Amateur footage of the Oxford University expedition to Gambia in 1948. Part 1. Packing the trucks in Oxford and on the road to Southampton. There are scenes on the boat out to Africa, followed by "transhipment onto and up river on board the good ship Marleen!" Part 2. This contains shots of people working in fields and members of the team working and researching. It opens with rice being harvested, including women in the paddy fields, having a meal break and men weeding. There is a shot of some baboons in the trees, and some of the team are shown taking measurements and surveying the land (in colour). They are also seen walking through the jungle (in bw), and back in the compound there is a shot of a chameleon and picking up insects in a net (in colour). A botanist and a zoologist are then seen at work (bw), which is followed by a lunch scene. Part 3. This opens with a shot of a hippopotamus, which is hunted and hauled dead out of the river (bw).A river boat arrives (colour), and there are more shots of the bleeding hippo. The hippo is then measured and discected, with team members examing the contents of its stomach. The hippo is then axed into pieces and injected. There are shots of carrion birds where the hippo has been, and then scenes back on board the Marleen (bw). Two of the party then fly out with their children, who are going back to school in England. The film ends with shots from the aeroplanes and at Dakar airport.