THE 



POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA; 



MISSOLONGKI MISSOURI. 



MISSOLONGHI, or MISSOLUNGHI; till 1826 the 

 principal stronghold of the Greeks in Western Greece 

 (in the ancient ^Etolia). Surrounded by morasses, 

 Missolonghi is situated on an alluvial tongue of land, 

 on a shallow bay, west of the entrance of the gulf of 

 Patras and of the outlet of. the Evenus (now the 

 Fidaris), and east of the mouth of the Achelous 

 (now Aspropntamo), and was the bulwark of Western 

 Greece in the late struggle with Turkey. The dikes 

 formed by the alluvion, secure the lower parts of the 

 place against inundations, and the lagoons and shal- 

 lows protect the city against an attack by sea. Mis- 

 solonghi, also called by the Greeks Little Venice, 

 was, originally, a fishing village, with about 300 

 inhabitants. At the entrance to the fishing stations 

 lies Uie island of Anatolico, likewise fortified. Both 

 places can be approached only by fishing boats ; the 

 roadsteads for larger vessels are four or live miles 

 distant. Previous to 1804 Missolonghi, which was 

 protected from the pestilential atmosphere of the 

 marshes and lagoons by a north wind that blows 

 every afternoon, contained about 4000 inhabitants 

 (among whom were rich merchants and shipmasters), 

 most of whom left the place on account of the \\~nr. 

 It was then governed chiefly by its own laws, merely 

 paying to the pacha of Negropont the customary poll 

 tax. In 1804, it fell under the dominion of Aii 

 Pacha. Missolonghi and Anatolico raised the banner 

 of the cross June 7, 1821, when the Hydriot fleet 

 appeared in their waters . After the bloody campaign 

 of 1822, in Acarnania,the commander-in-chief, prince 

 Mavrocordato, threw himself (Nov. 5th), with 380 

 men and twenty-two Suliots, under Marco Botzaris, 

 into Missolonghi, which was then untenable and 

 almost deserted, and defended it, with but little 

 artillery and ammunition, against Qmer Vrione, 

 pacha of Janina, and Rutshuk Pacha, till on the 23d 

 Nov., it was relieved and reinforced by sea. Mavro- 

 cordato afterwards repulsed several assaults, and com- 

 pelled the Turks to raise the siege January 6, 1823. 

 Missolonghi, with Anatolico, was then fortified under 

 the superintendence of British officers, partly at the 

 expense of Murray, an Englishman, so that it was 

 rendered one of the strongest places of Greece. Mis- 

 solonghi sustained a second siege of fifty-nine days, in 

 September, October, and December, 1823, when 

 Mustai, pacha of Scutari, with Omer Vrione, in- 

 vested it by land, and several Algerine vessels by 

 sea. It was. defended by Constantine Botznris, 

 brother of the hero of Carpinitzi. Mavrocordato 

 hastened to its relief, with Hydriot vessels, and the 



plague desolated the camp of the barbarians. Mus- 

 tai, in his hasty retreat, lost his artillery and his 

 army. Mavrocordato now remained master of the 

 place, and directed affairs in Western Hellas. There 

 was also in Missolonghi a school of ancient Greek. 

 Missolonghi was also the death-place of lord Byron, 

 who arrived at the end of January, 1824, and died, 

 April 19th of the same year. Mavrocordato was 

 called to Nauplia, and in 1825, deprived of his office 

 by the party of Colocotroni. The seraskier Redshid 

 Pacha now appeared before Missolonghi, with 35,000 

 men. The brave Noto Botzaris (uncle of Marco) de- 

 fended the place successfully, and the assaults of the 

 seraskier, aided by the fleet of the capudan pacha, 

 after the walls had suffered from a bombardment of 

 forty days, were repulsed in the beginning of August, 

 1825. Ibrahim Pacha, with the Egyptian army, then 

 joined in the siege. But all assaults were baffled : 

 continued bombardments at length reduced the place 

 to a heap of ruins, and the heroic garrison determined 

 to force a passage through the besiegers. This was 

 attempted at about eight o'clock in the evening oi 

 April 22, 1826, while the sick, aged,- and wounded, 

 with many women, remained behind in a large mill, 

 which contained a quantity of powder, and which 

 they prepared to blow up as soon as it was entered 

 by the Turks. An old wounded soldier took his seat 

 on a mine, and fired it as soon as they entered the 

 town. About 1800, under the command of Noto 

 Botzaris and Kitros Travellas reached Salona, and 

 afterwards fought at Athens. See Fabre's Hist, du 

 Siege de Missolunghi (Paris, 1826). 



MISSOURI ; a very large river in the United 

 States, which unites with the Mississippi a little be- 

 low latitude 39. It rises in the Rocky mountains, 

 and takes the name Missouri in latitude 45 10' N. 

 and longitude 110 W., where the three branches, 

 Jefferson, Gallatin, and Madison, unite. The spring 

 sources of the Missouri, and those of the Columbia 

 which flows west to the Pacific, are within a mile of 

 each other. The three head branches of the Missouri 

 are navigable for a considerable distance before their 

 junction. Where the river makes its escape from the 

 Rocky mountains, it presents a scene of remarkable 

 sublimity. For a distance of nearly six miles, the 

 rocks rise perpendicularly from the water's edge 

 1200 feet. The river is compressed to the width of 

 150 yards, where it rushes through these gates of the 

 Rocky mountains. About 110 miles from this chasm., 

 are the stupendous cataracts of the Missouri. The 

 greatest cascade is eighty-seven feet perpendicular, 





