The Settlers in Canada

5 hrs. 37 min.

Language Russian

Author Frederick Marryat

Narrator Denis Koreev

Description

In 1794, a family from England decided to leave for Canada in order to settle there. Once this territory was under French rule, but about thirty years before the events described here, it passed to the British. Then migration to Canada looked nothing like it does today: both the journey and life in the new place involved considerable risk. There were no steamers yet on rivers with rapids and fast currents; Indigenous peoples occupied vast northern areas and were often encountered in the south as well. Besides, wild animals were everywhere—some could be useful to humans, but many posed a serious threat. There were few European settlers, and among them the French predominated, with little sympathy for the new authorities. Although many English people had moved there over the decades and set up farms in different places, the best land remained with the French, who had settled the country first. That’s why the new settlers had to choose either the north of Canada or territories near it. These areas were no worse and sometimes even more fertile than the south, but they were far too distant from Quebec, Montreal, and other population centers, so people there were essentially left to their own devices and had virtually no protection. So truly compelling reasons were needed for an entire family to leave their homeland and move to Canada. I’ll try to tell the reader what those reasons were…