Jones retraces the perilous voyages of two nineteenth-century Australian whaling ships, the Lady Rowena and the Eamont, as they endured shipwreck, mutiny, massacre and imprisonment while harvesting whales off the Japanese coast. Draws on the journal of the Lady Rowenas ship master and is supplemented by Japanese historical accounts. Charts a hitherto unexplored chapter in AustralianJapanese relations and provides an historical perspective on Japans highly controversial whaling industry.