Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/225

 MARTINIQUE m.; area, 381 sq. m.; pop. in 1868, 153,334, including 16,618 coolies and about 20,000 whites. The island is irregular in form, high, rocky, and volcanic, containing five or six ex- tinct craters. It is subject to earthquakes, of which several have been disastrous. In the interior are three mountains, the highest of which, Mont Pelee, in the north, 4,438 ft. above the sea, after a long period of inaction, burst forth in a violent volcanic eruption in August, 1851. From these mountains several ranges of low volcanic hills extend to the sea, and between them lie broad, fertile valleys. The rivers are numerous, but all small ; most of them in the rainy season become fierce tor- rents. The coasts are indented by many bays, which are difficult of access. The E. side of the island, called Oabes-Terre, is more broken and sterile than the W., called Basse-Terre. About one third of the surface is under culti- vation, the principal productions being sugar, coffee, cotton, cassia, manioc, bananas, indigo, maize, cacao, and ginger. The climate is hu- mid, and the average annual fall of rain is 84 inches. The year is divided into two seasons, one commencing about Oct. 15 and lasting nine months, and the other comprising the rest of the year. During the latter season the rains are abundant, and yellow fever and similar dis- eases prevail. The mean annual temperature of the plains is 81 F. The value of the agricul- tural produce in 1869 was 12,730,354 francs ; the number of cattle is about 150,000. The manufactures possess considerable importance ; there are several establishments for the prep- aration of indigo, about 100 for the various processes in the preparation of sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton, besides potteries, lime kilns, and steam mills. There is an active commerce, chiefly with France. The exports are sugar, coffee, cocoa, cassia, dye and cabinet woods, cotton, rum, &c. The value of exports in 1869 amounted to 32,115,400 francs, and that of im- ports to 30,864,177"; and the aggregate value of the import and export trade of France with Martinique was 40,384,549 francs. The num- ber of vessels entering the ports in that year was 803 ; cleared, 858. There is a governor, a privy council of seven members, and a colonial council of 30 members elected for five years. The judiciary consists of a supreme court, and two assize and two inferior courts. The cap- ital is Fort Royal or Fort de France, but St. Pierre is the largest town and the chief seat of commerce. Martinique, called by the Indians Madiana, was discovered by Columbus in 1502. The French colonized it in 1635, and during the war of American independence made it a great naval station. The British seized it in 1762, 1781, 1794, and 1809, finally restoring it by the treaty of Paris in 1814. The slaves rebelled in 1822, 1833, and 1839 ; slavery was abolished in 1848. Since 1866 the colony has legislated for itself on duties and public works. A railway is in progress of construction (1875) from Fort Royal to St. Pierre. MARTYN 213 MARTINSBURG, a town and the capital of Berkeley co., West Virginia, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, at the terminus of the Cum- berland Valley line, 210 m. E. N. E. of Charles- ton, and 65 m. W. K "W". of Washington; pop. in 1870, 4,863, of whom 476 were col- ored ; in 1874, about 6,000. It is lighted with gas, supplied with water at a cost of $90,000, and has handsome agricultural fair grounds, a commodious court house, a town hall, and a market house. The Baltimore and Ohio rail- road has here extensive shops, and employs about 600 persons. The principal manufacto- ries are a foundery, a planing mill, three grist mills, and a large distillery. There are three banks, with an aggregate capital of $200,000, six school houses, a female seminary, a daily and two weekly newspapers, and 11 churches. MARTirS, Karl Friedrich Philipp yon, a Ger- man traveller, born in Erlangen in 1794, died in Munich, Dec. 13, 1868. He graduated as a physician at the university of his native town, and from 1817 to 1820 accompanied Spix in Brazil as botanist, and published Reise nacJi Brasilien (3 vols., Munich, 1824-'81). The herbarium which he brought back to Germany included more than 7,000 species. On his re- turn he was ennobled, and appointed professor and director of the botanic garden at Munich, from which he retired in 1<664, and became president of the botanical society of Ratisbon. The botanical results of his journey he em- bodied in Nova Genera et Species Plantarum (3 vols., 1824-'32) and in Icones Plantarum Cryptogamicarum (1828-'34). His chief labor, however, he devoted to the study and collec- tion of palms, and his Genera et Species Pal- marum (3 vols., 1823-'45) is a magnificent con- tribution to botanical literature. His Flora Brasiliensis, commenced in Stuttgart in 1829, was continued under his direction, with the cooperation of several eminent botanists (No. 54, 1871). His latest works, partly posthu- mous, include Beitrage zur Ethnographic und Sprachenlcunde Amerikas (Leipsic, 1867). MiRTOS, Ivan Petroviteh, a Russian sculptor, born about 1755, died in St. Petersburg, April 17, 1835. He studied in Rome at the expense of the empress Maria Fedorovna, and became director of the academy of fine arts in St. Petersburg. Among his chief works are the colossal bronze statues of Minin and Pozharsky at Moscow, the monument to the emperor Alexander at Taganrog, and that of Potemkin at Kherson. MARTIN, Henry, an English missionary, born in Truro in 1781, died in Tokat, Asia Minor, Oct. 16, 1812. He was educated at St. John's college, Cambridge, where he obtained a fel- lowship in 1802. In 1803 he entered the min- istry, and in 1805 set sail for India under the auspices of the African and eastern missionary society. He resided at Bengal as chaplain, and travelled for several years in India and Persia, preaching and studying the native languages. He was chosen to superintend the translation