Nor Ceylon's isle, brave Soarez, shall with-hold
Its incenfe, precious as the burnish'd gold,
What time o'er proud Columbo's loftieft fpire
Thy flag fhall blaze: Nor shall th' immortal lyre
Forget thy praise, Sequeyra! To the shore
Where Sheba's fapient queen the a fceptre bore,
Braving the Red Sea's dangers fhalt thou force
To Abyffinia's realm thy novel course ;
And ifles, by jealous nature long conceal'd,
Shall to the wondering world be now reveal'd.
Great Menez next the Lufian fword fhall bear ;
Menez, the dread of Afric, high shall rear
His victor lance, till deep fhall Ormuz groan,
And tribute doubled her revolt atone.

Now shines thy glory in meridian height,
And loud her voice the raised; O matchless knight,
Thou, thou, illuftrious Gama, thou shalt bring

The olive-bough of peace, deputed king!

The lands by thee discover'd shall obey

Thy scepter'd power, and bless thy regal sway.
But India's crimes, outrageous to the skies,
A length of thefe Saturnian days denies :

Snatch'd

2 Where Sheba's fapient queen the fceptre bore.. -The Abyffinians contend that their country is the Sheba mentioned in the Scripture, and that the queen who vifited Solomon bore a fon to that monarch, from whom their royal family, to the prefent time, is defcended.

1

Snatch'd from thy golden throne the heavens fhall claim Thy deathlefs foul, the world thy deathlefs name.

Now o'er the coaft of faithlefs Malabar

с

b

Victorious Henry pours the rage of war;
Nor less the youth a nobler strife shall wage,
Great victor of himself though green in age;
No reftlefs flave of wanton amorous fire,
No luft of gold fhall taint his generous ire.
While youth's bold pulfe beats high, how brave the boy
Whom harlot fmiles nor pride of power decoy!

Immortal be his name! Nor lefs thy praife,

d

Great Mafcarene, fhall future ages raife:

Though power, unjust, withhold the splendid ray
That dignifies the crest of sovereign sway,

Thy

Snatch'd from the golden throne.-Gama only reigned three months viceroy of India. During his fecond voyage, the third which the Portuguese made to India, he gave the Zamorim fome confiderable defeats by fea, befides his victories over the Moors. Thefe, however, are judiciously omitted by Camoëns, as the lefs ftriking part of his character.

The French translater is highly pleased with the prediction of Gama's death, delivered to himself at the feast. "The fyren," fays he, " perfuaded "that Gama is a hero exempt from weakness, does not hesitate to mention "the end of his life. Gama liftens without any mark of emotion; the "feaft and the fong continue. If I am not deceived, this is truly great.”

c Victorious Henry-Don Henry de Menezes. He was only twentyeight when appointed to the government of India. He died in his thirtieth year, a noble example of the most difinterested heroifm. See the Preface.

d Great Mafcarene-Pedro de Mafcarenhas. The injuftice done to this brave officer, and the ufurpation of the government by Lopez Vaz de Sampayo, afford one of the most interesting periods of the history of the Portuguefe in India. See the Preface.

Thy deeds, great chief, on Bintam's humbled fhore,

Deeds fuch as Afia never view'd before,

Shall give thy honest fame a brighter blaze
Than tyrant pomp in golden robes displays.

Though bold in war the fierce ufurper fhine,
Though Cutial's potent navy o'er the brine
Drive vanquifh'd; though the Lufian Hector's fword
For him reap conqueft, and confirm him lord;

Thy deeds, great peer, the wonder of thy foes,
Thy glorious chains unjust, and generous woes,
Shall dim the fierce Sampayo's fairest fame,
And o'er his honours thine aloud proclaim.
Thy generous woes! Ah gallant injured chief,
Not thy own forrows give the sharpest grief.
Thou feeft the Lufian name her honours ftain,
And luft of gold her heroes' breasts profane;
Thou seeft ambition lift the impious head,
Nor God's red arm, nor lingering justice dread;
O'er India's bounds thou seest these vultures prowl,
Full gorged with blood, and dreadless of control;
Thou feest and weep'ft thy country's blotted name,
The generous forrow thine, but not the fhame.
Nor long the Lufian enfigns ftain'd remain;
Great Nunio comes, and razes every stain.

Though lofty Calè's warlike towers he rear;

Though haughty Melic groan beneath his spear;

All

e Great Nunio- --Nunio de Cunha, one of the most worthy of the Por

tuguese governors. See the Preface.

All these, and Dio yielded to his name,

Are but th' embroidery of his nobler fame.
Far haughtier foes of Lufian race he braves;
The awful sword of justice high he waves:
Before his bar the injured Indian ftands,
And justice boldly on his foe demands,
The Lufian foe; in wonder loft the Moor
Beholds proud rapine's vulture gripe restore;
Beholds the Lufian hands in fetters bound

By Lufian hands, and wound repay'd for wound.
Oh, more shall thus by Nunio's worth be won,
Than conquest reaps from high-plumed hofts o'erthrown.
Long shall the generous Nunio's blissful sway
Command fupreme. In Dio's hopeless day
The fovereign toil the brave Noronha takes ;
Awed by his f fame the fierce-foul'd Rumien shakes,
And Dio's open'd walls in sudden flight forfakes.

A fon of thine, O Gama, now fhall & hold
The helm of empire, prudent, wife, and bold:
Malacca faved and ftrengthen'd by his arms,
The banks of Tor fhall echo his alarms;

}

His

f Awed by his fame. That brave generous fpirit, which prompted Camoëns to condemn the great Albuquerque for injuftice to a common foldier, has here deferted him. In place of poetical compliment, on the terrors of his name, Noronha deserved infamy. The fiege of Dio, it is true, was raised on the report of his approach, but that report was the ftratagem of Coje Zafar, one of the general officers of the affailants. The delays of Noronha were as highly blameable, as his treatment of his predeceffor, the excellent Nunio, was unworthy of a gentleman. See the Preface.

A fon of thine, O Gama.
VOL. II.

+

Stephen de Gama. See the Preface.

Cc

His worth fhall bless the kingdoms of the morn,

For all thy virtues shall his foul adorn.

When fate resigns thy hero to the skies,

A veteran, famed on Brazil's fhore, fhall h rife:
The wide Atlantic and the Indian main,
By turns shall own the terrors of his reign.
His aid the proud Cambayan king implores,
His potent aid Cambaya's king restores.
The dread Mogul with all his thousands flies,
And Dio's towers are Souza's well-earn'd prize.
Nor lefs the Zamorim o'er blood-ftain'd ground
Shall speed his legions, torn with many a wound,
In headlong rout. Nor fhall the boastful pride
Of India's navy, though the shaded tide
Around the fquadron'd mafts appear the down
Of fome wide foreft, other fate renown.
Loud rattling through the hills of Cape Camore
I hear the tempeft of the battle roar !
Clung to the splinter'd masts I see the dead
Badala's fhores with horrid wreck bespread;

Baticala

h A veteran fam'd on Brazil's shore-Martin Alonzo de Souza. He was celebrated for clearing the coaft of Brazil of several pirates, who were formidable to that infant colony.

o'er blood-flain'd ground.This is as near the original as -de fangue cheyoupon which Fanshaw has thus

elegance will allow. punned,

with no little lofs,

Sending him home again by Weeping-Crofs.