'Tis pusillanimous to retrograde.—
Let winged Mercury, whose speed outstrips
The winds, or swiftest arrows in their flight,
Descend, and guide them where they may collect
Traces of India, and their fleet refresh."
Thus spoke th' intrepid Mars.-His bold advice The venerated Father of the Gods
With a majestic nod approv'd, and o'er
The parting Conclave scatter'd nectar'd fumes.
Then, by the luminous Lacteal path,
Bending submissively before the throne
Of awful Jove, each Deity withdrew,—
Returning each to his own lucid sphere.
While in the Temple of Olympian Jove
Th' ethereal domes resounded with debates,
The martial Lusians gallantly pursued
Their Eastern course upon the sparkling main,
Steering between the Ethiopian coast,
And Madagascar's celebrated isle.
The sun the gods then scorching who escap'd 21 From horrible Typhoeus' yells beneath
The azure waves. With mild and gentle gales,
Propitious heav'n aided their onward course;
The air serenely breathing, and the sky,
Cloudless, complete security inspir'd.
The verdant cape of Prasso, on the coast
Of ancient Ethiopia, they pass'd,
When, rising from the waves, new isles they saw
Bath'd and surrounded by the restless sea.
Vasco, the brave Commander of the Fleet,
For every noble enterprize prepar'd,
And with a heart swelling with that bold zeal
Which Fortune favors with her fairest smiles,
To linger here no motive could discern,
Where nought appear'd but wild, unpeopled lands;
Straight he resolv'd to steer for Eastern climes.
But unforeseen events his plan oppos'd;
For shortly num'rous little barks appear'd
Advancing from the isle that nearest seem'd.
And, hoisting each a broad extended sail,
Plough'd the long sea, between, to reach the fleet.
Transported, overjoy'd, the Lusians fix
Their eyes with wonder on the novel sight.
"What people these?"-each thought within himself;
"What are their laws, their customs? Who their king?"
Their barks with swiftness fly before the wind,
Skilfully built, of long and narrow shape;
And leaves of the umbrageous palm supplied,
Woven with art, their neatly matted sail.
Their skin exhibited the swarthy hue 22
Which Phaeton stamp'd upon the human race
In regions scorch'd by his rash fall:-His fate
The Po well knows, and Lampethusa still
Laments. Cotton their dress, of various hues,
Or snowy white, or deck'd with gaudy stripes;
Some wore them round the body girt, and some
With graceful air over the shoulder thrown.
Above the waist the naked form appear'd;
Daggers and shorten'd scimitars their arms;
Turban'd their heads; and as they sail'd, the sounds
Of Moorish trumpets their approach announc'd.
With hands uprais'd, and various signs they show'd
Their eager wish the fleet for them should wait;
But the light prows were then already bent
To seek a port in safety near the Isles.
The gallant crews no zealous labors spare,
And strive as if, henceforth, their toils should cease;
Instant the sails are furl'd; the crystal waves
Dash'd by the plunging anchor, sparkling, foam.
But long before the fleet was safely moor'd,
The Island-strangers nimbly reach'd the deck;
Joy beam'd on ev'ry face, while the brave Chief
To each a kind and gen'rous welcome gave.
Forthwith the hospitable board was spread,
And goblets with Lyæus' purple juice
Fill'd to the brim, by Phaton's swarthy race
Freely were quaff'd ;-not mincingly declin'd.-
Partaking cheerfully the lib'ral feast,
They ask'd, in Arabic, from whence they came,
Their name, their native land, and whither bound?
And what the unknown seas through which they pass'd?
The valiant Lusitanians replied
In frankest terms, with circumspection graced :
Our country, Portugal, far in the West,
We left, the Eastern regions to explore;
The spacious seas we pass'd that, from their waves,
Calisto's and Orion's rays reflect;
All Afric's coast, and many a varied clime,
And lands, till then unknown, have we beheld.
Our potent Monarch is by all so lov'd,
So venerated and ador'd, for him
Not only perils of the sea we brave,
But into Acheron itself would plunge
With joyful promptitude. By his command
We seek the Orient-lands by Indus bath'd;
For him we traverse mighty seas, till now
Plough'd only by the monsters of the deep.
But now, just it appears, that we should ask,
(If sacred truth by you should be rever'd,)
Your name, and what this country where ye dwell,
And if of India ye have any trace?
Strangers ourselves, replied an Islander, In faith, in customs, from the natives here Widely we differ:-as by nature form'd, They are alike to faith and reason blind; But we observe the holy precepts taught By that great Prophet who from Abr'am sprung, And whose commanding law the world obeys, Though mix'd was his immediate descent. 23 This Island where we dwell, contains a port Secure, and most frequented by our barks, Which traffic on the seas between Quiloa, Mombaza, and Sofala's golden coast.
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