LOUISIANA. 397 



America^ in which many American opinions are 

 colle<5led, which owe their origin to the truths 

 preferved by Mofes, " The Peruvians believe, 

 " that there formerly jvas a deluge, by which 

 " all the inhabitants of their continent perifhed, 

 *' a few excepted, who retired into caverns at 

 " the top of the highefl mountains, and whofe 

 " defcendar^^Es filled the earth with inhabitants 

 '' ao-ain. Some ideas, little different from 

 " thefe have been received by the natives of 

 ^' Hifpaniola^ according to what Gemelli Carreri 

 " relates. The old hiftories of Mexico llkewifc 

 " mention an univerfal deluge, by which all 

 " men, one man and woman excepted, periihed. 

 " Thefe two people, according to the Mexicans, 

 " had numerous defcendants j but all their chil- 

 " dren were dumb, till a pigeon endowed them 

 *' with the power of fpeech ; they add, that the 

 *' primitive language of the immediate de- 

 '' fcendants of the couple who furvived the de- 

 " luge, was fplit into fo many dialeds, that it 

 *' was impolTible for them to underftand each 

 " other ; which after obliging them to feparate, 

 " contributed to make them people the different 

 " countries of the earth. Some American na- 

 " tions have a tradition, that all men derive 

 " their origin from four women, which agrees 

 " pretty well with the Mofaic hiftory, which 



" make? 



