But that by quick command from sov'reign Jove I was dispatch'd for their defence and guard. methods of prevention and cure were adopted in those ancient times. In furtherance of these intentions I shall first offer some remarks on the Comus of Milton; the true scene of which I apprehend to lie in South America, in the Isthmus of Darien, and the West Indian Islands in general, and more particularly in that of Cuba. (1) Let us suppose the Attendant Spirit to be the fresh air or wind (as hinted in line 4,) which takes its station upon the mountains (89), and exercises other functions appropriate to the air or wind, according to the fancy of the poet: it has been already seen by the fable of Æolus, as illustrated by quotations from Don A. D'Ulloa, . that in the districts just now mentioned as constituting the scene of the poem, the winds, though more or less violent at different seasons, have constantly an extraordinary prevalence; and it will be found from many ensuing passages that this representative character, is not without And listen why; for I will tell you now What never yet was heard in tale or song, reason attributed to the Attendant Spirit, particularly from what he says, 985: To the ocean now I fly, Up in the broad fields of the sky; There I suck the liquid air, &c. and again, 1022 ; Now my task is smoothly done; I can fly or I can run Quickly to the green earth's end, &c. The contrast between the expressions, "calm and serene air," 4, and "pestered" and "frail and feverish being," 7 and 8, in the commencement of the poem, are an oblique introduction to the subject of the pestilence that follows. (15) My errand. It will be presently seen that the Attendant Spirit transforms himself into a shepherd, in which character he is to be considered as representing the river Mamore in South From old or modern bard, in hall or bower, 4.5 Bacchus, that first from out the purple grape America, which river (exactly copied from D'Anville's map in Pl. V.) has its stream-line towards its head remarkably like a shepherd's crook; where likewise it is not without a resemblance to the features of a human face, as drawn therefrom in Fig. 180, Crushed the sweet poison of misused wine, and it ought not to be omitted (since it contains a strong confirmation of my having been right in vol. v., in explaining the toth or golden key of eternity, by a reference to the number 19,) that the extreme southern limit of this river before it bends backward again to the north, is situate in latitude 19'; which explains the words " to such my errand is." (27) Don A. D'Ulloa, vol. i., p. 133, says, that "the narrowest part of the isthmus of Darien is from the rivers Darien and Chagre, on the North Sea, to those of Pito and Camito, on the South Sea; and here the distance from sea to sea is about fourteen leagues," so that the vast peninsula of South America may be considered nearly in the same light as an island. Line 21 would seem to have a particular reference to the West India Islands. Coasting the Tyrrhene shore, as the winds listed, On Circe's island fell.-Who knows not Circe (31) The peer is exhibited in Fig. 181, as drawn from his prototype formed by the outline of the River Amazon on its southern bank, and about the middle of its course, looking north, with the eye at St. Paul de Omaguas, and the chin at Coari. In the words peer of are contained an enigmatical indication of Peru, one of the |