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"PEREZ, thou good old man," they cried,
“And art thou in thy place of rest ?—
Tho' in the western world His grave,†

That other world, the gift He gave,‡
Would ye were sleeping side by side!
Of all his friends He loved thee best.”

The supper in the chamber done,
Much of a Southern Sea they spake,
And of that glorious City § won

Near the setting of the Sun,
Throned in a silver lake;

Of seven kings in chains of gold ||
And deeds of death by tongue untold,

Deeds such as breathed in secret there
Had shaken the Confession-chair!

* Late Superior of the House.

In the chancel of the cathedral of St. Domingo.

‡ The words of the epitaph. “A Castilia y a Leon nuevo Mundo dio Colon."

§ Mexico.

Afterwards the arms of Cortes and his descendants.

The Eldest swore by our Lady,* the Youngest by his conscience;+ while the Franciscan, sitting by in his grey habit, turned away and crossed himself again and again. "Here is a little book," said he at last," the work of him in his shroud below. It tells of things you have mentioned; and, were Cortes and Pizarro here, it might perhaps make them reflect for a moment." The Youngest smiled as he took it into his hand. He read it aloud to his companion with an unfaltering voice; but, when he laid it down, a silence ensued; nor was he seen to smile again that night. "The curse is heavy," said he at parting, " but Cortes may live to disappoint it.". Ay, and Pizarro too!"

66

* Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 63.

B. Diaz. c. 203.

"After the death of Guatimotzin," says B. Diaz," he became gloomy and restless; rising continually from his bed, and wandering about in the dark."-" Nothing prospered with him; and it was ascribed to the curses he was loaded with."

*

** A circumstance, recorded by Herrera, renders this visit not improbable. "In May, 1528, Cortes arrived unexpectedly at Palos; and, soon after he had landed, he and Pizarro met and rejoiced; and it was remarkable that they should

meet, as they were two of the most renowned men in the world." B. Diaz makes no mention of the interview; but, relating an occurrence that took place at this time in Palos, says, 'that Cortes was

now absent at Nuestra Senora de la Rábida.' Convent is within half a league of the town.

The

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ADDITIONAL NOTES.

Page 103, line 1.

What vast foundations in the Abyss are there,

TASSO employs preternatural agents on occasion,

Trappassa, et ecco in quel silvestre loco

Sorge improvisa la città del foco.-xiii. 33.

a similar

Gli incanti d'Ismeno, che ingannano con delusioni, altro non significano, che la falsità delle ragioni, et delle persuasioni, la qual si genera nella moltitudine, et varietà de' pareri, et de' discorsi humani.

Page 103, line 3.

ATLANTIC kings their barbarous pomp displayed;

See Plato's Timæus; where mention is made of mighty kingdoms, which, in a day and a night, had disappeared in the Atlantic, rendering its waters unnavigable.

Si quæras Helicen et Burin, Achaïdas urbes,

Invenies sub aquis.

At the destruction of Callao, in 1747, no more than one of all the inhabitants escaped; and he, by a provi

dence the most extraordinary. This man was on the fort that overlooked the harbour, going to strike the flag, when he perceived the sea to retire to a considerable distance; and then, swelling mountain-high, it returned with great violence. The people ran from their houses in terror and confusion: he heard a cry of Miserere rise from all parts of the city; and immediately all was silent; the sea had entirely overwhelmed it, and buried it for ever in its bosom: but the same wave that destroyed it, drove a little boat by the place where he stood, into which he threw himself and was saved.

Page 103, line 12.

We stop to stir no more

The description of a submarine forest is here omitted by the translator.

League beyond league gigantic foliage spread,

Shadowing old Ocean on his rocky bed;

The lofty summits of resounding woods,

That grasped the depths, and grappled with the floods; Such as had climbed the mountain's azure height, When forth he came and reassumed his right.

Page 110, line 3.

No voice as erst shall in the desert rise;

Alluding to the oracles of the Islanders, so soon to become silent and particularly to a prophecy, delivered down from their ancestors, and sung with loud lamentations (Petr. Martyr. dec. 3. lib. 7.) at their solemn fes

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