Who are the three people that plea for the French Governor to let Terangi serve his sentence on Manakoora?
As a passenger ship sails by the bleak ruins of a deserted island, Dr. Kersaint blows his former home a kiss. When a fellow passenger asks him about the place, he tells its tragic story, segueing into a flashback.
During the colonial era in the South Pacific, the natives of the island of Manakoora are a contented lot. Terangi, the first mate on an island-hopping schooner, marries Marama, the daughter of the chief. She has a premonition and begs him not to leave, or at least take her with him on the ship's next voyage, but he makes her stay behind.
Upon reaching Tahiti, the crew goes to a bar to celebrate. When a racist white man orders them to leave, Terangi strikes him and breaks his jaw. Unfortunately, the man has strong political connections, and the governor is forced to sentence him to six months in jail, over the objections of Terangi's captain, Nagle.  Back on Manakoora, Dr. Kersaint begs recently appointed local French Governor Eugene De Laage to have Terangi brought home to serve his sentence under parole, but De Laage refuses to compromise his stern interpretation of the law, despite the pleas of Captain Nagle, Father Paul, and even his own wife.
Unable to bear being confined, Terangi repeatedly tries to escape, lengthening his sentence by another 16 years, much to the delight of a particularly harsh jailer. Finally, after eight years, Terangi succeeds in getting out, but at a terrible price: he unintentionally kills a guard. He steals a canoe and returns to Manakoora after an arduous journey. At the end, he is rescued from his overturned canoe by Father Paul, who promises to remain silent.
Captain Nagle Father Paul his own wife