309 
by climbing to the tops of the loftiest mountains, but some 
say four were saved.* 
The original inhabitants of Cuba are said to have had a 
tradition, which speaks of a Noah, an ark, the animals intro- 
duced into it, and the sending out of a bird (in this instance 
a crow) to look for dry land, and its return to the ark.+ 
Bancroft devotes five octavo pages to the Mexican account 
of the Deluge, and also tells of that of Guatemala.{ The 
Catios of Colombia likewise have their tradition of the same.§ 
The Pimas of California say that the Flood was known to 
the eagles, who told it to a prophet, but he paid no attention 
to it. After a time, he warned him a second time, and then 
a third time. A cunning wolf told it to another prophet, who, 
knowing the wolf to be a sagacious animal, prepared a boat 
for himself, and made provision to take with him all kinds of 
animals then known. Suddenly the winds arose and the rains 
descended in torrents; thunder and lightning were terrific, 
and darkness covered the world. Everything on the earth 
was destroyed, and all the Pimas except one good chief, Soho, 
who was saved by a special interposition of Providence, from 
whom the Pimas are descended. The Papagos claim to be 
descended from the prophet, who rode safely through the 
storm, and landed safely on Santa Rosa, and they yearly visit 
this mountain in Arizona in commemoration of this event, 
and it is said they will not kill a wolf.|| 
According to the Shastikas, long, long ago there was a 
good young Indian on earth, and when he died all the Indians 
wept so much that a flood came on the earth, rose up to 
heaven, and drowned all people except one couple.. ‘The 
Tolowas lay it to a rain, which drowned all except a man 
and wife, who reached the high land, and subsisted on fish, 
which they cooked under their arms, as everything was so 
water-soaked that no fire could be produced. From them all 
the Indians of the present day are descended, and also the 
game, insects, &c.; for, as the Indians died, their spirits took 
the form of deer, elk, bear, spiders, insects, snakes, and the 
like. The flood of the Karoks occurred at Klamath, and 
Taylor’s Peak is the Ararat of the Mattoals. The Ashochimi 
say all were drowned except the Coyote, who planted birds’ 
* Kdinburgh Review, art. “ Deluge.” 
+ Appleton’s Cyclopedia, art. “Deluge.” See also Journal of the 
Victoria Institute, 1869, p. 298, for another tradition. 
t Native Races of the Pacific, vol. iii. See also Journal of the Victorva 
Institute, 1869, p. 298. § American Antiquarian, vol. iv. p. 177. 
|| Smithsonian Report, 1871. 
