Voyages Extraordinaires series book 05
Narrator Stan Pretty

...In non-English speaking countries this is most known Jules Verne's book
and it is probably his best book, full of adventures and humor..

The contents of a shark's stomach contain a bottle that holds notes written
in three different languages. Much of the notes are indecipherable; however,
together they may reveal the location of the whereabouts of Captain Harry
Grant, whose ship the Britannia was lost over two years ago. While the
latitude of Grant is known from the note, the longitude is a mystery. Clues
from the notes point to the South American coast as the probable location
of the shipwreck. Lord Glenarvan makes it his quest to find Grant; together
with his wife, Harry Grant's children (Mary and Robert) and the crew of his
yacht the Duncan they set off for South America. An unexpected passenger in
the form of French geographer Jacques Paganel joins the search.

The search takes them where the 37th degree of south latitude crosses the
South American continent. Crossing the continent from west to east, they
travel through Chile and Argentina (Patagonia), with no luck, when Paganel
realizes that part of the clue must actually mean Australia. So they go to
where the 37th degree begins crossing Australia, there by chance they meet
a man who claims his name is Thomas Ayrton, former quartermaster of the
Britannia. Ayrton takes them across the Australian continent, with plans
of his own to seize control of the Duncan. Ayrton's treachery makes the
party believe that he has gained control of the Duncan. Dejected that
their search of Australia did not turn up Captain Grant, the adventurers
travel to New Zealand via a ship that barely seems sea-worthy. The vessel
wrecks along the New Zealand coast. The party's attempt to get to Auckland
gets them captured by the Maoris, a tribe of cannibals at war with the
English and disinterested in keeping the prisoners alive.

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