NOTES TO CANTO XV.
You, sir, earned worthy praise, when you o’erbore
The lion of such might by sea, and so
Did by him, where lie guarded either shore
From Francolino to the mouth of Pò,
That I, though yet again I heard him roar,
If you were present, should my fear forego.
How fields are fitly won was then made plain;
For we were rescued, and your foemen slain.
Stanza ii.
He alludes to the victory obtained at Francolino, about forty miles above the mouth of the Pò; to which he had before referred. See notes to canto iii.
Quitting the port and smoother waves, they stand
To sea, with favouring wind which blows astern;
And (coasting) round the rich and populous land
Of odoriferous Ind the vessels turn,
Opening a thousand isles on either hand,
Scattered about that sea, till they discern
The land of Thomas; here the pilot veers
His ready tiller, and more northward steers.
Stanza xvi.
The geography is here wofully confused; and Astolpho cannot
