MACARTIIY MACBETH. 



597 



sula, or rather on a small island, which has an area 

 of 106 square miles, and contains 33,800 inhabitants. 

 It is the only European settlement in China, and was 

 ceded to the Portuguese in 1580. (See India, Portu- 

 guese.) The Portuguese fortified the place, and sur- 

 rounded it with strong walls. Macao has a Portu- 

 guese governor, and a Chinese mandarin ; and the 

 English and other nations have factories here. The 

 houses are of stone, built after the European manner; 

 but they are low, and make little show. The city is 

 defended by three forts, built upon eminences ; its 

 works are good, and well planted with artillery. It 

 was formerly a place of the greatest importance, 

 being the centre of the trade of the Portuguese in 

 the eastern part of Asia. Since the decline of the 

 Portuguese trade, the town has sunk into a place of 

 comparatively little importance. In the garden of 

 the English factory is shown a cave, called thegrotto 

 of Camoens, in which he is said to have composed the 

 Lusiad. 



MACARTHY, SIR CHARLES, an Irish officer, 

 who commanded at Cape Coast, in 1821. Whilst 

 making preparations to repel the Asharitees, the 

 king sent his compliments to him, and said he hoped 

 to have his head, as an ornament to his great war- 

 drum. In 1823, Sir Charles marched against the 

 Ashantees, with a mixed force of Europeans and 

 blacks, the latter of whom ran away, and the whites 

 being defeated, their commander was captured by 

 the victor, who ferociously realized his menace, 

 January 21, 1824. In a subsequent battle, the 

 Ashantees were entirely defeated, and this barbar- 

 ous trophy was recovered and conveyed to the rela- 

 tions of Sir Charles. 



MACARTNEY, GEORGE (earl Macartney), the 

 son of a gentleman of Scottish descent, was born in 

 Ireland, in 1737, and educated at Trinity college, 

 Dublin ; after which he became a student of the 

 Temple. In 1764, he was appointed envoy extra- 

 ordinary to Russia, afterwards became secretary to 

 the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and was created knight 

 of the Bath. In 1775, he was made captain-gene- 

 ral and governor of the Caribbee islands, Grenada, 

 the Grenadines and Tobago. Grenada was invaded 

 and taken by the French, and the governor was sent 

 a prisoner to France. On his return to England, he 

 was appointed to the presidency of Madras, having 

 previously received an Irish peerage. On his em- 

 bassy to China, in 1792, he behaved with great 

 address, and succeeded in the chief object of his 

 mission. His only subsequent public situation was 

 that of governor of the cape of Good Hope, whence 

 lie returned, on account of ill health, in 1797. He 

 died March 31, 1806. His English earldom was 

 bestowed on him for his services in China. Lord 

 Macartney was the author of a Journal of his Chinese 

 embassy, and other publications. See Stannton's Em- 

 bassy to China, and Barrow's Life of Lord Macartney. 

 MACASSAR ; a city of Celebes, on the south- 

 west coast, capital of a kingdom called Macassar 

 or Bony ; Ion. 119 50' E. ; lat. 5 10' S.; population, 

 according to Hassel, 100,000. This town is the 

 chief settlement of the Dutch on the island, and cal- 

 led by them Fort Rotterdam. The town is built on 

 a neck, or point of land, at the mouth of a river 

 which forms a harbour, with water enough for a ship 

 to come within cannon shot of the walls. The town 

 is large ; the houses are of wood, built on piles, to 

 guard against the inundations. The country round 

 about is level and beautiful, abounding with planta- 

 tions and groves of cocoa-nut trees. At a distance 

 inland, the country rises into hills of great height, 

 and becomes rude and mountainous. See East In- 

 dia Company, Dutch. 



MACASSAR, STRAITS OF ; the channel or narrow 



sea between Celebes and Borneo, about 350 miles 

 long, and from 110 to 140 wide, except at the north 

 entrance, where it is contracted to fifty miles. 



MACAULEY, CATHERINE, or GRAHAM, the 

 name of her second husband, was born in Kent, at 

 the seat of her father, John Sawbridge. She was 

 well educated, and became early attached to the 

 perusal of history. In 1760, she married doctor 

 George Macauley,a physician, and, in 1763, publish- 

 ed the first volume (4to,) of her History of England 

 from the Accession of James I., to that of the Bruns- 

 wick line. This was continued in successive volumes, 

 to the eighth, which completed the work, in 1783. 

 Tiie spirit of this history is almost purely republican. 

 The other works of Mrs Macauley are Loose Re- 

 marks on some of Mr Hobbes' Positions ; an Ad- 

 dress to the People of England on the present 

 Important Crisis (1775); a Treatise on the Immuta- 

 bility of Moral Truth, afterwards republished, witli 

 additional matter under the title of Letters on 

 Education (1790). Her last publication was a Letter 

 to Earl Stanhope, in reply to the opinions of Burke 

 on the French Revolution (1791). In 1785, Mrs 

 Macauley married a young man of the name of Gra- 

 ham, and the disparity of their ages subjected her 

 to much ridicule. She paid a visit to general Wash- 

 ington, in America, in 1785, and died in 1791. 



MACAW. These magnificent birds belong to 

 the parrot tribe, and are distinguished by having 

 their cheeks destitute of feathers, and the feathers 

 of the tail long. They form the sub-genus ara. 

 They are only found in the tropical regions of South 

 America. They prefer moist situations, from the 

 palm growing in such spots, of the fruit of which 

 they are very fond. They usually go in pairs ; some- 

 times, however, they assemble, in the morning and 

 evening, in great numbers. Although they fly well, 

 they seldom wander far, except in quest of food, and 

 regularly return in the evening. They build their 

 nests in the hollow of rotten trees, and Jay twice in 

 the year, generally two eggs at a time. The male 

 and female share alternately in the labour of incuba- 

 tion and rearing the young. When young they are 

 easily tamed, and soon grow familiar with persons 

 whom they frequently see. But like all the parrot 

 tribe, they have an aversion to strangers, and parti- 

 cularly to children. In a domesticated state, they 

 will feed on almost every article, but are especially 

 fond of sugar, bread, and fruits. They do not masti- 

 cate the latter, but suck them by pressing their 

 tongue against the upper mandible. Like the other 

 parrots, these birds use their claws with great dex- 

 terity, though, in climbing, they always begin by 

 taking hold with their bill in the first instance, using 

 their feet only as a second point of their motion. 

 When they were first carried to Europe, their great 

 beauty and size caused them to be in much request, 

 and they were considered as valuable presents be- 

 tween sovereign princes. This bird was spoken of, 

 by Aldrovandus, as early as 1572. 



MACBETH lived about the middle of the eleventh 

 century. He served against the Danes as general of 

 his relation Duncan 1. or Donald VII.. king of Scot- 

 land. Tiie Danes were completely defeated, and 

 Macbeth now conceived the idea of obtaining pos- 

 session of the Scottisli throne. He appears, like 

 most men in his time, to have believed in the predic- 

 tions of the pretenders to supernatural knowledge. 

 On his return from his victory over the Danes, three 

 old women met him with the insignia of the witches 

 f that period, and saluted him the first, as thane 

 ofGlamis; the second as thane of Cawdor ; the third, 

 is about to be king of Scotland. The two first pre- 

 dictions being almost immediately fulfilled, Macbeth 

 . r as led to hope for the accomplishment of the last. 



