Beyond Mombasa

When adventurer Matt Campbell arrives in Kenya to join his estranged brother George in a business venture, he is informed by Ralph Hoyt, a missionary friend of his brother, that George was recently killed by a member of the Leopard Men, a religious cult dedicated to the annihilation of the white man in Africa. Hoyt then introduces Matt to his anthropologist niece Ann Wilson, who is shocked by Matt's callous reaction to his brother's death and his refusal to attend the funeral in the bush country beyond Mombasa. At his hotel, Matt meets Gil Rossi, a professional hunter who was George's partner in his search for a uranium mine. After getting drunk at a bar that night, Matt is chased through an alley by two assailants and then breaks into Ann's house. Ann clobbers the inebriated Matt with a vase, and he awakens the next morning in her office, a chattering chimpanzee by his side. After Ann voices her doubts about the existence of the Leopard Men, Hoyt warns Matt that his brother's mine is worthless and advises him to abandon his search for it. The events of the previous night convince Matt to join the funeral expedition and investigate his brother's death and the lost mine. Led by Gil, Matt, Ann and Ralph head for Mombasa, where George is to be buried. There they meet Elliott Hastings, George's other business partner, who informs them that George's body has already been cremated. Suspicious of the dispatch with which Hastings disposed of the body, Gil accuses Hastings of cremating George's body to destroy evidence that might point to his killer. The map of the mine that George was working on disappeared on the night of the murder, and consequently, Matt tries to reconstruct it by deciphering traces left on the pad of paper on which George had drawn. When Matt then vehemently declares that he has come to avenge his brother's death, Ann is surprised by his change of attitude. That night at dinner, Gil, Hastings and Matt decide to use Matt's makeshift map to locate the mine, and when Ralph asks to join them, Ann insists on going along, too. After everyone retires for the evening, Ketimi, one of the native porters, goes into Matt's room holding a glove impaled with claws. When Matt asks Ketimi about the glove, Ketimi explains that he chased George's killer on the night of the murder, and the man dropped the glove in haste. At daylight, Gil leads the expedition to the bush in search of the mine. Charged by a herd of hostile hippopotami while fording a river, Ann and Matt run to safety and, exhilarated by their danger, Matt kisses Ann. After Gil is attacked by an alligator, Hastings and Matt shoot the iron-jawed beast. When they finally stop for the night, the camp seethes with distrust. While sleeping, Hastings is gored by two natives dressed as leopards, who are then chased off by Matt's gunfire. The next morning, Ketimi tells Matt that he thinks he knows who killed his brother. When they reach the first landmark pinpointed on the map, Ketimi goes to the river to fill his canteen and is killed by a poison dart fired by an unseen assailant hiding in the bushes. The members of Ketimi's tribe consider his death to be an ill omen, and quickly depart, leaving only three porters behind. Upon reaching the final landmark, the City of Ruins, the expedition splits up to look for the mine. After Gil locates the mouth of the mine, they all converge there, and Ann, Hastings and Matt descend into the shaft while Gil and Ralph keep watch above. When the battery to the Geiger counter dies, Ann goes to get another one and finds Gil dead and her uncle holding a blow gun in his hand. Demented, Ralph then raves that he was forced to kill Ketimi and Gil to protect the land from plunder and exploitation. Ralph continues that he resurrected the legend of the Leopard Men as an instrument of good. Alarmed, Ann runs back into the mine and declares that her uncle is insane. As they discover that Ralph has disabled their rifles, Ralph instructs a band of angry natives to stone them to death. After slipping out a rear tunnel, Ann, Matt and Hastings run for the road but are trapped in the ruined city by Ralph's minions. Just then, Ketimi's tribe arrives, kills Ralph and disperses the assailants. Their chief, Ketimi's father, then assures Matt that his brother's death has been avenged and that the Leopard Men will be disbanded forever. Back in civilization, Matt is finalizing his plans for developing the mine when Ann hands him an application for a marriage license.