From whose huge limbs, scarce bending to the

gale,

45

The owl's hoarse note deep wrung the savage vale;

Yet e'en these sounds, offensive to the ear,

Their nightly toils at intervals would cheer;

And ere the sky announc'd the break of day,
Full thirteen leagues to eastward push'd their way;
For this canoe had long been known to fame,

Unmatch'd in speed upon the Indian main :

Her handsome form was of the swiftest kind,

And not a sail but she could leave behind.

Fresh with the dawn the morning breezes blow, 55 And to their pow'r the nodding forests bow;

The sun majestic leaves his wat'ry bed;

First o'er the deep his golden rays are shed,

Then colour'd woods each glorious tinge display,

And Indian worlds receive the coming day; 60

In desperate stakes one only throw remains,
Deep plung'd in risque the rashest conduct gains.
One broaden'd sail, full twice the common size,
The trembling Susan views with wild surprize
Bold Edward hoist upon the slender mast

65

That with its weight was bending in the blast!

Like some gay chariot driving o'er the plain,

When smoking steeds the noble toil sustain,

So ran the bark amidst the foaming spray,

And near Acadia kept her flying way,

70

On whose blest shores the smiling cots arise,

Where curling smoke slow mounts the morning skies. By some rough Scot from Caledonia borne,

The stately pines are from their mountains torn, Beneath whose axe the prostrate forest lies, 75 And 'midst his toils the hard-won crop descries:

Tho' sweat and pain began the rural reign,

His cows and sheep now crop the grassy plain;

Some ducks and geese keep gabbling round the door, And ev'ry year he finds himself less poor.

The light canoe, bless'd with a fav'ring wind,

Seeks other scenes, and leaves the old behind.

Now larger fields the wand'ring eye surprise,
Which sees 'midst woods another Scotland rise,
Where hardy sons, far from their native soil, 85
With perseverance on their farms do toil;

Ambitious more to view these lands their own,
When bulky crops their peaceful labours crown.
Th' astonish'd woods, where silence us'd to reign,
Now trembling hear the nervous Gallic strain, 90
Far spreading wide around each tranquil shore,
Where doom'd to fall their race shall rise no more.
The summer sun high in the zenith wades,
And all those climes with sultry heat invades ;

The bleating flocks decline the tender blade,
And seek the comforts of the cooling shade;

95

The restless hogs keep wallowing in the mire,
While to their homes the wearied swains retire;
Where faithful wives, bless'd with a family care,
With busy hands some wholesome food prepare.
There scorching heats o'er ev'ry wind prevail,
Reluctant Edward lowers his broad-wing'd sail."
On paddles now his future flight depends,

And with strong tides the toiling youth contends;
For distant shores with anxious thought he burns,
And through his hands the glist'ning maple turns.
In sluggish calm the quiet waters sleep,
And scarce a swell disturbs the glassy deep :

A bulky seal, too full of sportive play,

Pops up his head, rejoicing at the day;

When Edward's eye draws full the deadly view,

And from his gun the mortal contents flew :

Th' impatient dog the happy process saw,

And his strong instinct knew the fowler's law;

110

With sudden plunge he takes a desperate leap, 115
And caught the seal expiring in the deep;
In stedfast grasp he holds his prize in view,
And turns his eyes towards the light canoe;
Where Edward soon, with Susan's useful aid,
The weighty fish along the bottom laid.

120

But now o'ercharg'd, the bark will scarcely swim,

In posture lifeless mourns her sailing trim,

Till active hands th' amphibious monster throw

The lifeless carcase to the shades below.

Eas'd of her load, she cheerful rights again,

125

And cuts her way across the wat'ry plain.

To eastward still she keeps her steady flight,

When fawning breezes tell th' approach of night. Rejoicing, Edward hails the ev'ning gale,

The halliards pulls, and shows his swelling sail! 130 With smiles of Fate the second night began :

Along the shores, swift as the winds, he ran;