byINTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTIONJames Hume Nisbet (1849–1923) was a Scottish author and artist who is also claimed by Australians as a native fantastist, since he drew on his years spent in Australia for many of his best works. He published numerous ghost and supernatural stories (including this one) over the course of his long career.
Nisbet was born at Stirling, Scotland. At 16 years of age, he came to Australia and stayed about seven years, during which he travelled the continent and came to know the Outback and many local myths and legends, which he would later draw on for his tales of the fantastic.
On returning to Scotland, he became art master in the Watt College and the old school of arts, a position he held for eight years. He travelled in Australia and New Guinea again during 1886,
