esis, "the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up" (chap. vii., 11). That this does not refer to the rain is clear from the manner in which it is stated: "The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth," etc. And when the work of destruction is finished, we are told "the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped." This is a reminiscence by an inland people, living where such tremendous volcanic disturbances were nearly unknown, of "the terrible water-spout" which "rose to the sky," of the Chaldean legend, and of "the enormous volumes of water issuing from the earth" of the Aramæan tradition. The Hindoo legend of the Flood speaks of "the marine god Hayagriva, who dwelt in the abyss," who produced the cataclysm. This is doubtless "the archangel of the abyss" spoken of in the Chaldean tradition.
The Mountains of the North.—We have in Plato the following reference to the mountains of Atlantis:
"The whole country was described as being very lofty and precipitous on the side of the sea.… The whole region of the island lies toward the south, and is sheltered from the north.… The surrounding mountains … exceeded all that are to be seen now anywhere."
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| the god of the flood. (From "The Walls of Nineveh.") |
These mountains were the present Azores. One has but to contemplate their present elevation, and remember the depth to which they descend in the ocean, to realize their tremendous altitude and the correctness of the description given by Plato.
In the Hindoo legend we find the fish-god, who represents Poseidon, father of Atlantis, helping Manu over "the Mountain of the North." In the Chaldean legend Khasisatra's vessel is stopped by "the Mountain of Nizir" until the sea goes down.
