ARRAN ISLANDS ARREOYS. 



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ARRAN ISLANDS, or SOUTH ARRAN ISLANDS; three 

 islands near the western coast of Ireland, in the At- 

 lantic, at the mouth of Galway bay. The largest, 

 Arranmore, comprises 4,607 acres ; the next, liuiis- 

 ina in, 1 ,308 ; and the least, Innis Lehir, 908. The 

 three islands continue in a more primitive state than 

 North Wales, or than any other part of Britain. At 

 Arranmore, which contains a population of between 

 2 and 3000, are remains of Druidism, open temples, 

 altars, stone pillars, sacred mounts and raths, mira- 

 culous fountains and sacred groves. The religion is 

 entirely Roman Catholic, and the language Celtic 

 (of which the Irish is but a dialect). The surface of 

 Arranmore is elevated SCO feet above the sea, and is 

 undulating and fertile. Agriculture and fishing are 

 the chief employments. Good oats are raised, sheep 

 fed, and the most esteemed calves are reared here. 

 The varieties of fish are very great ; and the board 

 for the fisheries have erected a pier 450 feet in 

 length, on the island, where 100 vessels of forty 

 tons burden may ride safely. There are forty- 

 one open boats and seventeen row-boats, belonging 

 to the port. Costume here also is original ; the boots 

 called poppootics, made of untanned leather, are pro- 

 bably the most curious. The principal curiosities 

 are the puffin-holes, Kilmurry fort, and Great Ke- 

 vin's head. This is the station of a preventive water- 

 guard ; and there is a lighthouse, exhibiting a re- 

 volving light of a bright colour. 



ARRAS, capital of the department Pas de Calais, on 

 the navigable river Scarp, contains 20,000 inhabi- 

 tants, an academy of the fine arts, and many manu- 

 factories of tapestry, battiste, laces, &c. A. is the 

 seat of a bishop. The fortifications consist of an 

 irregular wall, guarded by ten partly detached bas- 

 tions, several ravelins and lunettes, two horn-works, 

 and a citadel, which forms a regular pentagon with 

 case-mates, bomb-proof. These fortifications were 

 improved or laid out by Vauban. Here he first 

 employed his tenaillons. The cite, or old town, is 

 separated from the ville, or new town, by a wall and 

 ditch. In 1640, the French, under the marshals 

 Chaume, Chatillon, and Melleraye conquered A. In 

 1654, the Spaniards, under Conde, attempted to re- 

 gain it from them ; but Turenne attacked the Spanish 

 fines, took them by storm, and rescued the fortress. 



ARREOYS ; the name given to a class of individuals 

 in Otaheite and the neighbouring islands, who destroy 

 their own offspring at the moment of their birth. The 

 society of Arreoys consists of hundreds, or perhaps 

 thousands of both sexes. It is chiefly composed of 

 persons distinguished by valour and merit, and hence 

 one or more individuals of each family of the chiefs 

 are of the number. It has been remarked, that all 

 the men profess themselves warriors, and are in 

 gen era! stout and well made ; that the greatest trust 

 and confidence are reposed in them ; and it rather 

 app ears that the women consist of the higher ranks 

 only . There are different gradations in this commu- 

 nity , which are to be recognised from the mode of 

 tatt ooing ; the more profusely the men are tattooed, 

 the higher is their rank in society. By the fundamental 

 la ws of the society, the offspring must be destroyed, 

 yet it is not known with certainty by whom or in 

 what particular manner ; the murder is always per- 

 petrated in secret, probably by strangulation ; all the 

 attendants are excluded ; for -it is said, were they to 

 witness it, they would be adjudged guilty of participa- 

 tion, and put to death. Sometimes the mother, ani- 

 mated by natural affection, tries to preserve her in- 

 fant, and resists the persuasions of her husband and 

 his brother Arreoys, wlio wish to consign it to de- 

 struction. But in general the enormity of the crime 

 does not appal the Females, though they are described 

 as affectionate and tender. We find a dancing girl 



pregnant by an Arreoy expressing herself thus to the 

 English navigators : " Perhaps the Etooa or deity of 

 England might be offended with the practices of the 

 Arreoys, but her own was not displeased with them. 

 However, she promised if we would come from Eng- 

 land for her child, she might perhaps keep it alive, 

 provided we gave her a hatchet, a shirt, and some 

 red feathers." That the rules of the community are 

 very strict, may be inferred from an instance given 

 by captain Bligh. A chief, a member of the so- 

 ciety, married a sister of the king of Otaheite, by 

 whom he had eight children, and the whole were 

 destroyed at their birth ! Nor did this enormity 

 seem to originate from any other source, as the 

 parents afterwards adopted a nephew as their heir. 

 It may here be observed, that there are other 

 practices among these people regarding infanticide, 

 which, though we want materials for positively 

 affirming the fact, may perhaps be connected with 

 the institutions of the Arreoys. When an Otaheitan 

 chief has a child by a woman of the lower ranks, it 

 is never suffered to live ; and the like seems to take 

 place reciprocally among the higher ranks of females. 

 The king and queen of Otaheite having ceased to co- 

 habit, he had taken another wife, and she associated 

 with one of her attendants of low rank. When preg- 

 nant, the missionaries endeavoured to persuade her 

 to spare her child, which she said she would have 

 done had it been her husband's, but now it would be 

 base-born, and must perish ; and she resisted all en- 

 treaties to the contrary. Afterwards, having visited 

 them, she excused herself for having put the infant 

 to death, stating that it was the custom of the coun- 

 try to murder all base-born children, and hers being 

 by a low man, she had only complied with the usual 

 practice. Indeed it is affirmed by the missionaries 

 who visited that island in 1797 to be a common pro- 

 ceeding among all ranks to strangle infants the mo- 

 ment they are born. " A perpetrator of this horrid 

 act," the narrator observes, " was among those whom 

 curiosity attracted to visit us. She was a good-look- 

 ing woman, and esteemed by the natives a great 

 beauty, which I suppose to be the inducement that 

 tempted her to murder her child ; for here the 

 number of women bearing no proportion to the men, 

 those esteemed handsome were courted with great 

 gifts, and got so accustomed to change their husbands, 

 to go with them from place to place, and run after the 

 diversions of the island, that rather than be debarred 

 those pleasures, they stifle a parent's feelings, and 

 murder their tender children." Thus many hundreds 

 born into the world are never suffered to see the light ; 

 and so little criminality in the opinion of the natives 

 is attached to the deed, that many women disclose 

 the number they have put to death without scruple. 

 It has been calculated that at least two-thirds 

 of the births on the Island perish in this manner. 

 The Arreoys enjoy great privileges, and are every- 

 where united by the reciprocal ties of friendship and 

 hospitality. When they visit different islands, they 

 receive presents, and are entertained with feasting 

 and dramatic exhibitions ; and all this they seem to 

 expect rather as a matter of right than of courtesy. 

 Their clothes are of the finest materials. They pass 

 their time in luxurious idleness, perfuming their hair 

 with fragrant oils, singing and playing on the flute, 

 and passing from one amusement to another. It has 

 been affirmed, but perhaps without sufficient founda- 

 tion, that a promiscuous intercourse of the sexes 

 prevails in their society; however, they are per- 

 mitted great latitude in their amours, except in 

 times of danger, as almost all are fighting men. 

 Sufficient inducements are, therefore, held out 

 to be admitted into this mysterious community. 

 Any one may withdraw at pleasure from the so- 



