SACRED ISIES IN Till WEST. 35 



froiici the appearance of the coMtry, or from a Gemo^ tribe, which proi,^ 



b'abiy invaded it under the comin^nd- of Skirr, son of Ni6RD,the Skirus" 

 son of Neptune, nlentioned by Hesychius:^~>' for N'iaRi> was Neptune 

 among the Scandinavians > But, as this will be the stibjedl of asieparate 

 pa'ragraph, let uS return to the Whiter Mmd, the terrestrial ^o'on, and 

 Amber-like, or jE/^f^m m^«/^ of ; So'tAc us. 



' ItL The White Island is called also Chdndra-dwfpa, or the island of 

 Lunus ; Scma-parvata, or the mountain of the moon ; 'Sasi-clianda, or the 

 cj^ountry of the moon. Some suppose that both the celestial, and terres- 

 trial moons, w6re originally united together, into one mass of Amrii,' 

 which was produced from the rheum, which flowed copiously from the 

 eyes of the giant-like Atri, who caught cold, whilst performing tapasycL 

 in these frig-id cHmates. It is said, in some Purdnas, that this rheum was 

 nothing else, but the spermatical. matter, which reascended,. and came 

 out at his eyes. It fell into the sea^ and Atri said to Oceanus, this is 

 my son, take care of him. Oceanus, howevei*, negle6ted Lunus for a- 

 long time, who floated thus at the mercy of the waves and winds. When 

 at last, recolle6ling his promise to Atri, he gave a place to Lunus; that is 

 to say he fixed it, and made it stationary. He brought him up in his 

 human shape, at his own court, with Lacshmi'; hence Lunus is called the 

 brother of Lacshmi' ; for he was adopted by old Oceanus, and at last 

 considered by him, as his own son. Yet Lunus was far from answering 

 the great expe^ations which the world had formed at his birth. The 

 gods, having maturely considered the subjed, resolved to churn the 

 waters of the. ocean^ in order to obtain fourteen precious things 

 which they were in want of ; and among the rest such a moon as would 



(*) HesycU, ad voc. SKinos.- 



