In Search of the Castaways

A torn note recovered from a shark’s belly sets this globe-spanning rescue in motion. Lord and Lady Glenarvan learn that Captain Grant survived a shipwreck, but the water-damaged message gives only one clue to his whereabouts: the 37th parallel south. Rather than abandon him, they sail their yacht Duncan around the world with Grant’s young son and daughter, following that line of latitude across Patagonia, the Australian outback, and New Zealand. The eccentric French geographer Jacques Paganel, who joins the voyage by accident, supplies both comic relief and the misreadings that keep sending them astray. Verne packs the journey with earthquakes, floods, and hostile country while keeping the family’s hope alive. Free to download as a PDF and EPUB edition.