The Settlers in Canada

A sudden inheritance gives the Campbell family an English estate, but a rival claim soon threatens their new prosperity. Frederick Marryat places this family story within an account of settlement in Canada in 1791, when river travel, distance from towns and wild animals make starting again a demanding undertaking. Mr Campbell, a surgeon, and his wife have raised their own children alongside two orphaned nieces, and their conversations connect changes in fortune with responsibility toward others.

Life on the Canadian farm brings practical work and close attention to the surrounding woods. Alfred, Martin and Henry plant grain among tree stumps, while Malachi explains how beavers build their dams. Purchases of sheep, ponies and carts matter alongside stories told in the evening. Readers interested in frontier fiction will find a historical adventure built around a household learning to provide for itself, with farming details and natural history woven into its daily concerns.