The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-05-13

posed, by his glowing productions anu aP-
pearance of perfect sincerity, so to depre
ciate real estate that he might buy, through
his brokers, to any extent at prices merely
nominal. Even after the low lands were
submerged, aud it was apparent that there
was to be a more than usually wet season,
NOah's wicked neighbors were accustomed
to gather for no other purpose than to de-
eide the ungainly architecture of the Ark
and to question its sailing qualities: They
were not wanting who asserted that the
thing would roll over at the first puff OF
wind like too heavy freighted tub. 80
people came from far and near to witness
and laugh at the discontinue of the aged
patriarch. But there was no occasion Tor
ridicule.
THE ARK FLoATED LIKE CORK.
Noah dropped his center board and stood at
the helm waving graceful adieus to his
wicked contemporaries, while the good ves-
sell caught a fresh southerly breeze and
moved off like thing of life. There is
nothing whatever in the Assyrisn account
to confirm the tradition that Noah acceler-
ated the motion of the Ark by raising his
own coat tails. This would have been an
unnecessary as well as an undignihed
proceeding. The tall house on deck afforded
sufficient resistance to the wind to drive
the Ark along at very respectable rate
of speed. After the first novelty of the sit
uatiOn had worn of, aud there was no
longer the satisfaction of kindly but firmly
refusing applications for passage, and seeing
the lately derisive people scrambling for
high land only to be eventually caught by
and swallowed up in the roaring waters, the
voyage was a vexatious and disagreeable
one. The Ark at the best was an unwieldy
craft. She fell off from the wind frightfully,
and almost invariably missed stays. Ev-
cry choppy sea hammered roughly upon
Haf hOftnvn
board so sea-sick as to wish
that they too had been wicked, and sunk
WITH the crowd. Inside the miserable shanty
which served for a cabin, birds, beasts, and
human beings were huddled promiscuously
together. One of the delugs tablets says,
not without touch Of pathos: st was ex-
tremely uncomfortable lamakharsyar] to
sleep with Bengal tiger glazing at one from
a corner, and a hedgehog nestled up close
against ones bare legs. But IL was posi-
lively dangerous when the elephant became
restless, or the polar bear took offense at
some fancied slight. L will not anticipate
Mr.. Smiths detailed account of the cruise
of the AK. He has gathered data for
A COMPLETE CHART OF NoAH's COURSE
during the many months of the voyage.
The tortuous nature of the route pursued
and the eccentricity of Noah's great circle
sailing are proof that the venerable naviga-
tor, under tho depressing influsncs of his
surroundings, had frequent recourse to ar
dent spirits, an infirmity over which we, his
descendants, should drop the veil of charity
and of silence. The most astounding dis
covery OF ali, however, is batch of tIbl cts
giving an actual and literal transcript from
Noah's logsook, The journal of the voyage
which Noah, as prudent navigator,
doubtless kept with considerable care
was probably bequeathed to Shem, eldest
bnr nffia nf "a arb
tious of the log, it may be, were handed
down nom generation to generation among
the Semitic tribes; and Mr.. Rounds does not
hesitate to express his opinion that these
tablets in the British Museum wero copied
directly from the original entries made in
the ships book by Noah or Shem. He sends
to his Boston correspondent early proofs of
some of the photographic fac SMILES which
are to illustrate Mr.. Smiths forthcoming
work, Gan Exhaustive History of the Flood
an1 OF the Noachic Voyage" have made
a rough sketch of the inscription upon
one tablet, which contains Intelligence
of especial Importance to Americans.
I Here is inserted what would seem to be an
elaborate charcoal sketch of the New York
sewerage system Expressed in the English
character, this inscription would read as fol-
lows: dahyarva saka ormudZi
iraharvam athura 'uvstish :. kta rish
thyar avaina nyasadavram akanaus mana
frsbara gathava Hambl Hamln
khaysathryam nam Buhmi pasava XII
hi baga Jethyths paTuvnsm oszarks -.
khsayarsha Such progress has been
made in the Interpretation OF
THE ARAMAIc DIALECTS
that it is comparatively an easy matter for
Mr. Rounds to put this into our vernacular,
which ne does as follows, supplying certain
hiatuses in the inscription where the con-
nection is obvious:
Scow "AsK," LATITUDE 40 Is, LoNGI-
TUDE....-....Water falling rapidly. Ate our
last pterodactyl yesterday. Hambl Hamln
Hannibal HamlinI1 down with scurvy.
Must put him ashore. .-THURs. 7rH. Bitter
ale and mastOdOns all gone. Mrs. Japheth's
had another pair of twins. All well.
The importance of this scrap of diluvian
history can hardly he overestimated II
throws light on three or four points which
have been little understood hitherto. Hav-
ing viewed the subject in all its bearings,
and having compared the extract here quoted
with mberless other passages which i
have not time to give, Mr.. Smith and Mr..
Rounds arrive al the following important
conclusions.
1. When this entry was made
in the log book by Noah Tor
Shem) the ark was somewhere off the
coast OF Maine, the latitude warrants
this inference; the longitude is unfortu-
nalSiy WduIlDX. G6FAllel PROOF LnaL Moan
visited the shores of North America is to
be found in the old ballad, founded on a
Rsbbinlcal tradition, where mention is
made OF Barnegss. The singular error
which locates Ararat just three miles south
of BArnegat is doubtless due to some con-
fusion 10 Noah's logsrithms-the natural
result of his unfortunate personal habits.
2 "Aie our last pterOdactyl yesterday.
Bitter ale and mastodOns all gone" There
we have simple solution of problem
which has long puzzled science. The pro-
vision stOwsd away in the ark did not prove
sufficient for the unexpectedly protraoted
voyage Hard pushed for food, Noah and
his family were obliged to fall back on the
live stock. They devoured the larger and
more esculent animals in the collection.
The only living specimens OF the ictnyo-
saurus, the dodo, the silurian, the pleisosau-
rus, the mastodon, were Gated up Dy