Some to the lake in wedged divisions bend;
Some o'er the creek in lengthening showers descend.
Ah, how could sportsman such a sight survey
Nor seek to share the pleasures of the day!
Do well-drest beauties shun theatric walls?
Or sleeps the swain when his own sweetheart calls?
A skiff and paddles near the landing lay,
Two striplings proffer'd to conduct my way,
Fix'd in the bow for slaughter I prepare,
The deadly barrels ready pois'd in air;
Slow round an opening point we softly steal,
Where four large ducks in playful circles wheel,
The far-fam'd canvass-backs* at once we know,
Their broad flat bodies wrapt in pencill'd snow;
The burnish'd chesnut o'er their necks that shone,
Spread deepening round each breast a sable zone;
Wary they gaze- our boat in silence glides,
The slow-mov'd paddles steal along the sides;
Quick flashing thunders roar along the flood,
And three lie prostrate vomiting their blood!
The fourth aloft on whistling pinions soar'd,
One fatal glance the fiery thunders pour'd,
Prone drops the bird amid the dashing waves,
And the clear stream his glossy plumage laves.
Now all around us rising trains appear,
Wild whistling wings on every hand we hear!
Th' alarm of death, amid their legions spread,
In 'files immense they winnow overhead;
Hoarse heavy geese scream up the distant sky,
And all the thunders of our boat defy;
Close under rustling vines, we skulking glide,
Till the loud uproar and alarm subside;
Here grapes delicious, clustering, hung around,
The mother vines through bending birches wound;
Not richer ripen on Vesuvius' side,
Than here spontaneous nodded o'er the tide.
These celebrated and justly esteemed ducks, appear to be the Anas Ferina of Lin. From the great abundancy of their favourite food, (the roots of the Valiseneria Americana,) in the tide waters of many of our large rivers, it is probable that their flesh is much more delicious here than in Europe.
Now all again is silent and serene,
Slow glides our skiff along the glassy scene,
O'er the flat marsh we mark the plovers* sweep,
And, clust'ring close, their wheeling courses keep,
Till, like a tempest, as they past us roar,
Whole crowds descend, to rise again no more;
Prone on the sand, the snowy tribe are spread,
Then hove on board, and pil'd among the dead.
Beyond a point, just opening to the view,
A fleet of ducks† collect their scatter'd crew,
Part, soon alarm'd, with sudden splattering soar,
The rest remaining seek the farther shore ; .
There, cross a neck, conceal'd by sheltering vines,
Down the smooth tide I view their floating lines,
With sudden glance the smoky vengeance pour,
And death and ruin spread along the shore !
The dead and dying mingling, float around,
And loud the shoutings of my guides resound.
But now the Lake‡ wide opening spreads below,
Bright o'er its smooth expanse the sunbeams glow,
There downward skies in concave vast appear,
And circling wide complete one boundless sphere;
Far spreading forests from its shores ascend;
And tow'ring headlands o'er the flood impend;
These, deep below, in soften'd tints are seen,
Where Nature smiles upon herself serene.
O lovely scenes! In ecstasy I cry'd,
That sink to nothing all the works of pride!
What are the piles that puny mortals rear,
Their temples, towers, however great or fair,
Their mirrors, carpets, tapestry,
and state,
The nameless toys that Fashion's fools create,
* These were of various kinds; among which I found two species hitherto undescribed..
†The black-duck, Anas Perspillata, very numerous here.
The Seneca Lake. This beautiful sheet of water is about forty miles long, by from one and a half to three miles in breadth. The shores are generally precipitous, consisting of a brittle blue slate, in which many curious impressions of marine shells are perceivable. In a short search I found upwards of twenty.
To this resplendent dome of earth and sky,
Immensely stretch'd! immeasurably high!
Those yellow forests, ting'd with glowing red,
So rich around in solemn grandeur spread,
Where, here and there, in lazy columns rise,
The woodman's smoke, like incense to the skies!
This heaven-reflecting Lake, smooth, clear, profound,
And that primeval peace that reigns around!
As well may worms compare with souls divine
As Art, O NATURE! match her works with thine,
Now high in heav'n the hastening sun had sped
My comrades, too, were trudging far ahead,
Pil'd at my feet enough of carnage lay,
So slow to shore we cut our liquid way,
There, where a hill the level marsh confines,
Lifts its rough front, and o'er the Lake reclines,
Where glittering through the trees that rise below,
A brawling cataract falls in sheets of snow,
Prone from the precipice, and steals unseen,
Through birchen thickets to the lake serene,
While soften'd echoes join in cadence sweet,
And sheltering scenery form a blest retreat;
There, on the slaty shore, my spoils I spread,
Ducks, plover, teal, the dying and the dead;
Two snow-white storks, a crane of tawny hue
Stretch'd their long necks amid the slaughter'd crew.
A hawk,† whose claws, white tail, and dappl'd breast,
And eye, his royal pedigree confest,
Snipes, splendid summer-ducks,+ and divers wild,
In one high heap, triumphantly I pil'd;
• Ardea Alba of Lin. These are only summer birds; and very transient visitants in these northern regions.
The white-tailed eagle (Falco fulvus), so much sought after by the Indians of North America for its quill and tail feathers, with which they plume their arrows, ornament their calumet, and adorn their dresses. It inhabits from Hudson's Bay to Mexico. The claws and beak of this bird are of an extraordinary size.
+ Called by some the wood-duck (Anas Sponsa), the most beautiful of its tribe in North America. They are easily tamed, and become very familiar. About thirty-five years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who resided in Maryland, on the west side of Gunpowder river, succeeded completely in
Then joining heads that ne'er were join'd before,
Across my gun the feathery burden bore ;
Sought out the path that scal'd the mountain's side,
Farewell! "Goodbye!" the smiling younkers cry'd;
Up through th' incumbent shades I took my way,
They to their boat with glittering dollar gay.
The day was hot, the load of ponderous size,
To heav'ns own gates the mountain seem'd to rise;
Large ruin'd logs the winding labyrinth crost,
And soon the path in tangling brush was lost.
Up these rough steeps I bore my plunder through,
That still more priz'd and more oppressive grew,
Till, drench'd with sweat, I gain'd the mountain's head;
And steer'd as chance or blind conjecture led;
Fill'd the deep forest with the shouts I made,
That dy'd, unanswer'd, through the distant shade;
While startl'd squirrels, mounting in affright,
Look'd down, and chatter'd, at th' alarming sight,
At length two guns, that made the mountain roar,
Produc'd an answering peal from those before;
And ten long miles in doubt and drudgery past,
I reach'd my comrades and the road at last;
Where peals of mirth succeeding their amaze,
They shar'd my load, and loaded me with praise.
(To be continued.)
ANGELIC Fair! my life's delight!
Stay, stay, O do not flee me, O;
Mild as the day-star's trembling light,
In dreams of bliss I see thee O.
domesticating these ducks; so that they bred and multiplied with him in great numbers. In their wild state they build in hollow trees, and fly directly in, without alighting at the entrance.
Thy finish'd form, too, lovely maid,
I wish forever, near me, O;
Thy face in heav'nly smiles array'd,
With bliss divine can cheer me 0.
Spher'd in thine eye enchantments gleam;
"Tis rapture to be near thee O,
Each virtue of celestial beam
Shines lovely in my deary O.
The native sweetness of thy mind
Lights up the face that's dreary O.
My heart in purest love is shrin'd,
I'm thine for aye my deary O.
Norfolk, 9th August, 1809.
RUMMAGING ah old port-folio, the other day, I glanced at the original, of which I inclose a copy. To a man of any taste, the least morceau, the production of an author of celebrity, is precious. The original is in the hand-writing of my father, who took it down, I know, at least twenty years ago, from a friend of Dr. Moore's; who used frequently to amuse an idle hour, by repeating it among others, as an original, never published, and highly characteristic. The gentlemen delineated, excepting one, are all dead. Their names, however, live in the warm recollection of many of the most respectable people in Virginia; where many of their connexions are settled; and with which State, previous to our happy revolution, most of them carried on a very extensive trade. With the talents and urbanity of the others, in the learned professions, such of your medical readers, as have devoted a few of their early years to study, in the land of cakes, are familiar.
If the works of the Father have given lustre to his name, in the fields of literature, the friends of man, and rational liberty, have to deplore the deathless fame, achieved, in the field of Mars, by his gallant Son, cut off, in the bloom of life, after effecting a retreat, which, for cool and determined bravery, and distinguished skill, has scarcely a parallel, since the age of Xenophon.
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