Exemplifying Kipling's adage, a white man falls to pieces when he is in the South Seas.

Tamea, the beautiful offspring of a French sea captain and the queen of a South Sea island, accompanies her father on a voyage to San Francisco. Arriving in port, her father is told that he has leprosy; and putting Tamea in the care of his friend, Dan Pritchard, he kills himself. With the help of Mellenger, a reporter, Dan cares for the girl, becoming increasingly fond of her, much to the dismay of his fiancée, Maisie. Dan's business fails, and Tamea returns to her island paradise. Dan soon follows, and they are wed in a native ceremony. Heat and inactivity weigh heavily on Dan, and he soon goes into a moral decline. Mellenger arrives on the island, accompanied by Maisie; Dan later returns to the United States with her, and Mellenger stays on the island, offering Tamea his comfort and love.—AFI