THE SHIPWRECKED ORPHANS: A TRUE NARRATIVE OF THE SUFFERINGS OF JOHN IRELAND AND WILLIAM DOYLEY, WHO WERE WRECKED IN THE SHIP CHARLES EATON, ON AN ISLAND IN THE SOUTH SEAS by Ireland, John - 1845

New Haven: S. Babcock, 1845. 64pp. including eight full-page illustrations in text. 16mo. Original tan pictorial wrappers. Covers worn and soiled, spine perished. Text moderately foxed. Last leaf torn slightly in gutter margin. Still, a good copy of this scarce work. Scarce narrative, published as part of Teller's Tales for children, relating the tale of two boys who survived the wreck of the Barque Charles Eaton and subsequent capture by natives in 1834. The Charles Eaton crashed on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. The castaways constructed two rafts out of the wreckage and began to float, finally coming ashore on the islands off the tip of York Peninsula, near present-day Queensland. Unfortunately the natives were not friendly and murdered most of the refugees. Several young boys were traded to other, friendlier natives for a bunch of bananas, but the only two left alive by the time rescue arrived were the cabin boy, John Ireland, and the young son of one of the passengers, William Doyley. The work is illustrated with eight plates showing the natives in various scenes, such as murdering the castaways. "This 'True narrative' published for juvenile readers is very rare" - Ferguson. Only a handful of copies on OCLC. FERGUSON 4078A.