Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1884-05-29
, THE FABLE. OF ATLANTIS.

So much has been written upon the
probability of a recent land commune
cation between Europe and America,
and so much made in this connection
of Plato reference to the, island of At
lantis, that we can not, .fitly close our
discussion upon prehistoric America
without ourselves referring to the sub
ject and, indeed, our argument to show
that America was coloniZed from the
West is not complete until we have dem
onstrated the improbability of its hav-
ing been from the East.
The story of Atlantis is detailed at
greatest length in the Timeus of Plato,
where one of the characters ~narrates
that he had heard from a very old man
that there was tradition that in early
times there was a large and spopulous
island in the Atlantic Ocean frOntiny
the Strait of Gibraltar, from which mill
taTy expeditions were fitted out
against the Nations bordering the
Mediterranean, but that eventual
ly, through violent earthquakes and
deluges, the whole island was plunged
beneath the sea aud entirely dsap-
peared. And the writer averred that in
his day that sea was not navigable,
''being blocked up by the great depth
of mud which the subsiding island pro-
duced." -
So slight, however, is the historical
value OF this narrative, when considered
in itself, chat we should need to pay
little attention to it, but for the fact that
number of recent writers (of whom
one of the latest and most attractive is
Mr.. Ignatius Donnelly) have connected
itwith certain supposed results of deep
sea soundings in the Atlantic, and have
imagined that the fable thereby receives
a considerable degree of scientific sup
port. But it reeds only a little scrutiny
of the facts to show how slight is the
confirmation, if any, given by science
to the theory OF a lost Atlantis; while
close scrutiny shows that the teachings
of science are utterly averse to the eX-
istence Of any such lost continent since
mans advent into the world
1t is well known that the British Isles
are surrounded by shallow water, and
that an elevation of about. six hundred
feet would Join England to the Conti-
nent, and add q western border to the
whole of Europe. from fiftsto hundred
miles in width, Beyond this rim, or
shoulder, however. the depth of the
water increases with great rapidity, and
in a short distance the sea is twelve
thousand feet Deep which is about the
average depth of all the open portions
of the Atlantic $3.50 'i.r ID
1t was observed, however. by the Off
GERS of the Dolphin, and later of the
Challenger, that there is what may be
called, a great submarine plateau or
mountain chain. which has been denom-
mated the Dolphin Rise, dividing the
North AtlaAtiesr into two longitudinal
troughs running north and south"
This so-call1d Submarine ridge extends
from the southern point Of Greenland,
in direction nearly parallel with the
shores of Europe, so as to include the
= Azores, or Western Islands, and stretches
southwest toward the comparatively
shallow sea opposite the mouth of the
Amazon. So impressed were certain
members of the Challenger staff
with the magnitude of this SUBJ
marine pldteau that, upon re-
turning to London. in 1877, they con-
6dently affirmed that they had found.
the remains of the lost Atlantis. The
credibility ct their hypothesis, how
ever. is At-shaken when we OBJ
serve that tn pag1eau it61lfa is now
submerged frum4 depth sof six thou
+ sand to ten thousand fak and that,
were the bottom of the 6tic ele-
waited to this extent SO as To sxposes a
continent in. imid-ocean. thef4 would
still be, exc1Pt in its northern portion,
{ an expanas of water several hundred
{ miles vide; end several thDusand feet
deep, separating it from Europe and