MALACCA PASSAGE MALAYS. 



108 13' K. ; lat. 2 14' N. Many of the houses 

 are well built of stone, and there are several spacious 

 and handsome streets. The surrounding country is 

 fertile and pleasant. There is a good roadstead about 

 one and a half miles distant from the town, but the 

 entrance of the river by boats is difficult. The ex- 

 ports are tin, sago, pepper, canes, elephants' teeth, 

 and gold dust. This place was once possessed by the 

 Portuguese, afterwards by the Dutch, till 1795, when 

 it was subjected by a British force, but restored in 

 1801, recaptured in 1807, and again restored in 1815. 

 But it was finally received in exchange for the British 

 settlements in Sumatra, and occupied by the British 

 authorities in 1825. Population in 1823, 33,806. 



MALACCA PASSAGE ; channel of the East 

 Indian sea, between Polo Way and the coast of Su- 

 matra, about thirteen miles long. 



MALACCA, STRAITS OF ; a narrow sea between 

 the island of Sumatra and the country of Malacca, 

 extending from the equinoctial line to lat. 5 N. 



MALACHI, the twelfth and last of the minor 

 prophets, was the contemporary of Nehemiah, and 

 prophesied, according to Jdhii, from 412 to 408 B. C. 

 The name signifies angel, or messenger of the Lord. 

 Our entire ignorance of his history has given rise to 

 numerous conjectures concerning him. His prophecy 

 is short, his style prosaic and rough, and he denounces 

 with vehemence the corruptions and backslidings of 

 his countrymen. He declares that the Messiah will 

 save the Gentiles, and announces the coming of one 

 who shall precede and prepare the way for the 

 Saviour. Among the principal commentators are 

 Jerome, Pococke, Calmet, Rosenmiiller, &c. 



MALACOLOGY (from ^a/uzx/av, Greek for the 

 mollusca) ; a term now used, particularly by the 

 French, for that part of science which treats of the 

 mollusca. 



MALAGA ; a maritime town of Spain, on the 

 coast of the Mediterranean ; lat. 36 43' N. ; Ion. 

 4 25' W. ; population, 51,900. It has an excellent 

 harbour, and is situated in the midst of a fertile coun- 

 try, producing great quantities of figs, almonds, 

 oranges, lemons, olives, sumach, juniper-berries, wax, 

 and honey, which, with dried raisins and wines from 

 the mountains, and cork from the hills, form the foun- 

 dation of the commerce of Malaga. Besides these 

 articles, it exports a great variety of manufactured 

 goods made here and in the neighbourhood. The 

 port is enclosed on three sides, and is capable of 

 accommodating 400 merchantmen and nineteen ships 

 of war. The city presents a Moorish appearance, 

 with high houses, and narrow, crooked, badly-paved 

 streets. There is, however, a splendid public walk, 

 and a rich, but unfinished cathedral. The vineyards 

 on the neighbouring hills produce, annually, from 

 2000 to 3000 pipes of wine. The first vintage, in 

 June, furnishes the Malaga raisins. The second, in 

 September, furnishes a kind of wine resembling Sher- 

 ry, but inferior to it. In October and November, the 

 sweet Malaga wine is made. 



MALAGRIDA, GABRIEL ; an Italian ecclesiastic, 

 notorious for his intrigues and fanaticism, was born in 

 1686, and, having become a member of the Jesuits' 

 college, was despatched by that fraternity as their 

 missionary to Lisbon. Here he acquired considerable 

 popularity by his eloquence, and his pretensions to 

 extraordinary sanctity. Being accused of participa- 

 tion in the pretended conspiracy of the duke D'A veiro 

 against the crown of Portugal, he was thrown into 

 prison by the government. But, instead of being 

 tried by the judicial tribunals, he was delivered over 

 to the inquisition, and condemned as guilty, not of 

 treason, but of heresy, uttering false prophecies, and 

 seeing visions, and was sentenced to the stake, and 

 executed September 21, 1761. See Pombal. 



MAL' ARIA (Italian, bad air); a state of the 

 atmosphere or soil, or both, which, in certain regions 

 in the warm season, produces a fever more or less 

 violent according to the nature of the exposure. The 

 country of the mal' aria, in Italy, is the Maremme, 

 which extends from Leghorn to Terracina, about 200 

 miles, and from the sea to the Appenines, from twenty 

 five to thirty miles. The centre of the infected dis- 

 trict is Rome. (See Campagna di Roma.) We are 

 still ignorant of the causes of this fatal infection. It 

 exists in the rice grounds of Lombardy, on the high- 

 lands near Padua, on the summits of the Radicofani, 

 and round the gulf of Salerno. The sky of the 

 devoted spots continues pure, the air calm, the 

 verdure fresh; but all this serenity and beauty of 

 nature only forms a shocking contrast with the 

 death-like desolation around, or with the sickly 

 appearance of the few peasants who venture to 

 wander in the unhealthy district. Bigelow ( Travels 

 in Malta and Sicily) gives a similar account of its 

 effects in Sicily. It is found in all parts of the 

 island, infesting not only the valleys, but often 

 elevated situations. The city of Rome, it is well 

 known, has been gradually invaded by it, and a large 

 part of the city has been successively deserted by the 

 inhabitants. In 1406, the Lateran was condemned; 

 since 1623, the Vatican has become unsafe; since 

 1710, the Palatine, the circus Maximus, the forum, 

 and, indeed, the whole of ancient Rome, has been 

 deserted; even the finest parts of the modern cily 

 have become unsafe. See Rome. 



MALAYS ; according to Sir Thomas Stamford 

 Raffles (Asiatic Researches, xii. London, 1818), a 

 people of Asia, who have adopted the religion and 

 language of the Arabians, and intermarried with 

 them, so that they have become separated from their 

 original stock, and form a distinct nation. In the 

 thirteenth century, we find the Malays on the penin- 

 sula of Malacca, where they built a city of the same 

 name, and founded an empire. Their sultans sub- 

 dued Sumatra, where the nation seems to have dwelt 

 previously to their settling in Malacca. They after- 

 wards possessed themselves of the rest of the Sunda 

 isles, of the Philippines, the Moluccas, and some of the 

 Australian groups, where Malay tribes are found, 

 resembling, in their features, religion and govern- 

 ment, the Malays of Malacca. At that time, they 

 acted a splendid part in Asia; they carried on com- 

 merce, in part, with their own ships, and planted 

 colonies. Great numbers of ships from China, Cochin 

 China, Hinclostan, and Siam filled the harbours of 

 Malacca. They are now divided into distinct tribes, 

 without any general head. This is partly owing to 

 the superiority which the Europeans, particularly the 

 Dutch, have obtained in the Indian seas, and partly 

 to the feudal system of the Malays, by which the 

 national power has been divided, and a common 

 spirit prevented by the increasing power of the 

 vassals. The superior vassals obey the sultan or 

 supreme commander only when they please, and the 

 vassals under them have similar liberty. The great 

 body of the nation consists of slaves ; their masters 

 are the oramlai, or nobility, who are independent, 

 and sell their services to him who pays them best. 

 The Malays are different from the Hindoos, Birmans, 

 and Siamese. They are strong, nervous, and of a 

 dark brown colour; their hair is long, black, and 

 shining ; the nose large and flat ; their eyes brilliant 

 and full of fire. Impetuosity, bordering on fury, 

 treachery, impatience of constraint, love of plunder 

 and blood, characterize the Malays of Asia. Those 

 in the islands of Australia are in general more gentle, 

 kind, affable, open, and honest, and are distinguished 

 by the finest and most symmetrical persons. The 

 Malays of Asia, including the Eidahans and Dejak- 



