Peruvians had likewise semi-fish gods.[83:5]

[Illustration: Fig. No. 5]

Jonah then, is like these other personages, in so far as they are all
_personifications of the Sun_; they all _come out of the sea_; they are
all represented as _a man emerging from a fish's mouth_; and they are
all _benefactors of mankind_. We believe, therefore, that it is one and
the same myth, whether Oannes, Joannes, or Jonas,[83:6] differing to a
certain extent among different nations, just as we find to be the case
with other legends. This we have just seen illustrated in the story of
"Little Red Riding-Hood," which is considerably mutilated in the English
version.

[Illustration: Fig. No. 6]

Fig. No. 5 is a representation of _Dagon_, intended to illustrate a
creature half-man and half-fish; or, perhaps, a man emerging from a
fish's mouth. It is taken from Layard. Fig. No. 6[84:1] is a
representation of the Indian Avatar of Vishnou, _coming forth from the
fish_.[84:2] It would answer just as well for a representation of Jonah,
as it does for the Hindoo divinity. It should be noticed that in both of
these, the god has a crown on his head, surmounted with a _triple_
ornament, both of which had evidently the same meaning, _i. e._, _an
emblem of the trinity_.[84:3] The Indian Avatar being represented with
four arms, evidently means that he is god of the whole world, his _four_
arms extending to the _four corners of the world_. The _circle_, which
is seen in one hand, is an emblem of eternal reward. The _shell_, with
its eight convolutions, is intended to show the place in the number of
the cycles which he occupied. The _book_ and _sword_ are to show that he
ruled both in the right of the book and of the sword.[84:4]

FOOTNOTES:

[78:1] Tylor: Early Hist. Mankind, pp. 344, 345.

[78:2] "En effet, quelques anciens disent qu' Hercule fut aussi devora
par la beleine qui gurdoit Hesione, qu'il demeura trois jours dans son
ventre, et qu'il sortit chauve de ce sejour." (L'Antiquite Expliquee,
vol. i. p. 204.)

[78:3] Bouchet: Hist. d'Animal, in Anac., vol. i. p. 240.

[78:4] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 638. See also Tylor: Primitive Culture,
vol. i. p. 306, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Jonah."

[79:1] Tales of Ancient Greece, p. 296.

[79:2] See Hebrew Mythology, p. 203.

[79:3] See Tylor's Early Hist. Mankind, and Primitive Culture, vol. i.

[79:4] Chambers's Encyclo., art. Jonah.

[79:5] See Fiske: Myths and Myth Makers, p. 77, an