CAMMA -CAMOMILE. 



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woof, and manufactured on a loom with two treddles, 

 so called because originally made of camels' hair 

 only. Camlets are of different kinds, as goats'-hair, 

 wool, silk camlets. 



CAMMA ; a river, and a kingdom, in Africa : the 

 former divides Benin from Loango, and runs into the 

 Atlantic ; lat. 1 40' S. : the latter is near the river. 



CAMOENS, Louis de ; the most celebrated poet of 

 the Portuguese ; one of the great men whose merit 

 was first apparent to after time, while their own age 

 suffered them to starve. He was born at Lisbon, pro- 

 bably in 1524; for it appears, from a catalogue of 

 persons embarking for the East Indies in 1550, that 

 C., whose age is there given at twenty-five years, of- 

 fered himself as a volunteer for the campaign. His 

 father, Simon Vaz de C., was a ship-captain, and per- 

 ished, by shipwreck, on the coast of Goa, in 1556. 

 C. studied at Coimbra. At that time, writers were 

 esteemed in proportion as they imitated the ancients. 

 C. was inspired by the history of his country, and by 

 the manners of his age. His lyric poems, like the 

 works of Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, and Tasso, belong 

 to the literature formed under the influence of Chris- 

 tianity. After the completion of his studies, he re- 

 turned to Lisbon, where he fell deeply in love with a 

 lady of the palace, Catharine d'Attayde. Violent 

 passions are often joined with great talents : C. had 

 both. He was exiled to Santarem, on account of dis- 

 putes in which his love for Catharine involved him. 

 I'Voin despair, he became a soldier, and served in the 

 fleet which the Portuguese sent against Morocco. 

 He composed poetry in the midst of battles ; and, as 

 danger kindled his genius, so genius animated his 

 courage. An arrow deprived him of his right eye 

 before Ceuta. He hoped that his wounds would re- 

 ceive a recompense, though his talents were not ap- 

 preciated ; but envy opposed his claims. Full of in- 

 dignation at seeing himself neglected, he embarked, 

 in 1553, for India. He landed at Goa. His power- 

 ful imagination was excited by the heroic deeds of his 

 countrymen in this quarter ; and, although he had 

 much reason to complain of them, he could not resist 

 the desire of celebrating their glory in an epic. But 

 this vivacity of mind, essential to the poet, is not ea- 

 sily united with the moderation which a dependent 

 condition demands. C. was displeased with the abuses 

 of the government in India, and wrote a satire, which 

 caused his banishment to Macao. Here he lived se- 

 veral years in no other society than that of nature, 

 which showered round him in abundance all the 

 charms of the East. Here, too, he composed his Lu- 

 siad. Vasco da Gamba's expedition to India is the 

 subject of the poem. The parts of it which are best 

 known are the episode of Ines de Castro, and the ap- 

 pearance of Adamastor, who, by means of his power 

 over the storms, aims to stop Gama's voyage, when 

 he is about to double the Cape. In conformity to the 

 taste of the time, C. united, in this poem, a narrative 

 of the Portuguese history with the splendour of poetic 

 description, and Christianity with mythological fables. 

 He pleased himself with tracing the descent of the 

 Portuguese from the Romans, of whom Mars and Ve- 

 iws are considered the progenitors and protectors. 

 Since fable ascribes to Bacchus the first conquest of 

 India, it was natural to represent him as jealous of 

 the undertaking of the Portuguese. If the imitation 

 of the works of classical antiquity has been of any dis- 

 advantage to the Lusiad, the injury consists, perhaps, 

 in a diminution of the originality which one expects 

 in a work in which India and Africa are described 

 by an eye-witness. The versification of the Lusiad 

 has something so charming and splendid, that not only 

 cultivated minds, but even the common people, are 

 enraptured by its magic, and learn by heart and sing 

 its beautiful stanzas. The general interest of the poeiu 



consists principally in the patriotic feeling which per- 

 vades iL The national glory of the Portuguese ap- 

 pears here in every form which invention can - lend 

 to it ; and therefore the countrymen of C. must 

 naturally admire this poem more than foreigners. 

 Some critics pronounce the Lusiad a more powerful 

 and pure historical painting than Tasso's Jerusalem 

 Delivered. C. was at last recalled from his banish- 

 ment. At the mouth of the river Mecon, in Cochin 

 China, he was shipwrecked, and saved himself by 

 swimming, holding in one hand, above the water, 

 the manuscript of his poem, the only treasure which 

 he rescued from the waves, and which was dearer to 

 him than life. In Goa, he encountered new persecu- 

 tions ; he was confined in prison for debt, and was 

 not allowed, until his friends became responsible for 

 him, to embark and return to Lisbon in 1569. King 

 Sebastian, yet hardly past the age of childhood, took 

 an interest in C. He accepted the dedication of his 

 epic (which appeared in 1572), and, being on the 

 point of embarking on his expedition against the 

 Moors in Africa, he felt, more sensibly than others, 

 the genius of the poet, who, like him, loved dangers 

 if they led to glory. But Sebastian was killed in a 

 battle before Alcagar, in 1578. With him the royal 

 family became extinct, and Portugal lost her indepen- 

 dence. Every source of assistance, as well as every 

 hope of C., was destroyed by this event. So great was 

 his poverty, that, at night, a slave, wliom he had 

 brought with him from India, begged in the streets, 

 in order to support the life of his master. In this mi- 

 sery, he yet wrote lyric poems, some of which contain 

 the most moving complaints. This hero of Portuguese 

 literature, the ornament of his country and of Europe, 

 died, at last, in 1579, in the hospital at Lisbon, in the 

 sixty-second year of his age. Fifteen years after- 

 wards, a splendid monument was erected to his me- 

 mory. The best edition of the Lusiad ( Os Lusiadas, 

 etc.) was published by Jose Maria de Souza-Botelho 

 (Paris, 1807, by Didot, small folio.) It has been trans- 

 lated into English by Sir R. Fanshaw, and by William 

 Julius Meikle (q. v.). The best French translation, 

 with notes, is Les Lnsiades, ou les Portugais, etc., by 

 J. B. F. Millie (Paris, 1825, 2 vols.). The works of 

 C., besides the Lusiad, consist of sonnets, songs, odes, 

 elegies, eclogues, redondilla-s, epigrams, satires, let- 

 ters, and two comedies (Amphitryon, after Plautus, 

 and the Love of Philodemus). (See the article Por- 

 tuguese Language and Literature.) John Adamson's 

 Memoirs of the Life and Writings of L. de Camoens 

 (London, 182O, 2 vols.), of which the 2d volume con- 

 tains a criticism on his works, are valuable. See, al- 

 so, madame de Stael's article respecting him in the 

 Biographic Universelle (6th vol.), and the Life of C. 

 by Lord Strangford. 



CAMOMILE (ant/temis nobilis) is a well-known plant, 

 the dried, daisy-like flowers of which are frequently 

 used in medicine. The principal use, for which camo- 

 mile lowers are applied, is to excite vomiting ami 

 promote the operation of emetics. They have like- 

 wise been substituted for Peruvian bark, in the CR**>. 

 of intermittent fevers or agues, pnrticuiarly on tli 

 continent of Europe, but not with much success. Both 

 the leaves and flowers are employed in fomentations 

 and poultices. They each, but particularly the flow- 

 ers, have a powerful, though not unpleasant smell, 

 and a bitter taste. They are administered in sub- 

 stance, as a powder or electuary ; in infusion, as tea ; 

 in decoction or extract, or in the form of an essential 

 oil, obtained by distillation. So fragrant is the camomile 

 plant, that the places where it grows wild, on open, gra- 

 velly commons, may easily be discovered by the some- 

 what strawberry-like perfume which is emitted by 

 treading on them. This quality has sometimes indiced 

 the cultivation of camomile fora green walk in gardens. 



