the interiors being often not merely inlaid but plated with gold. Gold
and silver were highly valued, but as we shall see later on when the
subject of the currency is dealt with, the uses to which they were put
were entirely artistic and had nothing to do with coinage, while the
great quantities that were then produced by the chemists--or as we
should now-a-days call them alchemists--may be said to have taken them
out of the category of the precious metals. This power of
transmutation of metals was not universal, but it was so widely
possessed that enormous quantities were made. In fact the production
of the wished-for metals may be regarded as one of the industrial
enterprises of those days by which these alchemists gained their
living. Gold was admired even more than silver, and was consequently
produced in much greater quantity.
_Education._--A few words on the subject of language will fitly
prelude a consideration of the training in the schools and colleges of
Atlantis. During the first map period Toltec was the universal
language, not only throughout the continent but in the western islands
and that part of the eastern continent which recognized the emperor's
rule. Remains of the Rmoahal and Tlavatli speech survived it is true
in out-of-the-way parts, just as the Keltic and Cymric speech survives
to-day among us in Ireland and Wales. The Tlavatli tongue was the
basis used by the Turanians, who introduced such modifications that an
entirely different language was in time produced; while the Semites
and Akkadians, adopting a Toltec ground-work, modified it in their
respective ways, and so produced two divergent varieties. Thus in the
later days of Poseidonis there were several entirely different
languages--all however belonging to the agglutinative type--for it was
not till Fifth Race days that the descendants of the Semites and
Akkadians developed inflectional speech. All through the ages,
however, the Toltec language fairly maintained its purity, and the
same tongue that was spoken in Atlantis in the days of its splendour
was used, with but slight alterations, thousands of years later in
Mexico and Peru.
The schools and colleges of Atlantis in the great Toltec days, as well
as in subsequent eras of culture, were all endowed by the State.
Though every child was required to pass through the primary schools,
the subsequent training differed very widely. The primary schools
formed a sort of winnowing ground. Those who showed real aptitude for
study were, along with the children of the dominant classes who
naturally had greater abilities, drafted into the higher schools at
about the age of twelve. Reading and writing, which were regarded as
mere preliminaries, had already been taught them in the primary
schools.
But reading and writing were not considered necessary for the great
masses of the inhabitants who had to spend their lives in tilling the
land, or in handicrafts, the practice of which was required by the
community. The great majority of the children therefore were at once
passed on to the technical schools best suited to their various
abilities. Chief among these were the agricultural schools. Some
branches of mechanics also formed part of the training, while in
outlying districts and by the sea-side hunting and fishing were
naturally included. And so the children all received the education or
training which was most appropriate for them.
The children of superior abilities, who as we have seen had been
taught to read and write, had a much more elaborate education. The
properties of plants and their healing qualities formed an important
branch of study. There were no recognized physicians in those
days--every educated man knew more or less of medicine as well as of
magnetic healing. Chemistry, mathematics and astronomy were also
taught. The training in such studies finds its analogy among
ourselves, but the object towards which the teachers' efforts were
mainly directed, was the development of the pupil's psychic faculties
and his instruction in the more hidden forces of nature. The occult
properties of plants, metals, and precious stones, as well as the
alchemical processes of transmutation, were included in this category.
But as time went on it became more and more the personal power, which
Bulwer Lytton calls vril, and the operation of which he has fairly
accurately described in his _Coming Race_, that the colleges for the
higher training of the youth of Atlantis were specially occupied in
developing. The marked change which took place when the decadence of
the race set in was, that instead of merit and aptitude being regarded
as warrants for advancement to the higher grades of instruction, the
dominant classes becoming more and more exclusive allowed none but
their own children to graduate in the higher knowledge which gave so
much power.
In such an empire as the Toltec, agriculture naturally received much
attention. Not only were the labourers taught their duties in
technical schools, but colleges were established in which the
knowledge necessary for carrying out experiments in the crossing both
of animals and plants, were taught to fitting students.
As readers of Theosophic literature may know, _wheat_ was not evolved
on this planet at all. It was the gift of the Manu who brought it from
another globe outside our chain of worlds. But oats and some of our
other cereals are the results of crosses between wheat and the
indigenous grasses of the earth. Now the experiments which gave these
results were carried out in the agricultural schools of Atlantis. Of
course such experiments were guided by high knowledge. But the most
notable achievement to be recorded of the Atlantean agriculturists was
the evolution of the plantain or banana. In the original wild state it
was like an elongated melon with scarcely any pulp, but full of seeds
as a melon is. It was of course only by centuries (if not thousands of
years) of continuous selection and elimination that the present
seedless plant was evolved.
Among the domesticated animals of the Toltec days were creatures that
looked like very small tapirs. They naturally fed upon roots or
herbage, but like the pigs of to-day, which they resembled in more
than one particular, they were not over cleanly, and ate whatever came
in their way. Large cat-like animals and the wolf-like ancestors of
the dog might also be met about human habitations. The Toltec carts
appear to have been drawn by creatures somewhat resembling small
camels. The Peruvian llamas of to-day are probably their descendants.
The ancestors of the Irish elk, too, roamed in herds about the hill
sides in much the same way as our Highland cattle do now--too wild to
allow of easy approach, but still under the control of man.
Constant experiments were made in breeding and cross-breeding
different kinds of animals, and, curious though it may seem to us,
artificial heat was largely used to force their development, so that
the results of crossing and interbreeding might be more quickly
apparent. The use, too, of different coloured lights in the chambers
where such experiments were carried on were adopted in order to obtain
varying results.
This control and moulding at will by man of the animal forms brings us
to a rather startling and very mysterious subject. Reference has been
made above to the work done by the Manus. Now it is in the mind of
the Manu that originates all improvements in type and the
potentialities latent in every form of being. In order to work out in
detail the improvements in the animal forms, the help and co-operation
of man were required. The amphibian and reptile forms which then
abounded had about run their course, and were ready to assume the more
advanced type of bird or mammal. These forms constituted the inchoate
material placed at man's disposal, and the clay was ready to assume
whatever shape the potter's hands might mould it into. It was
specially with animals in the intermediate stage that so many of the
experiments above referred to were tried, and doubtless the
domesticated animals like the horse, which are now of such service to
man, are the result of these experiments in which the men of those
days acted in co-operation with the Manu and his ministers. But the
co-operation was too soon withdrawn. Selfishness obtained the upper
hand, and war and discord brought the Golden Age of the Toltecs to a
close. When instead of working loyally for a common end, under the
guidance of their Initiate kings, men began to prey upon each other,
the beasts which might gradually have assumed, under the care of man,
more and more useful and domesticated forms, being left to the
guidance of their own instincts naturally followed the example of
their monarch, and began to prey upon each other. Some indeed had
actually already been trained and used by men in their hunting
expeditions, and thus the semi-domesticated cat-like animals above
referred to naturally became the ancestors of the leopards and
jaguars.
One illustration of what some may be tempted to call a fantastic
theory, though it may not elucidate the problem, will at least point
the moral contained in this supplement to our knowledge regarding the
mysterious manner in which our evolution has proceeded. The lion it
would appear might have had a gentler nature and a less fierce aspect
had the men of those days completed the task that was given them to
perform. Whether or not he is fated eventually "to lie down with the
lamb and eat straw like the ox," the destiny in store for him as
pictured in the mind of the Manu has not yet been realized, for the
picture was that of a powerful but domesticated animal--a strong
level-backed creature, with large intelligent eyes, intended to act as
man's most powerful servant for purposes of traction.
The "City of the Golden Gates" and its surroundings must be described
before we come to consider the marvellous system by which its
inhabitants were supplied with water. It lay, as we have seen, on the
east coast of the continent close to the sea, and about 15° north of
the equator. A beautifully-wooded park-like country surrounded the
city. Scattered over a large area of this were the villa residences of
the wealthier classes. To the west lay a range of mountains, from
which the water supply of the city was drawn. The city itself was
built on the slopes of a hill, which rose from the plain about 500
feet. On the summit of this hill lay the emperor's palace and gardens,
in the centre of which welled up from the earth a never-ending stream
of water, supplying first the palace and the fountains in the gardens,
thence flowing in the four directions and falling in cascades into a
canal or moat which encompassed the palace grounds, and thus separated
them from the city which lay below on every side. From this canal four
channels led the water through four quarters of the city to cascades
which in their turn supplied another encircling canal at a lower
level. There were three such canals forming concentric circles, the
outermost and lowest of which was still above the level of the plain.
A fourth canal at this lowest level, but on a rectangular plan,
received the constantly flowing waters, and in its turn discharged
them into the sea. The city extended over part of the plain, up to
the edge of this great outermost moat, which surrounded and defended
it with a line of waterways extending about twelve miles by ten miles
square.
It will thus be seen that the city was divided into three great belts,
each hemmed in by its canals. The characteristic feature of the upper
belt that lay just below the palace grounds, was a circular
race-course and large public gardens. Most of the houses of the court
officials also lay on this belt, and here also was an institution of
which we have no parallel in modern times. The term "Strangers' Home"
amongst us suggests a mean appearance and sordid surroundings, but
this was a palace where all strangers who might come to the city were
entertained as long as they might choose to stay--being treated all
the time as guests of the Government. The detached houses of the
inhabitants and the various temples scattered throughout the city
occupied the other two belts. In the days of the Toltec greatness
there seems to have been no real poverty--even the retinue of slaves
attached to most houses being well fed and clothed--but there were a
number of comparatively poor houses in the lowest belt to the north,
as well as outside the outermost canal towards the sea. The
inhabitants of this part were mostly connected with the shipping, and
their houses though detached were built closer together than in other
districts.
It will be seen from the above that the inhabitants had thus a
never-failing supply of pure clear water constantly coursing through
the city, while the upper belts and the emperor's palace were
protected by lines of moats, each one at a higher level as the centre
was approached.
Now it does not require much mechanical knowledge in order to realize
how stupendous must have been the works needed to provide this supply,
for in the days of its greatness the "City of the Golden Gates"
embraced within its four circles of moats over two million
inhabitants. No such system of water supply has ever been attempted in
Greek, Roman or modern times--indeed it is very doubtful whether our
ablest engineers, even at the expenditure of untold wealth, could
produce such a result.
A description of some of its leading features will be of interest. It
was from a lake which lay among the mountains to the west of the city,
at an elevation of about 2,600 feet, that the supply was drawn. The
main aqueduct which was of oval section, measuring fifty feet by
thirty feet, led underground to an enormous heart-shaped reservoir.
This lay deep below the palace, in fact at the very base of the hill
on which the palace and the city stood. From this reservoir a
perpendicular shaft of about 500 feet up through the solid rock gave
passage to the water which welled up in the palace grounds, and thence
was distributed throughout the city. Various pipes from the central
reservoir also led to different parts of the city to supply drinking
water and the public fountains. Systems of sluices of course also
existed to control or cut off the supply of the different districts.
From the above it will be apparent to any one possessed of some little
knowledge of mechanics that the pressure in the subterranean aqueduct
and the central reservoir from which the water naturally rose to the
basin in the palace gardens, must have been enormous, and the
resisting power of the material used in their construction
consequently prodigious.
If the system of water supply in the "City of the Golden Gates" was
wonderful, the Atlantean methods of locomotion must be recognised as
still more marvellous, for the air-ship or flying-machine which Keely
in America, and Maxim in this country are now attempting to produce,
was then a realized fact. It was not at any time a common means of
transport. The slaves, the servants, and the masses who laboured with
their hands, had to trudge along the country tracks, or travel in rude
carts with solid wheels drawn by uncouth animals. The air-boats may be
considered as the private carriages of those days, or rather the
private yachts, if we regard the relative number of those who
possessed them, for they must have been at all times difficult and
costly to produce. They were not as a rule built to accommodate many
persons. Numbers were constructed for only two, some allowed for six
or eight passengers. In the later days when war and strife had brought
the Golden Age to an end, battle ships that could navigate the air had
to a great extent replaced the battle ships at sea--having naturally
proved far more powerful engines of destruction. These were
constructed to carry as many as fifty, and in some cases even up to a
hundred fighting men.
The material of which the air boats were constructed was either wood
or metal. The earlier ones were built of wood--the boards used being
exceedingly thin, but the injection of some substance which did not
add materially to the weight while it gave leather-like toughness,
provided the necessary combination of lightness and strength. When
metal was used it was generally an alloy--two white-coloured metals
and one red one entering into its composition. The resultant was
white-coloured, like aluminium, and even lighter in weight. Over the
rough framework of the air-boat was extended a large sheet of this
metal which was then beaten into shape and electrically welded where
necessary. But whether built of metal or wood their outside surface
was apparently seamless and perfectly smooth, and they shone in the
dark as if coated with luminous paint.
In shape they were boat-like, but they were invariably decked over,
for when at full speed it could not have been convenient, even if
safe, for any on board to remain on the upper deck. Their propelling
and steering gear could be brought into use at either end.
But the all-interesting question is that relating to the power by
which they were propelled. In the earlier times it seems to have been
personal vril that supplied the motive power--whether used in
conjunction with any mechanical contrivance matters not much--but in
the later days this was replaced by a force which, though generated in
what is to us an unknown manner, operated nevertheless through
definite mechanical arrangements. This force, though not yet
discovered by science, more nearly approached that which Keely in
America is learning to handle than the electric power used by Maxim.
It was in fact of an etheric nature, but though we are no nearer to
the solution of the problem, its method of operation can be described.
The mechanical arrangements no doubt differed somewhat in different
vessels. The following description is taken from an air-boat in which
on one occasion three ambassadors from the king who ruled over the
northern part of Poseidonis made the journey to the court of the
southern kingdom. A strong heavy metal chest which lay in the centre
of the boat was the generator. Thence the force flowed through two
large flexible tubes to either end of the vessel, as well as through
eight subsidiary tubes fixed fore and aft to the bulwarks. These had
double openings pointing vertically both up and down. When the journey
was about to begin the valves of the eight bulwark tubes which pointed
downwards were opened--all the other valves being closed. The current
rushing through these impinged on the earth with such force as to
drive the boat upwards, while the air itself continued to supply the
necessary fulcrum. When a sufficient elevation was reached the
flexible tube at that end of the vessel which pointed away from the
desired destination, was brought into action, while by the partial
closing of the valves the current rushing through the eight vertical
tubes was reduced to the small amount required to maintain the
elevation reached. The great volume of the current, being now directed
through the large tube pointing downwards from the stern at an angle
of about forty-five degrees, while helping to maintain the elevation,
provided also the great motive power to propel the vessel through the
air. The steering was accomplished by the discharge of the current
through this tube, for the slightest change in its direction at once
caused an alteration in the vessel's course. But constant supervision
was not required. When a long journey had to be taken the tube could
be fixed so as to need no handling till the destination was almost
reached. The maximum speed attained was about one hundred miles an
hour, the course of flight never being a straight line, but always in
the form of long waves, now approaching and now receding from the
earth. The elevation at which the vessels travelled was only a few
hundred feet--indeed, when high mountains lay in the line of their
track it was necessary to change their course and go round them--the
more rarefied air no longer supplying the necessary fulcrum. Hills of
about one thousand feet were the highest they could cross. The means
by which the vessel was brought to a stop on reaching its
destination--and this could be done equally well in mid-air--was to
give escape to some of the current force through the tube at that end
of the boat which pointed towards its destination, and the current
impinging on the land or air in front, acted as a drag, while the
propelling force behind was gradually reduced by the closing of the
valve. The reason has still to be given for the existence of the eight
tubes pointing upwards from the bulwarks. This had more specially to
do with the aerial warfare. Having so powerful a force at their
disposal, the warships naturally directed the current against each
other. Now this was apt to destroy the equilibrium of the ship so
struck and to turn it upside down--a situation sure to be taken
advantage of by the enemy's vessel to make an attack with her ram.
There was also the further danger of being precipitated to the ground,
unless the shutting and opening of the necessary valves were quickly
attended to. In whatever position the vessel might be, the tubes
pointing towards the earth were naturally those through which the
current should be rushing, while the tubes pointing upwards should be
closed. The means by which a vessel turned upside down might be
righted and placed again on a level keel, was accomplished by using
the four tubes pointing downwards at one side of the vessel only,
while the four at the other side were kept closed.
The Atlanteans had also sea-going vessels which were propelled by some
power analogous to that above mentioned, but the current force which
was eventually found to be most effective in this case had a denser
appearance than that used in the air-boats.
_Manners and Customs._--There was doubtless as much variety in the
manners and customs of the Atlanteans at different epochs of their
history, as there has been among the various nations which compose our
Aryan race. With the fluctuating fashion of the centuries we are not
concerned. The following remarks will attempt to deal merely with the
leading characteristics which differentiate their habits from our own,
and these will be chosen as much as possible from the great Toltec
era.
With regard to marriage and the relations of the sexes the experiments
made by the Turanians have already been referred to. Polygamous
customs were prevalent at different times among all the sub-races, but
in the Toltec days while two wives were allowed by the law, great
numbers of men had only one wife. Nor were the women--as in countries
now-a-days where polygamy prevails--regarded as inferiors, or in the
least oppressed. Their position was quite equal to that of the men,
while the aptitude many of them displayed in acquiring the vril-power
made them fully the equals if not the superiors of the other sex. This
equality indeed was recognised from infancy, and there was no
separation of the sexes in schools or colleges. Boys and girls were
taught together. It was the rule, too, and not the exception, for
complete harmony to prevail in the dual households, and the mothers
taught their children to look equally to their father's wives for love
and protection. Nor were women debarred from taking part in the
government. Sometimes they were members of the councils, and
occasionally even were chosen by the Adept emperor to represent him in
the various provinces as the local sovereigns.
The writing material of the Atlanteans consisted of thin sheets of
metal, on the white porcelain-like surface of which the words were
written. They also had the means of reproducing the written text by
placing on the inscribed sheet another thin metal plate which had
previously been dipped in some liquid. The text thus graven on the
second plate could be reproduced at will on other sheets, a great
number of which fastened together constituted a book.