Robert Knox was travelling with his father in 1659 on the latter's journey homeward from his post with the British East India Company at Fort St. George when a storm obliged their ship to put into Cottier Bay, Ceylon. The two were detained as prisoners along with 14 others, and carried into the interior of the island. Knox's father died in 1661, but Knox himself remained a prisoner at large for over 19 years, supporting himself by knitting caps, lending out corn and rice, and hawking goods about the country. Though the rajah pressed him to enter his service, Knox resisted, and finally escaped to the Dutch settlement at Arippu on the north-west of the island. Reaching England in 1680, he entrusted the manuscript of this account to Robert Hooke, and enlisted in the East India Company, for further adventures in an already adventuresome life. These engravings include depictions of agricultural techniques, two native primates, customs and costumes and an execution being carried out by an elephant.

The book, in the words of the author, is his attempt to fulfill a long felt want of a complete, yet concise, account of the Dutch occupation of Ceylon 1640 to 1796. It is essentially a history of the Dutch people who came to the island, among which are included Joris van Spilbergan, Sebald de Weerd, Coster, Boreel, Francois Caron Maatzuyketo, Thysz, Kittensteyn, Van der Meiden, Hulft, etc. Through out the book valuable information is given about the political conditions and about the Dutch interactions with the Singhalese. Details of treaties and skirmishes are provided. The Dutch engagements with the Portuguese are also noticed. The book has a map of Ceylon and 12 other illustrations that portray key fingers and events.The book is a reprint of the 1929 edition.

The Teardrop Island follows in the footsteps of the eccentric Victorian James Emerson Tennent, along a route which takes Cherry to pilgrimage trails, tea estates, and rural regions inhabited by indigenous tribes, and through areas of the former warzone, delving under the surface of the contemporary culture via cricket matches and fortune tellers.

Der britische Soldat Robert Percival bereiste Cylon im Jahre 1803. Der Inselstaat im Indischen Ozean, der 1972 zur Republik Sri Lanka wurde, unterlag viele Jahrhunderte verschiedenen Kolonialmächten. In der Zeit der Entstehung dieses Reiseberichtes stand das Land unter Beeiflussung von Großbritannien, den Niederlanden, Malaysia und Portugal. Er ermöglicht gerade aus dieser Perspektive einen umfassenden Gesamteindruck der Geschichte Cylons. Percival versucht, neben Beschreibungen zu Kultur- und Naturbild des Inselstaates auch die politische Situation zu erfassen und dem Leser nahezubringen. Es handelt sich hierbei um eine englischsprachige Ausgabe.