The Press., 1896-09-17
THE ISLE OF TERROR.
SUCH IS USAANT, WHERE THE DRUM
 MOND CASTLE WENT DOWN.

Though the Place Hns a Bad Name. thu People Arc Honest and GenerOus-Noted Events of Which History Treats HaEe Happened In Its Vicinity.
 Ushant, the island upon whose out lying reefs the steamer Drummond Gas 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 Biscay. ''Ushant" is the Anglicized form of "Ouessant, " the French name. Pliny calls the island "Uxantis," and the Britons know it as "Encz Heussa." which means "The Isle of Terror" It well deserves the Celtic name
 The inhabitants of Ushant are hardy race, the men all fishermen and seamen, the women all tiIlers of the rocky soil. The latter on high dn1as and holidays still often display their ancient costume, with it's fiat coif, which strikingly re- calls the feminine headgear of southern l Italy, and whence their dark hair streams in freedom below their waists Within the last quarter of a century a breed of ponies still roamed in semi wildness over largo 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 lives. But at the same time they pre- 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, 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 or their crews.
 Whenever one of the islanders is lost at sea, @ touching ceremony, called "the proella" is performed. The relatives and friends of the deceased carry to his house small wooden cross, over which the clergy repeat the prayers for the dead, as if this symbol were the corpse itself. Then the cross bearer, who, whenever practicable, is the godfather of the defunct (this again a touching instance of symbolism), incloses 1t in a coffer, and, followed by all the mourn CTS, deposits it at the foot of statue of St. Pol Aurelien, the patron of the isle. A few years ago hundred or so of these coffers could bc seen assembled around the statue.
 Ushant is known to history. As early as 1888 an English expedition landed on the island and ravaged it with fire and sword. Then, in 1778, It's waters witnessed the much criticised naval en- gagement between Keppel and dor villiers, which English histories usually describe as a drawn battle, whereas the French invariably claim 1t as 8 decisive victory. Finally, 16 years later, Ushant saw the "glorious first of June," when Lord Howe certainly shattered the French ships of war commanded by Villaret-Joye but at the same time signally failed to prevent the large fleet of French merchantmen, on whose ar. rival France depended for means to pros ecute the war, from getting safely into the port of Brest.
 That Ushant is, in Breton estimation predestined to deeds of blood and deatt is shown by @ strange rhymed proverb which Chateaubriand quotes in hiI "Memoirs From Beyond the Grave. , and which may be Englished thus ''He who sees Belle Isle doth see hi isle; He who seeth Groi doth see hi joy, but gaze on Ushant's flood, you sex your blood"
 Of the wild scenery around Ushan there has probably never been any bet ter description than that given by Chateaubriand. The island is the lar gest and from the mainland the mos distant, of those forming the archipelago to which it gives its name. Molene, thu next in size, trades largely in its Ow1 soil, which on account of certain chem ical properties is sought after by Breto1 agriculturists. Then, in addition tl scores of little islets, some of them mer, aits and rocks, there is QuemeneA which is about a quarter the size O Ushant, while near to the mainland Il Beniquet, or the Blessed Isle, so ca1let on account of its proximity to the Ere ton shore and tho refuge 1t offers amiC the most dangerous of all the adjacen reefs, that of Les Pierres Noirea
 Many stout ship and many frai fishing boat have been shattered amOnl these reefs, where the waters ever seeth ? and roar, even on calm summer days ! But winter is the time to see Ushan and its neighboring isles, all bare an' rugged, rising from amid the gale lashe' waves. No rock bound coast can offer more impressive spectacle than tha which the ocean then presents as 1 leaps in its dread, blind might aroun' The Isle of Terror. Westminster Ga Zette.