The Corinthia is a hell-ship, riddled with fever, overloaded with cargo and bound for the new penal colony of early nineteenth century New South Wales. Three days off the coast a vicious mutiny breaks out and in its midst is Lt-Surgeon Thomas Pollitt, an idealistic young Englishman racked with typhus. He is saved by two Irish convicts, John and Mary Brannan, who jeopardise their own escape to help him reach safety. Pollitt resolves to bring justice on those who caused the mutiny. Cast upon his own fortune and wit, Pollitt grows from naive impulsiveness to hard-won maturity - a maturity that will be needed in the bloody convict rebellion of Vinegar Hill.