_The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye._
The prairies of the West, with an undulating surface, _rolling
prairies_, as they are called, present to the unaccustomed eye a
singular spectacle when the shadows of the clouds are passing rapidly
over them. The face of the ground seems to fluctuate and toss like the
billows of the sea.
_The prairie-hawk that, poised on high,
Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not._
I have seen the prairie-hawk balancing himself in the air for hours
together, apparently over the same spot; probably watching his prey.
_These ample fields
Nourished their harvests._
The size and extent of the mounds in the valley of the Mississippi,
indicate the existence, at a remote period, of a nation at once
populous and laborious, and therefore probably subsisting by
agriculture.
_The rude conquerors
Seated the captive with their chiefs._
Instances are not wanting of generosity like this among the North
American Indians towards a captive or survivor of a hostile tribe on
which the greatest cruelties had been exercised.