There is an island on the far side of the world called Kora-Di and on this misty island is the pool of diamonds. Diamonds, polished over the centuries in the turbulent volcanic fountain that spawned them, some the size of a man’s fist. Where is this mysterious island? It is not on any Admiralty chart. Can it be found again?
When Mungo left the island, he knew he was in the South Pacific. His estimates of the island’s position could be a thousand miles in any direction from the point where he was picked up.
He sailed from the island with a map and a pouch full of uncut gemstones, but after weathering a hurricane all that he had left was the map and one solitary stone. He had lived with the Walla’s of Kora-Di for three years and married the daughter of their tribal chief. He would have been content to stay there for the rest of his life, but felt an obligation to return to England and settle his affairs. With the help of the villagers, he built a canoe, stocked it with fresh water, fishing lines and enough dried fruit and fish to last him about three weeks, and then set sail, hoping to find a ship that would get him back to civilisation.
He was later rescued by a tramp steamer and eventually arrived back in England. When he told his story of shipwreck, and an ancient civilisation that pre-dated the Greeks and the Egyptians, it was so fantastic that no one took him seriously, except Captain Henry Mallard, skipper of the Sea Urchin.
The odyssey begins in an English village near Plymouth.
