Aeneas Gunn achieved posthumous fame in 1908 as the Maluka, following the publication of Jeannie (Mrs Aeneas) Gunn's acclaimed novel, We of the Never-Never. The story of Aeneas James Gunn prior to and including his year managing a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory can now be told, thanks to the discovery of a large cache of his letters. Gunn's voice enriches the narrative with deeply personal, perceptive and often humorous glimpses into life in Australia during the last decades of colonisation. A proud and capable literary man, Gunn found his vulnerabilities exposed in unusual circumstances. His Anglocentric views would, in time, be tempered by the woman he loved and admired.