This is the story of three people who through unforeseen circumstances are thrown together to experience the hardship and rigours of warring tribesmen in the African jungle.
The black men are out to prevent them from escaping, but Dodds, Robert and Helen have other ideas. They enlist the help of a roadroller-cum-crane on railway wheels, the Iron Duke, which transports them to safety through the natural beauty of the sometimes inhospitable, cruel African jungle with its wild animals, and vast desert plains.
This tale of adversity has all the hallmarks of a gripping story of tribal lust and a fight against hunger and thirst, violence and physical force, culminating in the tender union of the principal characters.