Like most of M. Jules Verne's books, it is the story of a journey. Some acrobats wish to travel from California to their native France, and having no money they determine to go in their caravan northward to Bering's Straits, crossing on the ice, and make their way through Siberia into Europe. Jules Verne's travelers are generally successful: in spite of robbers, icebergs, and the Russian police; the bold Frenchmen triumphantly reach their goal.

While a member of the Amiens town council, Verne supervised the finances of the local theatre. During this period he urged the establishment of a permanent circus. Verne's contact with the circus performers formed the basis for Cæsar Cascabel in which a mystery is solved by means of ventriloquism.