This is the first of two volumes with the title 'Kurlge', indicating that the contents were prepared at Tindale's residence 'Kurlge' in Blackwood, Adelaide.Tindale notes on the frontispiece that the 'Kurlge' is a Ramindjeri word for 'sheoak' and is the name used for his residence at Blackwood, South Australia. He writes:

'Our house was named for the very large sheoak growing in the garden. It was originally a sheoak grove on the site of an aboriginal campage Relics were unearthed when the garden was being prepared during 1955-1956.'

Tindale bound three notebooks together to form this volume, totalling 556 pages and covering a ten-year period, from 1 June 1955 to 31 May 1964. The journal entries have been written on the right-hand page, leaving the left for annotations, drawings, newspaper clippings etc. The volume contains a contents list and a 29 page index.The volume's subject-matter varies widely, from results of insect light-trapping at Blackwood to botanical and ethnographic notes and records of family activities.