MAUBITANIA 169 MAUVE His reign of 20 years was occupied al- most constantly with wars — wars with the Persians, terminated by the defeat of Bahram, and the restoration of Chosroes in 591; and wars with the Avars, which lasted from 592-599. In 599 Comentiolis was defeated, and an immense number of his troops captured by the Avars, who, on the refusal of Mauricius to ransom them, put them all to death. In 602 a mutiny broke oujt in the army on the Danube, Phocas was proclaimed emperor, and Mauricius, with his five sons, was murdered at Chalcedon. MAURITANIA (-ta'ni-a), in ancient history, a country or kingdom of north- ern Africa, embracing nearly all the points now known as Fez, with parts of Algeria and Morocco; bounded on the N. by the Mediterranean; S. by Getulia or Libya; E. by Numidia; and W. by the Atlantic Ocean. MAURITIUS (ma-rish'ius), or ISLE OF FRANCE, an island in the Indian Ocean, a colony of Great Britain, 500 miles E. of Madagascar; of an oval form, about 40 miles long from N. E. to S. W., and 25 miles broad, and surrounded by coral reefs; area, 713 square miles; pop. about 380,000, two-thirds originally coo- lies imported to work the sugar estates, ft is composed chiefly of rugged and ir- regular mountains, the highest, the Mon- tagne de la Riviere Noire, 2,700 feet, and the isolated rock Peter Botte, 2,600 feet. Between the mountains, and along the coast, there are large and fertile plains and valleys, having a rich soil of black vegetable mould or stiff clay. The cli- mate is pleasant during the cool season, but oppressively hot in summer, and the island is occasionally visited by severe epidemics. In its vegetation Mauritius resembles the Cape in the number of suc- culent plants, cactuses, spurges, and aloes. The principal objects of cultiva- tion are sugar, rice.^ maize, cotton, coffee, manioc, and vegetables. The exports in- clude sugar (much the largest), rum, vanilla, aloe fiber, cocoanut oil. The im- ports consist of rice, wheat, cattle, cot- ton goods, haberdashery, hardware, etc. The exports and imports are each valued at over $10,000,000 annually; the revenue is about $3,500,000. The government is vested in a lieutenant-governor and legis- lative council. The island has two rail- ways crossing it, in all 87 miles. Mauri- tius was discovered in 1505 by the Portu- guese. The Dutch took possession of it in 1598, and named it after Prince Maurice. After occupation by the French it was captured by Great Britain in 1810. Principal towns, Port Louis and Mahebourg. May, 1892, it was visited by a terrible hurricane, one-third of Port Louis being destroyed. MAUROCORDATOS, or MAVROCOR- DATOS (mav-ro-kor-da'tos), a Fana- riote family, distinguished for ability and political influence, and descended from Greek merchants of Chios and Con- stantinople. Alexander Maurocordatos (1637-1709) studied medicine in Italy, and rendered valuable service in the ne^ gotiations with Austria of the immedi- ately following years, his labors finding their culmination in the treaty of Carlo- vitz (1699). For some time after that he was one of a triumvirate in whose hands all power in the Ottoman empire rested. Alexander Maurocordatos, born in Con- stantinople, Feb. 15, 1791, took an active part in the Greek struggle_ for liberty, and prepared the declaration of inde- pendence and the plan of a provisional government, being himself elected presi- dent of the executive body. Then he un- dertook in 1822 an expedition to Epirus, which ended in the unsuccessful battle of Peta; but he saved the Peloponnesus by his resolute defense of Missolonghi (1822-1834) . He died in iEgina, Aug. 18, 1865. MAURY, MATTHEW FONTAINE, an American scientist; born in Spott- sylvania co., Va., June 14, 1806; joined the United States navy in 1825 ; met with an accident in 1839 which crippled him for life, and was then given charge of the Hydrographic Office in Washington. In 1844, when that office was united with the Naval Observatory, he became super- intendent. In 1861 he resigned his post; entered the Confederate navy; estab- lished the naval submarine battery serv- ice at Richmond; and was engaged in Europe in perfecting a torpedo system till the end of the war. In 1865 he went to Mexico, was appointed a member of Maximilian's cabinet, and was sent to Europe on a special mission by the em- peror. After Maximilian's fall he re- sumed his scientific and literary work. In 1871 he accepted the presidency of the University of Alabama. His scientific works include "Navigation"; "Physical Geography" (1855) ; etc. He died in Lex- ington, Va., Feb. 1, 1873. MAUSOLEUM (-le'um), a magnificent tomb, or stately sepulchral monument. The name is derived from Mausolus, King of Caria, to the memory of whom his queen, Artemisia, erected a splendid monument at Halicarnassus, 353 B. c. MAUVE (mov), aniline purple, or Perkin's purple, the sulphate of the base mauveine occurring in commerce in crys- ^ talline masses, as a paste, and in solu-
