Philip Ashton (1702-1746) stayed as a castaway on uninhabited Roatán island in the Gulf of Honduras for 16 months in 1723/1724. His memoirs about his solitary stay (published in book form in Boston in 1725) were not believed by everyone; some people believed the book was a novel in the style of Robinson Crusoe. However, unlike Robinson Crusoe, Ashton was genuine.

In June 1722, Ashton was captured by pirates while fishing near the coast of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. In the Boston News Letter of 9 July 1722, Ashton was listed as being one of those captured by the pirate Edward Low. As Ashton refused to co-operate with the pirates, he was often threatened. He managed to escape in March 1723 when the pirates landed at Roatán Island in the Bay Islands of Honduras, hiding in the jungle. He survived for 16 months, in spite of many insects, tropical heat and alligators. This book is his unvarnished journal--with original spellings kept in place.