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[355] _That living fire, by seamen held divine. _--The sulphureous
vapours of the air, after being violently agitated by a tempest, unite,
and when the humidity begins to subside, as is the case when the storm
is almost exhausted, by the agitation of their atoms they take fire, and
are attracted by the masts and cordage of the ship. Being thus,
naturally, the pledges of the approaching calm, it is no wonder that the
superstition of sailors should in all ages have esteemed them divine,
and--

_Of heaven's own care in storms the holy sign. _

In the expedition of the Golden Fleece, in a violent tempest these fires
were seen to hover over the heads of Castor and Pollux, who were two of
the Argonauts, and a calm immediately ensued. After the apotheoses of
these heroes, the Grecian sailors invoked these fires by the names of
Castor and Pollux, or _the sons of Jupiter_. The Athenians called them
? ? ? ? ? ? ? , _Saviours_.

[356] In this book, particularly in the description of Massilia, the
Gorgades, the fires called Castor and Pollux, and the water-spout,
Camoens has happily imitated the manner of Lucan. It is probable that
Camoens, in his voyage to the East Indies, was an eye witness of the
phenomena of the fires and water-spout.
The latter is thus described by
Pliny, l. 2. c. 51. _Fit et caligo, belluae similis nubes dira
navigantibus vocatur et columna, cum spissatus humor rigensque ipse se
sustinet, et in longam veluti fistulam nubes aquam trahit. _ When the
violent heat attracts the waters to rise in the form of a tube, the
marine salts are left behind, by the action of rarefaction, being too
gross and fixed to ascend. It is thus, when the overloaded vapour
bursts, that it descends--

_Sweet as the waters of the limpid rill. _


[357] _That sage device. _--The astrolabe, an instrument of infinite
service in navigation, by which the altitude of the sun, and distance of
the stars is taken. It was invented in Portugal during the reign of John
II. by two Jewish physicians, named Roderic and Joseph. It is asserted
by some that they were assisted by Martin of Bohemia, a celebrated
mathematician. --_Partly from_ Castera. Vid. Barros, Dec. 1.