ich 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._

[91] The historical foundation of the fable of Phaeton is this. Phaeton
was a young enterprising prince of Libya. Crossing the Mediterranean in
quest of adventures, he landed at Epirus, from whence he went to Italy
to see his intimate friend Cygnus. Phaeton was skilled in astrology,
from whence he arrogated to himself the title of the son of Apollo. One
day in the heat of summer, as he was riding along the banks of the Po,
his horses took fright at a clap of thunder, and plunged into the river,
where, together with their master, they perished. Cygnus, who was a
poet, celebrated the death of his friend in verse, from whence the
fable.--Vid. Plutarch, in Vit. Pyrr.

[92] _Acheron._--The river of Hades, or hell.--_Ed._

[93] _From Abram's race our holy prophet sprung._--Mohammed, who was
descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar.

[94] The Hydaspes was a tributary of the river Indus.--_Ed._

[95] _Calm twilight now._--Camoens, in this passage, has imitated Homer
in the manner of Virgil: by diversifying the scene he has made the
description his own. The passage alluded to is in the eighth Iliad--

[Greek: Os d' hot' en ourano astra phaeinen amphi amphi selenen
Phainet' ariprepea], etc.

Thus elegantly translated by Pope:--

_As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light,
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole,
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with silver every mountain's head;
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies:
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light._

[96] The Turks, or Osmanli Turcomans.--_Ed._

[97] Constantinople.

[98] _Straight as he spoke._--The description of the armoury, and
account which Vasco de Gama gives of his religion, consists, in the
original, of thirty-two lines, which M. Castera has reduced into the
following sentence: _Leur Governeur fait differentes questions au
Capitaine, qui pour le satisfaire lui explique en peu des mots la
Religion que les Portugais