The purpose of this voyage was to establish trading relations between Britain and South America and the South Seas. Narborough did claim for Britain some territory in Argentina, lost some of his men as hostages in Peru, but failed in his primary mission.
Printers dedicated the book to the Honourable Samuel Pepys, Esq. Secretary of the Admiralty of England. Introduction by the booksellers is a capsule history of previous explorations and describes the rest of the book. Four separate voyages, two British, one Dutch, and one German, are covered in the book, two on the South Seas, and two on the Arctic. Narborough on p. 100-01, says he did not want to eat bear flesh because it would turn his hair grey before its time.