But at last this paradisiacal age was ended by a great deluge in which all men and living creatures perished. Only Montezuma and his friend, the coyote—a prairie-wolf—escaped. This wonderful animal, with semi-divine attributes, plays a remarkable part in the religion of many of the Pacific tribes, and furnishes us a parallel in our Occidental mythology with the half-human, half-brute combinations of Greco-Roman mythology. The coyote, gifted with prophetic powers, had foretold the approach of this great calamity, and Montezuma, heeding the warning, had built him a boat, which he kept in readiness on the summit of Santa Rosa. His sagacious friend, the coyote, also escaped in an ark made from a gigantic cane which grew by a river’s side; having gnawed it down and crawled into it, he stopped up the ends with gum, and escaped. When the waters subsided, the two met again on dry ground. Montezuma then employed the coyote on several wearisome excursions in order to discover the extent of the land, which developed the fact that upon the east and south and west the water yet remained. Only on the north was there land. The Great Spirit and Montezuma again created men and animals, and the former committed to his partner in the work the duties of governing the new race. These were, however, neglected by Montezuma, who became puffed up with pride, and permitted all manner of wickedness to prevail. The Great Spirit remonstrated with him, even descending to the earth for the purpose of moving his faithless and haughty vicegerent to restore order, but with no avail. Then, returning to his abode in heaven, he pushed the sun back to a remote part of the sky as a punishment on the race. At this, Montezuma became enraged, collected the tribes around him, and set about the construction of a house which should reach heaven. The builders had already completed several apartments, lined with gold and silver and precious stones, and progressed to a point which encouraged all to believe that their defiant purpose would be accomplished, when the Great Spirit smote it to the earth amid the crash of his thunder. Here the account becomes very confused—a great leap is made from Montezuma the culture-hero to Montezuma the emperor, and the two become confounded. The legend states that upon the defeat of his rebellious scheme, Montezuma still hardened his heart, and caused the sacred images to be dragged through the streets for the derision of the villagers; the temples were desecrated, and defiance to the Supreme declared. As a punishment, the Great Spirit caused an insect to fly toward the east to an unknown land, to bring the Spaniards, who utterly destroyed him.