"The Castaways: A Story of Adventure in the Wilds of Borneo" is a novel by Mayne Reid. Thomas Mayne Reid (April 4, 1818 – October 22, 1883) was a Scots-Irish American novelist. Thomas Mayne Reid fought in the American-Mexican War (1846-1848). His many works are about American life. In these works, the author described the colonial policy in the United States, the horrors of slave labor, and the lives of American Indians. "Captain" Reid wrote many adventure novels akin to those written by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a great admirer of Lord Byron. These novels contain action that takes place primarily in places including, but not limited to: the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica.