M A U 
564 M A U 
The produce of the ifland is fmall in proportion to its 
population. Eftimaikig the former by a reduction to ave¬ 
rage-crops and average-prices, we may calculate the fugar 
annually produced at 70,000!. arrack, 21,000!. cotton, 
iS,oool. indigo, I2,oooi. total, 122,000!. 
The charafter of the natives of the ifland is defcribed 
by M. Milbert with nil the warmth of a Frenchman: — 
“ To vivacity, impetuofity, and bravery, the Creoles unite 
goodnefs: they are fond of an independent life, and no¬ 
thing can equal their opennefs of difpofition. Their ca¬ 
pacity is naturally quick and penetrating; and, in order 
to be proficients in the arts and fciences, they want only 
perfeverance. Neverthelefs, many well-informed perfons 
among them have never been out of their own ifland. 
For fome time pa't, the education of the Creoles of both 
fexes has been well conducted. A college, under the im¬ 
mediate protection of the governor-general, receives the 
young boys: that eftablitlnnent is managed with regu¬ 
larity ; and, with refpeCt to health, all neceflary precau¬ 
tions are taken ; the matters teach mathematics, the Latin 
and French languages, and drawing. The latter art is 
not followed merely for pleafure; every one knows how 
ufcful it is to thole who are deltined to navigation, as 
rendering them capable of fketching the outlines of a 
coatt, and of making fea-charts. The women of the Ifle 
of France have regular and noble features; they poflefs 
the beauty of nature difplaved to advantage by the falu- 
brity of the climate; their form is elegant and flender; 
their eyes, although very quick, are full of fweetnefs ; 
and their complexion is rather white than coloured. They 
poflefs, in an eminent degree, the virtues of doineftic life; 
they are extremely temperate, and for the mod part drink 
nothing but water. They have a decided talfe for mufic 
and dancing. Many of them are proficients in the for¬ 
mer; while others make themfelves ufeful in the btifinefs 
of their hufbands, whofe papers and correfpondence they 
take under their charge. The men are in general active, 
laborious, and intelligent; efpecially thofe who have en¬ 
gaged in commerce, or who occupy themfelves with the 
cultivation of their lands. Few examples occur of the 
indolence which is commonly afcribed to Creoles. Dinner 
is ferved at a much earlier hour than at Paris ; and, the 
heat being oppreflive, it is the cuftoin to fleep in the af¬ 
ternoon. During the hours of repofe, the town appears 
defertcd ; fcarcely a Angle perfon is to be met in the 
ftreets ; even the people of colour fleep on the public' 
places, or under the (hade of a tree; all enjoy a perfect 
calm.” Voyage Pittorefque a rifle de France; Paris 1812. 
Difeafe is hardly known in the Iile of France, and the 
climate is uncommonly wholeforne and temperate. A 
clear fky, and fine fcenery, rendered (till more agreeable 
bv the falubrity and foftnefs of the air, all contribute to 
that affability and focial cheerfulnefs fo prevalent among 
the inhabitants. It is faid, on approaching the land, when 
the wind is not violent, the air is embalmed with the per¬ 
fumes of flowers, with which the trees of the ifland are 
covered. Our fublime national bard has illuttrated a pic¬ 
ture of the pnradife of onr fir It parents by a fimile drawn 
from thofe elyfian regions: 
.-As when to them who fail 
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pad 
Mozambic, off at lea north-eaft winds blow 
Sabean odours from the fpicy fhore; 
Well pleas’d, they flack their courfe, and many a league, 
Cheer’d with the grateful Imell, old ocean fmiles. Par.LoJf. 
M AU'RKIRCHEN, a town of Bavaria, in the re¬ 
gency of Munich on the Mattig: fix inHes fotith of Brau- 
nau, and twelve eafl of Berkhaufen. 
MAU'RO (St.), a town of Naples, in Lavora : four 
miles fotith-eatt of Capua.—A town of Naples, in Bafili- 
cata : twenty-two miles foutb-eaft of Acerenza.—A town 
of Naples, in Calabria Citra: three miles weft-fouth-welt 
of Roffano.— A town of the Tyrol: twelve miles uorth- 
north-eaft of Trent. 
MAUROCE'NIA, f. in botany. See Casstne. 
MAUROCORDA'TO (Alexander), a political and li¬ 
terary character, was a Greek, born either at Chio or Con- 
ftantinople, of a family faid to derive its origin from the 
Scarlati of Genoa. He ftudied firft at the Urban college 
at Rome, whence he went to Padua to attend the lectures 
in medicine. As a proof of his readinefs in extemporary 
fpeaking, and his felf-confidence, it is related, that, one of 
the medical profeflors being taken ill as he was going to 
deliver an introductory difeourfe, Maurocordato mounted 
the chair in his ftead, and pronounced an harangue fo elo¬ 
quent and well connected, that he was defired to print it. 
His temper was, however, too turbulent to acquiefce in 
the fuhordination required in an univerfity, and his quar¬ 
rels obliged him to quit Padua before he received the ho- 
hour of graduation. He removed to Bologna, where in 
1664. he took his doctor’s degree, maintaining for his in¬ 
augural difputation a thefis entitled Pncumaticum Injirumen - 
turn circulandi Sanguinis , Jive de Motu et Ufu Pulmonum. I u 
this he attempted to prove that the blood acquires its 
heat from the preflure it undergoes by the action of the 
lungs. Returning to Conlfantinople, he praftifed me¬ 
dicine with fo much fuccefs, that he was made phyfician 
to the grand fignior. His great facility in the acquifitioii 
of languages caufed him, however, to be appointed fuc- 
ceflor to Panagiotti as court-interpreter; and he after¬ 
wards became firft interpreter to the Ottoman empire. In 
1683 he was involved in the changes confequent upon the 
death of the grand vizir Cara Muftapha ; and fuffered a 
long and fevers imprifoninent, from which he was not re¬ 
leafed without the facrifice of all his property. On the 
acceflion of Solyman III. in 1687, he was rettored to his 
poffs; and in the following year was one of the ambafla- 
dors fent to Vienna to treat on peace. It was chiefly 
through his artful management that the negotiations were 
fet on foot which terminated in 1699 in the peace of Car- 
lowitz, at which he afted as plenipotentiary, for the Porte. 
His fervices were liberally rewarded, and be continued in 
favour till his death in 1711. Maurocordato always re¬ 
mained a member of the Greek church. A tranflation of 
the great Dutch Atlas, of twelve volumes folio, into 
Turkifh, was undertaken by him at the command of the 
grand fignior in 1675, and completed with the afliftance 
of a French Jefuit. 
The eldeft Ion of Maurocordato was nominated hofpo- 
dar of Walachia and Moldavia in J709 ; but after his fa¬ 
ther’s death was depofed on fufpicion of a fecret corref¬ 
pondence with the czar Peter. Mod. Univ. HiJl. 
MAUROLI'CO (Francis), a celebrated and profound 
Sicilian mathematician, was a defeendant from a noble 
Greek family, which was driven to feek an afylum in Si¬ 
cily from the perfecution of the Turks ; and was horn aC 
Medina in the year 1494. At an early age hediffinguifh- 
ed himfelf by his proficiency in polite literature, the Latin 
and Greek languages, and particularly in mathematical 
learning. Having devoted himfelf to the ecclefiaftical 
profeflion, he became abbot of Santa Maria del Porto, in 
Sicily ; but his favourite ftudies, to which he applied 
more of his time than to the Bible and divinity, were thofe 
of the belles lettres, and the mathematical fciences. He 
particularly excelled in geometry, aftrononay, optics, and 
architecture. For a long time he filled the mathematical 
chair in his native city with great reputation ; and was 
particularly admired for the perfpicuity with which he ex¬ 
plained and illuttrated -the moft difficult queltions. His 
fame as a mathematician extended over all Europe ; and 
he enjoyed the etteem and friendttiip of the molt illuftriouS 
perfons of his time. Several ftrangers of diftinCtion vi- 
fited Meflina, in order to obtain his acquaintance; and the 
Sicilians in general boafted of him as their fecond Archi¬ 
medes. He reftored the fifth book of Apollonius, which 
had been loft; and, though he did not fucceed equally 
with Viviani in the following century, his performance 
fliows him to have been the moft profound geometrician 
of his time. He found out a new method of demonttrat- 
3 ins 
