Magellan, who is on his annual visit to Mozambique. For Luke; English heir to the vast cashew tree plantations, is haunted with guilt at the way in which his Company has exploited the natives. He resolves to avenge the cause of one of his own employees, a girl of mixed blood, savagely mutilaled by a young Portuguese soldier. But as the war moves towards its dramatic climax, Luke discovers that his desire for justice has led into the tortuous snares of political intrigue - and mortal danger...