Wena, a Māori princess, is told by a sorceress that "she will marry a white man, tall and handsome, with eyes as fair as the sky and a fair beard". Chadwick a trapper who was hunting in the bush is captured and brought to the pa to be burnt at the stake to provide "white mans meat". Wena recognises Chadwick as that man, but the young chief Te Heuheu arrives to court her. She helps Chadwick escape and they swear eternal love. Chadwick goes through the geysers to his hut on the lake, but they are discovered there by Te Heuheu. Chadwick is threatened with death, so she returns to the tribe. But when she is near death from pining for him her father the chief relents. Chadwick is made a chief, she recovers and the tribe celebrates with a feast.