Of Sofala, thought Ophir,-in whose hills, Ev'n yet some portion of its ancient wealth Remains, and sparkles in the yellow sand Of its clear streams, tho' unregarded now : Ophirs more rich are found. With easy course, The vessels glide; unless their speed be stop'd By dead calms, that oft lie on those smooth seas, While ev'ry zephyr sleeps:-then the shrouds drop; The downy feather on the cordage hung,
Moves not; the flat sea shines like yellow gold, Fus'd in the fire; or like the marble floor Of some old temple wide. But where so wide, In old, or later time, its marble floor
Did ever temple boast as this,-which, here, Spreads its bright level, many a league around? At solemn distances, its pillars rise; Sofal's blue rocks; Mozambic's palmy steeps; And lofty Madagascar's glitt'ring shores, Where various woods of beauteous vein and hue, And glossy shells in elegance of form-
For Pond's rich cabinet, or Sloane's are found. Such calm oft checks their course; till this bright scene Is brush'd away before the rising breeze,
That joys the busy crew, and speeds again The sail full-swelling to Socotra's isle,
For aloes fam'd; or to the wealthy marts
Of Ormus or Gombroon,-whose streets are oft With caravans and tawny merchants throng'd, From neighbouring provinces, and realms afar,And fill'd with plenty,-tho' dry sandy wastes Spread naked round: so great the power of trade.
Persia, few ports ;-more happy Indostan Beholds Surat and Goa, on her coasts,- And Bombay's wealthy isle, and harbour fam'd, Supine beneath the shade of cocoa groves. But what avails, or many ports or few, Where wild Ambition, frequent, from his lair Starts up; while fell Revenge and Famine lead To havoc, reckless of the tyrant's whip, Which clanks along the vallies? Oft, in vain, The merchant seeks upon the strand whom erst, Associated by trade, he deck'd and cloth'd; In vain whom Rage or Famine has devour'd He seeks ;—and, with increas'd affection, thinks On Britain. Still howe'er, Bombaya's wharfs Pile up blue indigo; and, of frequent use, Pungent salt-petre; woods of purple grain; And many-color'd saps from leaf and flow'r ;
And various gums; (the clothier knows their worth;)
And wool resembling cotton shorn from trees,
Not to the fleece unfriendly,-whether mix'd
In warp or woof,—or with the line of flax, Or softer silk's material,-tho' its aid
To vulgar eyes appear not. Let none deem The fleece in any traffic, unconcern'd; By every traffic, aided; while each work Of art yields wealth to exercise the loom,- And every loom employs each hand of art. Nor is there wheel in the machine of trade, Which Leeds or Cairo, Lima or Bombay, Helps not, with harmony, to turn around,— Tho' all, unconscious of the union, act.
Few the peculiars of Canara's realm, Or sultry Malabar; where it behoves The wary pilot, while he coasts their shores, To mark o'er ocean the thick rising isles: Woody Chaetta; Birter rough with rocks; Green-rising Barmur; Mincoy's purple hills; And the minute Maldivias, as a swarm Of bees in summer on a poplar's trunk, Clust'ring innumerable. These, behind His stern, receding, o'er the clouds he views Ceylon's grey peaks,-from whose volcanoes, rise Dark smoke and ruddy flame, and glaring rocks Darted in air aloft; around whose feet,
Blue cliffs ascend, and aromatic groves,
In various prospect; Ceylon also deem'd The ancient Ophir. Next, Bengala's bay, On the vast globe the deepest ;-while the prow Turns, northward, to the rich, disputed strand Of Cor'mandel,-where Traffic grieves to see Discord and Avarice invade her realms, Portending ruinous war, and cries aloud,
Peace, peace, ye blinded Britons! and ye Gauls! Nation to nation is a light, a fire,
Enkindling Virtue, Sciences, and Arts:'
But cries, aloud, in vain. Yet wise Defence, Against Ambition's wide-destroying pride, Madras erected; and saint David's fort; And those which rise on Ganges' twenty streams, Guarding the woven fleece; Calcutta's tow'r ; And Maldo's; and Patana's. From their holds, The shining bales our factors deal abroad,— And see the country's products, in exchange, Before them heap'd; cotton's transparent webs; Aloes, and cassia, salutiferous drugs;
Alom, and lacque; and clouded tortoise-shell; And brilliant diamonds, to decorate
Britannia's blooming nymphs. For these, o'er all The kingdoms round, our drap'ries are dispers'd; O'er Bukor; Cabul; and the Bactrian vales; And Cassimere; and Atoc, on the stream
Of old Hydaspes; Porus' hardy realm; And late discover'd Tibet, where the fleece,
By art peculiar, is compress'd and wrought
To threadless drapery,-which, in conic forms, Of various hues, their gaudy roofs adorns.
The keels which voyage thro' Molucca's straits, Amid a cloud of spicy odours, sail,
From Java and Sumatra breath'd,-whose woods Yield fiery pepper, that destroys the moth In woolly vestures. Ternate and Tidore Give to the festal board, the fragrant clove And nutmeg,—to those narrow bounds confin'd; While gracious Nature, with unsparing hand, The needs of life o'er every region pours.
Near those delicious isles, the beauteous coast Of China rears its summits. Know ye not, Ye sons of Trade! that ever-flow'ry shore, Those azure hills, those woods and nodding rocks? Compare them with the pictures of your chart; Alike, the woods and nodding rocks o'erhang. Now the tall glossy tow'rs, of porcelain, And pillar'd pagods, shine; rejoic'd, they see The port of Canton opening to their prows; And, in the winding of the river, moor.
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