XI And thus by her a barque is fitted out; -- A better galley never ploughed the sea; And Logistilla wills, for aye in doubt Of hinderance from Alcina's treachery, That good Andronica, with squadron stout, And chaste Sophrosina, with him shall be, Till to the Arabian Sea, beneath their care, Or to the Persian Gulf he safe repair. XII By Scyth and Indian she prefers the peer Should coast, and by the Nabataean reign; Content he, after such a round, should veer For Persian gulf, or Erithraean main, Rather than for that Boreal palace steer, Where angry winds aye vex the rude domain: So ill, at seasons, favoured by the sun, That there, for months together, light is none. XIII Next, when she all in readiness espied, Her license to depart the prudent fay Accorded to the duke, first fortified With counsel as to things too long to say; And that he might no more by charms be stayed In place from whence he could not wend his way, Him with a useful book and fair purveyed, And ever for her love to wear it prayed. XIV How man should guard himself from magic cheats The book instructed, which the fay bestowed; At the end or the beginning, where it treats Of such, an index and appendix showed. Another gift, which in its goodly feats All other gifts excelled, to her he owed; This was a horn, which made whatever wight Should hear its clang betake himself to flight. XV I say, the horn is of such horrid sound, That, wheresoe'er 'tis heard, all fly for fear; Nor in the world is one of heart so sound That would not fly, should he the bugle hear. Wind, thunder, and the shock which rives the ground, Come not, in aught, the hideous clangour near. With thanks did the good Englishman receive The gift, and of the fairy took his leave. XVI Quitting the port and smoother waves, they stand To sea, with favouring wind which blows astern; And (coasting) round the rich and populous land Of odoriferous Ind the vessels turn, Opening a thousand isles on either hand, Scattered about that sea, till they discern The land of Thomas; here the pilot veers His ready tiller, and more northward steers. XVII Astolpho, furrowing that ocean hoar, Marks, as he coasts, the wealthy land at ease. Ganges amid the whitening waters roar, Nigh skirting now the golden Chersonese; Taprobana with Cori next, and sees The frith which chafes against its double shore; Makes distant Cochin, and with favouring wind Issues beyond the boundaries of Ind. XVIII Scouring at large broad ocean, with a guide So faithful and secure, the cavalier Questions Andronica, if from that side Named from the westering sun, of this our sphere, Bark, which with oars or canvas stemmed the tide, On eastern sea was wonted to appear; -- And could a wight, who loosed from Indian strand, Reach France or Britain, without touching land.