HOW AND WHERE TO SPIN. 103 



Forth to catch the sturgeon Nahma, 

 Mishe-Nahma, King of Fishes, 

 In his birch-canoe exulting, 

 All alone went Hiawatha. 



.Through the clear, transparent water 

 He could see the fishes swimming 

 Far dowp in the depths below him ; 

 See the yellow perch, the Sahwa, 

 Likei a sunbeam in the water, 

 See tjie Shawgashee, the craw-fish, 

 Like a spider on the bottom, 

 On the white and sandy bottom. 



At ^he stern sat Hiawatha, 

 With his fishing-line of cedar ; 

 In his plumes the breeze of morning 

 Played as in the hemlock branches ; 

 On the bows, with tail erected, 

 Sat tl^e squirrel, Adjidaumo ; 

 In his fur the breeze of morning 

 Played as in the prairie grasses. 



Qn the white sand of the bottom 

 Lay the monster Mishe-Nahma, 

 Lay the sturgeon, King of Fishes ; 

 Through his gills he breathed the water. 

 With his fins he fanned and winnowed, 

 With his tail he swept the sand-floor. 



There he lay in all his armour ; 

 On ^ch side a shield to guard him, 

 Plates of fbone upon his forehead, 

 Down his sides and back and shoulders, 

 Plate^ of bone with spines projecting ! 

 Painted was he with his war-!paints, 

 Stripes of yellow, red, and azure, 

 Spots of brown and spots of sable j 

 And he lay there on the bottom. 

 Fanning with his fins of purple, 

 As above him Hiawatha 

 In his^ birch-canoe came sailing, 

 With his fishing-line of cedar. 



'jTake my bait ! ' cried Hiawatha 

 Down into the depths beneath him : . 



