Tired of
solitude at Santarem, he joined an expedition against the Moors,
in which he distinguished himself by his bravery. He lost an eye
when boarding an enemy's ship in a sea-fight. At Goa, in the East
Indies, he witnessed with indignation the cruelty practised by the
Portuguese on the natives, and expostulated with the governor
against it. He was in consequence banished from the settlement,
and sent to China. In the course of his subsequent adventures and
misfortunes, Camoens suffered shipwreck, escaping only with his
life and the manuscript of his 'Lusiad.' Persecution and hardship
seemed everywhere to pursue him. At Macao he was thrown into
prison. Escaping from it, he set sail for Lisbon, where he
arrived, after sixteen years' absence, poor and friendless. His
'Lusiad,' which was shortly after published, brought him much
fame, but no money. But for his old Indian slave Antonio, who
begged for his master in the streets, Camoens must have perished.
(5) As it was, he died in a public almshouse, worn out by disease
and hardship. An inscription was placed over his grave:--"Here
lies Luis de Camoens: he excelled all the poets of his time: he
lived poor and miserable; and he died so, MDLXXIX." This record,
disgraceful but truthful, has since been removed; and a lying and
pompous epitaph, in honour of the great national poet of Portugal,
has been substituted in its stead.
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