Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - Roving has always been, and still is, my ruling passion, the joy of my heart, the very sunshine of my existence. In childhood, in boyhood, and in man's estate, I have been a rover; not a mere rambler among the woody glens and upon the hilltops of my own n

Saga Six Pack 5 is a Viking-sized selection of Scandinavian super-stories: Erling the Bold by R. M. Ballantyne; Big Peter and Little Peter by George Webbe Dasent; The Saga of Harald Hardrade by Snorri Sturluson; The Master Thief by Peter Christen Asbjornsen; A Sea Queen's Sailing by Charles W. Whistler and Bruin and Reynard by Jorgen Engebretsen.

R.M.Ballantyne is possibly the greatest writer of children's adventure stories. He is most famous for his work "The Coral Island," but wrote more than a hundred stories. Because of a mistake he made in The Coral Island, in which he gave an incorrect thickness of coconut shells, he subsequently travelled all over the world to gain ensure his stories were accurate and carefully researched. For example, he served for as a London fireman while researching "Fighting the Flames" and for "Deep Down" he spent time with the tin miners of Cornwall. In this Collection, ten of his best known and loved stories are included, complete and unabridged. They are: Hudson Bay, The Coral Island (illustrated), The Dog Crusoe and his Master, Away in the Wilderness, Fast in the Ice, The Lifeboat, Post Haste, My Doggie and I, The Madman and the Pirate and The Pirate City

"Ned Sinton gazed at the scene before him with indescribable amazement! He had often witnessed strange things in the course of his short though chequered life, but he had never seen anything like this. Many a dream of the most extravagant nature had surrounded his pillow with creatures of curious form and scenes of magic beauty, but never before, either by actual observation or in nightly vision, had Ned Sinton beheld a scene so wonderful as that which now lay spread out before him."

One night, soon after we entered the tropics, an awful storm burst upon our ship. The first squall of wind carried away two of our masts, and left only the foremast standing. There was no room for me upon the lifeboat; but being left behind saved my life -- and the lives of Peterkin and Jack Martin, my two companions. Come, boys, said Jack Martin in a grave tone as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate -- You see it is impossible that the little boat can reach the shore, crowded with men. He had us take hold of a loose oar, and guided us to shelter on a deserted coral isle...and that is the beginning of my harrowing tale.

The Coral Island, published in 1858 and one of his earliest books, is his best memorial today. It is a retelling of the potent myth of the castaway. Three young sailors, sole survivors of a wreck, discover the enchanting beauty of the South Pacific and learn to hunt and fish, and to build a shelter.