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REPORTED DISCOVERY OF
NOAH'S ARK.
TO THE EDITOR.
I am, &c.,
GOPHER WOOD.
July 7, 1883.
Sir—The Register quotes an article from
the New Zealand Herald, which paper, it
would appear, extracts a long article from the
Levant Herald respecting the-discovery "of
the suppofedremainsof Noah's Ark." It was
only last year that the Australian reading
public was amused by am? or two hoaxes
which wen puhliaued wittr suchasnow of
probability Oat nur were deceived ; nor
was it atafl artw^tng that snoh ?hnald
have been thexase. Ifantythat th* article
in tiie Lgtemt war prohaUy in
tended for* hoax. Butinthislnstanee the
thinking giahlfe wffl not bedeoeifed asto
the poaubOftr of the diaootarj of the
Scriptural l&ahV Ark. I observe that
xy. UMlim iftf MM /|f M|? fIWMaMikivaMMMMNi ?
said to ham been appointed by the Saltaa
of Turkey to report on the latoayalanehes
?f Mount Ararat, and who is reported to have
examined the dJaeoteredrenaini of the ark,
issaidtobe Gasooyne. Waa thh naaui se
lected to give a hint to the Teaden of the
XramtArotf that the story was purely ga*
connade? It is not likely that in these dim
of thonghtandaaienee?gchan article should
sppCaW cnxttpt Cor toe purpose of % fiWHC- in*
asmnchasthe belief in the BibDcaUtoryof
Noah's Ark is now generally abandoned by
the thoughtful. By some ft is viewed aa a.
" Divine aQegory," and by many as a Hebrew
romance, not even Mosaic; tor it is flu
opinion of almost all fine who have criti
eaDy stndied the Pentateuch, that "although
the laws contained in it may have originated
with Moses, yet that the books of the Pan
tsteOCn V6n DBTCf WfIUCD fey IuDL It
mold lake 19 too much of your space were I
to tpHJte stool toe wimzusi ot im. iHiosttnoL
xTQCOBOn IjCUgw?Pay JSHDOBML AfIBBO. SD&
Lyefloa the -anbject offteDeinge. I will,
nowerer, rawitinn that Professor Sedgwick
recanted in these mtimnrihln words —"t
?hitiiritgigiit^tti. j^fjftr-ij-trnmil airnH?l*
lit ion We uuglit to have paosed before we
first adopted the dOaftal theory, re
ferring afito the mdSao. of the mosaic
flood, for of nan and the works
of his hands we have not yet found a singU
tzaceamoog the remnants of aforaaar wood
entombed in these aneaent deposits." The
Bey. Dr. Pye Smith and others have written
so clearly on the subject that no one can rise:
from a study of their works without coming
to the conclusion that ? ??""-? -^idaW. m
an "utter impossibility." Nor can a partial
deluge be sfintnl to by the tkaaghtfal
anoaJd the Bible statemrats be received as
facts. MountjArarat is 17,230 feet above the
level of the sea, in round bombers 3J mSes,
and 29 feet above^thb highest peak the waters
prevailed. Were the waters in any one place
on the surface of the earth to rise to
the above height, where, in conformity
with the law of gravitation, woald the
flood extend to? Ittt costpuced-that nearly
the whole earth, would have*beencorered had
Mount Ararat been submerged. Bothatthis
~rH?i. it as impossibls aa a general
ddnge. It most be remembered that the
textaeebzM "*iwT?fi <tf?fc diMtf?^*-iffTm!
upon tite earth"; "All in whose nostrils was
the breath of life"; "And every firing sob.
sxanoe was 4estcvyeo> wnwn was nponuieEaoe
of thegroand"; "And Hoah only remained
afire *?** they that there with ?"m iathe
Ark." These are the mmnstakable words of
Scripture. The late Bishop of Hatal (Dr.
Cotenso) declared Oat Bodrtflood " wheflier
it h? wpnM Mtmliwl wapMtirfiiflnpi
is equally incredible and impossible." He
estimated that the unawim of a column
water 17,000 feet high would b?
474 tons npon every square foot of surface.
KevertbekM the dove is said to have found an
dive leaf which she had plncked off a tree
which had for aaontiM resistocl
uitaniui. But the legend of the ark Is not
less absurd and impossible than Oat of the
deluge. Theark is said to have been about
500 feet kng, 93 feet wide, and fi> feet deep.
Into this vessel all animaU and meatmes of
all sorts with their various foods were col*
lected. They were not ndeaculously fed, for
the Divine instruction was—"Take thtm unto
thee of aU food that is eaten, and than
shslt gather it to thee and it shall be
for food for thee and for them." Now, let
us my""— thelnnmber "of the creatures
which were taken into thfa vessel. It has
been computed by Hugh HUhr Oat there are
1^558 known species of mammals, 612 of
mtiks, 6^66 cfUrds, and 800,000 of Insects.
<rt*mA wiaTavWtwip livftd f which is) in
the Ark&c&r,forG?dssid," X wffldestroy
eery liring thing beneath Ihe heavens." This
also proves thatfliedelnge was declared to be
universal and not |— *iJ The above-men
tioned <?—MhM of the Ark have been
proved to the satisfactionaf scisntists to have
fif^n totally inadequate to irrtttin with the
foodrequiitte for Jheir support during 150
days, one-fifth of the creaturm said ,to
bare been taken into the wiri. From
the faithful believer in Scripture there is
always a reply. On speaking on this subject
to ?penoo, and aaviiig tfcst OB Ark m in
mwtKntm^. to """'yr' the creatures, *"^ th?
requisite food as directed to be procured and
stored,! was met by "It was a miracle, and
iftheAlmit^haannlesaadnscoaUhave
tmt them all into a thimble." and said I, "If
the Bible had said that ne had done so
would _you have believed itr " Un
doubtedly f Then can to little doubt that
the story is a keend, and that it is almost
certainly Egyptian, and subsequently
adopted by iSe Israelites. We learn from
the ancient writers that the Egyptians
believed that the earth was purified from
guilt and wickedness by conflagrations'
and deluges. The oriental nations had a tra
dition that the earth was onoaginaally de
stroyed and renovated by fire and water.
Dr. Prichard writes thus:—"These tradi
tions no doubt were founded on earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, and partial inundations,
which, from tite UnMtA geographical and
ff^awrffin knowledge of the times, would
ff^piy *m? ft""* 5*"1 into univenal conflagra
tions and deluges." Assuming the story of
the Deluge to be a legend, the account of the
ark must be a romance; conseqaentty the
alleged discovery of its remains must be a
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