The principal Aboriginal historical figures Arabanoo, Bennelong, Pemulwuy, and Colebee were all real people as were the secondary Indigenous Australians: Nanbaree, Booroong, Yemmerawannie, Gooroobaroobooloo, Tedbury, and Bungaree.
The life of the fictional Chinese elder Ts'ing Kwong-tang borrows from the remarkable life of the popular Sydney leader Mei Quong Tart [REF].