Page:The Lusiad (Camões, tr. Mickle, 1791), Volume 2.djvu/100

Through Ethiopia's peaceful dales they stray'd,
Where their glad eyes Messiah's rites survey'd:
And now they pass the famed Arabian flood,
Whose waves of old in wondrous ridges stood,
While Israel's favour'd race the sable bottom trode:
Behind them, glistening to the morning skies,
The mountains named from Ishmael's offspring rise;
Now round their steps the blest Arabia spreads
Her groves of odour, and her balmy meads,
And every breast, inspired with glee, inhales
The grateful fragrance of Sabæa's gales:
Now, past the Persian gulf their route ascends
Where Tigris wave with proud Euphrates blends;
Illustrious streams, where still the native shews
Where Babel's haughty tower unfinish'd rose:
From thence through climes unknown, their daring course
Beyond where Trajan forced his way, they force;
Carmanian hordes, and Indian tribes they saw,
And many a barbarous rite, and many a law
Their search explored; but, to their native shore,
Enrich'd with knowledge, they return'd no more.

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