The pleasant and surprising adventures of Robert Drury, during his fifteen years' captivity on the island of Madagascar

In Short

First published in 1729, this account details the real-world trial of Robert Drury, an English youth shipwrecked on the coast of Madagascar in 1702. Spared during a general massacre of his shipmates due to his youth, Drury spends fifteen years embedded within indigenous Malagasy society. He serves various regional rulers, works as a cattle-herder and warrior, and observes local customs, religious disputes, and inter-tribal warfare. It stands as a enduring classic of travel and survival literature because of its extraordinary detailed observations of an isolated island culture before European colonization transformed it.

The Story

The narrative begins with the tragic wreck of the Degrave, an East Indiaman carrying young Robert Drury, on the southern shores of Madagascar in 1702. After reaching the shore, the survivors attempt to negotiate their safety with a local ruler. Tensions quickly escalate when the native king refuses to let the English castaways depart, intending to keep them as prized white captives. In desperation, the crew attempts a forced march toward a friendly port, seizing royal hostages along the way to secure their passage. However, after exchanging the hostages, the English sailors are betrayed and overwhelmingly slaughtered. Drury, spared only because of his youth, is thrust directly into servitude.

Drury's early captivity is marked by severe hardship and cultural conflict. When commanded to perform an act of total submission—licking his master's feet—the boy stubbornly refuses out of Christian conscience, incurring his master's violent wrath and barely escaping a death blow through the swift intervention of a royal relative. Forced to submit to avoid execution, Drury adapts to his new life as a slave, working as a cow-keeper and learning the local dialect and customs. Over the years, he moves between different masters, including the noble deaan Murnanzack and the unpredictable Rer Vove.

As Drury matures, he becomes deeply integrated into the local society. He acts as an interpreter, accompanies war parties on raids against rival kingdoms, and witnesses the internal political shifts and devastating conflicts between local chieftains such as deaan Crindo and deaan Mevarrow. Along the way, he encounters French traders, learns the tactical realities of island warfare, and even participates in local customs, eventually marrying a native woman recommended to him by his master and establishing his own small homestead and cattle herd.

Despite achieving a comfortable life with land, slaves, and livestock, Drury never loses his desire to return home. His opportunity finally comes when an English merchant vessel anchors nearby to trade. Drury acts as an interpreter between the ship’s captain and the local king, negotiating trade terms and facilitating communication. Recognizing his long-lost countryman, the English captain assists Drury in securing a genteel release, allowing him to leave Madagascar behind and return to England, leaving behind a rich documentation of the island's lands, people, and language.

How It Unfolds

The wreck and captivity After the Degrave runs aground on the coast of Madagascar, sixteen-year-old Robert Drury and his surviving crewmates are brought before a local king who refuses to grant them passage home.

The fatal march The crew attempts to break for safety at Port Dauphine, holding royal hostages for leverage, but the white sailors are eventually ambushed and killed, leaving only young Drury alive as a captive.

Servitude and submission Drury enters harsh enslavement under deaan Mevarrow, where a refusal to pay divine homage to his master nearly costs him his life until he reluctantly learns to navigate the social hierarchy.

Life among the chieftains Transferred to new masters like deaan Murnanzack, Drury works as a cattle-herd, explores the island’s interior, and observes regional warfare, inter-tribal politics, and local customs like smoking jermaughla.

Integration and prosperity Given land, cattle, and a wife with the support of prince Rer Moume, Drury establishes a stable life, builds a household, and gains high respect among his captors as an interpreter and advisor.

Escape to England An English trading vessel arrives off the coast, allowing Drury to use his bilingual skills to broker trade and secure a friendly release back to his native country after fifteen years.

The People

• Robert Drury: The youthful English castaway who adapts to fifteen years of captivity, transforming from a defiant, frightened boy into a skilled interpreter, cattle-herder, and embedded observer of Malagasy society.
• Captain Drummond: A proud, fiery English officer from the shipwreck who fiercely refuses to submit to royal captivity, declaring he would rather send souls to hell than stay willingly.
• Captain Younge: An English officer who leads the doomed escape attempt, making the fatal tactical error of trusting local promises and releasing royal hostages mid-march.
• Deaan Mevarrow: Drury’s hot-tempered master, whose violent rages and strict demands for submission frequently put Drury's life in immediate jeopardy.
• Deaan Murnanzack: An intrepid, generous warrior prince who is universally beloved for his justice and courtesy, providing Drury with safer protection and better treatment.
• Rer Moume: A affable, practical prince who treats Drury with generosity, encouraging him to marry, gifting him land, slaves, and cattle, and helping him live comfortably.

In Its Own Voice

"Since our gods have been so good as to send you here, you shall never go with my consent, as long as I govern here."

— A local king informs Captain Drummond that the shipwrecked survivors will not be permitted to leave the island.

"I peremptorily refused, and told him, 'I would obey all his lawful commands, and do whatever work he thought proper to employ me in; but this act of divine homage I could never comply with.'"

— Drury describes his dangerous refusal to perform standard acts of total submission before his master.

"Our business was to make our lives as easy and happy as our circumstances would permit us..."

— Drury reflects on the daily goal of surviving captivity while remote from the dangers of ongoing local wars.

What It's Really About

Beneath its narrative of survival, the book examines the adaptability of human nature when thrust into alien cultures. It presents a nuanced view of freedom versus security, exploring how an individual reconciles personal conscience and heritage with the pragmatic demands of self-preservation. Rather than presenting a simplistic narrative of "savagery," the text reveals a complex society complete with its own legal structures, international diplomacy, war ethics, and deep human generosity. It fundamentally questions what separates civilized conduct from barbarism, contrasting European assumptions with the lived reality of indigenous governance.

Why Read It Today

Readers of classic travelogues, historical survival accounts, and true-life adventure narratives will find this work fascinating. It reads with the straightforward, unpretentious clarity of a classic eighteenth-century memoir, offering a remarkably vivid, eye-level gaze into early modern Madagascar. Rather than framing the island through distant colonial tropes, Drury offers an intimate, highly detailed portrait of daily life, agricultural practices, military tactics, and local linguistics—complete with an authentic vocabulary appendix.

While the prose is direct and accessible, modern readers should be prepared for period-specific language, explicit depictions of tribal warfare, and the casual presence of historical slavery. Nevertheless, the sheer resilience of Drury's spirit and his authentic appreciation for the people who held him captive make this book an enduring, deeply human document of cross-cultural encounter.