Plot

Rastus Johnson, a happy-go-lucky coon, after eating a large meal, lies down on the dock to take a nap. While he is slumbering three roughs happen along and see him, and knowing a sea captain who is in need of men to fill out his crew, they seize Rastus and shanghai him. He is placed aboard the ship and the voyage started. The vessel is wrecked off the African coast, and poor Rastus is the only survivor. While wandering along the beach he is seen by the Zulus, who immediately give chase. Rastus runs through the jungle, but is compelled to give up. They capture him and take him before their king, who orders him to be cooked. One of the women of the tribe, who happens to be present when Rastus is brought in, knowing the king's daughter is ambitious to be married to some man outside of her own tribe, runs off to tell her of the captive. Rastus is led to the royal kitchen, where the cook pot is prepared. They are just about to thrust him in, when the daughter pleads with her father, for Rastus' life. This he grants on one condition, that Rastus must marry the daughter. This he tells to Rastus, and Rastus, after a good look at the daughter, decides to take to the cook pot. This enrages the king so that he orders Rastus to be seized and given a sound beating. They seize him and throw him on the ground and commence. They beat him so hard that he wakes up to find a policeman tapping him with his club. The blue coat orders Rastus to move on his way, which he does, little the worse for his terrible dream.—Moving Picture World synopsis