the holy sage, the account is as follows-the fish continuing his divine directions:

“When the awful time approaches,

hear from me what thou must do.

In a little time, O blessed,

all this firm and seated earth,

All that moves upon its surface,
shall a deluge sweep away.

Near it comes, of all creation
the ablution day is near;
Therefore what I now forewarn thee
may thy highest weal secure.

All the fixed and all the moving,
all that stirs, or stirreth not,

Lo, of all the time approaches,

the tremendous time of doom.

Build thyself a ship, O Manu!

strong with cables well prepared, And thyself, with the seven sages, mighty Manu, enter in.

All the living seeds of all things,

by the Brahmans named of yore,
Place thou first within thy vessel,
well secured, divided well.

From thy ship keep watch, O hermit,
watch for me as I draw near;

Hornéd shall I swim before thee;

by my horn thoul't know me well.

This the work thou must accomplish.
I depart; so fare thee well.

Over those tumultuous waters

none without mine aid can sail.

Doubt not thou, O lofty minded,

of my warning speech the truth.'

To the fish thus answered Manu;

'All that thou requirest I will do.'"

Manu, having done as directed, and launched his vessel on the sea with its precious freight, the fish appears, and the vessel is bound to his head, and

"Dancing with the tumbling billows,

dashing through the roaring spray,
Tossed about with winds tumultuous,
in the vast and heaving sea,

Like a trembling, drunken woman,

reeled that ship, O king of men. Earth was seen no more, no region, nor the intermediate space;

All around a waste of waters,

water all, and air, and sky.

In the whole world of creation,

princely son of Bharata,

None was seen, but those seven sages,
Manu only and the fish.

Years on years, and still unwearied
drew that fish the bark along,
Till at length it came, where lifted
Himavan its loftiest peak.

There at length it came, and smiling,

thus the fish addressed the sage:

'To the peak of Himalaya

bind thou now thy stately ship.'

At the fish's mandate quickly,

to the peak of Himavan

Bound the sage his bark, and ever
to this day, that loftiest peak
Bears the name of Manhubandhan,

from the binding of the bark.
To the sage, the god of mercy,

thus with fixéd look bespake:

'I am Lord of all creation,

Brahmá, higher than all height;
I in fish-like form have saved thee,
Manu, in the perilous hour;

But from thee new tribes of creatures,
gods, asuras, men, must spring.

All the worlds must be created,

all that moves, or moveth not,

By an all-surpassing penance,

this great work must be achieved.

Through my mercy, thy creation

to confusion ne'er shall run.' Spake the fish, and on the instant, to the invisible he passed."

Manu immediately begins his penance and the work of creation. The legend closes, —

"Such the old, the famous legend,

named the Story of the Fish,

Which to thee I have related;

this for all our sins atones.

He that hears it, -Manu's legend,

in the full possession he

Of all things complete and perfect,

to the heavenly world ascends."

While the ark floats fastened to the fish, Manu

enters into conversation with his divine guide and preserver; and his questions and the replies of the deity form, in the Purana, the main substance of the compilation. The principal subjects are, as usual in these books, an account of the creation, the royal dynasties, the duties of the different orders, and various mythological legends.

The foregoing are but specimens of the traditions. which are found among all nations respecting the great events of the primitive ages. The curious reader will find very much in the authorities cited, and others, that will well repay his researches into this subject. We ask now, in view of these facts, of the number of these traditions, their striking resemblances both to the Bible narrative and to each other, with just those differences that show independent lines of descent from the beginning, how they can be explained but upon the supposition that they are reminiscences coming down from a period in the history of mankind when as yet they were an unbroken family. That they could have been derived by one nation from another, will be conceded, by all familiar with the history of these nations, to be impossible. That they should have sprung up spontaneously among peoples so wide apart in lineage, in abode, and in speech, no one will maintain. We regard them,

as they have ever been regarded by scholars and historians, as among the most conclusive evidences both of the unity of the race and of the commencement of the separate existence of those peoples since the time of Noah.