Chapter Galesus to Gamaheu of G by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Gama (g hard). Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese, was the first European navigator who doubled the Cape of Good Hope.

"With such mad seas the daring Gama fought ...
Incessant labouring round the stormy Cape."
Thomson: Summer.

   Vasco da Gama. The hero of Camoëns' Lusiad. He is represented as sagacious, intrepid, tender-hearted, pious, fond of his country, and holding his temper in full command. He is also the hero of Meyerbeer's posthumous opera, L' Africaine.

"Gama, captain of the venturous band,
Of bold emprise, and born for high command,
Whose martial fires, with prudence close allied,
Ensured the smiles of fortune on his side."
Camoëns: Lusiad, bk. i.

Gamaheu, a natural cameo, or intaglio. These stones (chiefly agate) contain natural representations of plants, landscapes, or animals. Pliny tells us that the "Agate of Pyrrhus" contained a representation of the nine Muses, with Apollo in the midst. Paracelsus calls them natural talismans. Albertus Magnus makes mention of them, and Gaffaret, in his Curiosités inouïes, attributes to them magical powers. (French, camaïeu, from the oriental gamahuia, camehuia, or camebouia.)
    When magic was ranked as a science, certain conjunctions were called "Gamahæan unions."