The scion of old Milbank, an Africander pioneer, who lives in the borderland, responds to a paternal message from his fast-failing father, who has been incapacitated while prospecting for mines far up in the mountainland of the interior, and hastens to his rescue. He takes with him his wife and child; the preparation for their journey is simple, but substantial. They are accompanied by Nig. a faithful black, who has just returned from the ailing Milbank, bearing the news of his illness and a rude map of his mining claims, with the boundaries of their location. The thorn of complication commences early, in the person of Blackmoor, an adventurer, inspired by two motives: first, gold; the second, revenge, to trail the little party, compass their injury, and if possible, pick up an easy fortune for himself. On the trip through the jungle, he early has a rival, in a lion, which has tasted human blood and relentlessly follows the trail of the Milbanks. Eventually, the Milbanks locate the lonely thatched cabin of the old man, but they have arrived too late, for he has passed away. The son dutifully performs the last rites, and then packing together an outfit, starts out alone to locate the mining claims his father has discovered. Blackmoor, thinking to find the woman defenseless and possibly to secure the coveted mining claim, makes a night visit to the shack. He finds the faithful negro asleep from exhaustion at the door of the shack, steals his gun, and then fires the hut. Finding that Milbank has gone on ahead, evidently taking the map of the mines, now thoroughly armed, at the same time having disarmed the camp, Blackmoor starts on the trail of Milbank. The woman, awakened by the crackling flames, clasps her child in her arms, runs out over the sleeping form of Nig, who jumps to his feet and they all take to the fastness of the jungle, seeking a water course. To add to the peril of their situation, Nig has discovered the loss of his gun and realizes they are powerless against the treacherous and bloodthirsty habitants of the jungle. The woman and child reach the bank of a river and the negro hastily throws together a raft, their only safety seemingly being on the face of the waters. Even there they are not secure, for a famished lion swims out to their frail raft anchored in its stream and boards it. The woman takes the child in her arms and swims ashore, while the faithful black battles with the infuriated beast bare-handed upon the raft. In the interim, Milbank has been attracted from afar by the blaze of the shack, and he hurries back to the site of the camp, distressed beyond measure to find it in ashes, and his loved ones fled, Blackmoor, who has been close on his tracks, picks up the hat he has lost in his haste, and finds tucked in its lining the description of the mine locations, and retraces his steps to his own hiding place. After Mrs. Milbank escapes from the rampant lion on the raft, she wanders on in the forest until she falls unconscious. Then along comes an enormous ape that, after looking curiously at the sleeping child, carries it away. The mother awakens to find the little one gone, impressing a new terror of the forest, and frantic, starts in pursuit, dropping her shawl. In the interim, Milbank has discovered her footprints, then finds the shawl, and rejoins his wife, and both wander onward in search of the child. The ape has been a kindly guardian for the little one, climbing trees, bringing down fruit for it, leading it to water, and otherwise caring for its simple wants in a way that suggests the attributes of Darwin's "missing link." This big ape's home happens to be at the base of a mountain, close by where the elder Milbank prospected and found his mine, Hither, eventually, come Milbank and his anguished wife, happy to find their child still alive, still safe. To add to their fortune, he finds the lost mine and the gold his father has hidden away, then they all start back to civilization to fortify their rich mining claim before the chagrined Blackmoor arrives on the scene with his now useless data. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis

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