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and interesting period of life I recollect with heartfelt delight; nor 

 did I take a final view of the cloud-capt mountains of Malabar 

 without strong sensations. Nineteen passengers had embarked 

 from England on the same ship with myself, full of youthful ar- 

 dour, and eager to obtain their respective situations in the civil, 

 military, and marine departments of the company's service. I 

 never read Camoen's Lusiad without a peculiar interest in that 

 pathetic description of the Lusitanian youth embarking with De 

 Gama in his first voyage to India. It is a scene truly pathetic ; 

 from Avhich I long ago connected a few detached lines, and 

 fashioned them to the modern departure of an Indiaman full of 

 passengers, for those distant shores ; with youthful hearts and 

 warm imaginations impatient to encounter their future trials and 

 enter the path of glory. 



Urg'd by ambition, or allur'd by fame, 

 To gain a fortune, or to raise a name, 

 Through Albion's youth the kindling ardours roll, 

 And glory dawns o'er each aspiring soul : 

 All eager to perform their destin'd race, 

 Oceans immense and foreign shores to trace ; 

 Where spicy gales from sunny mountains blow, 

 And forest trees with splendid foliage glow ; 

 Gay wreaths of flowers, of fruitage, and of boughs, 

 Unknown in Europe, crown their lofty brows : 

 Where various monsters of the wild are seen, 

 And birds of plumage azure, scarlet, green : 

 High sounds the voice of India's pearly shore, 

 Golconda's gems, and Delhi's countless store : 

 For these through realms remote they seek to roam, 

 For these they leave the dear delights of home. 



