e.g. those of Ignez de Castro, King Manoel's dream of the rivers
Ganges and Indus, the speech of the old man of Belem and the apparition
of Adamastor off the Cape of Good Hope. Canto 6 describes the crossing
of the Indian Ocean from Melinde to Calicut and a fresh hostile attempt
on the part of Bacchus. He descends to Neptune's palace, and at a
council of the sea-gods it is resolved to order Aeolus to loose the
winds against the Portuguese, but the tempest is quelled by Venus and
her nymphs in answer to Gama's prayer, and the morning light reveals the
Ghats of India. Just before the storm, occurs the night scene in which
Velloso entertains his shipmates with the story of the Twelve of
England, another of the famous episodes. Canto 7 is taken up with the
arrival at Calicut, a description of the country and the details of
Gama's reception by the raja. The governor of the city visits the fleet
and inquires about the pictures on their banners, whereupon Paulo da
Gama, Vasco's brother, tells him of the deeds of the early Portuguese
kings. Meanwhile Bacchus, not to be baulked, appears to a priest in the
guise of Mahomet, and stirs up the Moslems against the Christian
adventurers, with the result that the raja charges Gama with being a
leader of convicts and pirates. To this the captain makes a spirited
reply and gets his despatch, but he has new snares to avoid and further
difficulties to overcome before he is finally able to set sail on the
return voyage. Pitying their toils, Venus determines to give the
voyagers repose and pleasure on their way home, and directs their course
to an enchanted island, which is described in canto 9, in the longest
and perhaps the most beautiful episode in the poem. On landing they are
received by the goddess and her nymphs, and general joy ensues,
heightened by banquets and amorous play. In a prophetic song, the siren
tells of the exploits of the Portuguese viceroys, governors and captains
in India until the time of D John de Castro, after which Tethys ascends
a mountain with Gama, shows him the spheres after the system of Ptolemy
and the globe of Asia and Africa, and describes the Indian life of St
Thomas the apostle. Finally the navigators quit the island and reach
Lisbon, and an epilogue contains a patriotic exhortation to King
Sebastian and visions of glory, which ended so disastrously at the
battle of Alcacer.

Though the influence of Camoens on Portuguese has been exaggerated, it
was very