The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Settlers in Canada, by Frederick Marryat

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Title: The Settlers in Canada

Author: Frederick Marryat

Release Date: January 7, 2008 [EBook #24211]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SETTLERS IN CANADA ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

The Settlers in Canada, by Captain Marryat.

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"The Settlers in Canada" was published in 1844, the twenty-first book to
flow from Marryat's pen. Marryat's later books were written for a
juvenile readership. This book is notable because it is not in
Marryat's earlier style, in that the narrative flows forward in a steady
style, without the introduction of the usual asides which make his
nautical books so readable. The subject material, set in the Canadian
wilderness, is very well treated: in fact one might almost say that he
had read the works of the later masters of Canadian wilderness writing,
Ballantyne or Egerton Ryerson Young. Another feature which is unusual
for him is the shortness and evenness of the chapters; nor are there any
of the long paragraphs normal for his earlier works. This helps to make
the book so suitable as a children's book.

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THE SETTLERS IN CANADA, BY CAPTAIN MARRYAT.

CHAPTER ONE.

AN UNEXPECTED FORTUNE.

It was in the year 1791, that an English family went out to settle in
Canada. This province had been surrendered to us by the French, who
first colonised it more than thirty years previous to the year I have
mentioned. It must, however, be recollected that to emigrate and settle
in Canada was, at that time, a very different affair to what it is now.
The difficulty of transport, and the dangers incurred, were much
greater, for there were no steamboats to stem the currents and the
rapids of the rivers; the Indians were still residing in Upper and many
portions of Lower Canada, and the country was infested with wild animals
of every description--some useful, but many dangerous: moreover, the
Europeans were fewer in number, and