that the building of the bridge had only then been begun--the bridge
of Manas, or mind, destined to unite in the perfected individual the
upward surging forces of the animal and the downward cycling spirit of
the God. The animal kingdom of to-day exhibits a field of nature where
the building of that bridge has not yet been begun, and even among
mankind in the days of Atlantis the connection was so slight that the
spiritual attributes had but little controlling power over the lower
animal nature. The touch of mind they had was sufficient to add zest
to the gratification of the senses, but was not enough to vitalize the
still dormant spiritual faculties, which in the perfected individual
will have to become the absolute monarch. Our metaphor of the bridge
may carry us a little further if we consider it as now in process of
construction, but as destined to remain incomplete for mankind in
general for untold millenniums--in fact, until Humanity has completed
another circle of the seven planets and the great Fifth Round is half
way through its course.
Though it was during the latter half of the Third Root Race and the
beginning of the Fourth that the Manasaputra descended to endow with
mind the bulk of Humanity who were still without the spark, yet so
feebly burned the light all through the Atlantean days that few could
be said to have attained to the powers of abstract thought. On the
other hand the functioning of the mind on concrete things came well
within their grasp, and as we have seen it was in the practical
concerns of their every-day life, especially when their psychic
faculties were directed towards the same objects, that they achieved
such remarkable and stupendous results.
It must also be remembered that Kama, the fourth principle, naturally
obtained its culminating development in the Fourth Race. This would
account for the depths of animal grossness to which they sank, whilst
the approach of the cycle to its nadir inevitably accentuated this
downward movement, so that there is little to be surprised at in the
gradual loss by the race of the psychic faculties, and in its descent
to selfishness and materialism.
Rather should all this be regarded as part of the great cyclic process
in obedience to the eternal law.
We have all gone through those evil days, and the experiences we then
accumulated go to make up the characters we now possess.
But a brighter sun now shines on the Aryan race than that which lit
the path of their Atlantean forefathers. Less dominated by the
passions of the senses, more open to the influence of mind, the men of
our race have obtained, and are obtaining, a firmer grasp of
knowledge, a wider range of intellect. This upward arc of the great
Manvantaric cycle will naturally lead increasing numbers towards the
entrance of the Occult Path, and will lend more and more attraction to
the transcendent opportunities it offers for the continued
strengthening and purification of the character--strengthening and
purification no longer directed by mere spasmodic effort, and
continually interrupted by misleading attractions, but guided and
guarded at every step by the Masters of Wisdom, so that the upward
climb when once begun should no longer be halting and uncertain, but
lead direct to the glorious goal.
The psychic faculties too, and the godlike intuition, lost for a time
but still the rightful heritage of the race, only await the individual
effort of re-attainment, to give to the character still deeper insight
and more transcendent powers. So shall the ranks of the Adept
instructors--the Masters of Wisdom--be ever strengthened and
recruited, and even amongst us to-day there must certainly be some,
indistinguishable save by the deathless enthusiasm with which they are
animated, who will, before the next Root Race is established on this
planet, stand themselves as Masters of Wisdom to help the race in its
upward progress.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Students of geology and palæontology will know that these
sciences regard the "Cro-Magnon man" as prior to the "Furfooz," and
seeing that the two races ran alongside each other for vast periods of
time, it may quite well be that the individual "Cro-Magnon" skeleton,
though representative of the second race, was deposited in the
quaternary strata thousands of years before the individual Furfooz man
lived on the earth.]
THE LOST LEMURIA
FOREWORD.
The object of this paper is not so much to bring forward new and
startling information about the lost continent of Lemuria and its
inhabitants, as to establish by the evidence obtainable from geology
and from the study of the relative distribution of living and extinct
animals and plants, as well as from the observed processes of physical
evolution in the lower kingdoms, the facts stated in the "Secret
Doctrine" and in other works with reference to these now submerged
lands.
The Lost Lemuria.
It is generally recognised by science that what is now dry land, on
the surface of our globe, was once the ocean floor, and that what is
now the ocean floor was once dry land. Geologists have in some cases
been able to specify the exact portions of the earth's surface where
these subsidences and upheavals have taken place, and although the
lost continent of Atlantis has so far received scant recognition from
the world of science, the general concensus of opinion has for long
pointed to the existence, at some prehistoric time, of a vast southern
continent to which the name of Lemuria has been assigned.
[Sidenote: Evidence supplied by Geology and by the relative
distribution of living and extinct Animals and Plants.]
"The history of the earth's development shows us that the distribution
of land and water on its surface is ever and continually changing. In
consequence of geological changes of the earth's crust, _elevations_
and _depressions_ of the ground take place everywhere, sometimes more
strongly marked in one place, sometimes in another. Even if they
happen so slowly that in the course of centuries the seashore rises or
sinks only a few inches, or even only a few lines, still they
nevertheless effect great results in the course of long periods of
time. And long--immeasurably long--periods of time have not been
wanting in the earth's history. During the course of many millions of
years, ever since organic life existed on the earth, land and water
have perpetually struggled for supremacy. Continents and islands have
sunk into the sea, and new ones have arisen out of its bosom. Lakes
and seas have been slowly raised and dried up, and new water basins
have arisen by the sinking of the ground. Peninsulas have become
islands by the narrow neck of land which connected them with the
mainland sinking into the water. The islands of an archipelago have
become the peaks of a continuous chain of mountains by the whole floor
of their sea being considerably raised.
"Thus the Mediterranean at one time was an inland sea, when in the
place of the Straits of Gibraltar, an isthmus connected Africa with
Spain. England even during the more recent history of the earth, when
man already existed, has repeatedly been connected with the European
continent and been repeatedly separated from it. Nay, even Europe and
North America have been directly connected. The South Sea at one time
formed a large Pacific Continent, and the numerous little islands
which now lie scattered in it were simply the highest peaks of the
mountains covering that continent. The Indian Ocean formed a continent
which extended from the Sunda Islands along the southern coast of Asia
to the east coast of Africa. This large continent of former times
Sclater, an Englishman, has called _Lemuria_, from the monkey-like
animals which inhabited it, and it is at the same time of great
importance from being the probable cradle of the human race, which in
all likelihood here first developed out of anthropoid apes.[2] The
important proof which Alfred Wallace has furnished, by the help of
chorological facts, that the present Malayan Archipelago consists in
reality of two completely different divisions, is particularly
interesting. The western division, the Indo-Malayan Archipelago,
comprising the large islands of Borneo, Java and Sumatra, was
formerly connected by Malacca with the Asiatic continent, and probably
also with the Lemurian continent just mentioned. The eastern division
on the other hand, the Austro-Malayan Archipelago, comprising Celebes,
the Moluccas, New Guinea, Solomon's Islands, etc., was formerly
directly connected with Australia. Both divisions were formerly two
continents separated by a strait, but they have now for the most part
sunk below the level of the sea. Wallace, solely on the ground of his
accurate chorological observations, has been able in the most accurate
manner to determine the position of this former strait, the south end
of which passes between Balij and Lombok.
"Thus, ever since liquid water existed on the earth, the boundaries of
water and land have eternally changed, and we may assert that the
outlines of continents and islands have never remained for an hour,
nay, even for a minute, exactly the same. For the waves eternally and
perpetually break on the edge of the coast, and whatever the land in
these places loses in extent, it gains in other places by the
accumulation of mud, which condenses into solid stone and again rises
above the level of the sea as new land. Nothing can be more erroneous
than the idea of a firm and unchangeable outline of our continents,
such as is impressed upon us in early youth by defective lessons on
geography, which are devoid of a geological basis."[3]
The name Lemuria, as above stated, was originally adopted by Mr.
Sclater in recognition of the fact that it was probably on this
continent that animals of the Lemuroid type were developed.
"This," writes A. R. Wallace, "is undoubtedly a legitimate and highly
probable supposition, and it is an example of the way in which a study
of the geographical distribution of animals may enable us to
reconstruct the geography of a bygone age....
"It [this continent] represents what was probably a primary zoological
region in some past geological epoch; but what that epoch was and what
were the limits of the region in question, we are quite unable to say.
If we are to suppose that it comprised the whole area now inhabited by
Lemuroid animals, we must make it extend from West Africa to Burmah,
South China and Celebes, an area which it possibly did once
occupy."[4]
"We have already had occasion," he elsewhere writes, "to refer to an
ancient connection between this sub-region (the Ethiopian) and
Madagascar, in order to explain the distribution of the Lemurine type,
and some other curious affinities between the two countries. This view
is supported by the geology of India, which shows us Ceylon and South
India consisting mainly of granite and old-metamorphic rocks, while
the greater part of the peninsula is of tertiary formation, with a few
isolated patches of secondary rocks. It is evident, therefore, that
during much of the tertiary period,[5] Ceylon and South India were
bounded on the north by a considerable extent of sea, and probably
formed part of an extensive Southern Continent or great island. The
very numerous and remarkable cases of affinity with Malaya, require,
however, some closer approximation with these islands, which probably
occurred at a later period. When, still later, the great plains and
tablelands of Hindostan were formed, and a permanent land
communication effected with the rich and highly developed
Himalo-Chinese fauna, a rapid immigration of new types took place, and
many of the less specialised forms of mammalia and birds became
extinct. Among reptiles and insects the competition was less severe,
or the older forms were too well adapted to local conditions to be
expelled; so that it is among these groups alone that we find any
considerable number of what are probably the remains of the ancient
fauna of a now submerged Southern Continent."[6]
After stating that during the whole of the tertiary and perhaps during
much of the secondary periods, the great land masses of the earth were
probably situated in the Northern Hemisphere, Wallace proceeds, "In
the Southern Hemisphere there appear to have been three considerable
and very ancient land masses, varying in extent from time to time, but
always keeping distinct from each other, and represented more or less
completely by Australia, South Africa and South America of our time.
Into these flowed successive waves of life as they each in turn became
temporarily united with some part of the Northern land."[7]
Although, apparently in vindication of some conclusions of his which
had been criticised by Dr. Hartlaub, Wallace subsequently denied the
necessity of postulating the existence of such a continent, his
general recognition of the facts of subsidences and upheavals of great
portions of the earth's surface, as well as the inferences which he
draws from the acknowledged relations of living and extinct faunas as
above stated, remain of course unaltered.
The following extracts from Mr. H. F. Blandford's most interesting
paper read before a meeting of the Geological Society deals with the
subject in still greater detail:--[8]
"The affinities between the fossils of both animals and plants of the
Beaufort group of Africa and those of the Indian Panchets and Kathmis
are such as to suggest the former existence of a land connexion
between the two areas. But the resemblance of the African and Indian
fossil faunas does not cease with Permian and Triassic times. The
plant beds of the Uitenhage group have furnished eleven forms of
plants, two of which Mr. Tate has identified with Indian Rájmahál
plants. The Indian Jurassic fossils have yet to be described (with a
few exceptions), but it has been stated that Dr. Stoliezka was much
struck with the affinities of certain of the Cutch fossils to African
forms; and Dr. Stoliezka and Mr. Griesbach have shown that of the
Cretaceous fossils of the Umtafuni river in Natal, the majority (22
out of 35 described forms) are identical with species from Southern
India. Now the plant-bearing series of India and the Karoo and part of
the Uitenhage formation of Africa are in all probability of
fresh-water origin, both indicating the existence of a large land area
around, from the waste of which these deposits are derived. Was this
land continuous between the two regions? And is there anything in the
present physical geography of the Indian Ocean which would suggest its
probable position? Further, what was the connexion between this land
and Australia which we must equally assume to have existed in Permian
times? And, lastly, are there any peculiarities in the existing fauna
and flora of India, Africa and the intervening islands which would
lend support to the idea of a former connexion more direct than that
which now exists between Africa and South India and the Malay
peninsula? The speculation here put forward is no new one. It has long
been a subject of thought in the minds of some Indian and European
naturalists, among the former of whom I may mention my brother [Mr.
Blandford] and Dr. Stoliezka, their speculations being grounded on the
relationship and partial identity of the faunas and floras of past
times, not less than on that existing community of forms which has led
Mr. Andrew Murray, Mr. Searles, V. Wood, jun., and Professor Huxley to
infer the existence of a Miocene continent occupying a part of the
Indian Ocean. Indeed, all that I can pretend to aim at in this paper
is to endeavour to give some additional definition and extension to
the conception of its geological aspect.
"With regard to the geographical evidence, a glance at the map will
show that from the neighbourhood of the West Coast of India to that of
the Seychelles, Madagascar, and the Mauritius, extends a line of coral
atolls and banks, including Adas bank, the Laccadives, Maldives, the
Chagos group and the Saya de Mulha, all indicating the existence of a
submerged mountain range or ranges. The Seychelles, too, are mentioned
by Mr. Darwin as rising from an extensive and tolerably level bank
having a depth of between 30 and 40 fathoms; so that, although now
partly encircled by fringing reefs, they may be regarded as a virtual
extension of the same submerged axis. Further west the Cosmoledo and
Comoro Islands consist of atolls and islands surrounded by barrier
reefs; and these bring us pretty close to the present shores of Africa
and Madagascar. It seems at least probable that in this chain of
atolls, banks, and barrier reefs we have indicated the position of an
ancient mountain chain, which possibly formed the back-bone of a tract
of later Palæozoic, Mesozoic, and early Tertiary land, being related
to it much as the Alpine and Himálayan system is to the
Europæo-Asiatic continent, and the Rocky Mountains and Andes to the
two Americas. As it is desirable to designate this Mesozoic land by a
name, I would propose that of Indo-Oceana. [The name given to it by
Mr. Sclater, _viz._, Lemuria, is, however, the one which has been most
generally adopted.] Professor Huxley has suggested on palæontological
grounds that a land connexion existed in this region (or rather
between Abyssinia and India) during the Miocene epoch. From what has
been said above it will be seen that I infer its existence from a far
earlier date.[9] With regard to its depression, the only present
evidence relates to its northern extremity, and shows that it was in
this region, later than the great trap-flows of the Dakhan. These
enormous sheets of volcanic rock are remarkably horizontal to the east
of the Gháts and the Sakyádri range, but to the west of this they
begin to dip seawards, so that the island of Bombay is composed of the
higher parts of the formation. This indicates only that the depression
to the westward has taken place in Tertiary times; and to that extent
Professor Huxley's inference, that it was after the Miocene period, is
quite consistent with the geological evidence."
After proceeding at some length to instance the close relationship of
many of the fauna in the lands under consideration (Lion, Hyæna,
Jackal, Leopard, Antelope, Gazelle, Sand-grouse, Indian Bustard, many
Land Molusca, and notably the Lemur and the Scaly Anteater) the writer
proceeds as follows:--
"Palæontology, physical geography and geology, equally with the
ascertained distribution of living animals and plants, offer thus
their concurrent testimony to the former close connexion of Africa and
India, including the tropical islands of the Indian Ocean. This
Indo-Oceanic land appears to have existed from at least early Permian
times, probably (as Professor Huxley has pointed out) up to the close
of the Miocene epoch;[10] and South Africa and Peninsular India are
the existing remnants of that ancient land. It may not have been
absolutely continuous during the whole of this long period. Indeed,
the Cretaceous rocks of Southern India and Southern Africa, and the
marine Jurassic beds of the same regions, prove that some portions of
it were, for longer or shorter periods, invaded by the sea; but any
break of continuity was probably not prolonged; for Mr. Wallace's
investigations in the Eastern Archipelago have shown how narrow a sea
may offer an insuperable barrier to the migration of land animals. In
Palæozoic times this land must have been connected with Australia, and
in Tertiary times with Malayana, since the Malayan forms with African
alliances are in several cases distinct from those of India. We know
as yet too little of the geology of the eastern peninsula to say from
what epoch dates its connexion with Indo-Oceanic land. Mr. Theobald
has ascertained the existence of Triassic, Cretaceous, and Nummulitic
rocks in the Arabian coast range; and Carboniferous limestone is known
to occur from Moulmein southward, while the range east of the Irrawadi
is formed of younger Tertiary rocks. From this it would appear that a
considerable part of the Malay peninsula must have been occupied by
the sea during the greater part of the Mesozoic and Eocene periods.
Plant-bearing rocks of Rániganj age have been identified as forming
the outer spurs of the Sikkim Himálaya; the ancient land must
therefore have extended some distance to the north of the present
Gangetic delta. Coal both of Cretaceous and Tertiary age occurs in the
Khasi hills, and also in Upper Assam, but in both cases associated
with marine beds; so that it would appear that in this region the
boundaries of land and sea oscillated somewhat during Cretaceous and
Eocene times. To the north-west of India the existence of great
formations of Cretaceous and Nummulitic age, stretching far through
Baluchistán and Persia, and entering into the structure of the
north-west Himálaya, prove that in the later Mesozoic and Eocene ages
India had no direct communication with western Asia; while the
Jurassic rocks of Cutch, the Salt range, and the northern Himálaya,
show that in the preceding period the sea covered a large part of the
present Indus basin; and the Triassic, Carboniferous, and still more
recent marine formations of the Himálaya, indicate that from very
early times till the upheaval of that great chain, much of its present
site was for ages covered by the sea.
"To sum up the views advanced in this paper.
"1st. The plant-bearing series of India ranges from early Permian to
the latest Jurassic times, indicating (except in a few cases and
locally) the uninterrupted continuity of land and fresh water
conditions. These may have prevailed from much earlier times.
"2nd. In the early Permian, as in the Postpliocene age, a cold climate
prevailed down to low latitudes, and I am inclined to believe in both
hemispheres simultaneously. With the decrease of cold the flora and
reptilian fauna of Permian times were diffused to Africa, India, and
possibly Australia; or the flora may have existed in Australia
somewhat earlier, and have been diffused thence.
"3rd. India, South Africa and Australia were connected by an
Indo-Oceanic Continent in the Permian epoch; and the two former
countries remained connected (with at the utmost only short
interruptions) up to the end of the Miocene period. During the latter
part of the time this land was also connected with Malayana.
"4th. In common with some previous writers, I consider that the
position of this land was defined by the range of coral reefs and
banks that now exist between the Arabian sea and East Africa.
"5th. Up to the end of the Nummulitic epoch no direct connexion
(except possibly for short periods) existed between India and Western
Asia."
In the discussion which followed the reading of the paper, Professor
Ramsay "agreed with the author in the belief in the junction of Africa
with India and Australia in geological times."
Mr. Woodward "was pleased to find that the author had added further
evidence, derived from the fossil flora of the mesozoic series of
India, in corroboration of the views of Huxley, Sclater and others as
to the former existence of an old submerged continent ('Lemuria')
which Darwin's researches on coral reefs had long since foreshadowed."