Page:Song of Hiawatha (1855).djvu/110

100 Plates of bone upon his forehead,

Down his sides and back and shoulders

Plates 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;

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.

"Take my bait!" cried Hiawatha,

Down into the depths beneath him,

"Take my bait, O Sturgeon, Nahma!

Come up from below the water,

Let us see which is the stronger!"

And he dropped his line of cedar

Through the clear, transparent water,

Waited vainly for an answer,

Long sat waiting for an answer,