ATLANTIS NOT A MYTH. 761 



of war and civilization a country covered with large cities and mag- 

 nificent palaces, their rulers according to tradition reigning not only 

 on the Atlantic Continent, but over islands far and near, even into Eu- 

 rope and Asia. Suddenly, without warning, this whole fair land was 

 ingulfed by the sea, in a mighty convulsion of nature. 



Now, this catastrophe is not impossible or even improbable. In- 

 stances are not wanting of large tracts of land, several hundred miles 

 in extent, disappearing in a like manner. The island of Ferdinandea 

 suddenly appeared, and after a while as suddenly disappeared. In 

 1819, during an earthquake in India, an immense tract of land near 

 the river Indus sank from view, and a lake now occupies its place. 



The whole bed of the Atlantic, where Atlantis is said to have 

 been situated, consists of extinct volcanoes. The terrible Lisbon 

 earthquake of 1755, and the later American shock, created a com- 

 motion throughout the whole Atlantic area. 



That Atlantis possessed great facilities for making a sudden exit 

 can not be doubted. Its very situation gives good color to the nar- 

 ratives of ancient Grecian historians and Toltecian traditions, that 

 " it disappeared by earthquakes and inundations." 



Not only is it within the bounds of possibility that it might have 

 occurred, but if traditions so clear and distinct as to be almost au- 

 thentic history are to be believed, then it did occur. Listen to 

 what one of the most cautious of ancient writers, Plato, says : 

 " Among the great deeds of Athens, of which recollection is pre- 

 served in our books, there is one that should be placed above all oth- 

 ers. Our book tells us that the Athenians destroyed an army that 

 came across the Atlantic seas, and insolently invaded Europe and 

 Asia, for this sea was then navigable ; and beyond the straits where 

 you place the Pillars of Hercules was an immense island, larger than 

 Asia and Libya combined. From this island one could pass easily to 

 the other islands, and from these to the continent beyond. The sea 

 on this side of the straits resembled a harbor with a narrow entrance, 

 but there is a veritable sea, and the land which surrounds it is a veri- 

 table continent. On this island of Atlantis there reigned three kings 

 with great and marvelous power. They had under their domain the 

 whole of Atlantis, several of the other islands, and part of the continent. 

 At one time their power extended into Europe as far as Tyrrhenia, and 

 uniting their whole force they sought to destroy our country at a blow, 

 but their defeat stopped the invasion and gave entire freedom to the 

 countries this side of the Pillars of Hercules. Afterward, in one day 

 and one fatal night, there came mighty earthquakes and inundations, 

 that ingulfed that warlike people. Atlantis disappeared, and then 

 that sea became inaccessible, on account of the vast quantities of mud 

 that the ingulfed island left in its place." It is possible that the 

 debris, said to have been left by this catastrophe, might be identical 

 with or the nuclei of the sargazo fields that, many centuries later, 



