Attempts have indeed been made to show that this world-wide observance is to be accounted for from natural causes, the observed phases of the moon, the occult properties of numbers, or, as Proudhon calls it, a certain "spontaneous genius, a sort of magnetic vision, which discovered primitive arts, developed language, invented writing, and created systems of religion and philosophy." * Far easier and more probable is the view which is admitted by nearly all writers, that it is due to a universal tradition, which has descended from the primary institution of the Sabbath, as recorded by Moses.

6. But the one tradition which, perhaps, more than any other, has been absolutely universal, both in ancient and modern times, is that of a flood, sent upon the world in punishment for the wickedness of man. Our space will not permit us to dwell at length on this very curious subject, and we can do little more than to allude to many of its details.

The Mexicans and Peruvians preserved this tradition in a form strikingly resembling that of the Bible. "The first age, called Atonatiuh, i. e., 'the sun of the waters,' was terminated by a universal deluge. The Noah of the Mexican cataclysm is Coxcox, called by some people Teo Cipactli, or

* Kitto's Bib. Cycl., new edition, art. Sabbath.

Tezpi. He saved himself, with his wife, Xochiquetzal, in a bark, or, according to other traditions, a raft of cypress-wood. It is said that Tezpi

embarked in a spacious vessel with his wife, his children, and many animals, and such seeds as were necessary for the subsistence of mankind. When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlicopa, ordered the waters to subside, Tezpi sent out of the ark a vulture. That bird, which lived on dead bodies, did not come back, on account of the great number of corpses scattered on the recently dried earth. Tezpi sent other birds, among which the humming-bird alone returned, holding in his mouth a branch with leaves. Then Tezpi, seeing that the soil was beginning to be covered with new verdure, came out of his ship on the mountain Colhuacan."* Traditions of a similar character are found among all the North American tribes.

Among the ancient Greeks, mention was made of two such catastrophes—the first called the deluge of Ogyges, which was placed by Varro about 1600 years before the first Olympiad, i. e., B. C. 2376, which differs from the Hebrew date of Noah only twenty-eight years. This, however, was only a local inundation, of no great extent, it being the overflow of the Lake Copais, which submerged the

*Anc. Hist. of the East, vol. i. p. 17.

valley of Boeotia.

The other, which far more

nearly resembled the Scripture narrative of the deluge, was called the flood of Deucalion. Even Bunsen is constrained to say, "Our previous researches will not permit us to doubt that the oldest Hellenic tradition about the flood of Deucalion was a legendary reminiscence of that great historical deluge." The account of it, as given by Lucian, is as follows:

"I have heard, among the Greeks, the story of Deucalion, which they relate respecting him. They fable it as follows: The present generation of men is not the same as the former. That generation all perished; the men of the present are immediately descended from Deucalion. Mankind, having become exceedingly haughty, were lawless, for they did not regard their oaths, perform the rights of hospitality, or spare the suppliants. On account of these things, a great calamity came upon them; the earth suddenly poured forth floods of water, great rains fell, the rivers were swollen, and the sea overflowed, until all became submerged under water, and all flesh perished. Deucalion alone of men was preserved for a second race; this was on account both of his justice and piety. His deliverance was in this wise: Having put his sons and their wives into a great ark, which he had prepared,

he went in himself, and the animals, swine, horses, lions, and whatever else lived on the earth, all came to him in pairs. He received them all, and was not injured by them, but there was great harmony throughout. In this one ark they all floated as long as the waters prevailed. These things are related by the Greeks respecting Deucalion." *

The sequel to this story represents the ark to have floated on the waters nine days, when it landed on Mount Parnassus, or, according to others, on Mount Athos. When the flood had subsided, Deucalion offered a sacrifice to Jupiter, who sent to him Mercury, with a promise that he would grant any prayer he might offer. Deucalion asked that Jupiter would restore mankind. He and his wife Pyrrha were directed to cover their heads and throw the bones of their mother behind them. After some doubts and scruples as to the meaning of this command, they agreed that the bones of their mother must be the stones of the earth. They accordingly threw these behind them, and those thrown by Deucalion became men, and those by Pyrrha women. From these the present family of mankind are descended.

Still more remarkable than this is the Phrygian tradition relating to the city of Apamea, where, it is said, the ark rested after the flood. The city itself

* Lucian's Works, Paris, 1840, p. 735.

was anciently called "Kibotos," or the Ark, and a medal was struck on which a representation of that vessel was shown, with two persons going forth from it, and two birds, one flying, the other resting upon it, with the name NNE inscribed on the side.

Among the Chaldeans, frequent mention is made of the flood of Xisuthrus, of which Berosus gives the following account: "After the death of Ardatus, his son Xisuthrus reigned 18 sari. In his time occurred a great deluge, which is thus described: The deity Kronus appeared to him in his sleep, and made known to him that upon the 15th day of the month Dæsius there would be a flood by which mankind would be destroyed. He therefore commanded him to write a history of the beginning, progress, and conclusion of all things, and bury it in the city of the sun at Sippara; also to build a vessel, and take with him into it his friends and relatives, with food and drink, and the different animals, both birds and quadrupeds, preparing all for the voyage. Having asked the deity whither he was to sail, he was answered, 'To the gods.' Offering up a prayer for the good of mankind, he obeyed the divine injunction, and built a vessel five stadia in length and two in breadth. Into this he put everything he had prepared, with his wife, children, and friends.