Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/386

 There was an Ocean potentate
Who, all along the Western shore,
With war canoes of hemlock made,
Dashed through where noisy breakers pour,
And battles won with gleaming blade,—
With brazen gongs made great uproar—
And all the coast in tribute laid.

From broad Columbia down to Coos
They swoop'd as if by eagle flown,
And still they say that no canoes
Like these have ever since been known.
And this bold Nelson of the bays—
Most daring that the past e'er knew—
Though nameless in our later days,
Who could he be but brave Sang Blue?
Perchance they from the wreck could save,
Ere buried in the yielding sands,
Some useful tools and weapons brave,
And wield them, too, with skillful hands,
With these the towering hemlock fell,
And by their hands was fashioned well
To ride upon the ocean swell.

And soon a fleet from Tillamook
Made raids along the crested shore;
It awed the nations of Chinook,
And thence in triumph southward bore
To near Yaquina and Siletz,
To Orford, Coos and far Coquille;
Where stream or bay the shore line frets,
They hewed a wav with gleaming steel.

And Tillamook soon grew to be
A very treasury of spoil,
Thus gathered from the wealthy sea,
A tribute levied without toil.
And ever still the Buddha true,