On the banks of a river flowing through the lowlands of Africa the British have set up a colony, England in the sun, England as a Utopia, England without the restraints of European civilization. Into this tight-knit community a stranger (Deacon) strays, refusing to abide by its self-serving code. He is immediately set at odds with the locals; a businessman ( K B Priestley) who employs his authority in the community to disguise his personal weaknesses, his daughter (Lydia) who uses the men in the community as rungs in her climb out of provincialism, a sour, manipulative club barman (Yorkie), a widow and cocoa heiress (Mrs Blessington) who plays puppet-master from a distance, hero of the bars Oliver with his dubious investment schemes, sardonic gossip columnist Jane Audeby, and club waiter Elias who becomes his most candid counsellor.