In 1817 Barnabas and Jane Shaw ventured into a land that had not yet been explored. They had a difficult arduous trek by Ox-wagon over the treacherous mountains. Their tiring struggle to find food was challenging and tested, but did not waiver their faith in God. They were malnourished, therefore  Jane's emaciated state resulted in loosing her baby. She had also mis-carried at sea during the voyage to Rio in Brazil. The most heart wrenching part of the book that Barnabas wrote, was when he wrote about how he buried his first born child when the infant died after only one year of age. Nature is wise to abort a baby if the baby is not healthy enough to live due to lack of sustenance.

At that time, they never thought that they would have so many decedents. I would never have been born had they not devoutly labored to grow healthy food and care for animals. He wrote about how amazed the natives were that he could grow food and did not have to starve during a drought.

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