After them spurs in haste the valiant peer:

  And on the winged courser forth is flown,

  Leaving beneath him, in his swift career,

  The royal castle and the crowded town;

  The bugle ever pealing, far and near.

  The harpies fly toward the torrid zone;

  Nor light until they reach that loftiest mountain

  Where springs, if anywhere, Nile's secret fountain.