they finding nothing but the immense ocean, and not knowing which way to direct themselves, returned to Sisithrus; and after these he sent out others; that the third time it answered, for the birds returned with their feet all mudded. rus the gods took him from among men. carried to Armenia and afforded the people of the country amulets of wood to expel diseases."*

But as for SisithAnd the ship was

Among the ancient Persians, the belief of a deluge prevailed with those who professed to hold to their religion in its purity. Zoroaster taught that it was occasioned by the wickedness of one Malcus; and one of their authors asserted that Noah himself dwelt in the mountain from which the waters burst forth.

It would seem, then, that in the countries around Armenia, the traditions of a deluge are less altered from the Mosaic account than in countries more remote, and less of fable is mixed with them. If that account be the original source from which all others were derived, we might expect that such would be the fact; and therefore it is a presumption in favor of such an opinion.

6. Analogous traditions respecting a deluge are found scattered over the whole globe. Some doubts had been expressed whether such a belief prevailed among the Chinese. But Sir William Jones says, "I may assure you, after full inquiry and consideration, that the Chinese believe the earth to have been wholly covered with water, which in works of undisputed authenticity, they describe as flowing abundantly, then subsiding, and separating the higher from the lower age of mankind; and that the divisions of time from which their poetical history begins, just preceded the appearance of Fohi in the mountains of China."+

The Hindoo tradition is very explicit. The following is Sir William Jones's abridged account of it, as it is contained in the poem of the Bhagavat. "The demon Hayagriva having purloined the vedas from the custody of Brahma, while he was reposing at the close of the sixth Man wantara, the whole race of men became corrupt, except the seven Rishis, and Satyavrata, who then reigned in Dravira, a maritime region to the south of Carnata. This prince was performing his ablutions in the river Critamala, when Vishnu appeared to him in the shape of a small

* See Bryant's Analysis of Ancient Mythology, Vol. 2. p. 212. † Asiatic Researches, Vol. 2. Diss. on the Chinese.

fish, and after several augmentations of bulk in different waters, was placed by Satyavrata in the ocean, where he thus addressed his amazed votary: In seven days all creatures who have offended me shall be destroyed by a deluge, but thou shalt be secured in a capacious vessel miraculously formed. Take, therefore, all kinds of medicinal herbs, and esculent grain for food, and together with the seven holy men, your respective wives, and pairs of all animals, enter the ark without fear; then shalt thou know God face to face, and all thy questions shall be answered.' Saying this he disappeared; and after seven days the ocean began to overflow the coasts and the earth to be flooded by constant showers, when Satyavrata, meditating on the Deity, saw a large vessel moving on the waters. He entered it, having in all respects conformed to the instructions of Vishnu; who in the form of a vast fish, suffered the vessel to be tied with a great sea-serpent, as with a cable, to his measureless horn. When the deluge had ceased, Vishnu slew the demon, and recovered the vedas, instructed Satyavrata in divine knowledge, and appointed him the seventh Menu, by the name of Vaivaswata. "And according to the Pauranias and the followers of Buddhu," says Capt. Wilford, "the ark rested on the mountain of Aryavarta, Aryawart, or India; an appellation which has no small affinity with the Ararat of Scripture."t

*

Sir William Jones has given some further particulars from the Hindoo traditions concerning this Satyavrata, which present a still more striking coincidence with the history of Noah subsequent to the deluge. "To Satyavarman, that sovereign of the whole earth, were born three sons; the eldest Sharma ; then Charma," (in the common dialect according to Wilford pronounced Sham, and Cham,) " and the third Jyapeti by name. They were all men of good morals, excellent in virtue and virtuous deeds; skilled in the use of weapons, to strike with or to be thrown; brave men, eager for victory in battle. But Satyavarman, being continually delighted with devout meditation, and seeing his sons fit for dominion, laid upon them the burden of government, while he remained honoring and satisfying the gods, and priests, and kine. One day, by the act of destiny, the king having drunk mead, became senseless, and lay asleep naked; then was he seen by Charma, and by him were his two

* Asiatic Researches, Vol. 2. On Chronology of the Hindoos. Same work, Vol 6. p. 521.

6

brothers called, to whom he said, 'what has now befallen? In what state is this our sire?' By those two was he hidden with clothes, and called to his senses again and again. Having recovered his intellect, and perfectly knowing what had passed, he cursed Charma, saying, Thou shalt be the servant of servants, and since thou wert a laughter in their presence, from laughter shalt thou acquire a name.' Then he gave to Charma the wide domain on the south of the snowy mountains and to Jyapeti he gave all on the north of the snowy mountains, but he (Satyavarman) by the power of religious contemplation attained supreme bliss."*

If we pass now to the aboriginal nations of America, we shall find the same tradition prevalent, although fewer particulars are preserved, and the facts are more distorted. Acosta says that the Indians generally believed in a deluge, and "that all men were drowned in it. And they (the Mexicans) report that out of the great lake Titicaca came one Vivacocha, which staid in Tiguanaco and so began mankind to multiply. Others report that six, or I know not what number of men, came out of a certain cave by a window; by whom men first began to multiply; and for this reason they call them Pacaritampo." According to Herrera, the Mechoachans, a people comparatively in the neighborhood of Mexico, believed that a single family was preserved during a deluge, in an ark, and a sufficient number of animals to people the new world. While confined in the ark several ravens were sent out, one of which returned with the branch of a tree. The Iroquois relate, that the world was created by a spirit, called Otkon, and repaired after a deluge by another, called Messore. The deluge happened in consequence of Otkon's dogs, when hunting, having got lost in a large lake, which in a short time covered the whole earth." The inhabitants of Cuba, related "that an old man knowing the deluge was to come, built a great ship, and went into it, with his family and abundance of animals, that he sent out a crow, which did not return; staying to feed on the dead bodies; and afterwards returned with a green branch; with other particulars, as

Asiatic Researches, Vol. 3. p. 263.

+ Acosta's History of Indies, as quoted by Catcott on the Deluge, p. 71.

Hennepin's Continuation of the New Discovery, &c., as quoted in the same work, p. 72.

far as Noah's sons covering him when drunk, and the others scoffing at it,"* etc. "In Peru," says Herrera in the same work, "the ancient Indians reported, they had received by tradition from their ancestors, that many years before there were any Incas, at the time when the country was very populous, there happened a great flood; the sea breaking out beyond its bounds, so that the land was covered with water, and all the people perished. The Guancas inhabiting the vale of Xausca, and the natives of Chiquito in the province of Callao, add that some persons remained in the hollows and caves of the highest mountains, who again peopled the land. Others of the mountain people affirm, that all perished in the deluge, only six persons being saved on a float, from whom descended all the inhabitants of the country." The natives of Terra Firma believe, "that when the universal deluge happened, one man, with his wife and children, escaped in a canoe, and that from them the world had been peopled," etc. The most barbarous of the Brazilians," says Herrera, "have some knowledge of a general deluge; it being their opinion that the whole race of mankind were extirpated by a general deluge, except one man and his own sister, who being with child before, they by degrees repeopled the world." The Brazilians near the coast, had a very particular tradition of a deluge, which grew out of a quarrel between two brothers, and which rose until the earth was entirely covered. All mankind were destroyed except the two brothers and their wives, who were saved by climbing trees on the tops of the mountains.

The tradition of a general flood is found among the natives of the South Sea Islands. The inhabitants of Tahiti, being asked concerning their origin, replied, that "their Supreme God, a long time ago, being angry, dragged the earth through the sea, when their island was broken off and preserved."

We do not see how this wide spread coincidence between the Mosaic account of Noah's deluge and tradition, not merely as to the fact of such a catastrophe, but also in regard to circumstances of a very peculiar character, can be accounted for philosophically without supposing them all to refer to the same event; and that too, the deluge described by Moses. Partial and local deluges have, indeed, happened in various parts of the world, so extensive and destructive as to make a deep impression on the

Herrera's History of America, as quoted by Catcott, p. 72.

minds of a whole people. Such was the deluge in Syria in the year 1095, which destroyed many lives; also that in Friesland in 1164; and that in the same country in 1218, which drowned 100,000 persons; also those in Netherlands in 1421, and 1727, which made striking ravages. But whence is it that we find the ark so frequently mentioned as the vessel in which the survivors were preserved, when it would be more natural to imagine them rescued in a vessel of the ordinary form? Still more remarkable, whence the notion of sending out the dove and the raven, to ascertain whether the earth was dry, when it would be more natural to infer that the inmates of the ark need only look out upon the earth's surface, to determine whether the waters had retired? And why is the deluge always thrown back into the earliest and the fabulous periods of a nation's history? Admit these traditions to be all founded upon the Noachian deluge, and all difficulties vanish; but deny this identity, and we need a miracle, greater than would be required for a universal deluge, to resolve them.

7. Finally, the deluge of Noah seems to have formed, in a good measure, the ground-work of heathen mythology. Noah and his sons, the ark, the dove, the raven, and the rainbow, may be found incorporated into a large part of the characters, ceremonies, and mysteries of idol worship. It cannot be expected that we should here go into the detailed proof of this position. This has, however, been already done with great ability and industry, by Bryant, in his New System, or Analysis of Ancient Mythology, and by his disciple Faber, in the Mysteries of the Cabiri. We can only state the leading results to which their researches have conducted them.

Noah and his sons may be distinctly recognized in the character of Atlas, Saturn, Dionusos, Inachus, Janus, Zeus, and many other gods and demigods among the Greeks. Thus, because Noah planted the vine and invented fermented liquors, he was called Zeuth, which signifies ferment, or leaven. In the East, Noah was called Noas, Noasis, Nusus and Nus. Hence the Greek Dionusos, the prototype of the Latin Bacchus, whose name has been generally supposed to be derived from 40s, the genitive of Zevs, and Nvon, a city of India; but it is more probable that the city took its name from Nusus; since there were many cities by that name, as well as mountains, in various

* In three volumes, quarto. London 1775.