Rare is collected now: few altars smoke
Now in the idol fane: Panchaiah views
Trade's busy fleets regardless pass her coast:
Nor frequent are the freights of snow-white woofs,
Since Rome, no more the mistress of the world,
Varies her garb, and treads her darken'd streets
With gloomy cowl, majestical no more.
See the dark spirit of tyrannic pow'r !
The Thracian channel, long the road of trade
To the deep Euxine and its naval streams,
And the MϚtis, now is barr'd with chains,
And forts of hostile battlement. In aught
That joys mankind, the arbitrary Turk
Delights not; insolent of rule, he spreads
Thraldom and desolation o'er his realms.
Another path to Scythia's wide domains Commerce discovers: the Livonian gulf Receives her sails, and leads them to the port Of rising Petersburg.-whose splendid streets Swell with the webs of Leeds: the Cossac there, The Calmuc, and Mungalian, round the bales In crouds resort, and their warm'd limbs, enfold, Delighted; and the hardy Samoid,
Rough with the stings of frost, from his dark caves
Ascends, and thither hastes, ere winter's rage
O'ertake his homeward step; and they that dwell
Along the banks of Don's and Volga's streams;
And borderers of the Caspian, who renew
That ancient path to India's climes which fill'd
With proudest affluence the Colchian state.
Many have been the ways to those renown'd
Luxuriant climes of Indus, early known
To Memphis, to the port of wealthy Tyre;
To Tadmor, beauty of the wilderness,
Who down the long Euphrates sent her sails;
And sacred Salem, when her num'rous fleets
From Ezion-geber pass'd th' Arabian gulf.
But later times, more fortunate, have found
O'er ocean's open wave a surer course,-
Sailing the western coast of Afric's realms,
Of Mauritania, and Nigritian tracks,
And islands of the Gorgades, the bounds,
On the Atlantic brine, of ancient trade;
But not of modern, by the virtue led
Of Gama and Columbus. The whole globe
Is now, of commerce, made the scene immense,—
Which daring ships frequent; associated
Like doves or swallows in th' etherial flood;
Or, like the eagle, solitary seen.
Some, with more open course to Indus steer;
Some coast from port to port, with various men
And manners conversant; of th' angry surge,
That thunders loud, and spreads the cliffs with foam,
Regardless, or the monsters of the deep,
(Porpoise or grampus, or th' rav'nous shark,)
That chase their keels,-or threat'ning rock o'erhead,
Of Atlas old. Beneath the threat'ning rocks,
Reckless they furl their sails, and, bart'ring, take
Soft flakes of wool; for in soft flakes of wool,
Like the Silurian, Atlas' dales abound.
The shores of Sus inhospitable rise,—
And high Bojador. Zara, too, displays
Unfruitful deserts. Gambia's wave in-isles
An ouzy coast; and pestilential ills
Diffuses wide: behind, are burning sands,
Adverse to life; and Nilus' hidden fount.
On Guinea's sultry strand the drapery light Of Manchester, or Norwich, is bestow'd For clear transparent gums, and ductile wax, And snow-white ivory: yet the valued trade Along this barbarous coast, in telling, wounds The gen'rous heart-the sale of wretched slaves : Slaves by their tribes condemn'd, exchanging death
For life-long servitude; severe exchange!
These till our fertile colonies,-which yield
The sugar-cane, and the Tobago-leaf,
And various new productions, that invite
Increasing navies to their crowded wharfs.
But let the man whose rough tempestuous hours,
In this advent'rous traffic, are involv'd,
With just humanity of heart pursue
The gainful commerce. Wickedness is blind.
Their sable chieftains may in future times
Burst their frail bonds; and vengeance execute
On cruel unrelenting pride-of-heart
There are ills to come for crimes.
Hot Guinea too, gives yellow dust of gold,
Which, with her rivers, rolls adown the sides
Of unknown hills,-where fiery-winged winds,
And sandy desarts, rous'd by sudden storms,
All search forbid. Howe'er, on either hand,
'Vallies and pleasant plains, and many a track
Deem'd uninhabitable erst, are found
Fertile and populous. Their sable tribes,
In shade of verdant groves and mountains tall,
Frequent enjoy the cool descent of rain,
And soft refreshing breezes: nor are lakes
Here wanting; those a sea-wide surface spread,
Which to the distant Nile and Senegal,
Send long meanders.-Whate'er lies beyond,
Of rich, or barren, Ignorance o'ercasts
With her dark mantle. Mon'motapa's coast
Is seldom visited,-and the rough shore
Of Caffres, land of savage Hottentots;
Whose hands unnatural hasten to the grave
Their aged parents. What barbarity—
And brutal ignorance where social trade
Is held contemptible! Ye gliding sails!
From these inhospitable, gloomy shores,
Indignant, turn; and to the friendly Cape,
Which gives the cheerful mariner good hope
Of prosp❜rous voyage, steer. Rejoice to view
What trade, with Belgian industry, creates ;
Prospects of civil life, fair towns, and lawns;
And yellow tilth; and groves of various fruits,
Delectable in husk, or glossy rind:
There the capacious vase, from crystal springs,
Replenish; and convenient store provide,
Like ants intelligent of future need.
See! thro' the fragrance of delicious airs,
That breathe the smell of balms, how Traffic shapes A winding voyage, by the lofty coast
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