Knox and his father were driven ashore on Ceylon, now Sri Lanka in a storm in 1659 while on their way home from Fort St. George (now Madras). They were captured in the name of the King of Kandy near Mooduthora (Mutur), Trincomalee. Knox eventually escaped with one companion after nineteen years of captivity. This book is one of the earliest and most detailed European accounts of life on Ceylon.