The story of the First Fleet of convicts to Australia. Jack Vizzard, an Oxford-educated lawyer, falls for Mary, a beautiful young woman of his home village, at a time when he is changing his life; disenchanted with his chosen profession he joins the Corps of Marines. His love is returned but Mary is falsely accused and sentenced to transportation. Consumed by anger and hate, Jack murders her accuser and abandons Mary to her fate, travelling to Australia as one of the marine guards. The story follows the two main characters on the voyage until, only on arrival in New South Wales, they are reunited.