Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/738

ARIEGE other vessels were carried ashore and stranded. The fortified island of Alacran, which defends the port of Arica, was submerged three times, all the garrison perishing. The first wave, which rose to about 40 feet, was succeeded by three or four others of less height. The shocks occurred on the first day every quarter of an hour, and on the second day every hour. Among the curious effects of the earthquake in the vicinity of Arica was the opening of the earth, and the disclosure of a large number of mummies, which had been buried in the sand in a sitting posture, facing the sea, in a ceme- etery covering a large area. ARIEGE, a southern department of France, formed chiefly of the old territory of Foix, and named after the Ariege river, which, rising in the eastern Pyrenees, flows N. N. W., and empties into the Garonne, after a conrse of 90 miles. It is bounded by the departments of Haute-Garonne, Aude, and Pyr6n6es-Orien- tales, and the Pyrenees mountains; area, 1,889 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 246,298. The department lies principally on the northern slope of the Pyrenees, and some of the mountains on the southern border rise to an altitude of 9,000 and 10,000 feet. It contains valuable iron mines, the ore being in some places auriferous, and large quarries of marble, freestone, plaster, and slate. The Ariege carries gold sand, whence its ancient name, Aurigera. On the highlands are meadows, where cattle and merino sheep are raised in large numbers. The forests fur- nish good timber. Bears, wild boars, wolves, foxes, chamois, and deer are abundant. The lowlands are tolerably fertile and well culti- vated, producing wheat, rye, oats, maize, mil- let, hemp, flax, and fruits of various kinds. Vineyards, to the extent of 5,000 acres, yield a wine of inferior quality, all of which is con- sumed at home. The working of metals is the principal branch of manufacturing industry ; but there are saw mills and paper mills, and manufactories of cloth, hosiery, linen, and soap. It is divided into the arrondissements of Foix, St. Girons, and Pamiers. Capital, Foix. ARIEL, a Hebrew word, signifying " lion of God," occurs as a personal name in the Old Testament, as well as a poetical designation of the altar of burnt offerings (Ezek. xliii.), and, according to general interpretation, of the city of Jerusalem (Isa. xxix.). Among the Jevs of a later period, the name was, in cabalistic parlance, given to a water demon. ARION, a musician of Lesbos, the reputed in-i ventor of dithyrambic poetry, was a' friend of Periander, the ruler of Corinth (about 600 B. 0.). Having spent some time in Sicily and Italy, he amassed great wealth by his playing on the cithara, in which he excelled all his contemporaries. On a voyage from Ta- rentum to Corinth the sailors determined to throw him overboard and seize his treasures. Discovering the plot, he begged permis- sion to play one melodious tune before it was put in execution, and, having done so, ARIOSTO threw himself into the sea. The dolphins, charmed by his music, carried him on their backs to Toenarus, whence he passed over to Corinth, and on the arrival of the ship Peri- ander had the sailors put to death. ARIOSTO, Lndovico, an Italian poet, born in Reggio, near Modena, Sept. 8, 1474, died in Fer- rara, June 6, 1533. His father was a member of the highest tribunal of Ferrara, and a friend of the duke. Ludovico was the eldest of ten children. He manifested even when a boy great ability in composition, and wrote several little comedies of some merit. At his father's wish he undertook the study of the law, though the profession was most irksome to him. After five years of study he abandoned the trial and devoted himself entirely to literature. He read the best Latin authors, under the tuition of Gregorio da Spoleto, with such assiduity that he soon became an accomplished Latinist. From ideas suggested by Plautus and Terence he wrote two dramas, La, cassaria and I sup- positi. His lyric poems were much admired by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, son of Duke Er- cole I. of Ferrara ; and in 1503 the cardinal took him permanently into his service, and in- trusted him with many important affairs, al- lowing him a small pension. A few years after this Ariosto began his poem of Orlando furioso, the composition of which occupied him for ten years or more. At the age of 24 he had become by his father's death the sole guardian and support of his nine brothers and sisters. He was obliged to fulfil the duties of a courtier and to obey the constant and petty exactions of his patron, to undertake now and then an embassy or a journey, and to take charge of much of the business correspondence of the cardinal. But while discharging all his duties faithfully, he worked constantly at his poem, and was rewarded, on its publication in 1516, by almost immediate fame. Only his patron, whom he had extravagantly praised in it, treated the work with contempt ; and soon after its publication he dismissed Ariosto from his service because the poet refused on account of his health to go with him to Hungary. He soon afterward entered the service of the car- dinal's brother Alfonso, then reigning duke, who treated him with generosity, but conferred upon him afterward what seemed a most inap- propriate honor, in appointing him governor of the district of Carfagnana, which was every- where infested by banditti. With unlooked-for ability in this new sphere, Ariosto soon re- stored order, and after three years returned to/ Ferrara and established himself in a pleas- ant home. He repeatedly revised the Or- lando, making of it 46 cantos instead of the , original 40, and greatly changing the whole. During the last years of his life he also wrote comedies and satires. The large theatre built by the duke for the performance of Ariosto's comedies was burned in 1532. The poem of Orlando furioto is in part of its plot almost a sequel to the Orlando innamorata of Boiardo,