The Lost Atlantis

An nncientand pIcturesqueGreek myth claimed the existence of' a celebrated island, Atlantis, supposed to have ex isted ac a very early peroicï lu the Atlantic ocean, and to have eventiuilly rolled over the spot where it once flourished. Plato was the first to give a compreheii8ive account of the 1 -land, credlting what Information he got to the priests of Küypt. His story was substuntlnl as follows: In the Atlantic ocean, not a gieat distance trom the pillars ol IIercules(Gibralt.n), was au island of greaterextcnt than all Asia aml África taken together, and in its vicinity were other ishinds, from which tliere was u passaíje to a lurge continent lying far beyond In the fartbest wet. The Mediterranean, compared with the vast ocean in which these islands were situated, resembled a mere harbor with i narrow entrance. Nine thousaud years before this island of Atlantis was thickly settled nnd very powerful. It had conqueret] all África, even as far as Egypt, and its sway extended trom Kurope as fnr as the Tyrrheian Sea, situated hetween Corsica and Italy. The further projjress of its conquests, liowever, was checked by the Greek states. A short time after this a violent earth(liiake, which continued for nearly s; day and a Dlght, and was accompanied by enormous waves and inundations of the .-ia, causvd the island to sink, and for sorae centuries subsiquent to this the feu In thnt qnarter was impussable, owinjr to the nifs and the sboals. Sucl) was the history of the land as !Mato gave it. Other auciont writers decnbed tho islam! as extrcuiely producivo, produdng witie and rain and fruit n atoundance. There wererxu'nsive Ld ricli pasture proiind, ricli mines of both the base and the tine mlnerals, vast and valnable foreste, hot and mineral eprlngf. 3ommijrce was carried on on a vast scale. l'he land was ricli and pleutiful in every way. There were ten kingdoms, each [(jverned by a klnj who clatmed to be descended iVom Neptune, and wliit'twinged peace brooded over all. ïhere were numeróos and spleudid cities, and uiany populous towns. The harbors sheltereil vcssels tlnit carried the proluc.ts of every country then known, and Neptune was the principal Icgislutor and divinity of the people of tui; lost and. There have been many theories advanced, and many books written on the subject. One theory, held in especial avor by many scholars, is tbat America s the Atlantis of l'lato, and many argunents are advttnced In support of this dea. For instance, it is easy to connect .he legend of the lost AtlantU with the remalns of a very reinóte civilization which are now found in Mexico and Central America, where there are ruina of cities the style of whose architecture carries us back to Pelasgic time?; and one writer States that the rt'ligious symboU aud orDaments connected with these reinaius cali 8tron;]y to mind the mysteries of early Greek antiquity. Tliese curious rematas of a (traad civilization are long anterior to Mexican times, and attention is ca lied to the curioua conformation of the American continent along the shores of the Qulf of Mexico, where everything indicates a sinking at a remóte period of a vast tract of land, the site of whlcb, it is said, is now occupied by the waters of the gulf. The mountain tops of this eunkeu land now appear as islands, forming the group of the Westlndies. Other theories held are that Atlantis was actually sitúate in the Atlantic Ocean, and point to the Cañarles, the Azores, and the Madeira isles having forrned portions of it; and some writers have claimed that it extended as far as Newfoundland.