Whilst thus in heaven's bright palace Fate was weigh'd,
Right onward still the brave armada stray'd:
Right on they steer by Ethiopia's strand
And pastoral Madagascar's[1] verdant land.
Before the balmy gales of cheerful spring,
With heav'n their friend, they spread the canvas wing;
The sky cerulean, and the breathing air,
The lasting promise of a calm declare.
Behind them now the Cape of Praso bends,
Another ocean to their view extends,
Where black-topt islands, to their longing eyes,
Lav'd by the gentle waves,[2] in prospect rise.
But GAMA, (captain of the vent'rous band,
Of bold emprize, and born for high command,
Whose martial fires, with prudence close allied,
Ensured the smiles of fortune on his side)
Bears off those shores which waste and wild appear'd,
And eastward still for happier climates steer'd:
When gathering round, and blackening o'er the tide,
A fleet of small canoes the pilot spied;
Hoisting their sails of palm-tree leaves, inwove
With curious art, a swarming crowd they move:
Long
- ↑ And pastoral Madagascar.—Called by the ancient geographers Menuthia, and Cerna Ethiopica; by the natives, the Island of the Moon; and by the Portuguese, the Isle of St. Laurence, on whose festival they discovered it.
- ↑ Lav'd by the gentle waves.—The original says, the sea shewed them new islands, which it encircled and laved. Thus rendered by Fanshaw,
Neptune disclos'd new isles which he did play
About, and with his billows danc't the hay.
