Smyrna times., 1896-08-26
THE ISLE OF TERROR. II
SUCH IS USHANT, WHERE THE DRUM
MOND CASTLE WENT DOWN..

Though the Place Has Bad Name, the
People Are Honest and GenerOus-Noted
Events of Which History Treats Have
Happened In It's Vicinity.
Ushant, the island upon whose out
living reefs the steamer Drummond Cas-
tie ran, sinking three minutes after
ward and carrying down every soul on
board, except three, lies off the north
west extremity Of France and forms
the corner around which vessels from
the south turn into the English channel
after crossing the bay of Blscay.
''Ushant' is the Anglicized form OF
"Ouessant, " the French name. Pliny
calls the island "Uxantis, y and the
Britons know it as "Enez Heussa,
which means '"The Isle of Terror. " 1t |
we'll deserves the Celtic name.
The inhabitants of Ushant are hardy |
race. the men all fishermen and seamen, |
! the women all tillers of the rocky soil. |
The latter on high days and holidays
still often display their ancient costume,
! with its fiat Golf, which striklngly re-
calls the feminine headgear of southern
Italy. and whence their dark hair
streams in freedom below their waists.
| Within the last quarter of century
breed of ponies still roamed in semi
wiIdness over a large part of the island,
and for centuries the inhabitants them
selves were looked upon as savages. De-
barred, often for long weeks at time,
from any intercourse with the main
land, they certainly led very primitive
| l,O
served the primitive virtues, and hon
esty and hospitality have ever been ar
ticles of faith among them.
Losing year by year, with unfailing
regularity, u score or two of their own
kith and kindred in the treacherous
waters around their isle, their sympa-
thies have always been with those
whom shipwreck has imperiled. Several
of the Breton islands have notOriOusly
harbored communities of wreckers,
but the people of Ushant have again
, and again distinguished themselves by
, their efforts to save distressed vessels
l or their crews.
+ Whenever one Of the islanders is lost
: at sea, a touching ceremony, called the
prcella" is performed. The relatives
+ and friends of the deceased carry to hi
9 house a small wooden cross, over which
: the clergy repeat the prayers for tn
4 dead, as if this symbol were the corps
itself. Then the cross bearer, who
r whenever practicable, is the godfathe
r. of the defunct (this again touching
}. instance Of symbolism), incloses it in
# Golfer, and, followed by all the mourn
r ers, deposits it at the foot of statue
a st. Pol Aurelien, the patron of the isle
"a A few years ago a hundred or so of thes
ys Golfers could be seen assembled aroun
5, the statue.
"a Ushant is known to history. AS earl
4 as 1883 an English expedition lande
|. on the island and ravaged it with I'll
to and sword. Then, in ITS, its wate'
IN witnessed the much criticised naval el
N gagement between Keppel and d'O
MS viIliers, which English histories usual
4. describe as a drawn battle, whereas Il
ic French invariably claim it as a decisi'
K victory. Finally, 16 years later, Osha
IS saw the GLORIOUS first of June, " VIII
Lord Howe certainly shattered t
French ships Of war commanded
Villaret-Joyeuse, but at the same til
ON signally failed to prevent the large t1t
u u of French merchantmen, on whose
~ ~ rival France depended for means to pr
AZ ecute the war, from getting safely IL
% the port Of Brest.
That Ushant is, in Breton estimate
~ predestined to deeds of blood and def
~ ~ is shown by strange rhymed prove
70 which Chateaubriand quotes in
" "Memoirs From Beyond the Grave
.% 1,'' and which may be Englished tn
"a ''He who sees Belle Isle doth see
IL ~ isle; He who seeth Groi doth see
n0 Joy, but gaze on Ushant's food, you
- your blood. "
OF the wild scenery around Ush
~ ~ there has probably never been amy
49, ter description than that given
Chateaubriand. The island is the
1,ilU 11.I gest and from the mainland the n
- distant, Of those forming the archipel
'ii0 to which it gives its name. Molene,
next in size, trades largely in its
w w soil, which on account Of certain ch
= w w ical properties is sought after by Brt
81 agricultl1rists Then, in addition
~ IoSO scores of little islets, some Of them n
1on- % ats and rocks, there is Quemei
-. WHICH IS dDOuG Aue1bOA eAO oAN>
~ ~ Ushant while near to the mainlan
On .A Beniquet, or the Blessed Isle, so ca
1 al on account of its proximity to the
NNU ton shore and the refuge it offers q
the most dangerous of all the adja
reefs, that Of Les Pierres Noires.
o in Many stout ship and many a
eo;oi fishing boat have been shattered an
80 - these reefs, where the waters ever sc
-U 80 and roar, even ON calm summer
o,roS But winter is the time to see Us
'%C- %c- and its neighboring isles, all bare
nj. rugged, rising from amid the gale Ia
-, = waves Norock bound coast can OF
90 more impressive spectacle than
600 which the ocean then presents
Wv - leaps i'll its dread, blind might al
From Inc 1Sie VI Aeih0i'
! the zette.