The Beachcomber
Ewart Gray is a young Colonial Officer who has just arrived on the island of Baru. Only three other inhabitants of the island are white, and one of them is Ted, a drinker known for his violent outbursts. Following such an episode, Gray sentences him to a period of hard labour, a step which would previously have been unfathomable. Tensions between Ted and Gray rise, as do tensions between the locals and the whites as a cholera outbreak reaches the island.