The ancient Euskarian myths speak, according to some authors, of the destruction of a former world, from which only a few men escaped, "as few in number as the olives which remain upon the tree after the fruit has been gathered in, and as rare as the grapes which hang upon the vines after the vintage is over."  Of this number was Aïtor, the ancestor of the Euskaldunac.  Having retired with his wife into an inaccessible grotto, Aïtor lived for a whole year in the midst of fire and water, which were disputing for supremacy everywhere around him.  Overwhelmed with terror, he forgot all the knowledge that had been transmitted to him by his ancestors concerning past events, and having even forgotten his own language, he invented a new tongue.  The sons of Aïtor having descended into the plains, spread rapidly, and soon formed powerful nations, which always faithfully preserved the language and religion of the father that had descended from high places, their ancestor of the mountains. (Rambles of a Naturalist on the coasts..., de Bréau, v.2, 1857)