and my discoveries had
upset many of the theories advanced by the modern sages. I could now
positively assert that the wisdom of the world came not from the East
but from the West. It was to the golden West--to Banchicheisi, capital
of Atlantis, that humanity owed its knowledge of the sciences and
arts, and of all things good and evil. Eden, if Eden existed at all,
was not in Asia, it was in Atlantis; and the Deluge, that is recorded
in the Hebrew Bible, and is traditional in the histories of nearly
every tribe and nation, was none other than the mighty inrush of the
ocean over Atlantis, due to some abnormal submarine earthquake.

"Of what eventually became of the Atlanteans whose relics I had so
opportunely alighted upon, I could only surmise.

"The last record I found was on a tablet set up by Niketoth. On this
she spoke of the death of Hullir and Ozilmeave, of the inter-marriage
of the crew of the _Chaac-molre_ with native women; of the consequent
growth of the colony; and of her determination to leave it, and,
accompanied by a chosen few, to push her way further inland.[9]

"The anxiety of my comrades to leave the continent, perforce put an
end to my explorations, and in the beginning of the year 1692--exactly
ten months after our landing--the _Peterkin_ was refloated.

"This time nothing happened to impede our progress, and in April of
the same year, we sighted Boston. Here I remained for some months,
making many new friends, and studying magic and sorcery. But the love
of travel had laid so strong a hold on me that I again took to a
roving life. I set sail for Spain in November 1692; landed at Corunna,
and made my way to Madrid, where I arrived on January 1, 1693."

For the rest, Hamar had to turn to Messrs. Fox and Pool's addendum,
_i.e._ the footnote that Matt Kelson had read aloud.

Hamar was now inclined to regard the book in a very different light.
What he had read seemed to him to be set down in too simple,
straightforward, and, at the same time, detailed a manner to be other
than true. Up to the present he had not believed in ghosts and
witches, for the very simple reason that--like all sceptics--he had
never inquired into the testimony respecting them. He had pooh-poohed
the subject, because every one he knew pooh-poohed it, and also
because it had never seemed worth his while to do otherwise. But
provided he thought it would pay him, he was ready to believe in
anything--in Christianity, Mahommedanis