The book entitled The Mystery of the Black Jungle (The Revenge of Tremal-Naik) was published in 1895 by the Donath publishing company in Genoa.  Its incomplete version had already been published on the "Il Telefono" newspaper in Leghorn in 1887, with the title Gli strangolatori del Gange (The Ganges Stranglers), later again published with the title Gli amori di un selvaggio (The Loves of a Savage) on the "Provincia di Vicenza" newspaper between 21 August 1893 and 13 November 1894 over the course of 191 episodes, together with The Pirates of Malaysia.  A new edition of the book, with the addition of eight chapters, dates back to 1903.  The novel is set in Sunderbund, the coastline of "the giant, intricate, marvellous and perhaps unique” delta of the Ganges River – a hostile and dangerous place, populated by ferocious animals and poisonous snakes.  The plot is centred around the Bengala Thugs, a ferocious sect led by the wicked Suyodhana (the “tiger of India”) devoted to death.  Sacrificial victims are offered up to the black goddess Kâli, goddess of destruction and death.  The British woman named Ada Corisbant has been held prisoner by the Thugs since she was a child; they have consecrated her as the high priestess of their terrible goddess with the name "Virgin of the Pagoda of the Orient".  Whoever falls in love with her, or whoever she falls in love with, is destined to be killed by the Thugs.  The Bengalese named Tremal-Naik falls in love with the young girl and decides to set her free; he is assisted in this deed by his Marathi servant named Kammamuri, by Dharma the tiger and by a courageous dog.  Following a string of adventures, where often his life and the lives of his companions are at risk, Tremalnaik manages to set Ada free and she reciprocates his feelings.  A child is born to the couple.  Following Ada’s death, the Thugs kidnap his four-year-old daughter.  Tremal-Naik summons Sandokan for his help and together they set off towards new fascinating adventures that will be the subject of the novel called The Two Tigers, written in 1904. Various movie directors, including Gian Paolo Callegari and Ralph Murphy (1954), Luigi Capuano (1965), Kevin Connor (1991, for television) have based their films on this novel.