It is 1911 and London's docks thrum with underhand deals, none so great as the arrival of a valuable, rare and exotic animal, smuggled from the depths of the Congolese rainforest.

The baby gorilla stands to make one man, the shady Goliath Deeds, very, very rich: he and his right-hand man, juvenile pickpocket, Toff Squabble. Heaven help anyone who dares stand in their way, not least the brave and innocent twelve-year-old Nettie Beecroft, who finds herself embroiled ina. dangerous recue attempt where she encounters toshers, bone grubbers and gangsters.