A summary of Jules Verne’s Two Years’ Vacation

"Two Years’ Vacation" is an 1888 adventure novel. It shows the capabilities of children left alone in the wild and how they organize a colony without adults. The story has been adapted into films several times in various countries. Czechoslovakian director Karel Zeman made "The Stolen Airship" in 1966, several European studios released "Pirates of the Pacific" in 1974, and Japanese animators have created several successful anime adaptations.

The novel is part of the renowned "Extraordinary Journeys" series. It is the thirty-second book in this adventure series, which also includes the well-known stories "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island."

Storm and shipwreck

On March 9, 1860, the yacht Sloughi is battling a fierce storm in the Pacific Ocean. There is not a single adult on board. The crew consists of fourteen schoolchildren, a cabin boy named Moko, and a dog named Fann. The eldest, the sensible Gordon, is fourteen years old. The French brothers, Brian and Jacques, are thirteen and ten. The other boys are Englishmen from wealthy families. Proud Doniphan, who loves to command, stands out among them. The ship hits a reef. The boys find themselves thousands of kilometers from Auckland, where they attended Cherman Boarding School. The yacht broke loose from its moorings during an overnight stay. An ocean current carried the sleeping children far out to sea.

Development of new land

At first, the boys set up a safe home on a dilapidated yacht. The sandy shore seems deserted and lifeless. To investigate, Brian climbs a sheer cliff about 90 meters high and spots a wide stretch of water to the east. Gordon begins keeping a strict written inventory of the salvaged property. He carefully distributes provisions, hunting weapons, tools, and warm sailor clothes. The boys hunt coastal game and collect edible shellfish and clams. Brian tenderly cares for the frightened younger children. Doniphan constantly challenges Brian’s authority out of envy.

A few days later, the older boys set out on a forest reconnaissance expedition. After walking several kilometers, they are surprised to discover a stone dam on the river and the remains of a hut. Soon, the young explorers discover a spacious cave, and next to it, a white human skeleton.

Frenchman’s Cave

The skeleton belongs to François Baudouin, an unfortunate French sailor who found himself here fifty-three years ago. Inside the dark cave, half-decayed belongings are discovered, including a silver pocket watch, a diary, and a hand-drawn map. The drawing confirms Briand’s terrifying suspicion: they are on an isolated island. The strip of water to the east turns out to be a vast freshwater lake with a circumference of about 80 kilometers. From the lake flow large rivers that empty into the ocean. Baudouin explored the area but was never able to leave.

The boys bury the Frenchman with honors. Realizing that the damaged yacht will soon be destroyed by the powerful waves, Gordon suggests moving to a cave they’ve discovered. The boys work together to build a large wooden raft. They load it with useful items from the ship and cross the river to a new, safe location.

Colony life

The new, secure home is named "Friend’s Den." The boys expand the cave, carving additional living quarters into the soft limestone with iron picks. They also find another deep cave, where they set up a storehouse. A strict daily routine is established, with mandatory school lessons for the younger children. The colonists fish, tame wild vicunas and swift guanacos, and build a large wooden enclosure for them. The prudent Gordon finds maple trees for their sweet sap and shrubs that provide a fragrant tea substitute. Wilcox crafts ingenious snares and catches birds. Doniphan and his friends destroy a pack of foxes that are stealing birds from the enclosure.

A cold winter sets in. The thermometer drops to minus 30 degrees Celsius. Winds whip up huge snowdrifts. The lake is covered with ice almost a meter thick. The boys make wooden skates and happily skate across the ice. During one of these sporting excursions, Jacques gets lost in thick fog. He is saved from two aggressive bears by a shot from Doniphan, who arrives just in time.

Division and a new threat

In the spring, the moral tension between the teenagers escalates. The proud Doniphan and his loyal followers demonstratively leave Friend’s Den to live separately on the island’s east coast. Soon, during a walk in the woods, they discover an overturned lifeboat from the American merchant ship Severn and two corpses on the sand.

Meanwhile, near the cave, Briand discovers an emaciated woman named Kat. Upon regaining consciousness, she tells a terrifying story. Kat served as a housekeeper on the Severn. The brutal crew mutinied, killing the captain and the peaceful passengers. Only Kat and the navigator, Ivens, who was forced to steer the ship, survived. After the fire, the mutineers abandoned the burning ship in a lifeboat. A storm washed them ashore on an island. Kat narrowly escaped the criminals. The gang’s leader, Waleston, needs tools from the children’s cave to repair the damaged lifeboat.

Jacques’s Redemption

Having learned of the mortal threat, Briand decides to warn the departed Doniphan. First, he needs to determine the exact location of the armed bandits’ camp. Briand constructs a 70-square-meter kite to fly undetected at night. Before the flight, a sad Jacques confesses his secret to his comrades: it was he who, as a silly prank, untied the yacht’s mooring rope in Auckland. He cries and wants to fly himself to make amends with the others.

Brian forbids his brother from risking his life and takes his place in the wicker basket. Having climbed to an altitude of over 200 meters, the brave young man sees Waleston’s fire not far from where Doniphan left. Suddenly, a gust of wind snaps the taut rope. Brian falls into the cold lake but swims to shore. That same stormy night, Brian finds Doniphan’s sleeping camp. He kills a wild jaguar with his dagger and convinces the breakaway group to return to the cave. All the colonists unite in the face of their common misfortune.

Clash with rioters

Navigator Ivens escapes from the pirates under cover of night, dodging flying bullets. He reaches the safety of the Friend-den and takes command of the defense. The pirates attempt to gain entry into the cave by trickery. They send two wily accomplices posing as shipwreck victims. The observant boys uncover the ruse and capture one of the bandits. Ivens wounds the second scoundrel with a shotgun.

Soon, a gunfight breaks out in the forest. Doniphan is seriously wounded in the chest while heroically defending Brian from an enraged pirate. The bandits burst into the defenseless cave and kidnap Jacques and Costar. The captured pirate Forbes repents his previous crimes. He boldly charges at Waleston and is fatally stabbed with a sharp knife. Jacques shoots Waleston with a revolver. The dark-skinned cabin boy, Moko, fires a small cannon at the boat carrying the fleeing bandits. The criminals are swept away, irrevocably, by the ocean current.

Returning home

The pirates are destroyed. Kindly Kat patiently nurses the wounded Doniphan back to health with a poultice of local alder leaves. Ivens shares some good news about geography with the weary boys. Their land is the large island of Hanover, located off the west coast of South America. The hardworking boys help an experienced navigator repair the Severna’s damaged lifeboat.

On February 12th, the brave colonists leave the harsh island forever. They confidently sail through the winding straits of the Magellanic Archipelago. Soon, the fugitives meet the large ocean steamer Crafton, which picks them up. Two years after the start of their unplanned vacation, the boys safely return to Auckland and their happy families. Ivens receives his own ship as a generous gift. Kat stays to live in Doniphan’s hospitable home.