WHat were the instrumental Causes or Means of the Flood? Whether was it effected by natural or supernatural Means only? Whether was God no further concerned in it, than in so ordering second Causes at first, as of themselves necessarily to bring it in at such a time?
First, Those that hold this Deluge was altogether miraculous, and that God Almighty created Waters on purpose to serve this occasion, and when they had done their work destroyed them again, dispatcht the Business, and loose or cut the Knot in a few words. And yet this Hypothesis is not so absurd and precarious, as at first sight it may seem to be. For the World being already full, there needed not, nor indeed could be any Creation of Water out of nothing, but only a Transmutation of some other Body into Water. Now if we grant all Natural Bodies, even the Elements themselves, to be mutually transmutable, as few Men doubt, and some think they can demonstrate; why might not the Divine Power and Providence bring together at that time such: natural Agents, as might change the Air or Aether, or both together into Water; and so supply what was wanting in Rains, and extraordinary Eruptions of Springs. To them that argue the Improbability of such a change, from the great quantity of Air requisite to the making of a little Water; it may be answered, That if Air, and all Bodies commixt with it, were together changed into Water, they must needs make a bulk of Water of equal quantity with themselves, unless we will grant a Peripatetical Condensation and Rarefaction; and hold that the same Matter may have sometimes a greater, sometimes a lesser quantity or extension.
This Cause [the conversion of Air into Water] the Learned Jesuite Athanasius Kircher, in his Book De Arca Noae, alledges as the undoubted instrumental Cause or Means of the Deluge in these words, Dico totum illud aereum spatium usque ad supremam regionem aeris, praepotentis Dei virtute, in aquas, per inexplicabilem nubium coacervatarum multitudinem, quâ replebatur, conversam esse; cujus ubertas tanta fuit, ut Aer supremus cum inferiori in Oceanum commutatus videri potuerit, non naturae viribus, sed illius cujus voluntati & imperio cuncta subsunt. That is, I affirm, That all that Aereal space that reaches up to the supreme Region of the Air, was, by the power of the Omnipolent God, and instrumentality of an inexplicable multitude of Clouds amassed together, wherewith it was filled, changed into Water, so that the upper and lower Air might seem to be […] into an Ocean, not by the strength of Na[…]e, but of him to whose Will and […] all things are subject. And he is so confident1 that this Deluge, in which the […] raised fifteen Cubits above the highest by Mountains, was not, nor could be effected by natural Causes; but by the right hand of the most High God only; that he saith, No Man can deny it, but he who doth not penetrate how far the power of Nature can extend, and where it is limited. To conclude, this Hypothesis hath the Suffrages of most Learned Men. But because the Scripture assigning the Causes or Means of the Inundation, makes no mention of any conversion of Air into Water, but only of the breaking up the Fountains of the Great Deep, and the opening of the Windows of Heaven, I suppose those Causes may be sufficient to work the Effect, and that we need not have recourse to such an Assistance.
As for those that make the Deluge Topical, and restrain it to a narrow compass of Land; their Opinion is, I think, sufficiently confuted by a late ingenious2 Author, to whom therefore I refer the Reader.
I shall not undertake the Defence or Confutation of those or any other Hypothesis: only tell you which at present seems to me most probable, and that is theirs, who for a partial cause of the Deluge, assign either a change of the Center of the Earth, or a violent depression of the Surface of the Ocean, and a forcing the Waters up from the subterraneous Abyss through the Channels of the Fountains that were then broken up and opened.
First then, let us consider what Causes the Scripture assigns of the Flood; and they are two: 1. The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep: 2. The opening of the Windows of Heaven. I shall first treat of this last. By the opening of the Windows of Heaven, is (I suppose) to be understood the causing of all the Water that was suspended in the Air to descend down in Rain upon the Earth; the effect hereof here mentioned being a long continuing Rain of Forty days. And that these Treasuries of the Air will afford no small quantity of Water, may be made appear, both by Scripture and Reason. 1. By Scripture, which opposes the Waters that are above the Heavens or Firmament, to those that are under them; which if they were not […], and in some measure equal, it would never do. Gen. 1. 6. God is said to make a Firmament in the midst of the Waters, and to divide the Waters which were under the Firmament, from the Waters which were above the Firmament. And this was the work of a whole day, and consequently no inconsiderable thing. By the Heavens or Firmament in this place, is to be understood the inferiour Region of the Air, wherein the Fowls fly: who Gen. 1. 20. are said to fly above the Earth, in the open Firmament of Heaven; though elsewhere it be taken for the Celestial Regions, wherein the Sun, and Moon, and Stars are placed.
- The same may be made appear, by Reason grounded upon Experience. I my self have observed a Thunder-Cloud in passage, to have in less than two hours space powred down so much Water upon the Earth, as besides what sunk into the parched and thirsty ground, and filled all Ditches and Ponds, caused a considerable Flood in the Rivers, setting all the Meadows on flote. [And Dr. Wittie in his Scarborough Spaw tells us, of great Spouts of Rain that ordinarily fall every year some time or other in Summer, that set the whole Countrey in a Flood.] Now had this Cloud, which might for ought I know, have moved Forty miles forward, stood still and emptied all its Water upon the same spot of Ground it first hung over, what a sudden and incredible Deluge would it have made there? and yet what depth or thickness of Vapours might remain uncondensed in the Air above this Cloud, who knows? Now it is to be considered, that not only the Air upon the dry Land, but also all that covers the whole Ocean, is charged with Vapours, which are nothing else but diffused Water: all which was brought together by Winds, or what others Means seem’d good to God, and caused to destil down in Rain upon the Earth. And you may easily guess that it was no small quantity of Water that was supplyed this way, in that it sufficed for a Rain that lasted Forty natural days. And that no ordinary Rain neither, but Catarracts or Spouts of Water; for so the Septuagint interprets the words, […], And the Catarracts or Spouts of Heaven were opened.
I return now to the first Cause or Means of the Deluge assigned by the Scripture, and that is the breaking up of all the Fountains of the great Deep. By the great Deep in this place, I suppose, is to be understood the Subterraneous Waters, which do and must necessarily communicate with the Sea. For we see that the Caspian and some other Seas, receive into themselves many great Rivers, and yet have no visible Outlets: and therefore by Subterraneous Passages, must needs discharge their Waters into the Abyss of Waters under the Earth, and by its intervention into the Ocean again.
That the Mediterranean Sea doth not (as I sometimes thought) communicate with the Ocean by any subterraneous Passages, nor thereby impart any Water to it, or receive any from it, may be demonstrated, from that the Superficies of it is lower than the Superficies of the Ocean, as appears from the Waters running in at the Streights of Gibraltar; for if there were any such Communications, the Water keeping its Level, the Mediterranean, being the lowest, must by those Passages receive Waters from the Ocean; and not the Ocean, which is (as we have proved) the highest, from the Mediterranean. But that it doth not receive any by Subterraneous Passages is most likely, because it receives so much above Ground. Hence it necessarily follows, that the Mediterranean spends more in Vapour than it receives from the Rivers; which is Mr. Halley’s Conclusion; though in some of his Premises or Hypotheses he is, I think, mistaken, as 1. In that he numbers the Tyber amongst his nine great Rivers, each of which may yield ten times as much Water as the Thames; whereas I question whether that yields once so much; and whereas he passes by all the rest of the Rivers as smaller than it; there are two that I have seen in Italy it self, whereof the one, viz. the Arnus, on which Florence and Pisa stand, seemed to me not inferiour in bigness to the Tiber; and the other, viz. the Athesis on which Verona stands, I could not guess to be less than twice as big. 2. In that he thinks himself too liberal in allowing these nine Rivers to carry down each of them ten times so much Water as the Thames doth. Whereas one of those nine, and that none of the biggest neither, viz. the River Po, if Ricciolus his Hypotheses and Calculations be good, affords more Water in an hour, than Mr. Halley supposes the Thames to do in a day; the hourly Effusions of the Po being rated at eighteen millions of Cubical Paces by Ricciolus; whereas the daily ones of the Thames are computed to be no more than twenty five millions three hundred forty four thousand Cubical yards of Water by Mr. Halley: but a Geometrical Pace contains five Feet, i. e. 1•• of a Yard. Now if the Po pours so much Water hourly into the Sea, what then must the Danow and the Nile do? each of which cannot (I guess) be less than troble of the Po. Tanais, Borysthenes and Rhodanus may equal, if not exceed it. Howbeit, I cannot approve Ricciolus his Hypotheses, judging them to be too excessive, but do believe that as to the whole Mr. Halley comes nearer the truth. Sure enough it is, that in the Mediterranean, the Receipts from the Rivers fall short of the Expence in Vapour: though in part of it, that is, the Euxine, the Receipts exceed, as appears from that there is a constant Current sets outward from thence through the Thracian Bosphorus, and Hellespont.
But though the Mediterranean doth indeed evaporate more than it receives from the Rivers, yet I believe, the Case is not the same with the Caspian Sea; the Superficies whereof seems to me not to bear any greater proportion to the Waters of the Rivers that run into it, than that of the Euxine doth to its: which we have observed not to spend the whole Receipt in Vapour.
You’l say, Why then do not great Floods raise the Seas? I answer, as to the Caspian, if it communicates with the Ocean, whether the Rivers bring down more or less, its all one; if more, then the Water keeping its Level, the Caspian raiseth the Ocean; if less, then the Ocean communicates to the Caspian, and raises that. But as to the Mediterranean, we may say, that when it receives more on the one side, it receives less on the other, the Floods and Ebbs of the Nilus and the other Rivers counterbalancing one another; Besides by reason of the Snows lying upon the Mountains all Winter, the greatest Floods of those great Rivers in Europe do not happen when the Mediterranean evaporates leàst in the Winter time; but in the Spring.
You’l demand further, if the Mediterranean evaporates so much, what becomes of all this Vapour? I answer, It is cast off upon the Mountains, and on their sides and tops is condensed into Water, and so returned again by the Rivers unto the Sea.
If you proceed to ask what becomes of the Surplusage of the Water, which the Mediterranean receives from the Ocean, and spends in vapour; I answer, It seems to me that it must be cast further off over the tops of the Mountains, and supply in part Rain to these Northern Countries: for we know that the South-wind brings Rain, with us and and all Europe over.
As to the great Ocean, I do not believe that it evaporates so much as the Mediterranean; both 1. Because the whole Mediterranean, excepting the Euxine, lies in a hot Climate, and a great part of it as it were in a Valley, Ridges of high Mountains, Atlas on one side, and the Alps and Apennine, &c. on the other running along it. And 2. Because the Surface of the whole Ocean bears a greater proportion to the Waters it receives from the Rivers of at least this Continent, than that of the Mediterranean doth to its. And therefore I think also that Mr. Halley exceeds in his Estimate of the Heat of the Superficies of the Sea-water. I cannot perswade my self, that were it all commixt, I mean the hotter part with the cooler all the Surface over to such a thickness, it would equal the heat of our Air in the hottest time of Summer. But I leave that to further Trial and Enquiry.
Here give me leave to suggest, that we are not to think, that all the Vapours that supply our Rains and Dews proceed from the Sea; no, a great part of them, viz. all that, when condensed, waters the Earth, and serves for the Nutrition of Plants and Animals, (if not the same individual Water, at least so much) was exhaled out of the Earth before, and returned again in Showers and Dews upon it. So that we receive no more from the Sea, than what the Rivers carry back, and pour into it again. But supposing Mr. Halley’s Hypotheses to be good, and that the Ocean doth evaporate, and cast off to the dry Land 112 of an Inch thickness daily, and this suffices for the Supply of all the Rivers; how intolerably extravagant must their Hypotheses be, who suppose the Rivers of all the World together to yield half an Ocean of water daily? Though I must confess my self to be at a loss as to those vast Rivers of America of ninety Miles broad; for if they should run with any thing a swift Current, it is indeed inestimable what a quantity of water they may pour forth. All therefore that I have to say of them is, That we want a true History and Account of their Phoenomena from their Fountains to their Out lets.
But in contradiction to what I have said concerning the water keeping its level, and flowing in only at the Straits mouth, I understand that it is the concurrent and unanimous Vote and Suffrage of Mariners, Voyagers and Philosophers, that there is an undercurrent at the Straits of Gibraltar, the Thracian Bosphorus, and the Baltick Sound. Particularly M. Marsilly affirms, That the lower water in the Channel of the Thracian Bosphorus is driven Northward into the Euxine Sea, whilst the upper flows constantly from the Euxine Southward. And that that which flows from the South is salter and heavier; which he found by letting down of a Vessel close shut up, fitted with a Valve to open at pleasure, and let in the lower water, which being brought up and weighed, was observed to be ten Grains heavier than the upper. That the upper and lower flow contrary ways, he found by the Fishermens Nets, which being let down deep from Vessels that were fixed, were always by the observation of the Fishermen, by the force of the Current driven towards the Black Sea: and by the letting down of a Plummet; for if it were stop’t and detained at about five or six foot depth, it did always decline towards the Marmora or Propontis, but if it descended lower, it was driven to the contrary part, that is, the Euxine. But I think these Experiments are not sufficient to establish and demonstrate such an under-current, because possibly there might be some mistake in them: and Mr. Smith mentions no such thing as any under-current there. But yet the same Mr. Smith endeavours to prove an under-current by two Experiments: The first is the running Tide and Half-tide in the Offing between the North-Foreland and South-Foreland. Now where it flows Tide and Half-tide, though the Tide of Flood runs aloft, yet the Tide of Ebb runs under-foot, that is, close by the Ground. See Philosophical Transactions, Numb. 158. p. 564.
The second is, an Experiment made in the Baltick Sound: In one of the King’s Fregats they went with their Pinnace into the middle Stream, and were carried violently by the Current: soon after they sunk a Bucket with a large Cannon Bullet to a certain depth of water, which gave check to the Boats motion, and sinking it still lower and lower, the Boat was driven a head to Windward against the upper Current, the Current aloft being not above four or five Fathom deep; and the lower the Bucket was let fall, they found the under-current the stronger.
To all this I reply; That I do not understand how waters can run backward and forward in the same Channel at the same time. For there being but one declivity, this is as much to affirm, as that a heavy Body should ascend. It is a crossing of Proverbs, […], making Rivers ascend to their Fountains, affirming that to be done, which all the World hitherto hath look’t upon as absurd and impossible. And therefore the Matter of Fact had need be well attested: which when to me it shall be, I must then manus dare, yield up the Bucklers, and study some means to solve the Phaenomenon.
Suppose we that the Mediterranean empties it self into the Ocean by an under-current, there must be a declivity to carry it down, and consequently the upper-Superficies of this under-current must have its declivity too, and likewise the contiguous Superficies of the upper-current, and so the upper current must needs ascend in its course inwards. If you say it’s forc’d in by the motion of the Ocean, that seems unlikely, because it runs in constantly, as well Ebb as Flood. And therefore there seems to be no better account of it than the Superficies of the Ocean being higher than that of the Mediterranean.
By the breaking up of the Fountains of the Great Deep, is I conceive meant, the making great Issues and Apertures for these Subterraneous waters to rush out. You will say, how could that be, sith the water keeps its level, and cannot ascend to a greater height above the common Center, than the Superficies of the Sea is, much less force its way, remove Obstacles, and break open Passages?
I answer, According to them that hold that all Rivers come from the Sea by Subterraneous Passages, it is no more than daily happens. For they must needs grant, that the water in the Subterraneous Channels, is raised as far above the level of the Ocean, as are the Heads and Fountains of great Rivers. Which considering the height of their first springs up the Mountains, the length of their Courses, and the swiftness of their Streams for a great part of the way, is very considerable, a constant declivity being necessary to their descent. And therefore I can by no means assent to the Learned Doctor Plot, (if I understand him aright)3 That the Valleys are as much below the Surface of the Sea, as Mountains are above it. For how then could Rivers descend down to the Sea through those Valleys; the Sea would rather run into them, and make Sinuses; or else, if they were enclosed, the water would stagnate there, and make Pools.
If this be done by way of Filtration (which seems to be the most likely Means of raising the water) I do not see, but these Filters may suck up the whole Ocean; and if Apertures and Outlets large enough were made, pour it out upon the Earth in no long time. But I cannot be fully reconciled to this Opinion, though it hath great Advocates, especially the fore-mentioned very Learned and Ingenious Person Dr. Robert Plot. I acknowledge Subterraneous waters: I grant a Confluence and Communication of Seas by underground Channels and Passages: I believe that wherever one shall dig as deep as the level of the Sea, he shall seldom fail of water; the water making its way through Sand and Gravel and Stones. In like manner as it is observed of the River Seine, that in Floud-times all the neighbouring Wells and Cellars are filled with water, and when the River decreases and sinks again, those waters also of the Wells and Cellars diminish, and by degrees fall back into the River, so that there are scarce any Wells or Fountains in the Plains near the River, but their waters keep the level of the Rivers, rising and falling with it.
But this inferiour constant Circulation and perpetual motion of water, seems to me not yet sufficiently proved and made out. I think that the Patrons and Abbettors of this Opinion, have not satisfactorily demonstrated, how it is, or can be performed. To what is offered concerning the Center of Gravity being nearer to our Continent, by reason of the Preponderancy of the Earth, and the Waters lying as it were on an heap in the other Hemisphere, I answer, 1. That in the present terraqueous Globe, the New World which lyes between the two great Seas, and almost opposite to our Continent, doth in […]ome measure counterpoise the Old, and take off a great part of the advantage, which by reason of its Preponderancy, it might otherwise have. Moreover, I am of Mr. Brierwood’s Opinion, that there may be, and is a vast Continent toward the Southern Pole opposite to Europe and Asia, to counterpoise them on that side; nay, I do verily believe, that the Continents and Islands are so proportionably scattered and disposed all the World over, as if not perfectly and exactly, yet very nearly to counter-ballance one another; so that the Globe cannot walter or reel towards any side: and that the Center of the convex Superficies of the Sea, is the true Center of the whole Terrestrial Sphere, both of Motion and of Gravity. I add also of Magnitude: which is exceedingly convenient, as well for the facility as the equability of the Earths diurnal Motion. This Hypothesis of the Continents being disperst equally on all sides of the Globe, makes these Centers concur in one point, whatever cause we assign of the raising up the dry Land at first. Whereas if we should suppose the dry Land to have been raised up by Earth-quakes only on one side of the Globe, and to have cast off the water to the other, and also that the water could find no way into the Caverns that were left within; then the watery side must needs Preponderate the Land-side, and bring the Center of Gravity nearer to its own Superficies, and so raise the Land still a great deal higher, and make a considerable distance between the Centers of Magnitude and of Gravity. In our Hypothesis of the equal dispersion of the Continents and Islands no such thing would happen: but each Continent taking it with all its internal Caverns, whether lighter or heavier than its bulk in water; that is, whether the water did make its way into the Caverns thereof, or did not, (for in the first case it would be heavier, (in the second lighter) would have its counterpoise on the opposite side; so that the Centers would still concur. The case would be the same if the dry Land were discovered, and the Mountains raised by the immediate application of the Divine Power. 2. The Sea being no where above a German Mile deep (for which we have good Authority) in most places not half so much, taking then as a middle term half a Mile. Suppose it every where half a Mile deep, (the Earth below the Sea, we have no reason to suppose of different Gravity) what proportion hath this half Miles thickness of water to the whole Terraqueous Globe, whose Semidiameter is by the account of Mathematicians Three thousand four hundred and forty Italian Miles. What little advantage then can it have of the Earth opposite to it, in point of Preponderancy? 3. Granting the Center of Gravity should be nearer our Continent: The Center being the lowest place, and the Water a fluid Body, unless stopped, (which it might indeed be, if it were encompassed round with high Shores, as high as the Mountains, without any Breaks or Outlets in them) where it found declivity, it would descend as near as it could to it, without any regard of the Earths Preponderancy. And though we should grant, that the driness of the Shores might stop it, and cause it to lye on a heap, yet would it run up the Channels of Rivers, till it came as near as possible to the Center of Gravity. Indeed the Rivers themselves could not descend, but must run towards the middle of the Continent. All this I think will follow from this Hypothesis by as good consequence, as the waters being forced through the Subterraneous Channels out at the Springs. Again, I do not peremptorily affirm, that all Fountains do proceed from Rain; only I contend, that Rain may suffice to feed them, and that probably it doth feed ordinary Springs. This the Ingenious French Author doth well demonstrate in the River Seine, and I believe it is demonstrable in most other Rivers.
The little Brook that runs near my Dweling, and hath its Head or Source not above four or five Miles off, where there is no extraordinary eruption of water, all along its Course receives small Rivulets on both sides; which though they make a considerable Stream at five miles distance from the Fountain-head, yet singly are so small, that they may very well be conceived to drain down from the higher Grounds that lye about them. And taking the whole together, it is a very considerable length and breadth of Land, that contributes to the maintenance of this little River. So that it may easily be believed, that all its water owes its original to Rain: Especially if it be considered further, that in Winter-time after the Rains are fallen, the Ground sated, and the Ditches full, the Stream of this River during the whole Winter following, is for the most part, unless in Frosts, double of what it was in Summer. Which Excess can proceed from nothing but Rain and Mists; at least it would be rashness to assign any other Cause, when there is so obvious and manifest an one. Moreover, that Rain affords no small quantity of water, is clear also from great Floods, wherein it might be proved, that in few days there descends more water than would supply the ordinary Stream for a good part of Summer. Now to compare great things with small; I have seen many of the biggest Rivers in Europe, the Danow, Rhine, Rhosne and Po; and when I consider the length of their Courses, the multitude of considerable Rivers and Brooks they receive; and all these from their first rise, made up by degrees of little Rivulets and Gills, like my neighbouring Brook; the huge Mountains and vast extent of higher Grounds they drain. To me it seems (and I have seen all their Streams near their Out-lets, except the Danows, and it’s after four hundred Miles descent) that they do not bear any greater proportion to the Rivers and Rivulets they receive, and the immense Tracts of Land that […]eed them, than my Brook doth to its smalls Rills and compass of Ground.
But in this, I confess, I do not descend to the niceness of Measuring and Calculation, but satisfie my self with rude Conjectures, taking my Measures, as the Cestrians say, by the Scale of the Eye.
It will here be objected, That the Rain never sinks above ten Foot deep at most into the Earth, and therefore cannot supply the Springs.
Answ. This indeed, if it were true, would much enervate, nay, quite overthrow our Opinion: And therefore we must fortifie this Point, and effectually demonstrate beyond all possibility of denial or contradiction, That Rain-water doth sink down, and make its way into the Earth, I do not say Ten, or Twenty, nor Forty, but an Hundred, nay, Two or three hundred Foot or more.
First then, in Pool-hole in the Peak of Darbyshire, there are in some places constant droppings and destillations of water from the Roof: under each of which (to note that by the by) rises up a Stone Pillar, the water precipitating some of those stony Particles, which it had washed off the Rocks in passing through their Chinks. These droppings continue all the Summer long. Now it seems clear to me, that the Rain-water making its way through the Veins and Chinks of the Rocks above it, and yet but slowly, by reason of the thickness of the Mountain, and straitness of the Passages, supplies that dropping all the year round; at least, this is much more rational than any different Hypothesis. If the water distills down faster in Winter time and wet Weather, than it doth in Summer (which I forgot to ask) the Experiment would infallibly prove our Assertion. In confirmation of this Argument, Albertus Magnus (as I find him quoted in Dr. Wittie’s Scarborough Spaw) tells us, That at the bottom of a solid Rock one hundred and thirty Fathoms deep, he saw drops of water distilling from it in a rainy season.
Secondly, It is well known, and attested to me by the People at Buxton when I was there, that out of the mouth of the same Pool hole, after great and long continuing Rains, a great stream of water did usually issue forth. And I am sure it must make its way through a good thickness of Earth or Rocks, before it could come in there.
Thirdly, What becomes of all the water that falls on Newmarket-Heath and Gogmagog Hills, I presume also Salisbury-Plain, and the like Spungy Grounds all Winter long, where we see very little run off any way? It must needs sink into the Ground more than Ten Foot deep.
Fourthly, Many Wells, whose Springs lye at least Twenty Foot deep, we find by experience, do often fail in great Droughts in Summer time.
Fifthly, In Coal Delfs and other Mines, in wet Weather the Miners are many times drown’d out, (as they phrase it) though no water runs down into the Mouths of their Pits or Shafts. Nay, Dr. Wittie tells us in his Description of the Vertues of the Scarborow Spaw, pag. 105. That after great Inundations of Rain, the Miners find the water frequently distilling through the solid Earth upon their Heads; whereas in Summer or dry Seasons, they find no interruption from thence at all.
Further, to confirm this Particular, I wrote to my Honoured Friend Sir Thomas Willughby Baronet, desiring him to examine his Colliers concerning it, and send me word what report they make; and from him received this account. If there be Springs lye before you come at the Coal, they carry the Water away; but if there be none, it falls into the Works in greater or less quantity according as the Rains fall. Which Answer is so much the more considerable, in that it gives me a further clear Proof, that Springs are fed by Rain water, and not by any communications from the Sea; their original being above the Beds of Coal, they receiving the Rain-water into their Veins, and deriving it all along to their Fountains or Eruptions, above the Coals.
I might add out of him, [Dr. Witty] Fifthly, pag. 85. That the Scarborow Spaw, notwithstanding it breaks out of Ground within Three or four yards off the foot of the Cliff, which is near Forty yards high, and within a quarter of a mile there is another Hill, that is more than as high again as the Cliff, and a descent all the way to the Cliff, so as the Rainwater cannot lye long upon the Ground, yet it is observable, that after a long Rain, the water of the Spaw is altered in its taste, and lessened in its operation; whereas a rainy day or two will not sensibly hurt it. And now I am transcribing out of this Author, give me leave to add an Observation or two in confirmation of Rains being the Original of Springs. The first is (pag. 97·) this;
In England, in the years 1654, 55. and 56. when our Climate was drier than ever it had been mentioned to be in any Stories, so as we had very little Rain in Summer, or Snow in Winter, most of our Springs were dried up, such as in the memory of the eldest Men living had never wanted water, but were of those Springs we call Fontes perennes, or at least were esteemed so. He instances also a Parallel Story out of Heylin’s Geography, in the Description of Cyprus, where the Author relates; That in the days of Constantine the Great, there was an exceeding long drought there, so as in Thirty six years they had no Rain, insomuch as all the Springs and Torrents, or Rivers, were dried up; so that the Inhabitants were forced to forsake the Island, and to seek for new Habitations for want of fresh water.
The second is, p. 84. That in the Wolds or Downs of Yorkshire they have many Springs break out after great Rains, which they call Gypsies, which jet and spout up a great height.
Neither is this Eruption of Springs after long Rains, proper and peculiar only to the Wolds of Yorkshire, but common to other Countreys also, as Dr.4 Childrey witnesseth in these words: Sometimes there breaks out water in the manner of a sudden Land-flood, out of certain Stones, that are like Rocks standing aloft in open Fields, near the rising of the River Kynet [in Kent] which is reputed by the Common People a fore-runner of Dearth. That the sudden eruption of Springs in places where they use not always to run, should be a sign of Dearth is no wonder. For these unusual Eruptions, (which in Kent we call Nailbourns) are caused by extream gluts of Rain, or lasting wet Weather, and never happen but in wet years; witness the year 1648. when there were many of them:—and to our purpose very remarkable it was, that in the year 1654. several Springs and Rivulets were quite dried up, by reason of the precedent Drought, which raged most in 1651, 1652, and 1653. As the Head of the Stour, that rises near Elham in Kent, and runs through Canterbury, was dry for some Miles space: and the like happened to the Stream that crosseth the Road-way between Sittingburn and Canterbury at Ospring near Feversham, which at other times ran with a plentiful Current, but then wholly failed. So we see that it is not infrequent for new Springs to break out in wet years; and for old ones to fail in great Droughts. And Strabo in his first Book out of Xanthus the Lydian tells us, That in the time of Artaxerxes there was so great a Drought, that Rivers, and Lakes, and Wells of water failed, and were dried up.
I cannot here also forbear to add, the probable account he [Dr. Witty] gives of the Supply of the Spring-well on the Castle-hill at Scarborough; at which, I confess, I was somewhat puzzled. This Well, saith he, though it be upon the top of the Rock, not many yards deep, and also upon the edge of the Cliff, is doubtless supplied by secret Channels within the Ground, that convey the Rain and Showers into it, being placed on a dependent part of the Rock, near unto which there are also Cellars under an old ruinated Chappel, which after a great Rain are full of Water, but are dried up in a long Drought.
As for what is said concerning the River Volgas pouring out so much water into the Caspian Sea, as in a years time would make up a mass of water equal to the Globe of the Earth; and of the hourly effusions of the River Po in Italy, which Ricciolus hath computed to amount to 18000000 cubical Paces of water. Whence a late learned Writer hath probably inferred, that all the Rivers in the World together, do daily discharge half an Ocean of waters into the Sea, I must confess my self to be unsatisfied therewith. I will not question their Calculations, but I suspect they are out in their Hypotheses.
The Opinion of Mr. Edmund Halley, that Springs and Rivers owe their Original to Vapours condensed on the sides of Mountains, rather than unto Rains, I acknowledge to be very ingenious, grounded upon good Observations, and worthy of its Author; and I will not deny it to be in part true in those hot Countreys in the Torrid Zone, and near it; where, by reason of the great Heats, the Vapours are more copiously exhaled out of the Earth, and its likely carried up high in the […]rm of Vapours. The inferiour Air at least is so charged with them, and by that means so very moist, that in some places their Knives rust even in their Pockets; and in the Night, so very fresh and cold, partly also by reason of the length of the Nights; that exposing the Body to it, causes Colds and Catarrhs, and is very dangerous: Whence also their Dews are so great, as in good measure to recompence the want of Rain, and serve for the nourishment of Plants; as they do even in Spain it self.
I shall first of all propose this Opinion in the Words of the Author, and then discourse a little upon it. After he had enumerated many of the high Ridges and Tracts of Mountains in the four Quarters of the World, he thus proceeds: Each of which far surpass the usual height to which the Aqueous Vapours of themselves ascend, and on the tops of which the Air is so cold and rarified, as to retain but a small part of those Vapours that shall be brought thither by the Winds. Those Vapours therefore that are raised copiously in the Sea, and by the Winds are carried over the low Lands to those Ridges of Mountains, are there compelled by the stream of the Air to mount up with it to the tops of the Mountains, where the water presently precipitates gleeting down by the Crannies of the Stone; and part of the Vapour entring into the Cavities of the Hills, the water thereof gathers, as in an Alembick, into the Basons of Stone it finds; which being once filled, all the overplus of water that comes thither, runs over by the lowest place, and breaking out by the sides of the Hills forms single Springs. Many of these running down by the Valleys or Guts between the Ridges of the Hills, and coming to unite, form little Rivulets or Brooks. Many of these again meeting in one common Valley, and gaining the plain ground, being grown less rapid, become a River: and many of these being united in one common Channel, make such Streams, as the Rhine, the Rhosne, and the Danube, which latter one would hardly think the Collection of Water condensed out of Vapour, unless we consider how vast a Tract of Ground that River drains, and that it is the sum of all those Springs, which break out on the South side of the Carpathian Mountains, and on the North side of the immense Ridge of the Alps, which is one continued Chain of Mountains from Switzerland to the Black Sea. And it may almost pass for a Rule, that the magnitude of a River, or the quantity of water it evacuates, is proportionable to the length and height of the Ridges, from whence its Fountains arise. Now this Theory of Springs is not a bare Hypothesis, but founded on Experience, which it was my luck to gain in my abode at St. Helena; where, in the night time on the tops of the Hills, about Eight hundred yards above the Sea, there was so strange a condensation, or rather precipitation of the Vapours, that it was a great impediment to my Celestial Observations; for in the clear Sky the Dew would […]all […]o wait, as to cover each half quarter of an hour my Glasses with little drops, so that I was necessitated to wipe them off so often; and my Paper, on which I wrote my Observations, would immediately be so wet with the Dew, that it would not bear Ink: by which it may be supposed, how fast the water gathers in those mighty high Ridges I but now named.—At last he concludes: And I doubt not but this Hypothesis is more reasonable, than that of those who derive all Springs from the Rain waters, which yet are perpetual, and without diminution, even when no Rain falls for a long space of time.
This may, for ought I as yet see or know, be a good account of the Original of Springs in those fervid Regions, though even there, I doubt, but partial; but in Europe, and the more temperate Countries, I believe the Vapours in this manner condensed, have but little interest in the production of them, though I will not wholly exclude them. For,
First, The Tops of the Alps above the Fountains of four of the greatest Rivers in Europe, the Rhine, the Rhosne, the Danow, and the Po, are for about Six Months in the year constantly covered with Snow, to a great thickness; so that there are no Vapours all that while that can touch those Mountains, and be by them condensed into water; there falls nothing there but Snow, and that continuing all that while on the ground without Dissolution, hinders all access of Vapours to the Earth; if any rose, or were by Winds carried so high in that form, as I am confident there are not. And yet for all that, do not those Springs fail, but continue to run all Winter; and it is likely too, without diminution; which is a longer time than Droughts usually last; especially if we consider that this want of supply, is constant and annual; whereas Droughts are but rare and accidental. So that we need not wonder any more, that Springs should continue to run, and without diminution too, in times of Drought. True it is, that those Rivers run low all Winter, so far as the Snow extends, and to a good distance from their Heads; but that is for want of their accidental supplies from showers. Nay, I believe, that even in Summer, the Vapours are but rarely raised so high in a liquid form in the free Air, remote from the Mountains, but are frozen into Snow, before they arrive at that height. For the Middle Region of the Air, where the Walk of the Clouds is, at least the superiour part of it, is so cold as to freez the Vapours that ascend so high, even in Summer time. For we see that in the height and heat of Summer, in great Thunder storms, for the most part it hails: nay, in such Tempests I have seen mighty showers of great Hail-stones fall, some as big as Nutmegs or Pigeons Eggs; and in some places such heaps of them, as would load Dung Carts, and have not been dissolved in a day or two. At the same Seasons I have observed, in some showers Hail-stones fall of irregular Figures, and throughout pellucid, like great pieces of Ice, with several snags or […]angs issuing out of them: which how they could be supported in the Air till they amounted to that bulk and weight, is a thing worthy to be more curiously considered. For either they must fall from an incredible height, the Vapours, they encountred by the way, condensing and as it were crystallizing upon them into Ice, and in time augmenting them to that bulk; or else there must be some strange and unknown faculty in the Air to sustain them. That the superiour Air doth support heavy Bodies better then the inferiour, the flight of Birds seems to be a clear demonstration. For when they are mounted up on high, they fly with less fatigue, and move forward with greater facility, and are able to continue longer upon the wing without delassation then in the lower Air they could possibly do. And therefore when they are to make great flights, they soar aloft in the Air, at a great height above the Earth. So have I often seen a a […]lock of Wild-g[…]se mounted so high, that though their flight be swift, they seemed to make but little way in a long time, and to proceed on their journey with ease and very leisurely by reason of their distance. And yet one would think this were contrary to […]ason, that the lighter Air, such as is the susperiour, should better support a weighty Body than the heavier, that is, the inferiour. Some imagine that this comes to pass by […]eason of the Wind which is constantly moving in the upper Air, which supports any Body that moves contrary to it. So we see that those Paper-kites which Boys make, are […] in the Air by running with them contrary to the Wind: and when they are advanced […]o a great height, do but stick down […] end of the Line to which they are […] into the ground, they will be continued by […] Wind at the same height they […]ere, so long as it lasts and abides in the […]. In like manner the Birds fly[…] contrary the Wind, it supports and […] them up. But if this were the only season, methinks it should not be so easie, […] very laborious for Birds to fly […] the Wind so as to make any considerable progress in the superiour Air, as we see they do. And therefore possibly they may be nearer the right, who suppose that the Gravity of Bodies decreases proportionably to their distance from the Earth: and that a Body may be advanced so high as quite to lose its gravity and inclination or tendency to the Center: of which I do not see how it is possible to make experiment: for to what is said by some to have been tried, that a bullet shot perpendicularly upward out of a great Gun, never descended again, I give no credit at all.
But to leave that, it is certain, that the Vapours after they are mounted up to a considerable height in the Air, are congealed and turned into the immediate component Principles of Snow, in which form I conceive they acquire a lightness, and are apt to ascend higher than they could do, should they retain the form of a humid Vapour; as, we see, Ice is lighter than Water, out of which it is frozen. But whether this be the reason of their ascent or not, I am sure of the matter of Fact, that these Snow-Clouds do ascend far above the highest Tops of the Alps; For passing over a Mountain in the Grisons Country, on the very ridge, of them, in the beginning of the Spring, it snowed very fast during my whole passage or six hours; and yet the Clouds seemed to be as far above my head, as they do here in England; and a great height they must be, for the Snow to gather into so great flakes, and to continue so long falling; nay, it may be three times so long. Moreover, we see, that the highest Pikes and Summits of those Mountains are covered with Snow. And I am assured, that all the Winter long at intervals, it Snows upon the Tops of the Alps.
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In the Spring time, when the Snow dissolves, some of these Rivers that flow down from the Alpine Mountains, run with a full stream, and overflow their Banks, in clear Sun-shine weather, though no Rain falls, as I my self can witness; and therefore I presume, that all the rest do so too, as the Inabitants affirmed. But in the Summer time after the Snow hath been some time melted, their Streams decay again, notwithstanding any Vapours condensed upon them, proportionable to the Droughts; neither are there any Floods, but upon falls of Rain.
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That the Snow dissolved and soaking into the Earth, is the Original of the Alpine Springs; a probable Argument may be taken from the colour of the Water of those Rivers which descend from the Alps, at least on this Northern side, which I observed to be of a Sea-green, even to a great distance from their Heads; which whence can it proceed, unless from the Nitrous Particles of the Snow water, of which they consist? Another also from the Bronchocele, or5 gutturine tumour, an Endemial Disease of the Natives of those parts, which Physicians and Naturalists attribute to the water they drink, not without good reason; because, say they, it consists of melted Snow, which gives it that malignant quality.6 Scaliger speaking of this Disease, Saith, Id ab aqua fit è nivibus liquefactis, quae multum terrestris & crudi continet. But because Iulius Palmarius may possibly be in the right, who imputes this Disease to the steams of the Minerals, especially Mercurial, wherewith these Mountains abound, which insect the waters, and render them noxious to the nervous parts; I shall not insist upon this particular.
In confirmation of what I have said concerning the Original of the Alpine Springs, I shall add the Opinion of the Learned Alphonsus Borellus concerning the Fountains springing up or issuing out of the sides of Mount Aetna in Sicily, They are probably (saith he) either generated, or at least encreased, from the melting of the Snow, which doth perpetually occupy the top of the Mountain. And this is manifest, in that they are not dimished nor decrease in Summer, as alsewhere it happens, but often flow more plentifully. Lib. De incendiis Aetnae.
What Mr. Halley saith of Springs, that they are perpetual and without diminution, even when no Rain falls for a long space of time. If he understands it generally of all Springs, I add, that are accounted quick ones too, I deny his assertion: that some there may be of that nature, I grant: a reason whereof may be given, viz. that the Out-let is too small to empty the water of all the Veins and Earth that lye above it in a long time. In our Native Country of England there are living and lasting Springs rising at the feet of our small Hills and Hillocks, to which I am sure the Vapours contribute very little; which is so obvious to every man, that I think I need not spend time to prove it.
Yet must I not dissemble or deny, that in the Summer time the Vapours do ascend, or are carried up in that form by the sides of the Mountains to their highest tops, and above them; for there falls no Snow there in the heat of Summer; and that which lies there, is for the most part dissolved. But that Rain falls plentifully there, I my self can witness; having been on the two highest Tops of the Mount Iura, (which keeps the Snow all Winter) on the one called Thuiri in a Thunder shower; and on the other, called la Dolaz, in a smart and continuing Rain: So that I will not deny, but in Summer time the Vapours may contribute somewhat to the Springs; as I have elsewhere intimated: Clouds almost continually hanging upon the tops of the Mountains, and the Sun having there but little power.
And now that I am discoursing of these things, give me leave to set down an Observation I made in the last great Frost, the sharpest that was ever known in the memory of Man, which I had before met with in Books, but did not give firm credit to, that is, that notwithstanding the violence of the Frost, all the Springs about us, brake out and ran more plentifully than usually they did at any other time: which I knew not what to impute to, unless perchance the close stopping the Pores of the Earth, and keeping in that part, which at other times was wont to vapour away; which Account, I neither then could, nor can yet fully acquiesce in.
To this I will here add an Abstract of a Letter written by my honoured Friend Dr. Tancred Robinson.
YOV may peradventure meet with some opposition against your Hypothesis of Fountains, though indeed I am more and more confirm’d in your Opinion of them, and the use of the Mountains. Father Tachart in his second Voyage to Siam, says, when he went up to the top of the Table Mountain at the Cape of Good Hope, the Rocks and Shrubs were perpetually dropping and feeding the Springs and Rills below, there being generally Clouds hanging on the sides near the top. This constant distillation of Vapours from the Ocean on the many high Ridges of that great Promontory, may peradventure be one cause of the wonderful fertility and luxury of the Soil which produces more rare Plants and Animals then any known Spot of Ground in the World; the Discovery whereof is owing to the Curiosity and Wisdom of the Dutch. The same observation hath been frequently made by our English Merchants in the Madera and Canary Islands, (the first of which is near in the same Latitude on the North of the Aequator, that the afore-mentioned Cape is in on the South) especially in their Iourneys up to the Pike of Tenerist, in which, at such and such heights, they were always wet to the skin, by the droppings of the great Stones, yet no Rain over head; the same I have felt in passing over some of the Alps. The Trees, which in the Islands of Ferro, St. Thomas and in Guiny, are said to furnish the Inhabitants with most of their water, stand on the sides of vast Mountains: Vossius in his Notes on Pomponius Mela, affirms them to be Arborescent Ferula’s; though indeed, according to Paludanus his dry’d Sample sent to the Duke of Wirtenberg they seem rather to be of the Laurel kind; perhaps there are many different sorts of them. I believe there is something in the many Relations of Travellers and Voyagers concerning these Trees; but then I fancy they are all mistaken, when they say, the water issues out of the Trees: The Vapors stop’t by the Mountains condense and distil down by the Boughs. There being no Mountains in Egypt, may be one reason why there is little or no Rain in that Country, and consequently no fresh Springs; therefore in their Caravans they carry all their water with them in great Borracio’s, and they owe the Inundation of their River Nile to the stationary or periodical Rains on the high parts of Aethiopia. This may be the cause that the vast Ridge and Chain of Mountains in Peru, are continually water’d, when the great Plains in that Countrey are all dry’d up and parch’t. This Hypothesis concerning the Original of Springs from Vapours, may hold better in those hot Regions within and near the Tropicks (where the Exhalations from the Sea are most plentiful, most rarify’d, and Rain scarce) than in the Temperate and Frigid ones (where it rains and snows generally on the Vertices of the Mountains) yet even in our European Climates I have often observ’d the Firs, Pines, and other Vegetables near the Summits of the Alps and Appennines, to drop and run with water, when it did not rain above; some Trees more than others, according to the density and smoothness of their Leaves and Superficies, whereby the stop and condense the Vapours more or less. The Beams of the Sun having little force on the high parts of Mountains, the interrupted Vapours must continually moisten them, and (as in the head of an Alembick) condense and trickle down; so that we owe part of our Rain, Springs, Rivers, and Conveniencies of Life, to the operation of Distillation and Circulation by the Sun, the Sea, and the Hills, without even the last of which, the Earth would scarce be habitable. This present year in Kent they have had no Rain since March last; therefore most of their Springs are dry at this very day, as I am assur’d from good Hands. The high spouting of water even to three Fathoms perpendicular out of innumerable holes on the Lake Zirknitz in Carniola after Rains on the adjacent Hills, exceeds the spirting Gips or natural Jet d’ Eaus we have in England. Nouemb. 12. 1691. Tancred Robinson.
Since the receipt of this Letter, an Experiment (give me leave so to call it) occurred to me, which much confirmed me in the belief and perswasion of the Truth of those Histories and Relations which Writers and Travellers have delivered to us concerning dropping Trees in Ferro, S. Thome, Guiny, &c. of which before I was somewhat diffident; and likewise in the approbation of the Hypothesis of my Learned Friend Dr. Tancred Robinson for the solving of that Phaenomenon. The same also induces me to believe, that Vapours may have a greater interest in the production of Springs even in temperate and cold Regions, than I had before thought. The Experiment or Observation is this,
About the beginning of December 1691. there happened to be a Mist, and that no very thick one, which continued all day: the Vapour whereof, notwithstanding the Trees were wholly devested of Leaves, condensed so fast upon their naked Branches and Twigs, that they dropped all day at such a rate, that I believe the water distilling from a large Tree in twenty four hours had it been all received and reserved in a Vessel, might have amounted to a Hogshead. What then may we rationally conjecture, would have dropped from such a Tree; had it been covered with Leaves of a dense Texture, and smooth Superficies, apt to collect the Particles of the Vapour, and unite them into Drops?
It is clear by this effect, that Trees do distil water apace when Clouds or Mists hang about them; which they are reported by Benzo constantly to do about the Fountain Tree in Ferro; except when the Sun shines hot upon it. And others tell us, that that Tree grows upon a Mountain too: So that it is no wonder, that it should drop abundance of water. What do I speak of that Tree? all the Trees of that kind grow on the sides of vast Mountains, as Dr. Robinson hath noted, yet he thinks that now and then many Trees may run and distil in Plains and Valleys, when the Weather has been fair, but then this Phaenomenon happens very rarely; whereas in the other ‘tis regular and constant. Besides that in hot Regions Trees may in the Night time distil water, though the Air be clear, and there be no Mist about them, seems necessarily to follow, from Mr. Halley’s Experiment.
Now if there be in Mists thus much Vapour condensed upon Trees, doubtless also there is in proportion as much upon the Surface of the Earth and the Grass: And consequently, upon the Tops and Ridges of high Mountains, which are frequently covered with Clouds or Mists much more; so much as must needs have a great interest in the production and supply of Springs, even in temperate Countries.
But that invisible Vapours, when the Sky is clear, do at any time condense so fast upon the Trees, as to make them drop· I never observed in England or elsewhere, no not in the Night season; though I do not deny, but upon the Appennine and Southern side of the Alps, and elsewhere in the hotter parts of Europe in Summer Nights they may. However, considering the Penetrancy of such Vapours, that in moist Weather they will insinuate themselves deeply into the Pores of dry Wood, so that Doors will then hardly shut, and Chinks and Crannies in Boards and Floors be closed up, I know not but that they may likewise strike deep into the Ground, and together with Mists contribute to the seeding and maintenance of Springs, in Winter-time, when the Sun exhales but little; it being an Observation of the Learned7 Fromondus, Quod hyeme nec nivah, nec imbrifera fontes tamen aquam largiùs quàm aejlate (nisi valdè pluvia sit) vomant. That in Winters neither snowy nor rainy, yet fountains pour forth more water than in Summer, unless it happen to be a very wet season. Yet are their Contributions inconsiderable, if compared with the supplies that are a[…]orded by Rains. And one reason why in Winter Fountains flow more plentifully, may be, because then the Sun defrauds them not, nor exhales any thing out of the Earth, as in Summer time he doth.
Therefore whenever in this Work I have assigned Rain to be a sufficient or only cause of Springs and Rivers, I would not be understood to exclude, but to comprehend therein Mists and Vapours; which I grant to have some interest in the production of them, even in temperate and cold Regions; and a very considerable one in Hot. Though I cannot be perswaded, that even there they are the sole Cause of Springs, for that there fall such plentiful and long continuing Rains, both in the East and West-Indies in the Summer Months: which must needs contribute something to their Original.
But to return from whence we digressed, that is, to the consideration of that Hypothesis or Opinion, That all the Rivers of the Earth discharge into the Sea half an Ocean of waters daily.
I have read of some Philosophers, who imagined the Earth to be a great Animal, and that the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea was the respiration of it. And now methinks, if this Doctrine be true, we have a further Argument to confirm their Opinion: For this perpetual Motion of the water answers very well to the Circulation of the Blood; the water moving faster in proportion to its bulk through the Veins of this round Animal, then the Blood doth through those of other living Creatures. To which we may add further, that to maintain this constant Circulation there is also probably about the Center of the Earth a perpetual Fire, answering to the Biolychnium in the heart: but if not about the Center, yet certainly in profound Caverns, and even under the very bottoms of the Seas; to which some, and no mean Philosophers, have attributed the Ebbing and flowing of its waters.
Let us then suppose that the Rivers do daily carry down to the Sea half an Ocean of water, and that the Rain supplies all that, as our Opinion is, and see what we can infer from thence: I think it will be granted that ordinarily (communibus annis) the Rain that falls in a whole year amounts not to above one quarters continual Rain. Now if this suffices for a daily effusion of half an Ocean, […], that if it should rain without any […] all the year round, the Rivers would […] out two Oceans into the Sea […] And so in forty days continual Rain […] would distil down upon the Earth […] of Water. A prodigious quantity […] and scarce credible, which if the […] as fast as it comes on, […] a quantity of water […] twice in twenty four […] then that so much water […] upon the earth, I argue thus, […] upon the Earth must have […] down to the Sea, and according […]o the small declivity of the […] the Mountains pared off and […] a considerable one too […] it actually hath, so that the Floods […] some days after the […] upon the higher grounds. And […] the general Deluge […] down to the Sea as fast […] the Earth would permit, […] the Fountains of the […] Clouds […] could than they run down […] the Earth, it deserves […] whether by the end of […] Mountains fifteen Cubits high. And yet the Scripture doth not in plain terms say, that ever the waters of the Flood arose fifteen Cubits above the tops of the highest Mountains, as Mr. Warren well observes.
Besides, we are further to consider, that this forty days Rain at the time of the Deluge, was no ordinary one, such as those that usually distil down leisurely and gently in Winter time, but like our Thunder-storms and violent Showers, Catarracts, and Spouts, which pour forth more water in an hour then they do in four and twenty. So that in forty natural days the Clouds would empty out upon the Earth not eighty Oceans of water, but above twenty times that quantity. If by the Windows of Heaven are meant Catarracts, as the Septuagint interpret the word. And so we need not be to seek for water for a Floud; for the Rain alone falling at that rate we have mentioned, would if the Opinion of those men (who hold that the Rivers discharge into the Sea half an Ocean daily) were true, in the space of forty natural days afford water enough, supposing it run off no faster than usually it doth, to cover the Earth, Mountains and all. Neither yet did the Mountains help, but rather hinder the descent of the waters down to the Sea, straitning it into Channels, obstructing its passage, and forcing it to take Circuits, till it got above the Ridges and Tops of them.
As to this Argumentation and Inference the case is the same if we hold that the Water circulates through the […] of the Earth. For supposing the Rivers pour […] half an Ocean daily, and granting that in times of Floods their streams are but double of their usual Currents (though I verily believe they are more than quadruple) and that the effusions of the Fountains be in like measure augmented, it will follow that the daily discharge of the Rivers will amount to two Oceans. Now at the time of the general Deluge both these Causes concurred. For there being a constant Rain of forty days, there must on that account be a continual Flood, and the Fountains of the great Deep being broken up, they must in all likelyhood afford as much Water as the Rain: which whether it would not suffice in forty natural days to produce a Flood as big as that of Noah, notwithstanding the continual descent and going off of the Waters, I propose to the consideration of the Ingenious. Especially if we allow, as is not unreasonable […] suppose, that the Divine Providence […] at first cause a contrary Wind to stop […] inhibit the descent of the Waters, as afterwards he raised an assisting one to carry them off.
I have but one thing more to add upon this Subject, that is, that I do not see how their Opinion can be true, who hold that some Seas are lower than others; as for Example, the Red Sea than the Mediterranean. For it being true that the Water keeps its level, that is, holds its Superficies every where equidistant from the Center of Gravity; or if by accident one part be lower, the rest by reason of their fluidity will speedily reduce the Superficies again to an equality. The Waters of all Seas communicating either above, or under ground, or both ways, one Sea cannot be higher or lower than another: but supposing any accident should elevate or depress any, by reason of this confluence or communication it would soon be reduced to a level again, as might demonstratively be proved.
But I return, to tell the Reader what I think the most probable of all the Causes I have heard assigned of the Deluge, which is, the Center of the Earth being at that time changed, and set nearer to the Center or middle of our Continent, whereupon the Atlantick and Pacifick Oceans must needs press upon the Subterraneous Abyss, and so by mediation thereof, force the Water upward, and at last compel it to run out at those wide Mouths and Apertures made by the Divine Power breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep. And we may suppose this to have been only a gentle and gradual Emotion, no faster than that the Waters running out at the bottom of the Sea, might accordingly lowre the Superficies thereof sufficiently, so that none needed run over the Shores. These Waters thus poured out from the Orifices of the Fountains upon the Earth, the declivity being changed by the removal of the Center, could not flow down to the Sea again, but must needs stagnate upon the Earth, and overflow it; and afterwards the Earth returning to its old Center, return also to their former Receptacles.
If any shall object against this Hypothesis, because by it the Flood will be render’d Topical, and restrained only to the Continent we live in: though I might plead the Unnecessariness of drowning America, it being in all probability unpeopled at that time; yet because the Scripture useth general expressions concerning the extent of the Flood, saying, Gen. 1. 19. And all the high hills that were under the whole Heaven were covered; and again, verse 22. All in whose nostrils was the breath of lìfe, of all that was in the dry land died. And because the Americans also are said to have some ancient Memorial Tradition of a Deluge; and the Ingenious Author of the Theory of the Earth hath by a moderate Computation, demonstrated, that there must be then more People upon the Earth, than now: I will propose another way of solving this Phaenomenon, and that is, by supposing that the Divine Power might at that time, by the instrumentality of some natural Agent, to us at present unknown, so depress the Surface of the Ocean, as to force the Waters of the Abyss through the forementioned Channels and Apertures, and so make them a partial and concurrent Cause of the Deluge.
That there are at some times in the course of Nature extraordinary pressures upon the Surface of the Sea, which force the Water outwards upon the Shores to a great height is evident. We had upon our Coasts the last Year an extraordinary Tide, wherein the Water rose so high, as to overflow all the Sea-Banks, drown multitudes of Cattel, and fill the lower Rooms of the Houses of many Villages that stood near the Sea, so that the Inhabitants, to save themselves, were forced to get up into the upper Rooms and Garrets of their Houses. Now how this could be effected, but by an unusual pressure upon the Superficies of the Ocean, I cannot well conceive. In like manner that the Divine Providence might at the time of the Deluge so order and dispose second Causes, as to make so strong a pressure upon the face of the Waters, as to force them up to a height sufficient to overflow the Earth, is no way unreasonable to believe.
These Hypotheses I propose, as seeming to me at present most facile and consonant to Scripture, without any concern for either of them; and therefore am not solicitous to gather together, and heap up Arguments to confirm them, or to answer Objections that may be made against them, being as ready to relinquish them upon better information, as I was to admit and entertain them.
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