Jules Gabriel Verne (1828 - 1905) was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. "In Search of the Castaways" tells the story of the quest for Captain Grant of the Britannia. After finding a bottle cast into the ocean by the captain himself after the Britannia is shipwrecked, Lord and Lady Glenarvan of Scotland contact Mary and Robert, the young daughter and son of Captain Grant to launch a rescue expedition.Lord Glenarvan, together with his wife, Grant's children and the crew of his yacht the Duncan they set off for South America. An unexpected passenger in the form of French geographer Jaques Paganel joins the search, exploring Patagonia, Tristan da Cunha Island, Amsterdam Island, and Australia. They find a former quarter-master of the Britannia, Ayrton, who proposes to lead them to the site of the wreckage. However, Ayrton is a traitor, who was not present during the loss of the Britannia, tries to take control of the Duncan, but out of sheer luck, this attempt also fails. The Glenarvans, the Grant children, and Paganel are left in Australia, mistakenly believing that the Duncan is lost. They sail to New Zealand, and when their ship is wrecked are captured by a Maori tribe, but luckily manage to escape and board a ship that they discover, with their greatest surprise, to be their lost yacht, the Duncan.Ayrton is made a prisoner, offers to trade his knowledge of Captain Grant in exchange for being abandoned on a desert island instead of being surrendered to the British authorities. The Duncan sets sail for the Tabor Island, which, out of sheer luck, turns out to be Captain Grant's shelter. They leave Ayrton in his place to live among the beasts and regain his humanity.