198 Atlantis. 



that locality solely to tlie action of ocean currents by wliich it is trans- 

 ported from the tropics. 



Without presuming to determine whether in fact the Sargasso 

 sea or shoal is a subsided island or an eddy of the ocean, it is 

 sufficient for the purposes at hand to observe that in the spot desig- 

 dated by the Atlantic tradition, there exists and has existed for an 

 indefinite period an impediment to navigation which may by fair in- 

 tendment relieve the ancient Egyptians and Greeks of the geographi- 

 cal ignorance imputed to them. 



Besides this tradition, however, there are other allusions to the 

 Atlantic isles in the writings of Plato and other classic authors. Ac- 

 cording to Diodorus, the Gardens of the Hesperides and the Atlantic 

 islands were the same, whereof the soil was fruitful, diversified with 

 mountains and pleasant vales, and pleasure gardens planted with 

 divers sorts of trees, and with towns adorned with stately buildings 

 and banqueting houses in the midst of orchards. 



The nebulous "Elysian Fields" were situated in the same favored 

 spot. From these and kindred associations the name Atlas was itself 

 derived — the personification of navigation and the conquest of the sea 

 by mercantile enterprise. In classic mythology he was said to have 

 descended from Ocean and married Hesperis, or the West, and from 

 their union sprang the Atlantidse, who inhabited the islands bearing 

 their name. Homer calls him "one w^io knows all the depths of the 

 sea" and "who keeps the pillars which hold Heaven and earth asun- 

 der" — in allusion to the " Pillars of Hercules," or, possibly, to the 

 Atlas mountains on the west coast of Africa which, to the Egyptians 

 and other early navigators of the Mediterranean, were a familiar 

 sight upon the western horizon where the earth and sky met. 



Ovid calls him " King of the remotest West"; rich in flocks and 

 herds, and master of the tree bearing golden aj^ples. Hesiod, also, 

 speaks of Atlas as neighbor to the Hesperian nymphs. Antaeus, son 

 of Atlas, who founded Tangier upon the African shore of the Straits 

 of Gibraltar, is related to have sent abroad for assistance to resist the 

 attacks of Hercules, and also to have received new strength from his par- 

 ent as often as he touched the ground ; which has been interpreted as allu- 

 ding to maritime aids received from Atlas that became effective only 

 when they reached the shore. The Cabiri, according to Sanchoniatho, 

 held a tradition that Atlas was buried alive by his brothers, which 

 may bear reference to the cataclysm mentioned by Plato. 



Pliny states that there existed, even in his day, vestiges of an an- 

 cient population in the ruins of edifices on the Canary Islands ; and 

 Herodotus speaks of a tribe called Atlantes hving on the west coast 



