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For the Term of His Natural Life

Marcus Clarke (1846–1881)

Novel · first published 1874 · Melbourne: George Robertson (serialised 1870–72)

The great convict novel: Rufus Dawes, wrongly transported, endures Macquarie Harbour, Port Arthur and Norfolk Island.

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About 179,977 words · roughly 12.6 hours of reading (long) · 45 sections online · In: Convict and goldfields era

Why this is free

In Australia

Marcus Clarke (author) died in 1881. Australian copyright then lasted 50 years after the author's death, so it ended on 31 December 1931. The 2005 extension to 70 years did not revive copyright that had already expired.

In the United States

First published in 1874. In the United States, works published before 1 January 1931 are in the public domain.

Our text

Derived from the volunteer transcription published as Project Gutenberg eBook #3424 (public domain in the US). We removed that project's header, footer, licence and trademark text, producer notes and all images, then re-packaged the text. This edition is not affiliated with or endorsed by that project. Our thanks to its volunteers.

Our sectioning, cover and EPUB packaging are dedicated to the public domain (CC0 1.0).

Rights record

rights.json, checked 2026-10-19. Death dates: Marcus Clarke (Wikidata, catalogue). First publication: reference.

Contents

  1. FOR THE TERM OF HIS NATURAL LIFE
  2. By Marcus Clarke
  3. HIS NATURAL LIFE.
  4. PROLOGUE.
  5. BOOK I.—THE SEA. 1827.
  6. CHAPTER I. THE PRISON SHIP.
  7. CHAPTER II. SARAH PURFOY.
  8. CHAPTER III. THE MONOTONY BREAKS.
  9. CHAPTER IV. THE HOSPITAL.
  10. CHAPTER V. THE BARRACOON.
  11. CHAPTER VI. THE FATE OF THE “HYDASPES”.
  12. CHAPTER VII. TYPHUS FEVER.
  13. CHAPTER VIII. A DANGEROUS CRISIS.
  14. CHAPTER IX. WOMAN'S WEAPONS.
  15. CHAPTER X. EIGHT BELLS.
  16. CHAPTER XI. DISCOVERIES AND CONFESSIONS.
  17. CHAPTER XII. A NEWSPAPER PARAGRAPH.
  18. BOOK II.—MACQUARIE HARBOUR. 1833.
  19. CHAPTER I. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.
  20. CHAPTER II. THE SOLITARY OF “HELL'S GATES”.
  21. CHAPTER III. A SOCIAL EVENING.
  22. CHAPTER IV. THE BOLTER.
  23. CHAPTER V. SYLVIA.
  24. CHAPTER VI. A LEAP IN THE DARK.
  25. CHAPTER VII. THE LAST OF MACQUARIE HARBOUR.
  26. CHAPTER VIII. THE POWER OF THE WILDERNESS.
  27. CHAPTER IX. THE SEIZURE OF THE “OSPREY”
  28. CHAPTER X. JOHN REX'S REVENGE.
  29. CHAPTER XI. LEFT AT “HELL'S GATES.”
  30. CHAPTER XII. “MR.” DAWES.
  31. CHAPTER XIII. WHAT THE SEAWEED SUGGESTED.
  32. CHAPTER XIV. A WONDERFUL DAY'S WORK.
  33. CHAPTER XV. THE CORACLE.
  34. CHAPTER XVI. THE WRITING ON THE SAND.
  35. CHAPTER XVII. AT SEA.
  36. BOOK III.—PORT ARTHUR. 1838.
  37. CHAPTER I. A LABOURER IN THE VINEYARD.
  38. CHAPTER II. SARAH PURFOY'S REQUEST.
  39. CHAPTER III. THE STORY OF TWO BIRDS OF PREY.
  40. CHAPTER IV. “THE NOTORIOUS DAWES.”
  41. CHAPTER V. MAURICE FRERE'S GOOD ANGEL.
  42. CHAPTER VI. MR. MEEKIN ADMINISTERS CONSOLATION.
  43. CHAPTER VII. RUFUS DAWES'S IDYLL.
  44. CHAPTER VIII. AN ESCAPE.
  45. CHAPTER IX. JOHN REX'S LETTER HOME.
  46. CHAPTER X. WHAT BECAME OF THE MUTINEERS OF THE “OSPREY”
  47. CHAPTER XI. A RELIC OF MACQUARIE HARBOUR.
  48. CHAPTER XII. AT PORT ARTHUR.
  49. CHAPTER XIII. THE COMMANDANT'S BUTLER.
  50. CHAPTER XIV. Mr. NORTH'S DISPOSITION.
  51. CHAPTER XV. ONE HUNDRED LASHES.
  52. CHAPTER XVI. KICKING AGAINST THE PRICKS.
  53. CHAPTER XVII. CAPTAIN AND MRS. FRERE.
  54. CHAPTER XVIII. IN THE HOSPITAL.
  55. CHAPTER XIX. THE CONSOLATIONS OF RELIGION.
  56. CHAPTER XX. “A NATURAL PENITENTIARY.”
  57. CHAPTER XXI. A VISIT OF INSPECTION.
  58. CHAPTER XXII. GATHERING IN THE THREADS.
  59. CHAPTER XXIII. RUNNING THE GAUNTLET.
  60. CHAPTER XXIV. IN THE NIGHT.
  61. CHAPTER XXV. THE FLIGHT.
  62. CHAPTER XXVI. THE WORK OF THE SEA.
  63. CHAPTER XXVII. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.
  64. BOOK IV.—NORFOLK ISLAND. 1846.
  65. CHAPTER I. EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF THE REV. JAMES NORTH.
  66. CHAPTER II. THE LOST HEIR.
  67. CHAPTER III. EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF THE REV. JAMES NORTH.
  68. CHAPTER IV. EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF THE REV. JAMES NORTH.
  69. CHAPTER V. MR. RICHARD DEVINE SURPRISED.
  70. CHAPTER VI. IN WHICH THE CHAPLAIN IS TAKEN ILL.
  71. CHAPTER VII. BREAKING A MAN'S SPIRIT.
  72. CHAPTER VIII. EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF THE REV. JAMES NORTH.
  73. CHAPTER IX. THE LONGEST STRAW.
  74. CHAPTER X. A MEETING.
  75. CHAPTER XI. EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF THE REV. JAMES NORTH.
  76. CHAPTER XII. THE STRANGE BEHAVIOUR OF Mr. NORTH.
  77. CHAPTER XIII. MR. NORTH SPEAKS.
  78. CHAPTER XIV. GETTING READY FOR SEA.
  79. CHAPTER XV. THE DISCOVERY.
  80. CHAPTER XVI. FIFTEEN HOURS.
  81. CHAPTER XVII. THE REDEMPTION.
  82. CHAPTER XVIII. THE CYCLONE.
  83. EPILOGUE.
  84. APPENDIX.

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