Two young men decide to escape the tedium of everyday life in England by trekking through the primeval, disease-ridden jungles of Borneo. Deep in the forest, they are rewarded with belief in black magic, evidence of headhunting, and the experience of priceless virgin rainforest–and its ongoing destruction. But also there is Cambridge University and Handel’s Water Music. There is, too, even a thousand river miles from the coastal cities, no escaping Christmas. . .

“This is Tuak, do you want some?” Dik said. Rice wine.

Now, I like my drink out of a bottle or a mug, and the food on my plate to keep still while I eat it, but I’d heard about tuak too often to turn down at least a sip.

Just then there was a movement on the floor beside me. In the gloom I made out, with no small surprise, a man lying flat out on the floor. He had one tooth and two glazed eyes.