Chapters 1-5 Summary and Analysis

Chapter one begins with Slocum discussing his homeland of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is a heavily populated Canadian province on the southeastern tip of the country. The province's capital, Halifax, is well known for its economic structure, which may be the reason Slocum journeyed there at age sixteen. The province is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and features many inlets and bays.

Joshua Slocum was born in 1844 in Mount Hanley, Nova Scotia. Slocum describes Nova Scotia as a maritime province of Canada, rife with hardy spruce from which many fine vessels have been carved. According to Slocum, "The people of this coast, hardy, robust, and strong, are disposed of to compete in the world's commerce, and it is nothing against the master mariner if the birthplace mentioned on his certificate be Nova Scotia" (p. 1).

Slocum was a Canadian but...