Conguesrs Axo Discovaues oF Heway rie 'Nawsearon' Being' the Chronicles of 'Azurara," Portuguese Navigate find Colontzors of the Fitgenth a Sixteenth Centuries. " Ealted, "by irginin'do Castro, Almeida." WIR 2 Preface by. 'Marshal' Lyautey. Fronalated by Bernard Mlall, "Allen 2 Unwin, London. 10/6, 'A fascinating chronicle of adventure and conquest inthe 15th and 10th centuries, this account of the exploits of, Portuguese discoverers, fon the coast of Africa, is an abridged translation of the "Chronicles of Games Eames do Azurara." It is edited by. Virginia. de Castro E Almeida, has a preface by Marshall Lyautey; and is. translated by Ber~ ard Miall, The quaintness and vigour of the original has not been Jest in translation, and the book he a tremendous swing and martlet rhythm.
"The first half deals with the con= quest of Ceuta, "A city on the sell of Africa, a city of note and easy to take." "The occasion of its conquest was that the ruler had determined to knight four sons during a series of most splendid and princely entertainments, but the souls of the young men were revolted by this idea, feeling that true knighthood could be achieved only by deeds of valour.
Accordingly they held a confer fence secretly among themeolves, uring which there entered to them Dom Jaoa the Intendant of the King's Finances, to whom they _eontided their "aspirations. The Tntendant proved most sympathetic, and said that he had himself urged the King undertake the conquest of Ceula, ut had not been able to induce the King to take him seriously, He advised the four. Infantes to. attend upon their father in a body, and resent to him their case, The King, after trying to laugh the matter of, consented to think of It, and in due course, after representing to them all the arguments against such a proceeding, and receiving from Satisfactory replies in favour of the expedition, he. consentog,, and. there follows a" tively and vivid account of the preparations and the siege and final conquest, The narrative has a singular vividness and. holds the reader well in. thrall, Conquests and Captives The second half of the book is devoted to the conquest of Guinea, which was so named from "guinea" the Portuguese for negro. This section 4s not go full of action at the first, but is, in its own way, fully fas interesting." Early In "the. nar ative are given the six. Featoné which influenced the Infante Dem to undertake It is especially interesting to observe how distressed: the narrator was by the plight of the captives, which he describes extremely' well, He tells how not only he, but the captains of the boats, and the people who came to see the captives: when they rived, were in Tnany case moved to jut their. sympathy good; the policy determined fon was to separate families ruthlesely, and seatier them throughout Portugal. "This was done, and agcording to the narrator, It was not Jong before they settled down and were leading happy Christian lives. One feels that, having a great _ad~ miration for the Infante Dom Hen Fique, the welter unconsciously be: eves that all he does is well done and fraught with good results, The accounts of the natives on the islands are perhaps the best. part of this second section, in their real word sketching. the whole, the book well repays the time spent on Jt—atw.t.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.