A dynamic army officer and sportsman, Sir Richard Levinge (1811-84) was an unlikely chronicler of nature. However, service during the suppression of the French Canadian uprising of 1837-8 led to a personal fascination with the people, flora and fauna of the Canadian colonies. Published in 1846, this two-volume description of travel through eastern Canada and the United States reflects the author's passion for hunting and the outdoor life. In Volume 1, the reader accompanies Levinge on his voyage to Newfoundland before being regaled with tales of skating, sleighing, hunting for wolves and a fortnight in the bush in Nova Scotia. Volume 2 describes the American swamps, Montreal, the Great Lakes and Niagara Falls, as well the continent's exotic fauna in the form of racoons, snakes and bald eagles. This work conveys both the dangers and the attractions of the North American continent at this period.