Bentley arrives at the Coatzacoalcos River in Central America. The first riverside village they arrive at sends alarm signals upriver. David Lisketter volunteers to make first contact, but takes a pistol with him. Olmec warriors wearing bright coloured feather helmets surround the shore party and David starts shooting in self-defence. His party retreats to the river, just as a fleet of canoes arrives from upstream, trapping Bentley. Olmec warriors and torchbearers swarm over the ship, killing and taking prisoner. Their leader is a huge fat man, a priest-king, wearing a jaguar helmet, and he decides that the pregnant Martha is to be kept, and Pamela, for the colour of her eyes. One of the torchbearers manages to set fire to the wooden Bentley, and the Olmecs evacuate to the village, taking