came from the land of the setting sun and traveled over my 

 region of country; but they did not happen to pass near me, 

 so I did not see them. Duriirg all these years I lived a life of 

 the most perfect quiet, contentment, and happiness. The wild 

 beasts and birds of the prairies and the forest were abundant, 

 and I was on the best of terms with all of them. The buffaloes, 

 the deer, the antelopes, and others would come by thousands 

 to the river for water, and on such occasions they would also 

 frequently come and rest under my shade, or graze upon the 

 rich and tender grass that grew about me And the bears, 

 and sometimes a panther, would climb up my trunk, curl up 

 within my forks, or stretch themselves out on one of my large 

 branches, and lie there for hours. And in the still nights the 

 wolves and owls gave me many a pleasant serenade. And 

 those industrious creatures, the beavers, were plentiful also, 

 and had their/ dams and houses all up and down the little 

 creeks that emptied into the river. And in the fall of the year 

 the pigeons would visit us by millions to feast upon the acorns 

 that abounded in our woods. I bore nothing those birds could 

 eat, but sometimes they would light on me to rest a while, 

 and in such, numbers that they would bend my branches to 

 that extent I greatly feared they would break; but my wood 

 was tough and springy, and so no such accident befell me. 



"In the woods were big droves of turkeys, and on the 

 prairies and along on the edges of the forest were thousands of 

 prairie chickens. Early in the mornings these chickens would 

 begin their drumming and keep it up for some time. It was 

 pleasant to hear their deep, continuous booming out on the 

 prairies, all around me. And in the spring and the fall of the 

 year the geese and the ducks, and other water-fowl, came to 

 my neighborhood in countless numbers. They were great gos- 

 sippers, and always had much to say of the many strange, 

 things they had seen in countries that were far away. In the 

 summer-time many flocks of paroquets were seen in our woods. 

 They were about the size of a pigeon, but of chunkier shape, 

 with a hooked bill and yellow heads and green bodies. Their 

 feathers were beautiful, and their general appearance was in- 

 teresting and attractive. And there were all sorts of wood- 



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