able to revisit some of the places mentioned, and discuss incidents with others who had been involved. Thanks are due to Muriel Cowan, Dorelle Fox, Ernie Grant, Doreen McGrath, Jack Muriata, Mick Murray and George Watson for patiently answering my questions about things that happened in the past, and about names and spellings. Jack Doolan, Ernie Grant and Doreen McGrath were good enough to read sections of the manuscript, and suggest some necessary corrections.

The material included here has been checked in the manner considered normal for scientific projects. Everything reported in this volume actually happened; just occasionally two related episodes have been merged, to create a more cohesive narrative. Parts of the initial draft for which I could not obtain corroboration were simply deleted (they were very few in number).

The only pseudonyms used are Lachlan, Frank Lawson, Charlie Jericho, Hughie Lawson, Clem, Karl, Jock and Sheila. Everyone else is referred to by his or her real name.