Upon the top of a mullen-stalk, sat a grasshopper, who thus complacently sang of himself:―― Was ever seen, in earth or air, As my sweet self, a thing so fair? My coat is made of shining green, My little wings are glossy sheen, My form is such as fairies love, My motions those that mark the dove; But oh! my voice, so soft and low, No music can so sweetly flow. The thrush is silent when I sing―― The linnet stays on balanced wing―― The oak doth hush its whispering leaves, No more its web the spider weaves, The rill and river cease their roar, And all around confess my power, E’en yonder passing thunder-cloud Pauses to hear, though yet so proud! While the grasshopper thus indulged its strain of self-conceit, a bolt of lightning fell upon an oak near by, and shattered its trunk into a thousand splinters. One of them struck the mullen-stalk, and the vain insect was crushed in an instant. Pictures of Various Nations. CHAPTER V. I could tell you a great deal more about the Indians, especially of the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, and other tribes, which have been removed by the government of the United States to a fine country northwest of Louisiana, where they have schools and churches, and cultivate their lands, and live much like white people. But I am afraid I am making too long a story. I shall, therefore, tell you something of certain queer tribes that seem to be a mixture of the American Indian and Esquimaux, and then proceed to other countries. NOOTKA SOUND. Let us cross to the western side of the continent of America. Here, far to the northwest, we find Nootka Sound, which is a bay in the Pacific Ocean, discovered by captain Cook, in 1778. Around this bay live a set of people, who in some respects differ from the North American Indians, though they have many traits in common with them. On board one of the vessels which first entered Nootka Sound, in 1778, was John Ledyard, one of our own countrymen. He resided in Hartford some time after his return, where he wrote an account of his voyage. That account I have seen, and in it he speaks of the inhabitants who live round the Sound. He says that the people there resemble the Indians on this side of the Rocky Mountains. They are tall, robust, and well made; but in this last respect, they do not equal the Indians farther east. Some of the women, however, appeared quite handsome. They have large and full faces, high and prominent cheek bones, small and black eyes, broad and flat noses, thick lips, and teeth of the most brilliant whiteness. They fill their hair with oil, paint, and the down of birds. They also paint their faces with red, blue, and white colors. They look odd enough.