Do not thefe expreflions imply a permanent ground on which 

 they increafed and refted, and from which they afterwards retreat- 

 ed ? As the retreat followed the advance, is it not clear that 

 they retreated from the fame fpaces on which they had before 

 advanced and refted ? 



Mr. De Luc replies, that in the 13th verfe of the 6th chapter of 

 Genefis, it is faid the earth fhould be dejirqyed, and that Mr. 

 Michaelis fo tranflates it. However it is plain, from what has 

 been juft mentioned, that Mofes did not underftand fuch a deftruc- 

 tion as fhould caufe it to difappear totally and for ever ; he tells us 

 that the waters flood 1 5 cubits over the higheft mountains ; now 

 as he has no where mentioned the antediluvian mountains, but 

 has the poftdiluvian, it is plain that it is to thefe his narration 

 relates, and thefe he tells us were at the time of the deluge cover- 

 ed with water, and uncovered when the waters diminifhed ; he 

 never diftinguilhed the poftdiluvian from the antediluvian, and 

 therefore muft have confidered them as the fame. 



Nor did Noah himfelf believe the ancient continents deftroyed, 

 for he took the appearance of an olive branch to be a fign of the di- 

 minution of theflood. This he certainly believed to have grown on the 

 ancient continent, and could not exped it to have fhot up from the 

 bottom of the fea. — Mr. De Luc tells us that this olive grew on an 

 antediluvian ifland, and that thefe iftands, being part of the antedi- 

 luvian ocean, were not flooded — it is plain, however, Noah did 



not 



