Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/197

 I MAROS 15,000 in number. In 1831 they had increased to 70,000, and at present they are still more numerous. They form an independent repub- lic, with laws and customs of their own. Chris- tianity has made little progress among them, and their language is a jargon of African and European tongues intermingled. For an ac- count of the Maroons of Jamaica, see Bryan Edwards, "History of the West Indies," and Dallas, " History of the Maroons ;" and for the Maroons of Surinam, see Stedman's " Surinam." MAROS, a river of Hungary, which rises in Transylvania, near its E. frontier, flows N. W., S. W., and finally W., enters Hungary proper, and after a course of about 400 m. falls into the Theiss near Szegedin. Its principal afflu- ents are the two Kokels in Transylvania, in which country its banks offer much pictu- resque scenery. The chief towns on its banks are, in Transylvania, Saxon Eegen, Maros- Vasarhely, the principal town of the Szeklers, and the fortress Carlsburg; and in Hungary, M6nes, Arad, and Mak6. MAROS-VASARHELY, a town of Transylvania, capital of the district of Maros, on the river Maros, 50 m. N. E. of Hermannstadt ; pop. in 1870, 12,678. It has a fortified castle, with barracks, five churches, among them a Gothic Evangelical church, a Franciscan convent, a gymnasium, a seminary, a library of 60,000 volumes, and a valuable cabinet of minerals. Here the Austrians, on Nov. 15, 1848, obtained a victory over the Szeklers. The town was shortly after occupied by Gen. Bern. MAROT, Clement, a French poet, born in Ca- hors in 1495, died in Turin in September, 1544. He succeeded his father Jean Marot, who was also a poet, as valet-de-chambre to Francis I., whom he accompanied to Italy, and was wound- ed and made prisoner at the battle of Pavia in 1525. On recovering his liberty and return- ing to Paris, he was imprisoned for a time on the charge of heresy, at the instigation, as has been stated, of Diana of Poitiers. In 1535, the charge being revived, he retired to the court of Margaret, titular queen of Navarre, and went thence to Ferrara and Venice. In 1536 he returned to Paris, having abjured the heretical doctrines at Lyons. His metrical translations of the Psalms, which were very popular, and were sung by the king and the whole court, being condemned as heretical by the Sorbonne, he again fled in 1543 to Geneva, where he added 20 psalms to the 30 previously published. He then went to Turin, where he died in great poverty. His poems consist of epistles, rondeaux, ballads, epigrams, &c. His most important longer productions, besides the translations of the Psalms, were ISEnfer, a satire upon the lawyers, and a new version of the Roman de la rose. His son Michel was also a poet, though much inferior to him ; and a complete edition of the works of the three Marots was published at the Hague in 1731, in 4 vols. 4to. The works of Clement Marot have been frequently reprinted. MARQUESAS ISLANDS 185 MARQUE, Letter of. See PEIVATEEE. MARQUESAS ISLANDS, or Mendafla Archipelago, a cluster of 13 small islands in the South Pa- cific ocean, between lat. 7 45' and 11 S. and Ion. 138 and 141 W. ; aggregate area, 480 sq. m. ; pop. in 1864, about 10,000. They are gen- erally divided into a southern and a northern group. The former (Hiwaoa, Tahuata, Motane, and Fatuhiva) was discovered in 1595 by the Spaniard Mendafia de Neyra, and by him named Las Marquesas de Mendoza in honor of the viceroy of Peru, the marquis de Mendoza. Of the northern group, discovered by Captains Marchand and Ingraham in 1791, the largest islands are Nukahiva, Uahuga or Washington, Uapoa or Adams, Shotomiti or Franklin, and Fatuuhu. They are of volcanic origin, a fact which is attested by long rows of bleak basal- tic rocks. Each island is formed by a moun- tain ridge, which rises to an elevation of 2,000 or 3,000 ft., sending forth numerous lesser chains, between which fertile valleys open to- ward the ocean. The coast is for the most part rugged and precipitous, and the roadsteads being unprotected furnish no safe anchorage. The climate and productions resemble those of the other volcanic islands of subtropical Poly- nesia. The rainy season lasts from November to April. Droughts are not unf requent during the hot season ; Krusenstern mentions one which lasted for ten months. The valleys, the soil of which is formed by hundreds of layers of decayed vegetation, are extremely fertile, and produce all tropical fruits in abundance. The yam, sugar cane, banana, plantain, taro, sweet potato, cotton plant, &c., grow almost without culture. The hillsides are covered with forests of cocoanut, breadfruit, and pa- paw trees, the fan palm, and numerous other trees ; but the vigorous growth of underbrush renders them almost inaccessible. The fauna of the islands is as poor as their flora is rich. There are no indigenous mammalia, but swine, rats, and cats have been introduced from Eu- rope. Of birds there are only four or five dis- tinct species; among them the kurukuru and the gupil, a parrot of the size of the robin, are the most beautiful. Water fowl abound on the coast, and valuable mussels are found near the shore. The inhabitants belong to the Malay race, and are distinguished by grace and symmetry of person. Their complexion is of a light copper color ; the women appear almost white, but this complexion is produced by the application of the root of the papaw tree. Tattooing is practised by both sexes. Their social organization is similar to that which prevailed in the Hawaiian islands before the introduction of Christianity. They are divided into many tribes or clans, among whom bloody wars are of frequent occurrence. The tabu serves them instead of religion. The tabooed or privileged classes consist of atnas, who are venerated as superior beings ; tanas, soothsay- ers and "medicinemen;" ta tau nas, priests and surgeons; ulius, the lowest rank of the hier-