848 
TAR 
San Juan de los Llanos, which rises between the rivers Gu- 
aripo and Andava, runs east, and enters the Orinoco, opposite 
the rapid stream of the Atures. 
TARAMANDAHU, a river of Brazil, which runs into 
the Atlantic. Lat. 30. 40. S. 
TARANCON, a small ill-built town of the interior of 
Spain, in the province of Toledo, containing 3500 inhabit¬ 
ants. The water here is extremely bad, but the wine is con¬ 
sidered the best in the province; 42 miles south-east of 
Madrid, and 30 east of Aranjuez. 
TARANNON, a river of England, in Montgomeryshire, 
which runs into the Severn, near Corfe Castle ; about 5 miles 
west of Newton. 
TARANSAY, one of the northern Harris isles, on the west 
coast of Scotland. It is a high rocky island, about four 
miles long, and one broad. There is little or no soil on the 
whole island, and the occupation of the inhabitants is fishing 
and burning of kelp. Near Taransay is a large verdant 
island, frequented by vast flocks of geese. On Taransay 
are the remains of two religious houses. 
TAR ANT A, a mountain near Arkeeko, in Abyssinia, 
on the road from that city into the interior, supposed by 
Mr. Bruce to be one of the highest in the world. 
TARANTAISE, a province of the Sardinian states, in 
Savoy, between Faucigny, Savoy proper, Maurienne, and 
Aosta. Its superficial extent is about 780 square miles; its 
population 39,000. Its surface is rugged and uneven, co¬ 
vered with mountains and rocks, and little susceptible of 
culture. By the industry of the inhabitants, however, the 
least sterile parts of it are brought into cultivation, and made 
to produce quantities of corn, saffron, fruit, and chesnuts: 
the pastures nourish a fine race of cattle. A number of the 
inhabitants, however, go out to seek employment in more 
favoured countries, and frequently return, after a long ab¬ 
sence, to enjoy the reward of their industry in their native 
land. 
TARANTO, or Tarf.nto, an ancient and considerable 
town in the south of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, and 
province of Otranto. It is built on a small island in the 
great bay called the gulf of Taranto, and has several ad¬ 
vantages as a maritime position, having behind it, towards 
the north and east, a great maritime inlet called Mare Pic- 
cola (little sea), which extends into the interior, while it 
communicates with the sea by two channels, one on each 
side of the island, or rather islet, occupied by the town. Ta¬ 
ranto contains 18,500 inhabitants, and has a castle of 
some strength for the protection of its harbour. The 
surrounding country is fertile, but the trade of the town and 
neighbourhood is far inferior to what it might be rendered 
in a populous and industrious country. Some intercourse is 
carried on by shipping, with other ports in the Mediterra¬ 
nean ; but the chief support of the inhabitants is derived 
from fishing, which is carried on in the sea, as well as in the 
Mare Piccolo : in the latter, oysters and all sorts of shell¬ 
fish are particularly abundant. Taranto, at present a town 
of little interest, either as a commercial or military station, 
filled a conspicuous place in ancient history. Its inhabitants, 
descended from a colony of Greeks, kept up their connec¬ 
tion with the mother country, and on the approach of the 
Roman arms after the conquest of Samnium, about 280 
years before Christ, called to their aid Pyrrhus, king of Epi¬ 
rus. This gave rise to the sanguinary conflicts, in which 
Grecian science, for some time superior to the rude tactics of 
the Romans, gave way eventually before their unwearied 
perseverance. The Tarantines, abandoned by Pyrrhus, and 
unable to defend themselves, called in the Carthagenians ; a 
step which, coinciding with the collisions between that nation 
and the Romans in Sicily, was the cause of the first Punic 
war; 58 miles west of Lecee, and 80 west-north-west of 
Otranto. Lat. 40. 35. N. long. 17. 29. E. 
TARANTO, Gulf of, a spacious bay of the Mediterra¬ 
nean, formed by the two extremities south-east and south¬ 
west of Italy. 
TARA'NTULA, s. [Italian; tarentule, Fr.] An insect 
TAR 
of the spider kind.—He that uses the word tarantula, with¬ 
out having any idea of what it stands for, means nothing at 
all by it. Locke. 
TARANTULA, in Entomology, a genus of insects of the 
order aptera, comprehended by Linnaeus under the genus of 
aranea. We have introduced it, however, as a separate 
genus, for the purpose of describing some species not men¬ 
tioned in that article.—The Generic Characters of the taran¬ 
tulae are, that the mouth is furnished with two horny jaws; 
that there are no antennae; that there are two large curved 
jointed claws sticking out in front, and serving to lay hold 
of the animal’s prey, but which are improperly called feelers; 
that the claws contain in the male the organs of generation; 
that the eyes are eight in number, and the feet are as nu¬ 
merous; and lastly, that they have the bag common to all 
spiders for furnishing cobweb. 
1. Tarantula phalangicum, or apulia.—A description of 
this and of the marvellous stories to which it has given rise, 
may be seen in the article before referred to, under the name 
aranea tarantula. 
2. Tarantula reniformis, or the kidney-shaped tarantula.— 
This species differs from the apulian variety, in the extraor¬ 
dinary length of the fore-feet, and in the greater slenderness 
and less hairiness of the body. It is perfectly black, and 
has the same fierce habits as the rest of spiders: its claws 
have strictly speaking only one joint. 
3. Tarantula caudata.—This species is remarkable for the 
oblong form of its body, and for a long appendage or tail 
attached to its rump. From its general form and appear¬ 
ance, it might be supposed to be an uniting link between 
the genera of arana and scorpio. Its claws have three joints; 
its colour is dusky black. 
TARAPAYA, a port on the western coast of South Ame¬ 
rica, in the bay of Pisagua, having at its entrance the small 
island of Goave, which it defends from the south winds. 
Lat. 20. 37. S. 
TARAPOOR, a town of Hindostan, province of Bahar. 
Lat. 25. 7. N. long. 89. 30. E. 
TARAPOOR, a town and fortress of Hindostan, situated 
on a high point of land on the coast between Bombay and 
Surat, now belonging to the British. Lat. 19. 50. N. long. 
72. 48. E.—All these names signify the residence of the 
stars; and there are many other places in India of the same 
nomenclature. 
TARARE, a small town in the east of France, depart¬ 
ment of the Rhone, situated on the river Tardine, in a valley 
at the foot of a mountain to which it gives name. It has 
2800 inhabitants, and some manufactures of muslin and 
printed cottons ; also of leather and pottery ware; 17 miles 
south-west of Villefranche, and 22 north-west of Lyons. 
TARASCHTSCHA, a small town of the south-west of 
European Russia, in the government of Kiev. 
TARASCON, a considerable town in the south-east of 
France, situated on the Rhone, opposite to the town of 
Beaucaire, with which it communicates by a bridge of boats. 
The inhabitants, nearly 12,000 in number, carry on manu¬ 
factures of woollens, silk, stockings, and an export trade in 
wine, brandy, olive-oil, and other products of this southern 
province. Of public buildings, the principal is the castle, 
a structure of hewn stone fortified in the Gothic manner, and 
surmounted by a platform, affording a view of the adjacent 
country and of the Rhone, which here approaching to its 
mouth, rolls along a broad and rapid volume of water. 
Some of the churches are likewise handsome building'; 9 
miles north of Arles, and 55 north-west of Marseilles. Lat. 
43. 48. 20. N. long. 5. 23. 54. E. 
TARASCON, a small town in the south of France, on 
the river Arriege, with 1400 inhabitants, and manulactures 
of leather. In the neighbourhood there are several steel 
forges; 9 miles south ofFoix, and 25 south-east of St. Girons. 
TARASIAMA, a small river of Guiana, which enters 
the Caroni by the west side. 
TARATA, the name of three inconsiderable Indian set¬ 
tlements in Peru. 
TARAZONA, 
