With its curious mixture of adventure, natural history and satire this early Canadian novel has become a landmark work of fantasy and science fiction.

_The Antelope_ had left the wharf at about seven in the morning. It was now one o'clock. For the last two or three hours there had been but little wind, and it was the tide which had carried her along. Drifting on in this way, they had come to within a mile of Ile Haute, and had an opportunity of inspecting the place which Tom had declared to be so gloomy. In truth, Tom's judgment was not undeserved. Ile Haute arose like a solid, unbroken rock out of the deep waters of the Bay of Fundy, its sides precipitous, and scarred by tempest, and shattered by frost. On its summit were trees, at its...

James De Mille (1833-1880) was a professor at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and an early Canadian writer who published numerous works of popular fiction from the late 1860s through the 1870s. He attended Horton Academy in Wolfville and spent one year at Acadia University. He then travelled with his brother to Europe, spending half a year in England, France and Italy. On his return to North America, he attended Brown University, from which he obtained a Master of Arts degree in 1854. He married Anne Pryor, daughter of the president of Acadia University, John Pryor, and was there appointed...

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