Boteler served as second lieutenant under Owen during the latter's important surveying expedition to Southern Arabia and East Africa. He wrote this account which he lent to Owen for his official account and it might have remained unpublished were it not for his family's desire to see it through the press after he died of fever. This proved to be something of a poisoned chalice for the Botelers; after Thomas' death his youngest brother took up the editing duties only to succumb to a fatal illness himself; next his eldest brother stepped into the breech, but whilst sailing from Halifax his boat was lost and his body was never recovered. Finally it fell to yet another brother to complete the editing which fortunately he managed to do without losing his life.

First edition; 2 vols, 8vo; 4 lithograph plates, occasional light spotting; contemporary green polished calf gilt, covers ruled in gilt and blind with fancy gilt corners, spines in five compartments, red morocco labels to second and fourth, others richly gilt, broad gilt dividers, marbled edges, a fine copy; xxiv, 414; viii, 479 pp.