4 THE MEDALS OF CREATION. 
petually subjected. It is from an Arabic manuscript of the 
thirteenth century ;* the narrative is supposed to be related 
by Rhidhz, an allegorical personage. 
“JT passed one day by a very ancient and populous city, and 
I asked one of its inhabitants how long it had been founded? ‘It is, 
indeed, a mighty city, replied he; ‘we know not how long it has 
existed, and our ancestors were on this subject as ignorant as our- 
selves. Some centuries afterwards I passed by the same place, but 
T could not perceive the slightest vestige of the city ; and I demanded 
of a peasant, who was gathering herbs upon its former site, how long 
it had been destroyed? ‘In sooth, a strange question,’ replied he, 
‘the ground here has never been different from what you now behold 
it.’ ‘Was there not,’ said I, ‘of old a splendid city here?’ ‘ Never,’ 
answered he, ‘so far as we know, and never did our fathers speak to 
us of any such,’ 
“On revisiting the spot, after the lapse of other centuries, I found 
the sea in the same place, and on its shores were a party of fisher- 
men, of whom I asked how long the land had been covered by the 
waters? ‘Is this a question,’ said they, ‘for a man like you? this 
spot has always been what it is now.’ 
“T again returned ages afterwards, and the sea had disappeared. 
I inquired of a man who stood alone upon the ground, how long ago 
the change had taken place, and he gave me the same answer that 
I had received before. 
“Lastly, on coming back again, after an equal lapse of time, I 
found there a flourishing city, more populous and more rich in build- 
ings than the city I had seen the first time; and when I fain would 
have informed myself regarding its origin, the inhabitants answered 
me, ‘ Its rise is lost in remote antiquity—we are ignorant how long 
it has existed, and our fathers were on this subject no wiser than 
ourselves.’ ” 
We may smile at the ignorance of the inhabitants of the 
fabled cities, but are we in a condition to give a more satis- 
factory reply should it be inquired of us, “‘ What are the 
physical changes which the country you inhabit has under- 
gone ?”—and yet cautious observation, and patient and 
unprejudiced investigation, are alone necessary to enable us 
to answer the interrogation. 
* Quoted by Sir C, Lyell in his “ Principles of Geology.” 
