ILLEGAL USE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS, PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES, AND THEIR ANALOGUES CAUSES HEALTH DAMAGE; THEIR ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING IS PROHIBITED AND ENTAILS LEGALLY ESTABLISHED LIABILITY. The second volume of the saga trilogy. In September 1838, in the Indian Ocean, the schooner “Ibis,” carrying prisoners and indentured workers from Calcutta to Mauritius, was caught in the center of a powerful storm. The novel follows the fates of people caught in the storm — not only a natural one but also a historical one. Some of them are thrown by the storm and fate into Canton, China, where foreign trade is concentrated. Despite the efforts of the Chinese Emperor to stop the opium trade, European ships sailing between India and China still deliver the drug. The central figures in the second book of the trilogy are a wealthy Parsi opium trader from Bombay; a former Indian rajah turned clerk in a trading mission; a young French orphan girl; and a colorful company united in pursuit of romance and wealth. Each tries to cope with their losses, and some— with the freedom that has suddenly come upon them.