The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-01-16
TnE VOYAGE no INDIA.

NO one OF any senslOlity can Iall 10 paftake OF
the poets enthusiasm. as we follow him in his
description of his India bound voyage. 1t is the
bold adventure of de Cana who first sailed around
the shores of savage Africa unto the eastern
world which he describes in his Lusiad, in the
tracks of which he followed-as he sailed along f.;
and therefore when Camoens is telling the story
of the bold career of the great Oriental discoverer,
he speaks of seas over which he sailed, of shores
which he passed in review, of peoples whom he
met, and of dangers which he underwent, at a
time when the Portuguese navigation of Austral
seas, as opened up by the lllustrious Prince
Henry, was yet new and full of wonders. And
the narration of Camoens, with it's beauty and
sublimity of utterance is all the more interesting
to us, when we think that he wrote, as he voyaged
along, under all the discomforts of the cramped
caravel of his day. 1t may not be difficult for a
tourist Of this day, when seated at q table in a
spacious saloon in q frst-class ocean steamer to
write his observations of new seas and shores.
But if he had lived three centuries ago, and had
sailed as a subordinate with Cabral to India, he
would have had no better accommodation than q
seat on deck under the lee of a boat, and have to
pen his thoughts on rough papyrus placed on his
knee, and then he would have required some of
the burning enthusiasm of genius that glowed in
the soul of Camoens to pen such thoughts as these:
ITO tell the terrors OF the deep untried
What tolls we sqneI'd; and what storms defed;
What dreary weeks of solid darkness lourd;
What sudden hurricane. 9Re canvass dssh'd,
What bursting lightning with incessant flare,
Kindle in one wide flame the burning air ;
What roaring thunders BELOVED Ger our head,
And seemed to shake the Keeling oceans bed
Would ask an iron throat with ten-fold vigor steeled"( )
And now as he is affected by the terrors of the
ocean, the mind of Camoens conjures up one of
the most awful and impressive creations Of human
thought. 1t is that of a dread phantom. a
colossal genii of the air, the guardian of the Cape,
the awful Adamastor who has in ages past
guarded the stormy southern points of Africa
from the intrusion of the adventuring European.
1t is the genius of savage Africa that bids the
Lusitanian hero de Cana 60 no farther, and
leave the torrid continent alone in the peace of
her savagery. 1t is thus that CamOens conjures
up the monster in the fifth canto OF the Lusiad.
Beneath the glistening wave, the god Of day
Had now FIVE times Withdrawn the parting rays
And slowly floating DER the masts tall head
Amax'd we stood. o, Thou, our fortunes Guide
Avert this Omen, mighty God i cried.
Or through forbidden climes adventurous stray'd,
Have we the secrets Of the deep surveyed,
Which these wide soitudes OF seas and sky,
Were doom'd 10 hide from mans unhalOw'd eye.
spoke; when rising through the darkenid air,
Appalld We saw a hideous phantom glare;
High, and enormous, DER the food he towerid,
And thwart our way with sulent aspect lOur'd..
Far echOing DER the waves
His voice resounded, as the cavern'd shore
With hollow groan repeats the fempests roar.
We sons of Lusus, () who with eyes profsne
Have reviewed the secrets Of my awful reign,
Have passed the bounds which jealous nature drew
To veil her secret shrine from mortal view;
Hear from my lips what direful woes attend.
And bursting shall DER your race descend =
He paused, in act still farther TO disclose
A long, a dreary prophecy Of woes;
When spTinging onward, loud my voice resounds,