288
WEST SHORE.
And they aaw the hand of nature wonders work In countless ways ;
Saw the spring become streamlet, then to brook and river grow,
Saw the flowers of warmest summer bloom by lingering banks of snow;
Saw at morn the sun's bright fingers tip
with light the mountain's crest,
And at eve his flaming chariot roll in
splendor down the west;
Saw the playful squirrel and chipmunk
gather in their winter's store;
Heard the flitting yellow hammer knock
ing at his dead tree door;
Saw the startled white-tailed rabbit scam
per through bis brushy gate ;
Heard the cooing of the wild dove ; heard
the bluejay call bis mate;
Saw the proud and fearless eagle near the
mountain's summit sweep;
Saw the timid grouse and partridge from
beneath the bushes peep.
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Little cared they for what nature had thus spread before their eyes ;
Lived they solely for each other ; found their exile paradise.
Aimless wandering thro' the forest, loving hand clasped close In hand,
Or on couch of fragrant cedar, by the mountain breeies fanned,
'Neath the broad, umbrageous shelter of the spruce boughs drooping low,
Found they Joy and sweet contentment that true lovers only know.
With his bow he slew the wild deer, and from out the shaded brook
Caught the trout, so brightly speckled, with a rudely fashioned hook ;
Trapped the grouse with wild vine meshes, woven by the fair maid's hand ;
Kept at bay the wolf and cougar with his fire and flaming brand.10
Thus the summer passed, but winter's chill and Icy breath drew near,
Filling the bold Quissam-qnedus with an agony of fear.
Then the brave youth sought the village, leaving Kinda-wiss alone,
Who less feared the gloomy forest than her father's angry tone.
Two days only was the lover to be absent irom her side,
Two days only were the cravings of their hearts to be denied ;
But, alas (or human planning, their sad parting was for years,
Years of sorrow and distraction and of agony and tears.
Qulssam-quedus was made welcome as one risen from the dead.
When 'twas known the absent maiden had been with him, on his head
Fell the wrath of stern-faced parents, who, to force the maid's return,
Kept the youth In close confinement; but, at last, In much concern
At the maiden's lengthened absence, they released him, and again
Deep he plunged Into the forest, sought the bower In the glen.
Crimson shafts the sinking sun now cast athwart the glowing sky,
As In anxious hut the lover to the trystlng place drew nigh ;
But no maiden ran to meet him, no loved voice made glad reply
Noti 4 Tht oriiin ol tht triba. on tha northmaUm oout of Amnio i. matter of
maoh traitlm tpooulatlon. It I. iwmlly belimd that the? an ol HoDfuliu anoMtrr,
and raeohed their pram! bom bj wa ol Siberia and Alaeka, or wan drtttu bi ttonni or
followed Um Japan eurranl ta their primitife vewla and mi uneblt to ntura. The
Haidah triba, oooepjinf tha IJueoo Charlottt itlande, poemo a iraatar memblanoo to the
Chume thaa tht other, and hare a moon ligrhtar akin. Thar vara tar mora ikillful In
earring, manufaotant, ate., than tha triba oooaprtnt tha mainland whan tha flret na?i.
latura hand them, and an believed to have been mnoh latar arrival! (mm China than
tha othara. Tha (raat i.uertoriti of Uw Haidaht and Nootkat, on tha wail eoait ot Van
eoatwr Uland, wm notiwd bj all the auk; aiploran and tor tradere,
When he called, and only mountains echoed back towptil cry:
"Kinda-wiss! Oh speak, my darling! It Is I, be not afraid!"
Sighed the cold winds in the tree tope, ran young deer through the glade ;
But no answer from his loved one soothed his longing, not a trace .
Could he find, though long he wandered, searched in each familiar place.
O'er the mountains, through the forest, day and night he wandered on,
Fearing not the savage cougar, heeding not the thunder's tone,
Scanning every copse and thicket that his weary feet drew near,
Calling ever for his lost one in an agony of fear;
Till, at last, starved, bruised and bleeding, with both strength and courage
gone,
He returned with hopeless footsteps to his father's house, alone.
Year by year be sought the lost one, pushing his determined quest
Into far and unknown regions that no Haidah foot had pressed ;
Till, one day, he met a shamin,11 old and wrinkled, wise and good,
And related bis sad story in a gloomy, hopeless mood.
By his magic art the shamin, with mysterious skill and pow'r,
Learned the fate of Kinda-wiss, and traced her wand'rings from the hour
When she parted from her lover in the distant mountain glen.
In a tree house she was living, with the bears, where she had been
Ever since the bear king caught her, and had made her queen and bride;
And two sons were living with her, never absent from her side.
Glad was faithful Quinsam quedus ; his sad heart was light again ;
And with two brave Haidah warriors sought the bear king's far domain.
Many days through rugged mountains, through a tangled forest wild,
Toiled these rash youths, by naught daunted, by no leaping deer be
guiled. Milk white streams, tumultuous, snow-born, dashed across their rocky
way;
Ancient rivers, 1 that for ages, inch by Inch and day by day,
Seamed and scarred by ridge and crevice, seaward move with ceaseless
flow,
There to join, 'mid peals of thunder, vast armadas of the snow,
Sailing westward, slowly sinking, vanishing beyond recall,
Stood athwart their narrow pathway, like the Mongol's Tartar wall.
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In the canyon's deep defile the snow In drifted masses lay,
Gathered there through the dark winter, while in summer scarce a ray
Of the transient sunlight glinted on the canyon's rocky aide.
Yet the lover struggled onward, thinking ever of the bride
Who had from his loving bosom by the grluly king been torn,
And Into this icy region by her ruthless captor borne.
Nora jTh, war oonot it hollowed out ol tha trunk ot a slant oadar, and in tha
hand, ol a ikUled ortw ol natine it a erfe draft to natlsata tar, roof h wetete. Tht In
aunt oltan to at tar touth at Pmt loud in thug, a diituot ol 1,000 mllia. Thtjr art
vwy lartt and hold twantj man auilj,
Noti S-Ktw tht Haidaht thomulm do not know tha maanins of the word! in tht
btar wns. Thtj art nnlikt any known lanfoait ol tha prtatnt daj, and mar b tht onlj,
and mianMa- Uak. that oonnwU th.m with a ramott anoa.tr,.
n . 1. J lhat P" Prominent in tha tradition! ol nearly evtrj tribe on tht
1 !" friulj bw mn. or, that in tha roothfol dan ol tht
wotw tht btar aod tht Indian Uttd on an equalitj, or, that tha trial; wu onaol tht pro-