"Mr. Spittel is an anthropologist who has made a study of the Veddas, an aboriginal people who dwell in the remote jungles of Ceylon, and avowedly his aim has been that of "weaving details of ethnological value into the fabric of a tale". In doing this his scientific inclination has induced him to invent as little as possible and to confine his efforts to the reconstruction of the life story of a real man, Tissahamy, an outlaw whose murderous activities engaged all the resources of the authorities to put an end to them. In his childhood some attempt was made to tame Tissahamy's wild spirit and even to train the boy for the Buddhist priesthood, but the call of the blood was too potent, and he soon sought the sanctuary of his ancestral jungle and became a great hunter."