, 1894-09-22

to refer to an earthquake prove to have been
mistranslated, and We are consequently LETT
with what help can be got from a cyclone
The terrible cyclones which originate IN the
neighbourhood Of the Andaman Islands some
times carry the sea over the low lying plans
OF the Ganges, submerglng the inhaDl-
tants by thousands; in one recorded instance
at least 100000 persons persisted III one OF
these foundations. These cyclones do not
however, reach the Arabian Sea but III view
of the exceptional character Of the DeIuge,
Suess thinks tlrat on that occasion one might
have lost its way and blundered into the
Persian Gulf. SuesS's explanation appears
improbable when it is considered that the
floor Of the Tigris valley stands at a helght0 OF
at least 900 or TOO feet above the sea level
where the lower Fab cuts through the Nj
zr hills. The waves produced by cyclones
rarely exceed As feet in height so that 1t
would require an exceptionally bad one to
bring the sea to Bagdad. which is l54 feet
above the sea level, not to speak of the Nlzlr
hills. Under these circumstances we should
acquaiMt ourselves more closely with the his
torical character of the Deluge sto' y. Its oc-
currence as an episode i'll the Gizdubar epic
full Of obviously unvtraolous statements, IS
not reassuring, and if We say that its Ian
guage is that of poetic exaggeration the
Judgment will seem mild. yet this is all that
is required to reduce The story to common
place proportions. The Identification of the
Gizdubar legend with that Of Heracles is a
matter Of great importance, for if the Greeks
have borrowed the epic, they would not be
likely to neglect the episode, and accordingly
we find them in possession of the Deluge le-
gend of Deucalion. The Egyptians have sun
stories of their own, but as they arc without
that of Gizdubar, so, they are silent about
the Deluge. The Nile does not cause Gala
mitous o%verfowings like those OF the TlgriS,
and consequently the Egyptians possess no De-
LUCE legends of native growth. In China the
case is different. The Yellow River, "the
curse of China" has always produced dlsas-
trous deluges; and in the third Schu OF the
cannon of Yao, who reigned somewhere about
1857 B. c., we read that the III said, prince
Of the four mountains destructive IN their
OVERLOOKING are the waters Of the Hood. In
their wide extension they enclose the noun
tains and cover the great heights, threaten.
ing the heaven with their floods, 80 that the
lower people is unruly and murmur. Where
10 a capable man whom | can employ this
evil to overcome?" Khwan was engagsd.b but
for nine wears he laboured III vain, where
upon another engineer, Yu, waS called in.
Within eight years he completed great wSrk';
he thinned the woods, regulated the streams,
damned them and opened their mouths pro-
vided the people with food, and acted as a
great benefactor of the State, 1t is refresh.
ing thus to pass from the ornate receptions Of
legend to the sober truth of history, and II
the famous Chaldean fable could be reduced
to equally simple language we should prob
ably find it describing very similar events,
or events just ::as little astonishing as those
Of the straightforward Chinese Sch"' His
tory fails to furnish evidence of any phono-
menon which in the geologic sense OF the
word can be called "castrophic;" and geology
has No need to return to the cataolisms of its
youth ; in becoming ovolutional, it does not
cease t. remain essentially uniformitarian.
incidentally Mr.. Sollas expressed a wish
that some European Power would take Me-
sopotrmia in hand and farm it, because it
might be made tn" & anary of the world
Times.