That it is proven beyond question, by
geological evidence, that vast masses of land once existed in the region
where Atlantis is located by Plato, and that therefore such an island
must have existed; 2. That there is nothing improbable or impossible in
the statement that it was destroyed suddenly by an earthquake "in one
dreadful night and day."
CHAPTER. V.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE SEA.
Suppose we were to find in mid-Atlantic, in front of the Mediterranean,
in the neighborhood of the Azores, the remains of an immense island,
sunk beneath the sea--one thousand miles in width, and two or three
thousand miles long--would it not go far to confirm the statement of
Plato that, "beyond the strait where you place the Pillars of Hercules,
there was an island larger than Asia (Minor) and Libya combined," called
Atlantis? And suppose we found that the Azores were the mountain peaks
of this drowned island, and were torn and rent by tremendous volcanic
convulsions; while around them, descending into the sea, were found
great strata of lava; and the whole face of the sunken land was covered
for thousands of miles with volcanic debris, would we not be obliged to
confess that these facts furnished strong corroborative proofs of the
truth of Plato's statement, that "in one day and one fatal night there
came mighty earthquakes and inundations which ingulfed that mighty
people? Atlantis disappeared beneath the sea; and then that sea became
inaccessible on account of the quantity of mud which the ingulfed island
left in its place.
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