THE WEST SHORE.
I'.right with it flowering, fruit tree,
And with it meadown o green,
Ir w-nl iriif i landscape unequal!
A bright and l-oaiitiful ncene!
In tt.ii li t of red maii7.aniU
The gray mhliit iat in hi dread,
H-tinir lii ear on hi hhouldcrs
V.yin ever bright in hi head
I jMming for the wrvaiu of an eagle,
Or (lie treacherous wildcat's tread.
TV nildi-at, Urn for the thickets,
Will; confidence followed the trail,
With eye all aflame in their sockets,
And i tin-lcwi wing of the tail,
With t.r nailtt hooked and prehensile,
And mtril ever at play,
Tnnwvndcntly fitted hy nature
To ift the air for it.n prey.
Of a hope as evanescent
As the gleaming dews of morn
Faded and loBt like the velvet
That grows on a mule-deer's horn ;
For the tramp of the paleface echoed,
As he came with his endless trains,
And strong were the souls that struggled
In clouds of dust on the plains !
They were marvelous days of effort,
For their wagons became their biero,
And the thirsty sands of the desert
Were moist with women's tears.
Far away from home and kindred,
Were the forms of dear ones placed,
And the voice of mourning echoed
Through the wide and treeless waste.
Some lingered and perished in snows
Where the grim Sierras frown ;
And tiding a human f...(,.
Tothcild.,,,, primitive H.vne,
,J;';Mhedu,ky hunter
Tl-..U,hof,,r.M(,ofni
HUiBtWr qui
Y"t U.M of running deign
Mt,. 1,ho,han,
L:t-Vlh',i-t,an,
In their merciless surge, the rivers
Carried their victims down ;
The chilling hand of disease
On many a heart was laid,
And many a pilgrim fell
In the sweep of the savage raid.
No trackless waste disheartened,
o mountain snows appalled,
tor they were strong in their purpose ;
And, hke a serpent, crawled
1 eary ox teams westward
Then did their rifles blaze,
And in the dust rode heroes,
ke knights of olden days.
And the same long rifles glistened
in the rays of the setting sun,