The publication is a narrative of Louis Trégance's nine years of captivity among the Orangwoks, a tribe in the interior of New Guinea.
The novels introduction by Henry Crocker states:
'The following narrative contains the life and adventures Louis Trégance, while in captivity among the Orangwoks, a tribe inhabiting the interior of New Guinea, from which place he made his escape to the continent of Australia.
'However, it will be better that he should tell his own story, contained in the following narrative; and in introducing it to the public, I will simply explain how I came to accept the task of preparing it for the press, and to what extent I am responsible for what is here written. In the beginning of March (the 7th of that month, I find from my note-book), I was called in to visit a sick parishioner a young man, a stranger to the place. He was suffering from an attack of typhoid fever, and was exceedingly ill. He was apparently about thirty-five years old, and his face was well bronzed. He was the mate of a colonial vessel, and had been taken ill on her arrival in port.'
