A Swiss family of immigrants, Father, Mother, and their three sons, are relocating to a colony in New Guinea to escape the Napoleonic Wars when their ship is attacked by pirates and flees into a storm. The crew abandons ship and is lost, leaving the family on board, and the ship aground on rocks off of an uninhabited island. They transfer everything they can salvage from the ship to the island including live animals, tools, hammocks and firearms and ammunition. The family soon discovers that the island contains a diversity of wildlife and they construct an elaborate tree house, establishing a safe home for the family, able to feed themselves.. One of the sons eventually finds a girl, Jenny Montrose, who'd also been shipwrecked. Eventually, the pirates return but they're thwarted by the careful planning and traps set by the Robinsons.. After 10 years on the island, they're discovered and rescued by the captain of a ship who was seeking Jenny. The ship returns home with a journal of their adventures and a few family members, while others choose to remain on the island