(Vol. viii., p. 208.)
Although going over old ground, yet, if it be permitted, I would note a
curious coincidence connected with this far-spread veneration for the West.
As mentioned by G. W., the Puranas point to the "Sacred Isles of the West"
as the elysium of the ancient Hindus, "The White Islands of the West." The
Celtae of the European continent believed that their souls were transported
to England, or some islands adjacent. (See _Encyclopedie Methodique_, art.
"Antiquites," vol. i. p. 704.) The Celtic elysium, "Flath-Innis," a remote
island of the West, is mentioned by Logan in his _Celtic Gael_, vol. ii. p.
342., who no doubt drew his information from the same source as Professor
Rafinesque, whose observations on this subject I transcribe, viz.:
"It is strange but true, that, throughout the earth, the place of
departed souls, the land of spirits, was supposed to be in the West, or
at the setting sun. This happens everywhere, and in the most opposite
religions, from China to Lybia, and also from Alaska to Chili in
America. The instances of an eastern paradise were few, and referred to
the eastern celestial abode of yore, rather than the future abode of
souls. The Ashinists, or Essenians, the best sect of Jews, placed
Paradise in the Western Ocean; and the Id. Alishe, or Elisha of the
Prophets, the happy land. Jezkal (our Ezekiel) mentions that island;
the Phoenicians called it Alizut, and some deem Madeira was meant, but
it had neither men nor spirits! From this the Greeks made their Elysium
and Tartarus placed near together, at first in Epirus, then Italy, next
Spain, lastly in the ocean, as the settlers travelled west. The sacred
and blessed islands of the Hindus and Lybians were in this ocean;
Wilford thought they meant the British Islands. Pushcara, the farthest
off, he says, was Iceland, but may have meant North America.
"The Lybians called their blessed islands 'Aimones;' they were the
Canaries, it is said, but likely the Atlantides, since the Atlantes
dwelt in the Aimones," &c.
And farther he says, the Gauls had their Cocagne, the Saxons their
Cockaign, Cocana of the Lusitanians,--
"A land of delight and plenty, _which is proverbial to this day_! By
the Celts it was called 'Dunna feadhuigh,' a fairy land, &c. But all
these notions have earlier foundations, since the English Druids put
their paradise in a remote island in the west, called {344}
'Flath-Innis,' the flat island", &c.--_American Nations_, vol. ii. p.
245. _et infra_.
The coincidence then is this. The same veneration for the West prevails
among many of our Indian tribes, who place their Paradise in an island
beyond the Great Lake (Pacific), and far toward the setting sun. There,
good Indians enjoy a fine country abounding in game, are always clad in new
skins, and live in warm new lodges. Thither they are wafted by prosperous
gales; but the bad Indians are driven back by adverse storms, wrecked on
the coast, where the remains of their canoes are to be seen covering the
strand in all directions.
I cannot refrain from adding here another coincidence connected with
futurity. The above idea of sailing to the Indian Paradise, though
prevalent, is not general; for instance, the Minnetarees and Mandans
believed that to reach Paradise the souls of the departed had to pass over
an extremely narrow bridge, which was done safely by the good Indians, but
the bad ones slipped off and were buried in oblivion. (See Long's
_Expedition to the Rocky Mountains_, vol. i. p. 259.)
The Chepewa crosses a river on a bridge formed by the body of a large snake
(see Long's _Expedition to St. Peter's River_, vol. i. p. 154.); and in the
same volume it is stated that the Dacota, or Sioux, believe they must pass
over a rock with a sharp edge like a knife. Those who fall off go to the
region of evil spirits, where they are worked, tormented, and frequently
flogged unmercifully.
Now, this bridge for gaining Paradise is just the Alsirat of the
Mahomedans; I think it will be found in the _Bibliotheque Orientale_ of
D'Herbelot; at all events it is mentioned in the preliminary discourse to
Sale's _Koran_. Sale thinks Mahomet borrowed the idea from the Magians, who
teach, that on the last day all mankind must pass over the "Pul Chinavad"
or "Chinavar," _i.e._ "The Straight Bridge." Farther, the Jews speak of the
"Bridge of Hell," which is no broader than a thread. According to M.
Hommaire de Hell, the Kalmuck Alsirat is a bridge of iron (or causeway)
traversing a sea of filth, urine, &c. When the wicked attempt to pass along
this, it narrows beneath them to a hair's breadth, snaps asunder, and thus
convicted they are plunged into hell. (_Travels in the Steppes of the
Caspian, &c._, p. 252.)
Having already trespassed most unconscionably, I forbear farther remark on
these coincidences, except that such ideas of futurity being found amongst
nations so widely separated, cannot but induce the belief of a common
origin, or at least of intimate communication at a former period, and that
so remote as to have allowed time for diverging dialects to have become, as
it were, distinct languages.