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A gripping story about two young children, a boy of about fourteen and
his sister of about twelve, who set off with their father, a south-sea
whaling captain, on what is intended to be his last voyage, their mother
having died during his previous three-year voyage. Unfortunately some
of the crew, especially the bo'sun, are not very well-intentioned, and
after a chapter or two about the voyage out to the Pacific, and some
whale hunts of varying success, there is a mutiny. The ship ends up on
fire and is abandoned with various rafts and ship's boats getting away
from her.
There is a well-written account of the children's drift on a raft with
two of the officers, and a wonderful and kind coloured man, though the
story is not quite as simple as that, since people lose one another, and
lose their rafts, with considerable drama.
Finally the children's father turns up, of course, and the story ends
with everybody happy, except the wicked bo'sun and his confederates, who
have gone to Davy Jones' Locker on account of their devotion to the
Demon Drink.
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