Always something of a tomboy, Dawn Drummond-Clayton had—with her parents’ full approval—duplicated the lessons in martial arts and wilderness survival that her inseparable companion, Bunduki, was receiving. Even during her formal and conventional education, which had not been neglected, she had contrived to keep up her training and did not forget what she had been taught. In addition, while attending Roedean, lxxxvii she had taken part in every permissible form of sporting and athletic activity, excelling in them all. However, like Bunduki, she had become completely disenchanted by the blatantly one-sided political bias and hypocrisy of the international sporting bodies and authorities. So, in spite of being a world class athlete, gymnast, swimmer and fencer with either saber or epee, she had refused to compete in their events. For all that, she had always kept herself at the peak of physical condition.
As was the case with Bunduki, much of Dawn’s perfect physical health stemmed from being allowed to share in some longevity pills obtained by his adoptive parents. Specimens had been given to Dr. Clark Savage, J.R., lxxxviii for analysis and reproduction. He had discovered that, in addition to slowing down the ageing process in human beings—granting those who took them what amounted to immortality, barring accidental death, suicide, or murder—they also gave immunity from practically every tropical disease and destroyed all such harmful internal parasites as the various nematode worms— commonly called ‘hookworms’—of the genera Necator which might be ingested when eating the raw flesh of wild animals. lxxxix
So, with such qualifications, Dawn was ideally suited to survive on Zillikian and made a fitting mate for the man who had been created the Dapan-Dankara, the Fearless Master of the Jungle.