The bizarre life and wild adventures of the man who built a paddle-steamer fleet on the River Murray and his spectacular fall from grace.
Adventurer, explorer, entrepreneur, larrikin - this is the true story of one of the most intriguing and complex characters in Australia's history.
In an age when exploration was at its peak, Francis Cadell's career reads like the quintessential boy's own adventure.
Born and raised on the Leith waterfront into a large family of ambitious achievers, he was lured early to a life on the high seas.
In 1836 at the age of fourteen, he sailed to China where he ran supplies and ammunition to the besieged city of Canton during the Opium Wars. He then made his way to the Americas where he paddled up the Amazon in a canoe and tried his luck on the Californian goldfields.
From there to South-East Asia, India and finally Australia where he settled down long enough to indulge his growing obsession with both steam technology and big rivers. Establishing a paddle steamer fleet on the Murray-Darling river system, this now legendary transport system carried vital supplies to men like Burke and Wills as they struggled to open up the interior.
But it was never Cadell's destiny to end his days behind a desk. On the move again, he explored parts of Australia's northern coastline, directed miniature navel operations on the Waikato River during the Maori Wars, and then gravitated back to the tropical waters of Australia's pearling coast where he met his bizarre and untimely end.
This is a tale of courage, enterprise and ultimately murder, illuminating a fascinating era in Australia's history and the life of a truly enigmatic man.
