sherman's flight over the pacific ocean was uneventful until an unfortunate accident involving a seagull puncturing his balloon forced him to crash land on the volcanic island of krakatoa. he discovers from mr.f that the island is populated by twenty families sharing the wealth of a secret diamond mine - by far the richest in the world - which they operate as a cartel. each year, the families sail to the outside world with a small amount of diamonds, to purchase supplies for the hidden and sophisticated civilization they have built on the island (they explain that introducing too many diamonds into the market at once would drive down their value to "a shipload of broken glass"). each family has been assigned one of the first twenty letters of the alphabet, and lives in its own whimsical and elaborate house that also serves as a restaurant. the krakatoa society follows a calendar with twenty-day months. on "a" day of each month, everyone eats in mr. and mrs. a's american restaurant; on "b" day, in mr. and mrs. b's british chop house; on "c" day, in mr. and mrs. c's chinese restaurant; on "d" day, in mr. and mrs. d's dutch restaurant, and so forth. sherman's first friend on the island, mr. f, runs a french restaurant containing a replica of the hall of mirrors. the houses are full of incredible items, such as mr. m's moroccan house, which has a living room with mobile furniture that operate like bumper cars. the children of the island invented their own form of amusement that combines elements from merry-go-rounds and balloon travel.