the magistrate,
So judge he would pronounce his fate,
Judge asked him how he came by fish,
The thief said for them he did wish,
The best fish ever came from brook,
I own, my Lord, I did them hook,
Said constable, he speaks what’s true,
And you must give the devil his due.
Then judge did constable rebuke,
He owns fish if he did them hook,
He has not broken any clause
I know of in our fishery laws.
Unless you can show this reason,
He has hooked them out of season,
Your duty you have thus mistook,
For man had right the fish to hook.
Fishing here it is not treason,
Him you had no right to seize on,
And when the poor man did fish hook,
He had a right the same to cook.
Seal Fishing and Hunting
Where frosts doth northern bays congeal,
There you will find the finest seal,
They do pursue them o’er each bay
From early dawn till close of day.
The Indians display great zeal,
Engaged in hunting of the seal,
And ladies love for to display
Their seal furs from this famous bay.
Most precious of all furs is seal,
Their flesh is good as finest veal,
And the seal it is a squatter,
Lives on either land or water.
The Indian boys happy feel,
When they capture the young seal,
They do seem so happy ever,
Sailing o’er each bay and river.
They train them their canoes to tow,
And o’er the waters merry go,
Full quick to right or left they wheel,
Guided by reins the docile seal.
Like lad on colt without a saddle,
These youths use no oar nor paddle,
But swift o’er water rushes keel,
For ’tis propelled by the fast seal.
To Uncle Sam we do appeal,
How can you own the whole sea’s seal,
And at the same time claim our cod,
If from the shore a mile abroad.
Snake and Its Young
There is a peculiar snake,
You might almost call it squatter,
It loves to dive in pond or lake,
At home on either land or water.
But it excited my good dog
To see small snakes bask in the sun,
Enjoying themselves on a big log,
Near into where the water run.
But their mother she was watching
Her numerous brood on the log,
She thought to them was danger hatching,
When she beheld myself and dog.
For she gave a hissing sound,
All her offspring to awake,
She ope’d her mouth and at a bound,
Down her throat did rush each snake.
I scarcely my own eyes could trust,
To see those small snakes disappear,
I really thought that she would burst,
For the sake of her offspring dear.
But I soon hid among the brakes,
To view the young ones leave their prison,
Will you believe this tale of snakes,
If I did count right just four dozen.
Whale and Its Foes
Six hundred miles north of Cape Flattery,
On sea there seemed a floating battery,
And stream of blood did dye the water,
Sailors wondered what was the matter.
But they soon saw a great sword fish
With its bayonet make a quick rush,
Into which proved to be large whale,
And thrasher too did it assail.
The whale dived deep to save its life,
But thrasher eager for the strife,
Knew whale must rise for to get breath,
Then it would thrash the whale to death.
At last the great whale it arose,
And in distress it spouts and blows,
In anger sweeps its mighty tail,
Defensive weapon of the whale.
But thrasher high in air did leap,
And fell on monster of the deep,
The sword fish then it did advance,
And assaulted it with its lance.
Thus united foes soon do prevail,
And quick there floated a dead whale,
The thrasher now victorious winner,
From off the whale expected dinner.
But ship’s crew they secured the prize,
Whale bone and blubber monster size,
Others fought but they only reap,
The spoils of mammoth of the deep.
Tiger and Elephant
On Ganges banks roams the tiger,
And lion rules by the Niger,
Hunter heard shrill cry of peacocks,
In Indian jungles go in flocks.
And he saw tiger crouch and spring,
To crush a bird with beauteous wing,
But the tiger missed his aim,
And he hung his head with shame.
Then there came a mighty crush,
Of elephants rush through the bush,
The tiger cat-like crouched on ground,
And elephants rushed in with bound.
In front was baby elephant,
To crush its bones did tiger want,
But mother saw fierce forest ranger,
And she gave a cry of danger.
Leader of herd he madly rushed,
Resolved the tiger should be crushed,
But tiger strove to run away,
Willing to relinquish prey.
But when he found that he must fight,
On elephant’s back he strove to light,
But elephant struck him with his foot,
And then with tusks he did him root.
So now once more must praise be sung,
To beasts who nobly fight for young,
And grateful feelings were now stirred,
Towards the leader of the herd.
Strange Life Preserver
A sailor he was swept from deck,
In minute he seem’d as a speck,
Tossing on each briny wave,
They feared the sea would be his grave.
Though they full quickly launched the boat,
They could not see where he did float,
He now was a long ways astern,
His whereabouts they could not learn.
But while he on the waves did toss,
He was seized by great Albatross,
Who had been looking round in quest
Of something whereon it could rest.30
It hover’d o’er him with its wings,
And its great webb feet on him clings,
And it tore him with its sharp beak,
For it was longing for some steak.
But sailor seized it by the throat,
And found with ease he then could float,
So sailor’s life was saved by loss
Of the life of the Albatross.
The boat’s crew found him none too soon,
For he had fallen into a swoon,
Him they would not have come across
Had they not seen the Albatross.
And thus poor Jack his life was saved,
For fierce rage of bird he braved,
Though in a faint he still did cling,
One arm round neck and one round wing.
For as a friend he did hug close
That fine large bird the Albatross,
Sailors row comrade back to ship,
Where he relates his wondrous trip.
Sailors fear that many a cross31
Will fall on crew kill Albatross,
This was slain in self defence,
And so no harm it came from thence.
“The lone Albatross incumbent on the air.”
