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court in 1768. In February, 1769, Carver sailed for England, never to return, and, while there, married (whether legally or not is uncertain) another woman by whom children were born. Both wives survived him and were left in need and distress.
Jonathan Carver's military career covered the entire period of what is known as the French and Indian War and in that he was more successful, being early advanced to the rank of lieutenant, and later to a captaincy. General Jeffrey Amherst (from whom Amherst College in Massachusetts is named) after the capture of Montreal and the close of hostilities, mad honorable mention of his conduct. While at home recovering from camp fever in 1756 he petitioned the general court foi relief, and, again in December, 1763, presented a similar peti- tion, both of which were favorably received and acted upon. During this period the name "Lieutenant Carver" appears as one of the selectmen of Montague, and probably this refers to him. Upon his return from the West in August, 1768, Gen- eral Gage, then in command of the British forces in America, furnished him a letter of commendation, but to this reference will be made later.
The title page of Captain Carver's book (first three edi- tions) 6 reads, as follows: Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America in the years 1766, 1767 and 1768. Of these years, about six months were consumed in the going and coming between Boston and Mackinac, in Michigan, twelve months in the journey to the westward and northward of Mackinac, and about nine months in residence at Mackinac; in all, two years and two months absence from Boston. His own narrative states that, starting from Mackinac on Septem- ber 3rd, 1766, he traveled in the boats and company of some traders who were going to the Mississippi River by way of the Green Bay and the Fox- Wisconsin river route; that late in October, when in the neighborhood of Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi, he purchased a canoe, and, with two servants, ascended that river to a point about forty miles above the
6 The title page in many of the later editions reads Three Years' Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, and some thirty editions are said to have been issued. The writer of this discussion has used what is known as "the best American edition", that of Harper and Brother, 1838, which is a reprint from the third London edition with additional data in the addenda.
