The Lusiad (extract from Book II: Arrival at Mombasa) - Luís Vas de Camões

The fervent lustre of the evening ray

Behind the western hills now died away,

And night, ascending from the dim-brow'd east,

The twilight gloom with deeper shades increas'd,

When Gama heard the creaking of the oar,

And mark'd the white waves length'ning from the shore.

In many a skiff the eager natives came,

Their semblance friendship, but deceit their aim.

And now by Gama's anchor'd ships they ride,

And "Hail, illustrious chief!" their leader cried,

"Your fame already these our regions own,

How your bold prows from worlds to us unknown

Have brav'd the horrors of the southern main,

Where storms and darkness hold their endless reign,

Whose whelmy waves our westward prows have barr'd

From oldest times, and ne'er before were dar'd

By boldest leader: earnest to behold

The wondrous hero of a toil so bold,

To you the sov'reign of these islands sends

The holy vows of peace, and hails you friends.

If friendship you accept, whate'er kind Heaven

In various bounty to these shores has given,

Whate'er your wants, your wants shall here supply,

And safe in port your gallant fleet shall lie;

Safe from the dangers of the faithless tide,

And sudden bursting storms, by you untried;

Yours every bounty of the fertile shore,

Till balmy rest your wearied strength restore.

Or, if your toils and ardent hopes demand

The various treasures of the Indian strand,

The fragrant cinnamon, the glowing clove,

And all the riches of the spicy grove;

Or drugs of power the fever's rage to bound,

And give soft languor to the smarting wound;

Or, if the splendour of the diamond's rays,

The sapphire's azure, or the ruby's blaze,

Invite your sails to search the Eastern world,

Here may these sails in happy hour be furl'd:

For here the splendid treasures of the mine,

And richest offspring of the field combine

To give each boon that human want requires,

And every gem that lofty pride desires;

Then here, a potent king your gen'rous friend,

Here let your perilous toils and wandering searches end."

He said: brave Gama smiles with heart sincere,

And prays the herald to the king to bear

The thanks of grateful joy: "But now," he cries,

"The black'ning evening veils the coast and skies,

And thro' these rocks unknown forbids to steer;

Yet, when the streaks of milky dawn appear,

Edging the eastern wave with silver hoar,

My ready prows shall gladly point to shore;

Assur'd of friendship, and a kind retreat,

Assur'd and proffer'd by a king so great."

Yet, mindful still of what his hopes had cheer'd,

That here his nation's holy shrines were rear'd,

He asks, if certain, as the pilot told,

Messiah's lore had flourish'd there of old,

And flourish'd still. The herald mark'd with joy

The pious wish, and, watchful to decoy,

"Messiah here," he cries, "has altars more

Than all the various shrines of other lore."

O'erjoy'd, brave Vasco heard the pleasing tale,

Yet fear'd that fraud its viper-sting might veil

Beneath the glitter of a show so fair.

He half believes the tale, and arms against the snare.

---

Luís Vas de Camões (c. 1524–1580) Portugal

Translated by W. J. Mickle

Source: The Lusiad, by Luís de Camões, George Bell & Sons, 1877 [Project Gutenberg]

This section, for the start of Book II, describes the arrival at Mombasa on the East African coast, and and how Gama is lured to think the inhabitants are Christians - but he is sceptical.