The Swiss Family Robinson (German: Der Schweizerische Robinson , "The Swiss Robinson") is a novel by Johann David Wyss , first published in 1812, about a Swiss family of immigrants whose ship en route to Port Jackson , Australia , goes off course and is shipwrecked in the East Indies . The ship's crew is lost, but the family and several domestic animals survive. They make their way to shore, where they build a settlement, undergoing several adventures before being rescued; some refuse rescue and remain on the island.