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THE

LITERARY MISCELLANY,

INCLUDING

DISSERTATIONS AND ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS OF LITERA-

TURE, SCIENCE, AND MORALS; BIOGRAPHICAL

AND HISTORICAL SKETCHES; CRITICAL RE-

MARKS ON LANGUAGE; WITH
OCCASIONAL REVIEWS,

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1-5-40 39896

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PRIMITIVE HISTORY.

CHAP. II.

[Continued from vol. I, page 309.]

Events from the Creation to the Flood.

ABOUT fifteen years after this battle, Noah, having

little dominion left, proclaimed his commission, as a prophet of the MOST HIGH, and threatened mankind with an universal deluge, unless they repented. His preaching does not seem to have produced any effect. On the contrary the more depredations were committed, and the less booty was to be obtained, the more outrageous was the conduct of the invaders. The fields lying uncultivated, it became necessary to substitute animal food, which was eaten raw; and frequently the bodies of those, slain in battle, formed their horrid meal. But little desirable, as to us life would appear in such circumstances, they were desirous of protracting it, if it were only to finish the work of destroying improvements, and of degrading their own nature. About the end of the sixteenth century the whole world were seized with the rage of conquering India, and possessing themselves of the tree of life, which was still supposed to grow there. Numerous fleets invaded the coasts, while whole nations of savages inundated the interior. An admiral of the Egyptian fleet fitted out by Ananti, king of Abyssinia, landed on the banks of the Indus, and plundered the temple of the four sacred volumes of the Veda; but on his return was defeated, and slain, and three of the books recovered. The Egyptian Admiral's name was Hayagriva.* This war is evidently by

*Asiat. Res. ii, 212.

In Maurice's Indian Antiquities vol. ii, p. 266— 270 in the figurative account of the churning the ocean, which describes the

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