In the stern of his boat sits DuLuth;
in the stern of his boat sits Tamdoka,
And warily, cheerily, both urge
the oars of their men to the utmost.
Far-stretching away to the eyes,
winding blue in the midst of the meadows,
As a necklet of sapphires that lies
unclaspt in the lap of a virgin,
Here asleep in the lap of the plain
lies the reed-bordered, beautiful river.
Like two flying coursers that strain,
on the track, neck and neck on the home-stretch,
With nostrils distended and mane froth-flecked,
and the neck and the shoulders,
Each urged to his best by the cry
and the whip and the rein of his rider,
Now they skim o'er the waters and fly,
side by side, neck and neck, through the meadows,
The blue heron flaps from the reeds,
and away wings her course up the river:
Straight and swift is her flight o'er the meads,
but she hardly outstrips the canoemen.
See! the _voyageurs_ bend to their oars
till the blue veins swell out on their foreheads;
And the sweat from their brawny breasts pours;
but in vain their Herculean labor;
For the oars of Tamdoka are ten,
and but six are the oars of the Frenchman,
And the red warriors' burden of men
is matched by the _voyageurs'_ luggage.
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