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After Gama had been driven from Quiloa by a sudden storm, the assurances of the Mozambic pilot that the city was chiefly inhabited by Christians, strongly inclined him to enter the harbour of Mombaze; “Nec ullum locum (says Osorius) magis opportunum curandis atque reficiendis ægrotis posse reperiri. Jam eo tempore bona pars eorum, qui cum Gama conscenderant, variis morbis consumpta fuerat, et qui evaserant, erant gravi invaletudine debilitati. . . . . Tellus abundat fructibus et oleribus, et frugibus, et pecorum et armentorum gregibus, et aquis dulcibus. Utitur præterea mira cælitemperie. Homines vivunt admodum laute, et domos more nostro ædificant.—Misit rex nuncios, qui Gamam nomine illius salutarent. . . . Aiunt deinde regionem illam esse opulentissimam, earumque rerum omnium plenissimam, quarum gratia multi in Indiam navigabant. Regem adeò esse in illos voluntate propensum ut nihil esset tam difficile, quod non se eorum gratia facturum polliceretur.” Osorius Silvensis Episc. de Rebus Emman. Regis Lusit. gestis.

Erant enim in ea classe decem homines capite damnati, quibus fuerat ea lege vita, concessa, ut quibuscunque in locis a Gama relicti fuissent, regiones lustrarent, hominumque mores et instituta cognescerent. Osor.

During the reign of Emmanuel, and his predecessor John II. few criminals were executed in Portugal. These great and political princes employed the lives which were forfeited to the public in the most dangerous undertakings of public utility. In their foreign expeditions the condemned criminals were sent upon the most hazardous emergencies. If death was their fate, it was the punishment they had merited: if successful in what was requited, their crimes were expiated; and often, as in the voyage of Gama, they rendered their country the greatest atonement for their guilt which men in their circumstances could possibly make. Where the subject thus obtrudes the occasion, a short digression, it is hoped, will be pardoned. While every feeling breast must be pleased with the wisdom and humanity of the Portuguese monarchs, indignation and regret must rise on the view of the present state of the penal laws of England. What multitudes every year, in the prime of their life, end their days by the hand of the executioner! That the Legislature might devise means to make the greatest part of these lives useful to society is a fact, which surely cannot be disputed; though perhaps the remedy of an evil so shocking to humanity may be at some distance.

Erant enim in ea classe decem homines capite damnati, quibus fuerat ea lege vita, concessa, ut quibuscunque in locis a Gama relicti fuissent, regiones lustrarent, hominumque mores et instituta cognescerent. Osor.

During the reign of Emmanuel, and his predecessor John II. few criminals were executed in Portugal. These great and political princes employed the lives which were forfeited to the public in the most dangerous undertakings of public utility. In their foreign expeditions the condemned criminals were sent upon the most hazardous emergencies. If death was their fate, it was the punishment they had merited: if successful in what was requited, their crimes were expiated; and often, as in the voyage of Gama, they rendered their country the greatest atonement for their guilt which men in their circumstances could possibly make. Where the subject thus obtrudes the occasion, a short digression, it is hoped, will be pardoned. While every feeling breast must be pleased with the wisdom and humanity of the Portuguese monarchs, indignation and regret must rise on the view of the present state of the penal laws of England. What multitudes every year, in the prime of their life, end their days by the hand of the executioner! That the Legislature might devise means to make the greatest part of these lives useful to society is a fact, which surely cannot be disputed; though perhaps the remedy of an evil so shocking to humanity may be at some distance.

In these lines, the best of all Fanshaw, the happy repetition “so chaste, so white,” is a beauty which, though not contained in the original, the present translator was unwilling to lose.

See the Preface.

When Gama lay at anchor among the islands of St. George, near to Mozambic, “there came three Ethiopians on board, (says Faria y Sousa) who, seeing St. Gabriel painted on the poop, fell on their knees in token of their Christianity, which had been preached to them in the primitive times, though now corrupted.” Barros, c. 4. and Castaneda, l. i. c. 9. report, that the Portuguese found two or three Abyssinian Christians in the city of Mombaze, who had an oratory in their house. The following short account of the Christians of the East may perhaps be acceptable. In the south parts of Malabar, about 200000 of the inhabitants professed Christianity before the arrival of the Portuguese. They called themselves the Christians of Saint Thomas, by which apostle their ancestors had been converted. For 1300 years they had been under the Patriarch of Babylon, who appointed their Meterane or archbishop. Dr. Geddes, in his History of the Church of Malabar, relates, that Francisco Roz, a jesuit missionary, complained to Menezes, the Portuguese archbishop of Goa, that when he shewed these people an image of our Lady, they cried out, “Away with that filthiness, we are Christians, and do not adore idols or pagods.”

Don Frey Aleixo de Menezes, archbishop of Goa, did “endeavour to thrust upon the church of Malabar the whole mass of popery, which they were before unacquainted with.” To this purpose he had engaged all the neighbouring princes to assist him, “and had secured the major part of the priests present, in all one hundred and fifty three, whereof two-thirds were ordained by himself, and made them abjure their old religion, and subscribe the creed of pope Pius IV.” Millar's History of the Propag. of Christianity.

The French translator has the following note on this place, “Cet endroit est l'un de ceux qui montrent combien l'Auteur est habile dans la mythologie, et en même tems combien de pénétration son allégorie demande. Il y a bien peu de gens, qui en lisant ici, &c.—This is one of the places which discover our Author's intimate acquaintance with Mythology, and at the same time how much attention his allegory requires. Many readers, on finding that the protectress of the Lusians sprung from the sea, would be apt to exclaim, Behold, the birth of the terrestrial Venus! How can a nativity so infamous be ascribed to the celestial Venus, who represents Religion? I answer, that Camoens had not his eye on those fables, which derive the birth of Venus from the foam of the waves, mixed with the blood which flowed from the dishonest wound of Saturn; he carries his views higher; his Venus is from a fable more noble. Nigidius relates, that two fishes one day conveyed an egg to the sea shore: This egg was hatched by two pigeons whiter than snow, and gave birth to the Assyrian Venus, which, in the Pagan theology, is the same with the celestial: She instructed mankind in Religion, gave them the lessons of virtue and the laws of equity. Jupiter, in reward of her labours, promised to grant her whatever she desired. She prayed him to give immortality to the two fishes, who had been instrumental in her birth, and the fishes were accordingly placed in the Zodiac. . . . . . This fable agrees perfectly with Religion, as I could clearly shew; but I think it more proper to leave to the ingenious reader the pleasure of tracing the allegory.” Thus the grave Castera.—Besides the above, Mythology gives two other accounts of the origin of the sign Pisces. When Venus and Cupid fled from the rage of Typhon, they were saved by two fishes, who carried them over the river Euphrates. The fishes, in return, were placed in the Zodiac. Another fable says, that that favour was obtained by Neptune for the two Dolphins, who first brought him his beloved Amphitrite. This variety in the Pagan Mythology is, at least, a proof that the allegory or a Poet ought not, without full examination, to be condemned on the appearance of inconsistency.

Cloto, or Clotho, as Castera observes, has by some error crept into almost all the Portuguese editions of the Lusiad. Clotho was one of the Fates, and neither Hesiod, Homer, nor Virgil have given such a name to any of the Nereides; but in the ninth Eneid Doto is mentioned,

The Nereides, in the Lusiad, says Castera, are the virtues divine and human. In the first book they accompany the Portuguese fleet;

“And without doubt, says he, this allegory, in a lively manner, represents the condition of mankind. The virtues languish in repose; adversities animate and awake them. The fleet sailing before a favourable wind is followed by the Nereides, but the Nereides are scattered about in the sea. When danger becomes imminent, Venus, or Religion, assembles them to its safety.” Whatever the reader may think of the intention of Camoens, there is undoubtedly a prettiness in this explication. The following part is indeed highly pedantic. “Doto, continues Castera, is derived from the verb Διδωμι, I give. According to this etymology Doto is Charity. Nyse is Hope, and Nerine Faith. For the name Nyse comes from Νεω, I swim. For the action of Hope agrees with that of swimming, and is the symbol of it. Nerine is a term composed of νηστις, an old word, which signifies the waters of the sea, and of ρινη, a file; as if one should say, the file of the sea-waters, a mysterious expression, applicable to Faith, which is the file of our soul, and which is rendered perfect by the water of baptism.” Our French Translator wisely adds, that perhaps some persons may despise this etymology, but that for his part, he is unwilling to reject it, as it tends to unravel the allegory of his author.

Imitated from Virgil.

—Virg. En. I.

Latona, says the fable, flying from the serpent Python, and faint with thirst, came to a pond, where some Lycian peasants were cutting the bulrushes. In revenge of the insults which they offered her in preventing her to drink, she changed them into frogs. This fable, says Castera, like almost all the rest, is drawn from history. Philocorus, as cited by Boccace, relates, that the Rhodians having declared war against the Lycians, were assisted by some troops from Delos, who carried the image of Latona on their standards. A detachment of these going to drink at a lake in Lycia, a croud of peasants endeavoured to prevent them. An encounter ensued; the peasants fled to the lake for shelter, and were there slain. Some months afterwards their companions came in search of their corpses, and finding an unusual quantity of frogs, imagined, according to the superstition of their age, that the souls of their friends appeared to them under that metamorphosis.

Is is allowable in Epic Poetry to introduce a comparison taken from a low image? This is a question which has exercised the abilities of Critics and Translators, till criticism has degenerated into trifling, and learning into pedantry. To some it may perhaps appear needless to vindicate Camoens, in a point wherein he is supported by the authority of Homer and Virgil. Yet as many readers are infected with the sang froid of a Bossu or a Perrault, an observation in defence of our Poet cannot be thought impertinent. If we examine the finest effusions of genius, we shall find, that the most genuine poetical feeling has often dictated those similies which are drawn from familiar and low objects. The Sacred Writers, and the greatest Poets of every nation, have used them. We may therefore conclude, that the criticism which condemns them is a refinement not founded on Nature. But, allowing them admissible, it must be observed, that to render them pleasing requires a peculiar happiness and delicacy of management. When the Poet attains this indispensible point, he gives a striking proof of his elegance, and of his mastership in his art. That the similies of the Emmets and of the Frogs in Camoens are happily expressed and applied, is indisputable. In that of the Frogs there is a peculiar propriety, both in the comparison itself, and in the allusion to the fable; as it was the intent of the Poet to represent not only the flight, but the baseness of the Moors. The similie he seems to have copied from Dante, Inf. Cant. 9.

And Cant. 22.

Osorius gives the following account of this adventure. Talking of the two Exiles whom Gama had sent on shore; Rex læta et hilari fronte exules accepit, imperavitque domesticis suis, ut illis urbis situm et pulchritudinem demonstrarent. Ubi vero reversi sunt, Rex multa aromatum genera, quæ ex India deportari solent, illis ostentat, et quantulum visum est donat, ut Gamæ monstrare possent, et admonere, quanto esset utilius apud Regem amicum rem gerere, quàm vitam tam periculosæ navigationi committere. Cum his mandatis redeunt exules in classem, Gama mirificè lætatus eft, et postridie anchoras tolli jubet, et naves prope urbem constitui. Cùm verò illius navis æstus incitati vi celerius, quam commodum esset, inveheretur, timens ille nè in vadum incideret, vela contrahere et anchoras demittere confestim jussit. . . . . Quo facto Mozambiquenses gubernatores metu repentino perculsi, se præcipites in mare dejiciunt, et ad lintres quasdam, quæ non procul aberat, nando confugiunt. . . . . At Gama magnis vocibus ad eos, qui in lintribus erant, inclamavit, ut sibi suos gubernatores redderent: at illi clamores illius aspernati, gubernatores in terram exposuerunt. Hic Gama cum et conjectura, et aliquo etiam Arabis gubernatoris indicio, et multis præterea signis, perspexisset è quanto periculo fuisset auxilio divino liberatus, manus in cœlum sustulit. Barros and Castaneda, in relating this part of the voyage of Gama, say, that the fleet, just as they were entering the port of Mombassa were driven back, as it were, by an invisible hand. By a subsequent note it will appear, that the safety of the Armada depended upon this circumstance.

As the planet of Jupiter is in the sixth heaven, the Author has with propriety there placed the throne of that God. C.

J'entends les censeurs, says Castera, se récrier que cet endroit-ci ne convient nullement à la Venus celeste.—I am aware of the objection, that this passage is by no means applicable to the celestial Venus. I answer once for all, that the names and adventures of the Pagan Divinities are so blended and uncertain in Mythology, that a Poet is at great liberty to adapt them to his allegory as he pleases. Even the fables, which, to those who penetrate no deeper than the Rhind, may appear as profane, even these contain historical, physical, and moral truths, which fully atone for the seeming licenciousness of the letter. I could prove this in many instances, but let the present suffice. Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, spent his first years as a shepherd in the country. At this time Juno, Minerva, and Venus disputed for the apple of gold, which was destined to be given to the most beautiful goddess. They consented that Paris should be their judge. His equity claimed this honour. He saw them all naked. Juno promised him riches, Minerva the sciences, but he decided in favour of Venus, who promised him the possession of the most beauful woman. What a ray of light is contained in this philosophical fable! Paris represents a studious man, who, in the silence of solitude, seeks the supreme good. Juno is the emblem of riches and dignities, Minerva, that of the sciences purely human, Venus is that of Religion, which contains the sciences both human and divine; the charming female, which she promises to the Trojan shepherd, is that Divine Wisdom which gives tranquillity of heart. A Judge so philosophical as Paris would not hesitate a moment to whom to give the apple of gold. Thus Castera. The above may likewise serve as a comment on the passage in the first book. See pag. 16, l. 5.

“The allegory of Camoens is here obvious. If Acteon, and the slaves of their violent passions could discover the beauties of true religion, they would be astonished and reclaimed; according to the expression of Seneca, “Si virtus cerni posset oculis corporeis, omnes ad amorem suum pelliceret.” Castera.

“That is Divine Love, which always accompanies Religion. Behold how our Author insinuates the excellence of his moral!”

As the French Translator has acknowledged, there is no doubt but several Readers will be apt to decry this allegorical interpretation of the machinery of Camoens. Indeed there is nothing more easy for a fancyful genius, than to discover a system of allegory in the simplest narrative. The reign of Henry VIII. is as susceptible of it as any fable in the heathen Mythology. Nay, perhaps, more so. Under the names of Henry, More, Wolsey, Cromwell, Pole, Cranmer, &c. all the war of the passions, with their different catastrophes, might be delineated. But though it may be easy to find a metaphorical meaning, which was never intended by the Author, in what manner the Poets of the two last centuries adopted the use of allegory, is the question at present to be considered. Though it may be difficult to determine how far, yet one may venture to affirm, that Homer and Virgil sometimes allegorised. The poets, however, who wrote on the revival of letters, have left us in no doubt; we have their own authority for it, that their machinery is allegorical. Not only the Pagan Deities, but the more modern adventures of enchantment were used by them to delineate the affections; and the trials and rewards of the virtues and vices. Tasso published a treatise to prove that his Gierusalemme Liberata is no other than the Christian spiritual warfare. And Camoens, as observed in the preface, has twice asserted, that his machinery is allegorical. The Poet's assertion, and the taste of the age in which he wrote, sufficiently vindicate the Endeavour to unravel and explain the allegory of the Lusiad.

The following speech of Venus and the reply of Jupiter, are a fine imitation from the first Eneid, and do great honour to the Classical taste of the Portuguese Poet.

Imitated from Virg. En I.

i. e. The slave of Calypso, who offered Ulysses immortality on condition he would live with her

After the Portuguese had made great conquests in India, Gama had the honour to be appointed Viceroy. In 1524, when sailing thither to take possession of his government, his fleet was so becalmed on the coast Cambaya, that the ships stood motionless on the water, when in an instant, without the least change of the weather, the waves were shaken with a violent agitation, like trembling. The ships were tossed about, The sailors were terrified, and in the utmost confusion, thinking themselves lost. When Gama, perceiving it to be the effect of an earthquake, with his wonted heroism and prudence, exclaimed, “Of what are you afraid? Do you not see how the Ocean trembles under its Sovereigns!” Barros, L. 9. C. 1. and Faria, C. 9. who says, that such as lay sick of fevers were cured by the fright.

Both Barros and Castaneda relate this fact. Albuquerk, during the war of Ormuz, having given battle to the Persians and Moors, by the violence of a sudden wind the arrows of the latter were driven back upon themselves, whereby many o their troops were wounded.

Virg. Æn. VIII.

Magalhaens, a most celebrated navigator. Neglected by Emmanuel king of Portugal, he offered his service to the king of Spain, under whom he made most important discoveries round the Straits, which bear his name, and in the back parts of South America; acquirements, which at this day are of the utmost value to the Spanish Empire. Of this hero see further, X. Lusiad, in the notes.

Virg. Æn. IV.

Diomede, a tyrant of Thrace, who fed his horses with human flesh; a thing, says the grave Castera, presque incroyable, almost incredible. Busiris, was a king of Egypt, who sacrificed strangers.

Hercules vanquished both these tyrants, and put them to the same punishments which their cruelty had inflicted on others. Isocrates composed an oration in honour of Busiris; a masterly example of Attic raillery and satire. To this Castera wisely appeals, to prove the truth of the history of that tyrant.

Having mentioned the escape of the Moorish pilots, Osorius proceeds: Rex deinde homines magno cum filentio scaphis & lintribus submittebat, qui securibus anchoralia nocte præciderent. Quod nisi fuisset à nostris singulari Gamæ industria vigilatum, et insidiis scelerati illius regis occursum, nostri in summum vitæ discrimen incidissent.

Claud.

Ovid.

There were on board Gama's fleet several persons skilled in the Oriental languages. Osor.

See the Eighth Odyssey, &c.

Castera's note on this place is so characteristical of a Frenchman, that the Reader will perhaps be pleased to see it transcribed. In his text he says, “Toi qui occupes si dignement le rang supreme—Le Poete dit, says he, in the note, Tens de Rey o officio, Toi qui fais le metier de Roi—The Poet says, thou who holdest the business of a king. I confess, he adds, I found a strong inclination to translate this sentence literally. I find much nobleness in it. However, I submitted to the opinion of some friends, who were afraid that the ears of Frenchmen would be shocked at the word business applied to a King. It is true, nevertheless, that Royalty is a business. Philip II. of Spain was convinced of it, as we may discern from one of his letters. Hallo, says he, me muy embaraçado, &c. I am so entangled and incumbered with the multiplicity of business, that I have not a moment to myself. In truth, we kings hold a laborious office; (or trade) there is little reason to envy us.” May the politeness of England never be disgusted with the word business applied to a king!

The propriety and artfulness of Homer's speeches have been often and justly admired. Camoens is peculiarly happy in the same department of the Epopea. The speech of Gama's herald to the King of Melinda is a striking instance of it. The compliments with which it begins have a direct tendency to the favours afterward to be asked. The assurances of the innocence, the purpose of the Voyagers, and the greatness of their king, are happily touched. The exclamation on the barbarous treatment they had experienced, “Not wisdom saved us, but heaven's own care,” are masterly insinuations. Their barbarous treatment is again repeated in a manner to move compassion: Alas! what could they fear, &c. is reasoning joined with the pathos. That they were conducted to the King of Melinda by heaven, and were by heaven assured of his truth, is a most delicate compliment, and in the true spirit of the Epic Poem. The allusion to Alcinous is well timed. The apology for Gama's refusal to come on shore, is exceeding artful. It conveys a proof of the greatness of the Portuguese Sovereign, and affords a compliment to Loyalty, which could not fail to be acceptable to a Monarch. In short, the whole of the speech supplicates warmly, but at the same time in the most manly manner; and the adjuration concludes it with all the appearance of warmth and sincerity. Eustathius would have written a whole chapter on such a speech in the Iliad or Odyssey.

Camoens seems to have his eye on the picture of Gama, which is thus described by Faria y Sousa. “He is painted with a black cap, cloak and breeches edged with velvet, all slashed, through which appears the crimson lining, the doublet of crimson sattin, and over it his armour inlaid with gold,”

The admiration and friendship of the king of Melinda, so much insisted on by Camoens, is a judicious imitation of Virgil's Dido. In both cases such preparation was necessary to introduce the long episodes which follow.

For a defence of the king of Melinda's learning, ignorantly objected to by Voltaire, see the Preface.