Following in the footsteps of the great 19th Century naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, the Blair brothers embark with the piratical Bugis tribe on a 2,000 mile journey through the Spice Islands in search of the golden-tailed Bird of Paradise, the symbol of Eternal Life. Journeying on a black-sailed schooner they encounter storms and doldrums pearl-divers and python-hunters, before finally reaching the Aru Islands, close to New Guinea. Their odyssey with the Bugis tribe (who gave the word ‘boogeyman’ to the English language) starts the Blairs on an inner journey which leads them ever deeper into the forgotten wisdom of the island peoples.