Our barns may be built over the graves of the Indians, and our houses on
the sites of their wigwams; our cattle may graze upon the hillsides and
valleys of their hunting grounds, and our churches may be erected on
positions where the Red men of the forest gathered together to invoke
the blessing of the Great Chief of the everlasting hunting ground, yet
what is truly written of the past must remain unalterable.

* * * * *

NOTE.--The wrecked transport _Pitt_ was named, it is said, in honour of
the Earl of Chatham; and tradition states that one of the boats of the
ship drifted from the wreck and went ashore at a point of land near
where the town of Chatham now stands, the ship's name being painted on
the boat; and from this circumstance Chatham, on the Miramichi River,
received its name.




CHAPTER I.

FIRST EXPERIENCE OF COLONIAL LIFE, 1769-70.


Captain Godfrey's health gradually improved after his return to his
native country. When he thought himself sufficiently recovered he felt
anxious to embark in some branch of business, and not feeling inclined
to do so in England, he purchased a grant of land from Lynge Tottenham,
Esq., this land was situated on the bank of the River St. John, Nova