Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/683

Rh M A Y M A Z 05 1 and almost annihilation of this tribe took place also in this county, at Moytura near Cong. Along with the greater part of Connaught it was granted by King John to Hubert de Burgo, but after the rebellion against William de Burgo, third earl, headed by Mac William Oughter, the whole province of Connaught remained nearly independent of British rule till the time of Elizabeth. In the eleventh year of her reign Mayo was made shire ground, taking its name from the monastery of Maio or Mageo, which was the see of a bishop. Even, however, after this period the Mac Williams con tinued to exercise very great authority. Large confiscations of the estates in the county were made in 1586, on the termination of the wars of 1641, and after the restoration of the Stuarts. Killala was the scene of the lauding of a French squadron in connexion with the rebellion of 1798. There are four round towers in the county, at Killala, Turlogh, Meelick, and Bal or Ballagh. The monasteries were numerous, and many of them of considerable importance the principal being those at Mayo, Ballyhaunis, Cong, Ballinrobe, Ballintober, Bur- rishoole, Cross or Holycross in the peninsula of Mullet, Moyne, Eosserick, and Strade. Of the old castles the most notable are Downpatrick, on a cliff 300 feet in height projecting into the sea, Rocktleet near Newport, said to have been built by the celebrated Grace O Malley, Ballylahan Castle near Foxford, and Deel Castle near Ballina, at one time the residence of the earls of Arran. MAYOR. See MUNICIPALITY. MAYOTTA. See COMOEES, vol. vi. p. 220. MAYSVILLE, a city of the United States, the capital of Mason county, Kentucky, lies on the south bank of the Ohio, 69 miles north-east of Lexington by rail. Settled in 1784 and incorporated in 1833, it has grown into a busy place of 5220 inhabitants (1880), with several good public buildings, flour-mills, plough-factories, &c., and is one of the principal hemp-markets in the States. MAZAMET, an industrial town in the department of Tarn, France, stands on the northern slope of the Monta- gnes Noires (part of the Cevennes), and on the Arnette, a tributary of the Tarn by the Agout. In last century it was an insignificant village, but at present it has 14,000 inhabitants, an increase of prosperity due to the introduction by M. Houles (whose statue stands in the public square) of the manufacture of a particular kind of woollen fabric sold almost exclusively in France. The factories, driven by water-power, have a total of 45,000 spindles, and an annual turnover of from 15 to 18 millions of francs. Mazamet is connected by a branch line of railway with the town of Castres. MAZANDARAlST, a province of northern Persia, lying between the Caspian Sea and the Elburz range, and bounded E. and W. by the provinces of Astrabdd and Gilan respectively, is 220 miles in length and 60 miles in (mean) breadth, with an area of about 10,000 square miles and a population estimated at from 150,000 to 200,000. Mazandar&n comprises two distinct natural regions present ing the sharpest contrasts in their relief, climate, and pro ducts. In the north the Caspian is encircled by the level and swampy lowlands, varying in breadth from 10 to 30 miles, partly under impenetrable jungle, partly under rice, cotton, sugar, and other crops. This section is fringed northwards by the sandy beach of the Caspian, here almost destitute of natural harbours, and rises somewhat abruptly inland to the second section, comprising the northern slopes and spurs of the Elbiirz, which approach at some points within 1 or 2 miles of the sea, and which are almost everywhere covered with dense forest. The lowlands, rising but a few feet above the Caspian, and subject to frequent flood- ings, are extremely malarious, while the highlands, culmina ting with the magnificent DamAvand (18,600 feet), enjoy a tolerably salubrious climate. But the climate, generally hot and moist in summer, is everywhere capricious and liable to sudden changes of temperature, whence the prevalence of rheumatism, dropsy, and especially ophthalmia, noticed by all travellers. Snowfalls heavily on the uplands, where it often lies for weeks on the ground. The direction of the long sandbanks at the river mouths, which project with remarkable uniformity from west to east, shows that the prevailing winds blow from the west and north-west. The rivers themselves, of which there are as many as fifty, are little more than mountain torrents, all rising on the northern slopes of Elburz, flowing mostly in independent channels to the Caspian, and subject to sudden freshets and inundations along their lower course. The chief are the Safed-rud on the Gilan frontier, the Lar, Hari-rud, Alam-nid, Rustam-riid, and H&rez, and all are well stocked with trout, mullet (safed mahi), carp, sturgeon, and other fish, which with rice form the staple food of the inhabitants, and supply large quantities of caviare for the Russian market. Near their mouths the rivers, running counter to the prevailing winds and waves of the Caspian, form long sand-hills 20 to SO^feet high and about 200 yards broad, behind which are developed the so-called mtird-db, or &quot;dead waters,&quot; stagnant pools and swamps characteristic of this coast, and a chief cause of its unhealthiness. The province abounds in iron ores and in mineral pitch in every state of transition from pure petroleum to the finest naphtha. The chief cultivated plants are rice, cotton, sugar, a little silk, and fruits in great variety, including several kinds of the orange, lemon, and citron. Some of the slopes, are covered with extensive thickets of the pomegranate, and the wild vine climbs to a great height round the trunks of the forest trees. These woodlands are haunted by the tiger, panther, bear, wolf, and wild boar in considerable numbers. Of the domestic animals, all remarkable for their small size, the chief are the black, humped cattle somewhat resembling the Indian variety, the yabu (a sturdy breed of horses), and sheep and goats. Kinneir, Frazer, and other observers speak unfavourably of the Mazandarani people, whom they describe as very ignorant and bigoted, arrogant, rudely inquisitive, and almost insolent towards strangers. The peasantry, however, although called the &quot; Boeotians of Persia,&quot; are far from dull, and betray much shrewdness where their interests are concerned. In the healthy districts they are stout and well made, and are the most warlike race in Persia, fur nishing 5000 cavalry and 12,000 foot to the Government. Of the latter 2000 are always in attendance on the shah at Tehran. They speak a marked and somewhat rude Persian dialect ; but a Turki idiom closely akin to the Turkoman is still current amongst the foreign tribes, although they have mostly already passed from the nomad to the settled state. Of these intruders the most numerous are the Modaunlu, Khojehvand, and Abdul Maleki, originally of Lek or Kurd stock, besides branches of the royal Afshar and Kajar tribes of Turki descent. All these are exempt from taxes in con sideration of their military service. The export trade is chiefly with Russia through Baku, where broadcloths, flour, saffron, and bar iron are taken in exchange for the white and coloured calicoes, caviare, rice, and raw cotton of Mazan- daran. Owing to the almost impenetrable character of the country, there are scarcely any roads accessible to wheeled carriages, and the great causeway of Shah Abbas has in many places even disappeared under the jungle. Two routes, however, lead to Tehran, one by Firoz Koh, 180 miles long, the other by Larijan, 144 miles long, both in tolerably good repair. Except where crossed by these routes the Elburz forms an almost impassable barrier to the south. The administration is in the hands of the prince governor, who appoints most of the beglerbegs and governors of .the nine dis tricts of Amol, Barfarosh, Mashhad-i-Sar, Sari, Ashraf, Farah-abad, Tennacorben, Kellauristak, and luyiir into which the province is divided. There is fair security for life and property ; and, although otherwise indifferently administered, the country is quite free from marauders or local disturbances. The revenue is about 105,000 tomans, of which nothing goes to the state treasury, all being required for the governors, troops, pensions, and police. The capital is Sari, the other chief towns being Barfarosh, Mashhad-i-Sar, Ashraf, and Farah-abad. MAZARIN, JULES (1602-1661), cardinal, the suc cessor of Richelieu, and forerunner of Louis XIV., was the elder son of Pietro Mazarini, the intenclant of the house hold of Philip Colonna, and of his wife Ortensia Buffalim, a connexion of the Colonnas, and was born at Piscina in the Abruzzi on July 14, 1602. He was educated by the Jesuits at Rome till his seventeenth year, when he accom-