This work in two volumes has been compiled from historical documents and travel accounts from the Government of India records. It was prepared by M.V. Portman at the behest of Lt Colonel R.C. Temple, who was the Chief Commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

It encompasses the physical geography of the Andaman Islands and the appearance and customs of the Andamanese tribes from the earliest times up to the date of the first settlement on them. It has interesting accounts of the wrecks of the British ships, Briton and Runnymede, in the Archipelago Islands and the murder of the seamen of the Fyze Buksh by the Andamanese. Alongside, there are papers relating to the British occupation; the opening of the Settlement by Dr Walker; the trouble given by the fugitive convicts; accounts of the hostile Jarawa tribes; and the original writings on the Andamanese.

There is an account of the efforts made to improve the Andamanese, and reasons for the near extinction of the race. The author, as far as possible, has let each officer tell his own story in his own words.