58 S/icHs as evidence of the AJ/£-;a/io//s. 



Vedic Indi-a. He tells ine that in the later Vedas Luira 

 took over a number of tlie attributes which original])^ were 

 associated with Soma, who in addition to being a drink- 

 god, z>., an Asiatic Dionysos, was also a moon-god. I/uira 

 also assumed many of the characters of ]^aini!a ; and it 

 affords further confirmation of the identity of India with 

 Chac or Tialoc io^i^d the same elements of confusion also 

 in America. Each divinity is presented in Maya codices 

 in numerous phases closely associated with tiie serpent, 

 the tortoise, or the conch-shell, recalling forcibl}' the 

 several incarnations of the popular Hindu deit\', \^ishmi. 

 The fundamental conception is, in fact, typically Brahmani- 

 cal. In order to make this quite clear let us turn to the 

 points of similitude which we find in India. The avataras 

 ["descents"] of VisJiuu are ten in number, the first of 

 which, M<itsja,or fish, is said to have reference to the imi- 

 versal deluge from the waters of which J^ishini in this 

 form recovered the Vedas, or Sacred writings of the 

 Hindus.*^'^ In a work published in 173 1, Ficart^'" gives a 

 picture and the following interesting and quaint account 

 of VisJinus exploits : " He first assumed the sha[)e of a 

 fish, in order to search for the ]^edam at the bottom of the 

 sea, whither it had been carried by an evil Genius, wlio 

 had forc'd it away from the Deutas. ]\lsinon at the urgent 

 request of the Deutas, i)lung'd into the sea, kill'd this evil 

 Geiiius, and return'd with the Vedavi, which he found in a 

 shell. The figure [see Fig i, plate facing p. 62] represents 

 Wistnou coming out of the fish, whose form lie had assum'd ; 

 his two right hands hold the \^edam open, and a ring ; his 

 two left, a sabre, and the shell in which the Vedani was 



'"••^ Binlwoud, '-The Industrial Avis of India,- Tart i, p. ^1 ( SotitJi 

 Kcming/012 iMmeii/ii Hainlhpok ). 



103 I' Religious Ctiionmnies and Cuslnms nf ilie sevcial Naii(.)ns of the 

 known World," vd. iii., 1731, y. 415, pi. 101. 



