When J.R. Kazallon decides to book passage from Charleston, South Carolina to Liverpool on board the Chancellor, he gets more than he bargained for. Unexpectedly, the ship begins sailing an unusual route to Liverpool, towards the southeast! The Captain relieves himself of his command, especially after the ship's cargo of cotton catches fire. The first mate assumes command, but the ship wrecks upon a reef in the mid-Atlantic ocean. The fire is put out and the ship is barely made sailable again and after a while the raft they've constructed must be put to use. The raft drifts toward the southwest, but the provisions are wanting and the survivors of this shipwreck may have to submit to cannibalism.

Synopsis ©2006, The Works of Jules Verne
Used with permission.