Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) is the author of the best-known narrative of Canadian pioneer settlement life, Roughing It in the Bush. The story of her family's struggles to establish themselves in an environment they found to be strange, enchanting, hostile, and amusing, Roughing It is a highly detailed portrait of frontier conditions in Upper Canada in the 1830s. This new edition of Susanna's most important work offers for the first time the complete version that she intended for the public to read in 1852, including a chapter that has until now been omitted--from back cover.
Excerpt from Roughing It in the Bush, or Forest Life in Canada In the year 1832 I landed with my husband, J.W. Dunbar Moodie, in Canada. Mr. Moodie was the youngest son of Major Moodie, of Mellsetter, in che Orkney Islands; he was a lieutenant in the 21st regiment of Fusileers, and had been severely wounded in the nightattack upon Bergen-op-Zoom, in Holland. Not being overgifted with the good things of this world-the younger sons of old British families seldom are-he had, after mature deliberation, determined to try his fortunes in Canada, and settle upon the grant of 400 acres of land, ceded by the Government to officers upon half-pay. Emigration, in most cases-and ours was no exception to the general rule-is a matter of necessity, not of choice. It may, indeed, generally be regarded as an act of duty performed at the expense of personal enjoyment, and at the sacrifice of all those local attachments which stamp the scenes in which our childhood grew in imperishable characters upon the heart. Nor is it, until adversity has pressed hard upon the wounded spirit of the sons and daughters of old, but impoverished, families, that they can subdue their proud and rebellious feelings, and submit to make the trial. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
