Following the clues found in a bottle cast into the ocean, Lord and Lady Genarvan set off for South America and Australia in their ship Duncan to search for the shipwrecked Captain Grant. Their eventful and perilous journey gives Verne the opportunity to describe a variety of exotic places.

Originally titled Les Enfants du Capitaine Grant (“The Children of Captain Grant”), the story has inspired several movie adaptations. Ayrton, one of the characters, reappears in The Mysterious Island.