A Narrative of the Shipwreck, Captivity and Sufferings of Horace Holden and Benj. H. Nute / Who were cast away in the American ship Mentor, on the Pelew Islands, in the year 1832; and for two years afterwards were subjected to unheard of sufferings among the barbarous inhabitants of Lord North's island

After a ship strikes a coral reef near a remote Pacific island, surviving crew are carried ashore and seized by local inhabitants. The narrative follows two seamen held captive for two years, describing their daily hardships, violence, and attempts at escape while they acquire the island language and observe customs such as tattooing, social divisions, and material practices. It furnishes estimates of population and geography, recounts scenes of plunder and conflict after the wreck, details efforts to construct a boat, and ends with encounters and outside assistance that enable the captives to leave the island.