The flood was indeed universal, but the water was added and removed by miracle .-- Neither reply however seemed to me valid.

First, the language respecting the universality of the flood is as strong as any that could be written: moreover it is stated that the tops of the high hills _were all covered_, and after the water subsides, the ark settles on the mountains of Armenia.

Now in Armenia, of necessity numerous peaks would be seen, unless the water covered them, and especially Ararat.

But a flood that covered Ararat would overspread all the continents, and leave only a few summits above.

If then the account in Genesis is to be received, the flood was universal.
Secondly: the narrator represents the surplus water to have come from the clouds and perhaps from the sea, and again to drain back into the sea.