1865.] 141 [Lesley. 



cataclysm from the remembrance of which its legendary ideas were 

 fabricated, cannot now be discovered; but the supposition that some 

 actual physical event called forth these ideas seems rendered neces- 

 sary by what we know of the original rude nature and the unphilo- 

 sophical mind of the race in its earlier stages of existence. It seems 

 indeed just possible that the whole system took its rise in Egypt, and 

 out of the annual phenomenon of the inundation of the Nile. At 

 all events, this was the grandest natural commemoration of a deluge, 

 and of a regeneration of life and hope for mankind; and here, in 

 Egypt, took place the most complete and imposing development of 

 the arkite symbolism — in the pyramids; in the propylaea with moun- 

 tain sides, ark-like cornices above, and waving sands around their 

 base; in sphinxes; Osiris-arks; death and resurrection ceremonials; 

 and a thousand characteristic details equally significant. 



26. That traces of arkism can be found abundantly throughout 

 Africa, and in so pure a form, as to suggest to the geological anti- 

 quary the possible connection of its origin with the emergence of the 

 Sahara. 



27. That the bull-sphinxes and other monuments of Mesopotamia, 

 the carpet and ring of the Flying Mithras of Persia, the lions attack- 

 ing the bull, the arrowhead lying on the altar, &c., show arkism at 

 home in that region of Asia. 



28. That it pervaded India is equally evident from the details of 

 the Flindoo mythology; from the Topes (nnn) and Pagodas with 

 their uppermost story bulging into the form of a ship; from the 

 Buddhistic history and the worship of Gaudama's foot; from a thou- 

 sand local legends; the worship of the humpbacked cow; the Jain 

 rites; ancestral worship and Ganges worship ; from the dress and 

 manners of the Rajpoots; the mysteries of Juggernaut; the sup- 

 posed magical powers of barbers ; and the whole life of the pariah 

 races of the Peninsula. 



29. That the present home of arkism is Thibet, where the system 

 is in full life, complete in all parts, and developed to its highest 

 pitch ; that from this, as a living centre, it has radiated its ceremo- 

 nial and its traditions to the farthest limits of the East; and that 

 they can be studied in farther India, China, and Japan, Corea and 

 Mongolia, the Polynesian Islands, California, Mexico, and Peru ; ex- 

 plaining the Pagoda and its dragon, the Marai and its tabu, the 

 shamanism of the hyperborean races, and the teocalli system of the 

 new world. 



30. That the Druidism of Europe is the western representative of 



