SACRED ISLE'S IN THE WEST: ^1 



there, beyond the ocean, their elysium. This idea had even been adopted 

 by Christians y at an early period, as far as consistent with their notions of 

 the Christian religion : for they supposed that the souls of good men 

 previous to the coming of Christ, lived in some happy and blessed coun- 

 try, toward the extremities, the riniy limb, or lembus of the earth, called 

 lardar threutni in the Edda : and as mount Atlas was considered as the 

 margin or term of the earth, it was called also dyrim. The word lembus 

 is not mentioned in scripture, nor by the fathers of the church, but, in the 

 room of it, the words infernal regions are used ; in Sanscrit , Pdtdla, 

 which is nearly the same expression : for,- according to the learned Du« 

 Gange, the word lembus, signifies the borders, limits of the infernal 

 regions: which expression of scripture here, and in the Purdn'as, does 

 by no means imply Tartarus or hell, the abode of the wicked. Accor- 

 ding to Du-Halde, Confucius had said that the holy one was to be found 

 in the west; and he introduces the followers of Budd'ha saying, " we die 

 " content; we are upon the point of entering into that blessed abode in 

 " the west, where Fo waits to receive us, and make us partakers of his 

 " bliss." 



The Tagalees, according to the relation of the Philippine Islands in 

 Thevenot's colle6lion of voyages, not only are acquainted with the 

 White Island', but place their elysium there. The inhabitants of the 

 Friendly Isles in Cook's Voyages, and who speak the same language, 

 with those of the Philippine Isles, place also the empire of Pluto in the 

 west, and call it Bulittu. 



Tins idea, that the elysium is situated in the west, is so universal, that 

 even the savages of »^;?z^7zV^ place their land of souls there also. It is 

 very ancient, for Hesiod places the abode of heroes, in the happy regions 



