NOTES ON THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. PART I. Note (a) And such thy strength-inspiring aid that bore The following picture of his own distress, given by Byron in his simple and interesting narrative, justifies the description in page 10. After relating the barbarity of the Indian cacique to his child, he proceeds thus:-" A day or two after, we put to sea again, and crossed the great bay I mentioned we had been at the bottom of when we first hauled away to the westward. The land here was very low and sandy, and something like the mouth of a river which discharged itself into the sea, and which had been taken no notice of by us before, as it was so shallow that the -Indians were obliged to take every thing out of their canoes, and carry it over land. We rowed up the river four or five leagues, and then took into a branch of it that ran first to the eastward, and then to the northward; here it became much narrower, and the stream excessively rapid, so that we gained but little way, though we wrought very hard. At night we landed upon its banks, and had a most uncomfortable lodging, it being a perfect swamp; and we had nothing to cover us, though it rained excessively. The Indians were little better off than we, as there was no wood here to make their wigwams; so that all they could do was to prop up the bark, which they carry in the bottom of their canoes, and shelter themselves as well as they could to the leeward of it, Knowing the difficulties they had to encounter here, they had provided themselves with some seal; but we had not a morsel to eat, after the heavy fatigues of the day, excepting a sort of root we saw the Indians make use of which was very disagreeable to the taste. We laboured all next day against the stream, and fared as we had done the day before. The next day brought us to the carrying place. Here was plenty of wood, but nothing to be got for sustenance. We passed this night as we had frequently done, under a tree; but what we suffered at this time is not easy to be expressed. I had been three days at the oar, without any kind of nourishment except the wretched root above mentioned. I had no shirt, for it had rotted off by bits. All my clothes consisted of a short grieko, (something like a bear-skin,) a piece of red cloth which had once been a waistcoat, and a ragged pair of trowsers, without shoes or stockings." Note (b.) A Briton and a friend. Don Patricio Gedd, a Scotch physician in one of the Spanish settlements, hospitably relieved Byron and his wretched associates, of which the Commodore speaks in the warmest terms of gratitude. Note (c.) Or yield the lyre of heaven another string The seven strings of Apollo's harp were the symbolical representation of the seven planets. Herschel, by discovering an eighth, might be said to add another string to the instrument. Note (d.) The Swedish sage. Linnæus. Note (e.) Deep from his vaults the Loxian murmurs flow. Loxias is a name frequently given to Apollo by Greek writers: it is met with more than once in the Chaphora of Eschylus. Note (f.) Unlocks a generous store at thy command, Like Horeb's rock beneath the prophet's hand. See Exodus, chap. xvii. 3, 5, 6. Note (i.) Wild Obi flies. Among the negroes of the West Indies, Obi or Obiah is the name of a magical power, which is believed by them to affect the object of its malignity with dismal calamities. Such a belief must undoubtedly have been deduced from the superstitious mythology of their kinsmen on the coast of Africa. I have therefore personified Obi as the evil spirit of the African, although the history of the African tribes mentions the evil spirit of their religious creed by a different appellation. Note (g.) Sibir's dreary mines. Mr. Bell of Antermony, in his travels through Siberia, informs us that the name of the country is universally pronounced Sibir by the Russians. Note (h.) Presaging wrath to Poland—and to man ! The history of the partition of Poland, of the massacre in the suburbs of Warsaw, and on the bridge of Prague, the triumphant entry of Suwarrow into the Polish capital, and the insult offered to human nature, by the blasphemous thanks offered up to Heaven, for victories obtained over men fighting in the sacred cause of liberty, by murderers and oppressors, are events generally known. Note (k.) The shrill horn blew. The negroes in the West Indies are summoned to their morning work by a shell or a horn. Note (1) How long was Timour's iron sceptre swayed? To elucidate this passage, I shall subjoin a quotation from the Preface to letters from a Hindoo Rajah, a work of elegance and celebrity. "The impostor of Mecca had established, as one of the principles of his doctrine, the merit of extending it, either by persuasion, or the sword, to all parts of the earth. How steadily this injunction was adhered to by his followers, and with what success it was pursued, is well known to all who are in the least conversant in history. "The same overwhelming torrent, which had inundated the greater part of Africa, burst its way into the very heart of Europe, and covered many kingdoms of Asia with unbounded desolation, directed its baleful course to the flourishing provinces of Hindostan. Here these fierce and hardy adventurers, whose only improvement had been in the science of destruction, who added the fury of fanaticism to the ravages of war, found the great end of their conquests opposed by objects which neither the ardour of their persevering zeal, nor savage barbarity could surmount. Multitudes were sacrificed by the cruel hand of religious persecution, and whole countries were deluged in blood, in the vain hope, that by the destruction of a part, the remainder might be persuaded, or terrified, into the profession of Mahomedanism; but all these sanguinary efforts were ineffectual; and at length, being fully convinced, that though they might extirpate, they could never hope to convert any number of the Hindoos, they relinquished the impracticable idea, with which they had entered upon their career of conquest, and contented themselves with the acquirement of the civil dominion and almost universal empire of Hindostan." Letters from a Hindoo Rajah, by Eliza Hamiltor.. Note (m.) And braved the stormy spirit of the Cape. See the description of the Cape of Good Hope, translated from Camoens, by Mickle. Note (n.) While famished nations died along the shore. The following account of the British conduct, and its consequences, in Bengal, will afford a sufficient idea of the fact alluded to in this passage. After describing the monopoly of salt, betel nut, and tobacco, the historian proceeds thus::- Money in this current came but b/ drops; it could not quench the thirst of those who waited in India to receive it. An expedient, such as it was, remained to quicken its pace. The natives could live with little salt, but could not want food. Some of the agents saw themselves well situated for collecting the rice into stores: they did so. They knew the Gentoos would rather die than violate the principles of their religion by eating flesh. The alternative would therefore be between giving what they had or dying. The inhabitants sunk;-they that cultivated the land, and saw the harvest at the disposal of others, planted in doubtscarcity ensued. Then the monopoly was easier managed -sickness ensued. In some districts the languid living left the bodies of their numerous dead unburied." Short History of English Transactions in the Note (o.) Nine times hath Brama's wheels of lightning hurled His awful presence o'er the prostrate world! Among the sublime fictions of the Hindoo mythology, it is one article of belief, that the Deity Brama has descended nine times upon the world in various forms, and that he is yet to appear a tenth time, in the figure of a warrior upon a white horse, to cut off all incorrigible offenders. Avater is the word used to express his descent. Note (p.) And Camdeo bright, and Ganesa sublime. Camdeo is the God of Love in the mythology of the Hindoos. Ganesa and Seriswattee correspond to the Pagan deities Janus and Minerva. NOTES ON THE PLEASURES OF HOPE. PART II. Note (a.) The noon of Manhood to a myrtle shade! Sacred to Venus is the myrtle shade.-Dryden. Note (b.) Thy woes, Arion! Falconer in his poem, The Shipwreck, speaks of himself by the name of Arion.-See Falconer's Shipwreck, Canto III. Note (c.) The robber Moor. See Schiller's tragedy of the Robbers, scene v. Note (d.) What millions died that Cæsar might be great. The carnage occasioned by the wars of Julius Cæsar has been usually estimated at two millions of men. Note (e.) Or learn the fate that bleeding thousands bore, Marched by their Charles to Dneiper's swampy shore. In this extremity, (says the biographer of Charles XII. of Sweden, speaking of his military exploits before the battle of Pultowa,) the memorable winter of 1709, which was still more remarkable in that part of Europe than in France, destroyed numbers of his troops: for Charles resolved to brave the seasons as he had done |