And sweetest perfumes float around the while, Like 'n Eden's garden. The _Water_ clear and fresh, and pure and sweet, Springs up continually beneath the feet, And everywhere the gushing fountains meet, In brooks o'erflowing, Which animals refresh, both tame and wild; And plants conduce to grow on hill and field; And these to man unnumbered comforts yield, And quickly growing. The _Earth_ in soils of different shades appears, Black, blue and white, and red; its bosom bears Abundant harvests; and, what pleases, spares Not to surrender. No bounds exist to their variety. They nourishment afford most plenteously To creatures which, in turn, man's wants supply And health engender. O fruitful land! heaped up with blessings kind, Whoe'er your several virtues brings to mind,-- Its proper value to each gift assigned, Will soon discover, If ever land perfection have attained, That you in all things have that glory gained; Ungrateful mortal, who, your worth disdained, Would pass you over. In North America, behold your _Seat_, Where all that heart can wish you satiate, And where oppressed with wealth inordinate, You have the power To bless the people with whate'er they need, The melancholy, from their sorrows lead, The light of heart, exulting pleasures cede, Who never cower. The _Ocean_ laves secure the outer shore, Which, like a dyke, is raised your fields before; And streams, like arteries, all veinèd o'er, The woods refreshing; And rolling down from mountains and the hills, Afford, upon their banks, fit sites for mills; And furnish, what the heart with transport fills, The finest fishing. JACOB STEENDAM. Other expeditions followed, but though the colony prospered, the mother country could provide little means of defence, and it was practically at the mercy of the English--the "swine" of Steendam's verses. THE COMPLAINT OF NEW AMSTERDAM [1659]