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His early life, and adventures in the Arctic Regions and other parts of the World, In the 1830s Peter Lefroy, wild son of vicar in Ireland, is sent off to sea in an emigrant ship bound for Quebec. After an horrific account of seven-day fire on board in which many die, Peter is rescued, gets to Canada, spends a few months in the fur trade, travels via Fort Dearborn (site of Chicago) to New Orleans, and goes off to sea again. His ship is captured by a pirate and Peter is forced to swear an oath of allegiance to the pirates, but successfully wrestles with his conscience to find a way of bringing the pirates to justice without breaking his oath. The pirates are captured by the US Navy and hanged and Peter joins a USN expedition to the Polar regions. His ship runs on iceberg drowning all except Peter and a few mates who are picked up by whaler and becomes members of the crew. Towards the end of the summer Peter's whaleboat is left stranded when the whaler is blown away by a storm, and the men spend the winter in the Arctic, befriended by Eskimos. Next summer they are picked up by a French whaling ship, but wrecked on the Irish coast. Peter survives, walks home, and lives happily ever after. Great descriptions of Arctic conditions, clearly based on contemporary travellers' accounts. |
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Author: W. H. G. Kingston Title: Peter the Whaler Series: n/a First Published by: Place: Format: Date: 1851 ISBN-10: ISBN-13:
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