cause, and whether I may not well be excused for showing impatience under confinement.'

Don Rodrigo de Narvaez was greatly moved by this recital; for, though more used to rugged war, than scenes of amorous softness, he was of a kind and generous nature.

'Abendaraez,' said he, I did not seek thy confidence to gratify an idle curiosity. It grieves me much that the good fortune which delivered thee into my hands, should have marred so fair an enterprise. Give me thy faith, as a true knight, to return prisoner to my castle, within three days, and I will grant thee permission to accomplish thy nuptials.'

The Abencerrage would have thrown himself at his feet, to pour out protestations of eternal gratitude, but the Alcayde prevented him. Calling in his cavaliers, he took the Abencerrage by the right hand, in their presence, exclaiming solemnly, 'You promise, on the faith of a cavalier, to return to my castle of Allora within three days, and render yourself my prisoner?' And the Abencerrage said, 'I promise.'

Then said the Alcayde, 'Go! and may good fortune attend you. If you require any safeguard, I and my cavaliers are ready to be your companions.' The Abencerrage kissed the hand of the Alcayde, in grateful acknowledgment. Give me,' said he, 'my own armor, and my steed, and I require no guard. It is not likely that I shall again meet with so valorous a foe.'

did they pause, until they arrived at the gate of the castle of Allora, which was flung wide to receive them.

Alighting in the court, the Abencerrage supported the steps of his trembling bride, who remained closely veiled, into the presence of Rodrigo de Narvaez. 'Behold, valiant Alcayde!' said he, ‘the way in which an Abencerrage keeps his word. I promised to return to thee a prisoner, but I deliver two captives into your power. Behold Xarisa, and judge whether I grieved without reason, over the loss of such a treasure. Receive us as your own, for I confide my life and her honor to your hands.'

The Alcayde was lost in admiration of the beauty of the lady, and the noble spirit of the Moor. I know not,' said he, which of you surpasses the other; but I know that my castle is graced and honored by your presence. Enter into it, and consider it your own, while you deign to reside with me.'

For several days the lovers remained at Allora, happy in each other's love, and in the friendship of the brave Alcayde. The latter wrote a letter, full of courtesy, to the Moorish king of Granada, relating the whole event, extolling the valor and good faith of the Abencerrage, and craving for him the royal countenance.

The king was moved by the story, and was pleased with an opportunity of showing attention to the wishes of a gallant and chivalrous enemy; for though The shades of night had fallen, when the tramp he had often suffered from the prowess of Don Rodof the dapple-gray steed sounded over the draw-rigo de Narvaez, he admired the heroic character he bridge, and immediately afterward the light clatter had gained throughout the land. Calling the Alcayde of hoofs along the road, bespoke the fleetness with of Coyn into his presence, he gave him the letter to which the youthful lover hastened to his bride. It read. The Alcayde turned pale, and trembled with was deep night when the Moor arrived at the castle rage, on the perusal. Restrain thine anger,' said of Coyn. He silently and cautiously walked his the king; there is nothing that the Alcayde of panting steed under its dark walls, and having nearly Allora could ask, that I would not grant, if in my passed round them, came to the portal denoted by power. Go thou to Allora; pardon thy children; Xarisa. He paused and look round to see that he take them to thy home. I receive this Abencerrage was not observed, and then knocked three times into my favor, and it will be my delight to heap with the butt of his lance. In a little while the benefits upɔn you all.' portal was timidly unclosed by the duenna of Xarisa. Alas! senor,' said she, what has detained you thus long? Every night have I watched for you; and my lady is sick at heart with doubt and anxiety.'

The kindling ire of the Alcayde was suddenly appeased. He hastened to Allora; and folded his children to his bosom, who would have fallen at his feet. The gallant Rodrigo de Narvaez gave liberty to his prisoner without ransom, demanding merely a promise of his friendship. He accompanied the youthful couple and their father to Coyn, where their nuptials were celebrated with great rejoicings. When the festivities were over, Don Rodrigo de Narvaez returned to his fortress of Allora.

The Abencerrage hung his lance, and shield, and scimitar against the wall, and then followed the duenna, with silent steps, up a winding stair-case, to the apartment of Xarisa. Vain would be the attempt to describe the raptures of that meeting. Time flew too swiftly, and the Abencerrage had nearly forgotten, until too late, his promise to return After his departure, the Alcayde of Coyn addressa prisoner to the Alcayde of Allora. The recollec-ed his children: To your hands,' said he, 'I confide tion of it came to him with a pang, and suddenly the disposition of my wealth. One of the first things awoke him from his dream of bliss. Xarisa saw his I charge you, is not to forget the ransom you owe to altered looks, and heard with alarm his stifled sighs; the Alcayde of Allora. His magnanimity you can but her countenance brightened, when she heard never repay, but you can prevent it from wronging the cause. 'Let not thy spirit be cast down,' said him of his just dues. Give him, moreover, your she, throwing her white arms around him. I have entire friendship, for he merits it fully, though of a the keys of my father's treasures; send ransom different faith.' more than enough to satisfy the Christian, and remain with me.'

'No,' said Abendaraez, 'I have given my word to return in person, and like a true knight, must fulfil my promise. After that, fortune must do with me as it pleases.'

'Then,' said Xarisa, 'I will accompany thee. Never shall you return a prisoner, and I remain at liberty.'

The Abencerrage was transported with joy at this new proof of devotion in his beautiful bride. All preparations were speedily made for their departure. Xarisa mounted behind the Moor, on his powerful steed; they left the castle walls before daybreak, nor

The Abencerrage thanked him for his generous proposition, which so truly accorded with his own wishes. He took a large sum of gold, and enclosed it in a rich coffer; and, on his own part, sent six beautiful horses, superbly caparisoned; with six shields and lances, mounted and embossed with gold. The beautiful Xarisa, at the same time, wrote a letter to the Alcayde, filled with expressions of gratitude and friendship, and sent him a box of fragrant cypress-wood, containing linen, of the finest quality, for his person. The valiant Alcayde dis posed of the present in a characteristic manner. The horses and armor he shared among the cavaliers who had accompanied him on the night of the

'full of noises,

skirmish. The box of cypress-wood and its contents | island, also, that Sycorax, the witch, held sway, when he retained, for the sake of the beautiful Xarisa; the good Prospero, and his infant daughter Miranda. and sent her, by the hands of the messenger, the were wafted to its shores. The isle was then sum of gold paid as a ransom, entreating her to receive it as a wedding present. This courtesy and magnanimity raised the character of the Alcayde Rodrigo de Narvaez still higher in the estimation of the Moors, who extolled him as a perfect mirror of chivalric virtue; and from that time forward, there was a continual exchange of good offices between them.

THE ENCHANTED ISLAND.

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK.

Break, Phantsie, from thy cave of cloud,
And wave thy purple wings,

Now all thy figures are allowed,
And various shapes of things.

Create of airy forms a stream;

It must have blood and nought of phlegm ;
And though it be a walking dream,
Yet let it like an odor rise

To all the senses here,

And fall like sleep upon their eyes,
Or music on their ear.

Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not.' Who does not know the tale, as told in the magic page of Shakspeare?

In fact, the island appears to have been, at different times, under the sway of different powers, genii of earth, and air, and ocean; who made it their shadowy abode; or rather, it is the retiring place of old worn-out deities and dynasties, that once ruled the poetic world, but are now nearly shorn of all their attributes. Here Neptune and Amphithrite hold a diminished court, like sovereigns in exile. Their ocean-chariot lies bottom upward, in a cave of the island, almost a perfect wreck, while their pursy Tri. tons and haggard Nereids bask listlessly, like seals about the rocks. Sometimes they assume a shadow of their ancient pomp, and glide in state about the glassy sea; while the crew of some tall Indiaman, that lies becalmed with flapping sails, hear with astonishment the mellow note of the Triton's shell swelling upon the ear, as the invisible pageant sweeps by. Sometimes the quondam monarch of the ocean is permitted to make himself visible to mortal eyes, visiting the ships that cross the line, to exact a tribute from new-comers; the only remnant of his ancient rule, and that, alas! performed with tattered state, and tarnished splendor.

here, too, the sea-serpent lies coiled up, during the intervals of his much-contested revelations to the eyes of true believers; and here, it is said, even the Flying Dutchman finds a port, and casts his anchor, and furls his shadowy sail, and takes a short repose from his eternal wanderings.

-BEN JONSON. 'THERE are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy,' and among these may be placed that marvel and mystery of the seas, the island of St. Brandan. Every school-boy can On the shores of this wondrous island, the mighty enumerate and call by name the Canaries, the For-kraken heaves his bulk, and wallows many a rood; tunate Islands of the ancients; which, according to come ingenious speculative minds, are mere wrecks and remnants of the vast island of Atalantis, mentioned by Plato, as having been swallowed up by the ocean. Whoever has read the history of those isles, will remember the wonders told of another island, still more beautiful, seen occasionally from their shores, stretching away in the clear bright west, with long shadowy promontories, and high, sun-gilt peaks. Numerous expeditions, both in ancient and modern days, have launched forth from the Canaries in quest of that island; but, on their approach, mountain and promontory have gradually faded away, until nothing has remained but the blue sky above, and the deep blue water below. Hence it was termed by the geograhers of old, Aprositus, or the Inaccessible; while modern navigators have called its very existence in question, pronouncing it a mere optical illusion, like the Fata Morgana of the Straits of Messina; or classing it with those unsubstantial regions known to mariners as Cape Flyaway, and the Coast of Cloud Land.

Let not, however, the doubts of the worldly-wise sceptics of modern days rob us of all the glorious

Here all the treasures lost in the deep are safely garnered. The caverns of the shores are piled with golden ingots, boxes of pearls, rich bales of oriental silks; and their deep recesses sparkle with diamonds, or flame with carbuncles. Here, in deep bays and harbors, lies many a spell-bound ship, long given up as lost by the ruined merchant. Here too, its crew. long bewailed as swallowed up in ocean, lie sleeping in mossy grottoes, from age to age, or wander about enchanted shores and groves, in pleasing oblivion of all things.

Such are some of the marvels related of this island, and which may serve to throw some light on the fol lowing legend, of unquestionable truth, which I recommend to the entire belief of the reader.

realms owned by happy credulity in- days of yore. THE ADELANTADO OF THE SEVEN CITIES.

A LEGEND OF ST. BRANDAN.

Be assured, O reader of easy faith !—thou for whom I delight to labor-be assured, that such an island does actually exist, and has, from time to time, been revealed to the gaze, and trodden by the feet, of fa- In the early part of the fifteenth century, when vored mortals. Nay, though doubted by historians Prince Henry of Portugal, of worthy memory, was and philosophers, its existence is fully attested by the pushing the career of discovery along the western poets, who, being an inspired race, and gifted with a coast of Africa, and the world was resounding with kind of second sight, can see into the mysteries of reports of golden regions on the main land, and nature, hidden from the eyes of ordinary mortals. To new-found islands in the ocean, there arrived at this gifted race it has ever been a region of fancy and Lisbon an old bewildered pilot of the seas, who had romance, teeming with all kinds of wonders. Here been driven by tempests, he knew not whither, once bloomed, and perhaps still blooms, the famous and who raved about an island far in the deep, on garden of the Hesperides, with its golden fruit. which he had landed, and which he had found Here, too, was the enchanted garden of Armida, in peopled with Christians, and adorned with noble which that sorceress held the christian paladin, Ri-cities.

naldo, in delicious but inglorious thraldom; as is set The inhabitants, he said, gathered round, and reforth in the immortal lay of Tasso. It was on this garded him with surprise, having never before beer.

visited by a ship. They told him they were descend- and invested the proceeds in ships, guns, ainmuniants of a band of Christians, who fled from Spain tion and sea-stores. Even his old family mansion in when that country was conquered by the Moslems. Lisbon was mortgaged without scruple, for he looked They were curious about the state of their father- forward to a palace in one of the Seven Cities of land, and grieved to hear that the Moslems still held which he was to be Adelantado. This was the age possession of the kingdom of Granada. They would of nautical romance, when the thoughts of all specuhave taken the old navigator to church, to convince lative dreamers were turned to the ocean. The him of their orthodoxy; but, either through lack of scheme of Don Fernando, therefore, drew adventu devotion, or lack of faith in their words, he declined rers of every kind. The merchant promised himself * their invitation, and preferred to return on board of new marts of opulent traffic; the soldier hoped to his ship. He was properly punished. A furious sack and plunder some one or other of those Seven storm arose, drove him from his anchorage, hurried Cities; even the fat monk shook off the sleep and lim out to sea, and he saw no more of the unknown sloth of the cloister, to join in a crusade which promisland. ised such increase to the possessions of the church.

This strange story caused great marvel in Lisbon and elsewhere. Those versed in history, remembered to have read, in an ancient chronicle, that, at the time of the conquest of Spain, in the eighth century, when the blessed cross was cast down, and the crescent erected in its place, and when Christian churches were turned into Moslem mosques, seven bishops, at the head of seven bands of pious exiles, had fled from the peninsula, and embarked in quest of some ocean island, or distant land, where they might found seven Christian cities, and enjoy their faith unmolested.

The fate of these pious saints errant had hitherto remained a mystery, and their story had faded from memory; the report of the old tempest-tossed pilot, however, revived this long-forgotten theme; and it was determined by the pious and enthusiastic, that the island thus accidentally discovered, was the identical place of refuge, whither the wandering bishops had been guided by a protecting Providence, and where they had folded their flocks.

This most excitable of worlds has always some darling object of chimerical enterprise: the Island of the Seven Cities' now awakened as much interest and longing among zealous Christians, as has the renowned city of Timbuctoo among adventurous travellers, or the North-east Passage among hardy navigators; and it was a frequent prayer of the devout, that these scattered and lost portions of the Christian family might be discovered, and reunited to the great body of christendom.

No one, however, entered into the matter with half the zeal of Don Fernando de Ulmo, a young cavalier of high standing in the Portuguese court, and of most sanguine and romantic temperament. He had recently come to his estate, and had run the round of all kinds of pleasures and excitements, when this new theme of popular talk and wonder presented itself. The Island of the Seven Cities became now the constant subject of his thoughts by day and his dreams by night; it even rivalled his passion for a beautiful girl, one of the greatest belles of Lisbon, to whom he was betrothed. At length his imagination became so inflamed on the subject, that he determined to fit out an expedition, at his own expense, and set sail in quest of this sainted island. It could not be a cruise of any great extent; for according to the calculations of the tempesttossed pilot, it must be somewhere in the latitude of the Canaries; which at that time, when the new world was as yet undiscovered, formed the frontier of ocean enterprise. Don Fernando applied to the crown for countenance and protection. As he was a favorite at court, the usual patronage was readily extended to him; that is to say, he received a commission from the king, Don loam II., constituting him Adelantado, or military governor, of any country he might discover, with the single proviso, that he should bear all the expenses of the discovery and pay a tenth of the profits to the crown.

Don Fernando now set to work in the true spirit of a projector. He sold acre after acre of solid land,

One person alone regarded the whole project with sovereign contempt and growling hostility. This was Don Ramiro Alvarez, the father of the beautiful Serafina, to whom Don Fernando was betrothed. He was one of those perverse, matter-of-fact old men who are prone to oppose every thing speculative and romantic. He had no faith in the Island of the Seven Cities; regarded the projected cruise as a crackbrained freak; looked with angry eye and internal heart-burning on the conduct of his intended son-inlaw, chaffering away solid lands for lands in the moon, and scoffingly dubbed him Adelantado of Lubberland. In fact, he had never really relished the intended match, to which his consent had been slowly extorted by the tears and entreaties of his daughter. It is true he could have no reasonable objections to the youth, for Don Fernando was the very flower of Portuguese chivalry. No one could excel him at the tilting match, or the riding at the ring; none was more bold and dexterous in the bullfight; none composed more gallant madrigals in praise of his lady's charms, or sang them with sweeter tones to the accompaniment of her guitar; nor could any one handle the castanets and dance the bolero with more captivating grace. All these admirable qualities and endowments, however, though they had been sufficient to win the heart of Serafina, were nothing in the eyes of her unreasonable father. O Cupid, god of Love! why will fathers always be so unreasonable !

The engagement to Serafina had threatened at first to throw an obstacle in the way of the expedition of Don Fernando, and for a time perplexed him in the extreme. He was passionately attached to the young lady; but he was also passionately bent on this romantic enterprise. How should he reconcile the two passionate inclinations? A simple and obvious arrangement at length presented itself: marry Serafina, enjoy a portion of the honeymoon at once, and defer the rest until his return from the discovery of the Seven Cities!

He hastened to make known this most excellent arrangement to Don Ramiro, when the long-smothered wrath of the old cavalier burst forth in a storm about his ears. He reproached him with being the dupe of wandering vagabonds and wild schemers, and of squandering all his real possessions in pursuit of empty bubbles. Don Fernando was too sanguine a projector, and too young a man, to listen tamely to such language. He acted with what is technically called becoming spirit.' A high quarrel ensued; Don Ramiro pronounced him a mad man, and forbade all farther intercourse with his daughter, until he should give proof of returning sanity by abandoning this mad-cap enterprise; while Don Fernando flung out of the house, more bent than ever on the expedition, from the idea of triumphing over the incredulity of the gray-beard when he should return successful.

Don Ramiro repaired to his daughter's chamber the moment the youth had departed. He represent

The beautiful Serafina shook her head mournfully. It was not on those points that she felt doubt or dismay. She believed most implicitly in the Island of the Seven Cities, and trusted devoutly in the success of the enterprise; but she had heard of the incon- When the barge reached the caravel, the cavalier stancy of the seas, and the inconstancy of those who stepped on board. He was tall and gaunt, with a roam them. Now, let the truth be spoken, Don Fer- long, Spanish visage, and lack-lustre eyes, and an nando, if he had any fault in the world, it was that air of lofty and somewhat pompous gravity. His he was a little too inflammable; that is to say, a lit-mustaches were curled up to his ears, his beard was tle too subject to take fire from the sparkle of every forked and precise; he wore gauntlets that reached bright eye: he had been somewhat of a rover among to his elbows, and a Toledo blade that strutted out the sex on shore, what might he not be on sea? behind, while, in front, its huge basket-hilt might Might he not meet with other loves in foreign ports? have served for a porringer. Might he not behold some peerless beauty in one or other of those seven cities, who might efface the image of Serafina from his thoughts?

could his heart be false to Serafina! Never could Don Fernando was startled at hearing himself another be captivating in his eyes !-never-never! accosted by name, by an utter stranger, in a strange Repeatedly did he bend his knee, and smite his land. As soon as he could recover from his surprise, breast, and call upon the silver moon to witness the he inquired what land it was at which he had arsincerity of his vows. But might not Serafina, her-rived. self, be forgetful of her plighted faith? Might not some wealthier rival present, while he was tossing on the sea, and, backed by the authority of her father, win the treasure of her hand?

Seven Cities. A grand fête was to be solemnized | Fernando was the object of their gratulations, every

that very night in the palace of the Alcayde or governor of the city; who, on beholding the most opportune arrival of the caravel, had despatched his grand chamberlain, in his barge of state, to conduct the future Adelantado to the ceremony.

Don Fernando could scarcely believe but that this was all a dream. He fixed a scrutinizing gaze upon the grand chamberlain, who, having delivered his message, stood in buckram dignity, drawn up to his full stature, curling his whiskers, stroking his beard, and looking down upon him with inexpressible loftiness through his lack-lustre eyes. There was no doubting the word of so grave and ceremonious a hidalgo.

thing was conducted with the most solemn ceremony,
and wherever he appeared, instead of acclamations.
he was received with profound silence, and the most
formal reverences and swayings of their sombreros.
Arrived at the palace of the Alcayde, the usua!
ceremonial was repeated. The chamberlain knocked
for admission.

Who is there?' demanded the porter.
'The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.'
'He is welcome. Pass on.'

The grand portal was thrown open. The chamberlain led the way up a vast but heavily moulded marble stair-case, and so through one of those interminable suites of apartments, that are the pride of Don Fernando now arrayed himself in gala attire. Spanish palaces. All were furnished in a style of He would have launched his boat, and gone on shore obsolete magnificence. As they passed through the with his own men, but he was informed the barge chambers, the title of Don Fernando was forwarded of state was expres ly provided for his accommoda- on by servants stationed at every door; and every tion, and, after the fête, would bring him back to his where producel the most profound reverences and ship; in which, on the following day, he might enter courtesies. At length they reached a magnificent the harbor in befitting style. He accordingly step- saloon, blazing with tapers, in which the Alcayde, ped into the barge, and took his seat beneath the and the principal dignitaries of the city, were waitawning. The grand chamberlain seated himself on ing to receive their illustrious guest. The grand the cushion opposite. The rowers bent to their oars, chamberlain presented Don Fernando in due form, and renewed their mournful old ditty, and the gor- and falling back among the other officers of the geous, but unwieldly barge moved slowly and solemn-household, stood as usual curling his whiskers, and ly through the water. stroking his forked beard.

The night closed in, before they entered the river. They swept along, past rock and promontory, each guarded by its tower. The sentinels at every post challenged them as they passed by.

'Who goes there?'

'The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.' 'He is welcome. Pass on.'

On entering the harbor, they rowed close along an armed galley, of the most ancient form. Soldiers with cross-bows were stationed on the deck.

'Who goes there?' was again demanded.
'The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.'
'He is welcome. Pass on.'

Don Fernando was received by the Alcayde and the other dignitaries with the same stately and formal courtesy that he had every where remarked. In fact, there was so much form and ceremonial, that it seemed difficult to get at any thing social or substantial. Nothing but bows, and compliments, and old-fashioned courtesies. The Alcayde and his courtiers resembled, in face and form, those quaint worthies to be seen in the pictures of old illuminated manuscripts; while the cavaliers and dames who thronged the saloon, might have been taken for the antique figures of gobelin tapestry suddenly vivified and put in motion.

They landed at a broad flight of stone steps, lead- The banquet, which had been kept back until the ing up, between two massive towers, to the water-arrival of Don Fernando, was now announced; and gate of the city, at which they knocked for admission. A sentinel, in an ancient steel casque, looked over the wall. Who is there?'

such a feast! such unknown dishes and obsolete dainties; with the peacock, that bird of state and ceremony, served up in full plumage, in a golden 'The Adelantado of the Seven Cities.' dish, at the head of the table. And then, as Don The gate swung slowly open, grating upon its Fernando cast his eyes over the glittering board, rusty hinges. They entered between two rows of what a vista of odd heads and head-dresses, of iron-clad warriors, in battered armor, with cross-formal bearded dignitaries, and stately dames, with bows, battle-axes, and ancient maces, and with faces castellated locks and towering plumes! as old-fashioned and rusty as their armor. They As fate would have it, on the other side of Don saluted Don Fernando in military style, but with Fernando, was seated the daughter of the Alcayde. perfect silence, as he passed between their ranks. She was arrayed, it is true, in a dress that might The city was illuminated, but in such manner as to have been worn before the flood; but then, she had give a more shadowy and solemn effect to its old- a melting black Andalusian eye, that was perfectly time architecture. There were bonfires in the princi- irresistible. Her voice, too, her manner, her movepal streets, with groups about them in such old-ments, all smacked of Andalusia, and showed how fashioned garbs, that they looked like the fantastic female fascination may be transmitted from age to figures that roam the streets in carnival time. Even age, and clime to clime, without ever losing its the stately dames who gazed from the balconies, which they had hung with antique tapestry, looked more like effigies dressed up for a quaint mummery, than like ladies in their fashionable attire. Every thing, in short, bore the stamp of former ages, as if the world had suddenly rolled back a few centuries. Nor was this to be wondered at. Had not the Island of the Seven Cities been for several hundred years cut off from all communication with the rest of the world, and was it not natural that the inhabitants should retain many of the modes and customs brought here by their ancestors?

One thing certainly they had conserved; the oldfashioned Spanish gravity and stateliness. Though this was a time of public rejoicing, and though Don

power, or going out of fashion. Those who know the witchery of the sex, in that most amorous region of old Spain, may judge what must have been the fascination to which Don Fernando was exposed, when seated beside one of the most captivating of its descendants. He was, as has already been hinted, of an inflammable temperament; with a heart ready to get in a light blaze at every instant. And then he had been so wearied by pompous, tedious old cavaliers, with their formal bows and speeches; is it to be wondered at that he turned with delight to the Alcayde's daughter, all smiles, and dimples, and melting looks, and melting accents? Beside, for I wish to give him every excuse in my power, he was in a particularly excitable mood, from the novelty of