Part 3 (1/2)

Muskoka's famed for woods and brakes, For rocks and meadows and clear lakes, And sportsmen for it proudly claim That 'tis a land for fish and game.

There doth arise a sweet aroma From great spruce forests of Algoma, And from the poplar, birch and pine, There too is wealth in many a mine.

It may be that of mines the best, Will be found in Ontario West, Stretching towards the interior, Three hundred miles west of Superior.

Ess.e.x is our sunny south, At the Detroit river's mouth, There the sun doth cheerful smile On the grape vineyards of Pelee Isle.

Pioneer's axe it now doth ring, On the sh.o.r.es of Nip.i.s.sing, And some do locate claims away To distant north around James' Bay.

CANADIAN RIVERS AND LAKES.

We have here a sight as fair As bonnie Doon or banks of Ayr, Like modest worth meandering slow The quiet waters gently flow, Rose, thistle, shamrock, all combine, Around the maple leaf to twine, Whose outstretched arms so gigantic Clasp Pacific and Atlantic, Embracing lakes like burnished gold, With joy a Shakespeare might behold, For either Poet Burns or Moore[B]

Such scenery they would adore.

[B] Tom Moore paddled his own canoe along the Canadian sh.o.r.e of Lake Erie and was enraptured with the view. He landed and remained over night at a farm house. His Canadian Boat Song is immortal.

NIAGARA DRY.

It happened once in early spring, While there did float great thick ice cakes, That then a gale did quickly bring Them all down from the upper lakes.

And from Buffalo to Lake Erie, Across the entrance to river, It was a scene of icebergs dreary, Those who saw will remember ever.

Then gale blew up lake and river, And left Niagara almost dry, This a lady did discover As above the Falls she cast her eye.

Such scene it had been witnessed never, Since Israelites crossed the Red Sea, When they had resolved forever From Pharaoh's bondage to flee.

Lady she resolved to venture, Proudly carrying British flag, Erecting it in river's centre In crevice of a rocky crag.

It seems like a romance by Bulwer, How she captured Niagara, But it was seen by Bishop Fuller, Who did at sight of flag hurrah.

Ten thousand years may die away Before another dry can tread, In bottom of Niagara, For she doth jealous guard her bed.

But ice her entrance did blockade, And wind it kept the waters back, So that a child could almost wade Across the brink of cataract.

UNITED BY STEEL RAILS.

When Indian tribes in the Northwest Rebelled against the Eastern laws, Canadian courage it did test, All were united in the cause.

But how shall volunteers proceed Such distance, several thousand miles, Will they in their dark hour of need Ask Uncle Sam with pleasant smiles