Although the Persian historians maintain silence, the evidence of other authorities in support of this episode is not wanting. For instance, when referring to Buddha, Oriental writers agree that he was born in _Maghada_; also that he was the son of _Suad-de-dana_--_Suad_ being convertible with _Tuath_, and both resolvable into _Budh_. Without professing to map out the exact route by which the _Tuath-de-danaans_ made their way to Ireland, the author maintains that the fact of their having occupied that country for a considerable time is incontrovertible. As for their rivals, the _Pish-de-danaans_, it has already been stated that they, in their turn, had to leave Persia when _Kaimours_ was called to the throne; and the presumption is that they were identical with those _Uksi_, or Shepherd Kings, who overran Egypt, and to whom the erection of pyramids emblematical of the female nature is ascribed. Their distinctive views may, it is pointed out, have prevailed among them from the time when they formed a portion of the Noachidæ; for the “Ark” was typical of the dominant idea in their belief, and the same idea was typified under another form in the pyramids. A variant symbol of this idea is the _crescent_ (or _lunar boat_), of which certain Irish ornaments are representative. It is further possible that the _Pish-de-danaan_ tradition of the deluge may have been communicated to Moses during his stay in Egypt, and that the narrative is more figurative than historical. CHAPTER XXI (PP. 285-304) Among the sculptured symbols of the faith held by the ancient Irish, that of the _Cross_ stands pre-eminent; but it would be a mistake to infer from this circumstance the existence of Christianity in Ireland at the time when these sculptures were wrought. The cryptogram of the Cross is found everywhere, both in the Old and New World, among the relics of nations whose paganism does not admit of doubt, and it dates from a period long antecedent to Christianity. Buildings of cruciform structure, and evidently devoted to religious uses, exist all over the East and West; and both they and the _Mithratic caves_, for which no one has ever claimed any but a pagan origin, partake of the same character. To aver that the Cross was emblematical of a _vicarious sacrifice_ by which the redemption of mankind was accomplished, is merely to say that it expresses a belief common to many Sabaic faiths of the pagan world--a belief of which it was the recognised emblem in Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, and America, as well as in Ireland. CHAPTER XXII (PP. 305-324)