War with the Newts

“A Czech sea captain finds a colony of clever, upright newts in a bay off Sumatra and teaches them to kill sharks and fetch pearls. A Prague industrialist turns them into the cheapest labour force the world has ever seen. The newts learn to talk, read the evening papers, build harbours and continents, and multiply into billions, until one night a hoarse voice on the radio announces that they need more coastline, and the continents will have to make room.”