Adaptation of he diaries of Robert Knox. Robert Blake, a young British apothecary traverses the jungles of Ceylon in search of medicinal herbs when he is arrested by the Ceylonese army who mistakes him for a British spy. The stories follows his years as a forced laborer, as his friendship with a local by the name of Ankutha. During his imprisonment Blake falls in love with Suwandi a village widow. A tale of cultural differences and humility.