In Search of the Castaways; Or, The Children of Captain Grant is Jules Verne's adventure novel and geographical romance. When a message from the missing Captain Grant is found, Lord Glenarvan and his companions sail the Duncan along the thirty-seventh parallel, crossing South America, Australia, and New Zealand. It is worth listening for its sense of discovery, loyalty, and travel.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS or THE CHILDREN OF CAPTAIN GRANT By Jules Verne From The Works Of Jules Verne Edited By Charles F. Horne, Ph.D. VOLUME FOUR SOUTH AMERICA AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME FOUR
THE three books gathered under the title “In Search of the
Castaways” occupied much of Verne’s attention during the three years following 1865. The characters used in these books were afterwards reintroduced in “The Mysterious Island,” which was in its turn a sequel to “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Thus this entire set of books form a united series upon which Verne worked intermittently during ten years.
“In Search of the Castaways,” which has also been published as
“The Children of Captain Grant” and as “A Voyage Around the
World,” is perhaps most interesting in connection with the last of these titles. It is our author’s first distinctly geographical romance. By an ingenious device he sets before the rescuers a search which compels their circumnavigation of the globe around a certain parallel of the southern hemisphere. Thus they cross in turn through South
America, Australia and New Zealand, besides visiting minor islands.
The three great regions form the sub-titles of the three books which compose the story. In each region the rescuers meet with adventures characteristic of the land. They encounter Indians in America; bushrangers in Australia; and Maoris in New Zealand. The passage of the searching party gives ground,—one is almost tempted to say, excuse,—for a close and careful description of each country and of its inhabitants, step by step. Even the lesser incidents of the story are employed to emphasise the distinctive features of each land. The explorers are almost frozen on the heights of the Andes, and almost
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