*

"Another pole-star rises o'er the wave:
Full to the south a shining cross appears,
Our heaving breasts the blissful omen cheers:
Seven radiant stars compose the hallow'd sign
That rose still higher o'er the wavy brine."

A journey of five months, diversified by tempests, electrical
phenomena, and occasional landings, brought them to Cape of Tempests,
which since Diaz had rounded it was called the Cape of Good Hope.
While battling with the tempestuous seas of this region, Vasco da Gama
beheld, in the midst of sudden darkness, Adamastor, the Spirit of the
Cape, who foretold all manner of dangers from which it would be
difficult for them to escape.

"We saw a hideous phantom glare;
High and enormous o'er the flood he tower'd,
And 'thwart our way with sullen aspect lower'd:
An earthy paleness o'er his cheeks was spread,
Erect uprose his hairs of wither'd red;
Writhing to speak, his sable lips disclose,
Sharp and disjoin'd, his gnashing teeth's blue rows;
His haggard beard flow'd quiv'ring on the wind,
Revenge and horror in his mien combin'd;
His clouded front, by with'ring lightnings scar'd,
The inward anguish of his soul declar'd.
His red eyes, glowing from their dusky caves,
Shot livid fires: far echoing o'er the waves
His voice resounded, as the cavern'd shore
With hollow groan repeats the tempest's roar."

The King of Melinda here interrupts Vasco da Gama's tale to explain
he has often heard of that Adamastor, a Titan transformed into a rock
but still possessing supernatural powers.

Resuming his narrative, Da Gama next describes their landing to clean
their foul ships, their sufferings from scurvy, their treacherous
welcome at Mozambic, their narrow escape at Quiloa and Mombaca, and
ends his account with his joy at arriving at last at Melinda.

_Book VI._ In return for the hospitality enjoyed on board of the
Portuguese ships, the king of Melinda supplies Da Gama with an able
pilot, who, steering straight for India, brings the Portuguese safely
to their goal, in spite of the fact that Bacchus induces Neptune to
stir up sundry tempests to check them. But, the prayers of the
Christian crew and the aid of Venus counteract Bacchus' spells, so Da
Gama's fleet enters Calicut, in 1497, and the Lusitanians thus achieve
the glory of discovering a maritime road to India!

_Book VII._ We now hear how a Moor, Moncaide, detained a prisoner in
Calicut, serves as interpret