This is an account of the author's journey into the marshes of southern Iraq with the English explorer, Wilfred Thesiger. The marshes are a primitive and largely unexplored area whose inhabitants live hidden in a watery waste of lagoon, dwelling in reed huts built upon little islands. Their way of life -- economy depending on the existence of the water buffalo, the constant danger of charging wild boars, native susceptibility to all sorts of infectious diseases, the crude cultural and religious ritual-has been unchanged for centuries, making the area one of the last primordial frontiers. The reporting (a personal journal) is fascinating -- no hyperbole needed.