Summary

Chapter 1 (third person, past tense, Nell’s point of view) – On a day she discovers is Christmas Eve (having lost track of time while doing her anthropological research with an isolated tribe), Nell Stone rides with her husband Fen on a boat that also carries a pair of well dressed, sophisticated couples. As they leave, there is the sound of a splash in the water, and Fen comments that the tribe they have just left (the Mumbanyo) has just thrown another baby into the water. Because of her bad eyes, Nell can’t see well enough to determine whether he’s correct.

As the journey continues, Nell studies the clean, healthy, well dressed wives the same way as she studied the Mumbanyo. Meanwhile, Fen comments that he’d like to visit Andrew Bankson, an anthropologist who has successfully researched his similarly warlike...