▁' Special ities ' ▁in ▁the ▁Queensland er ▁from ▁January ▁ 1 8 7 9 ▁– ▁to ▁May ▁ 1 8 8 2 , ▁and ▁political ▁comment aries ▁such ▁as ▁' The ▁future ▁of ▁North - E astern ▁Australia '. ▁ ▁Next ▁to ▁this ▁and ▁in ▁his ▁spare ▁time ▁Fe il berg ▁wrote ▁fiction ▁and ▁several ▁sketch es ▁among ▁which ▁was ▁some ▁often ▁surprising ly ▁na ive ▁and ▁rom antic ▁short ▁stories , ▁and ▁also ▁a ▁small ▁advent ure ▁novel ▁( A ▁Str ange ▁Ex pl oring ▁T rip ) ▁which ▁some ▁contempor aries ▁viewed ▁as ▁having ▁a ▁curious ▁res embl ance ▁with ▁Henry ▁R ider ▁H agg ard ' s ▁later ▁King ▁Sol omon ' s ▁M ines ▁( from ▁ 1 8 8 5 ), ▁while ▁it ▁was ▁probably ▁inspired ▁by ▁Jonathan ▁Swift ' s ▁Gul liver ' s ▁Tra vel s ▁( from ▁ 1 7 2 6 ). ▁He ▁naturally ▁used ▁personal ▁experiences ▁in ▁several ▁of ▁his ▁stories ▁from ▁the ▁outer ▁Bar co o ▁and ▁early ▁Rock ham pton ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 8 6 0 s , ▁and ▁from ▁Cook town ▁and ▁the ▁Pal mer ▁gold ▁field ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 7 0 s . ▁His ▁short - st ories ▁were ▁exceed ingly ▁popular ▁in ▁his ▁own ▁time . ▁The ▁Illustr ated ▁Sydney ▁News ▁of ▁December ▁ 1 8 8 6 ▁thus ▁announced ▁him ▁as ▁' Mr ▁Carl ▁Fe il berg , ▁the ▁in im itable ▁story - t eller ▁of ▁Queensland '. ▁Some ▁of ▁these