76 INFLUENCE OF THE RELIGIOUS ELEMENT 



with the main physical facts mentioned in the 

 narrative, no explanation seems to me so probable 

 as the hypothesis I have ventured to put forward. 

 Kiver-floods, howsoever devastating, as for example 

 those of the Yellow Eiver, make no lasting impression 

 on a busy and rude population, and are soon for- 

 gotten ; but a Submergence of the vast extent 

 described would be not only in accordance with the 

 magnitude of the recorded catastrophe, but, having 

 also been looked upon as miraculous and in a 

 religious aspect, would account for the deeper and 

 more lasting impression produced on those peoples 

 who had at the time cognisance of the disaster. Nor 

 would it accord less well with the remoteness of the 

 event, the dimness of the tradition, and the growth 

 of its allegorical accompaniments. 



