Ion Idriess creates a scene of excitement, tension, beauty, and despair with this story of the men who daily risked their lives searching for natural pearls off Australia's far North-West. With characteristic thorougness Idriesss reveals the technique of pearling. He takes the reader aboard the lugger to the pearling ground, introduces the crew, dons diving gear and descends to the ocean floor where, amidst the beauty and danger of a hostile environment, he plucks the pearlshells from the ocean depths in the hope they will contain the prize he seeks.
Throughout the tale Idriess paints cameos of the colourful life of Broome and the pearling seas at their peak.