The first edition of this book is dated 1851. The edition used is dated 1853. The publisher was George Routledge & Sons, Ludgate Hill, London. The number of pages is 381.

General information

This book should be a bit more of a classic than it actually is. It is thought that Ballantyne used it as the inspiration for his famous “The Coral Island”, for there is good evidence for it. In the 1830s the Washington left New York, the passengers including some of the young members of the owners’ families and some of their friends. Destination Canton via the Straits of Magellan. Crossing the Pacific, they land on various of the islands, such as those in the Fiji and Kingsmill Groups. Sometimes they encountered particularly nasty inhabitants. One day they were on the beach of an island, when it became necessary for the Washington to up anchors and away, leaving the shore party with the ship’s boat. Murders occur among the seamen. The boys set sail in the boat, hoping to regain contact with some vessel, but never do.

The rest of the book is a story of survival, and of the good humour of the boys. The real problem with the book is the long paragraphs of description which nowadays would be much shorter or omitted altogether, but it was written in the 1850s, and it was Ballantyne’s luck that he was able to write a book along the same lines but far easier to read.

Still, it’s worth a quick skim, if nothing more. Your reviewer has listened to the book several times, and enjoyed it each time.