R. M. Ballantyne

R. M. Ballantyne (1825–1894), Robert Michael Ballantyne, was a Scottish author of adventure stories for boys. At sixteen he joined the Hudson's Bay Company and spent six years in the Canadian fur trade, experiences he drew on in Hudson's Bay and The Young Fur Traders. The Coral Island, published in 1857, made his name, and he went on to write some ninety books, including The Gorilla Hunters, The Lifeboat and The Lighthouse, for which he often visited the places and trades he described. His stories combine adventure, practical knowledge and Christian moral purpose.