sugar-fields. The capital is Port Louis (population 52,740). The island is passing into the hands of Chinese and Hindus, who are supplanting Europeans as owners as well as workers. The great crop is sugar, though large quantities of rum, cocoanut-oil, vanilla, Mauritius hemp, aloe-fiber, drugs and caoutchouc are exported. Mauritius is a British colony, and is ruled by a governor and executive council. The island was discovered by Mascarenhas in 1561, who found it uninhabited. The Portuguese abandoned it, and it was seized by the Dutch in 1598, who named it after their Prince Maurice; but they in turn abandoned it in 1710. The French were its next masters, and introduced sugar-raising, which made its prosperity. The English gained possession in 1810. There are 121 miles of railway and 333 of telegraph. There is a cable through the Seychelles Islands to Zanzibar. Its exports in 1905 reached a total value of 34½ million rupees, and its imports were 18 million. The area of the island is 705 square miles. Population, including about 3,000 military (in barracks) and non-resident, shipping people, 378,195. Among the dependencies of Mauritius are Rodrigues (3,162) and a number of smaller islands in the group. See works by J. G. Baker and G. Clark and Keller's Madagascar, Mauritius and other East African Islands.
Maury (ma̤′rĭ), Matthew F., an American naval officer and scientist, was born near Fredericksburg, Va., Jan. 14, 1806. In 1825 he entered the navy as midshipman, and while still a passed-midshipman he began his Treatise on Navigation, which was used as a text-book in the navy. After 13 years' service he became lieutenant, in 1837, but two years later an accident lamed him for life and unfitted him for service afloat. In 1842 he was made superintendent of the hydrographical office at Washington and, two years later, of the observatory. Here he made careful observations on winds and currents, from the results of which he wrote his Physical Geography of the Sea, The Gulf Stream, Ocean Currents and Great-Circle Sailing. Maury was made a commander in 1855, but when his state seceded he joined the Confederate navy. After the war he was professor of physics in Virginia Military Institute, Lexington. He was a member of the scientific societies of Europe, and practically was the founder of the new and important science of oceanography. Professor Maury died at Lexington, Va., Feb. 1, 1873. See his Life by his daughter.
Max′im, Sir Hiram S., American inventor, was born in Maine, Feb. 5, 1840, and became famous as the inventor of the automatic cannon (q. v.) known by his name. His first completed gun was exhibited in 1884. The principle of this gun was making the recoil of the weapon load and fire the weapon. He succeeded in making a gun that would fire 600 shots a minute. The gun was first used in warfare by the British in Matabeleland. It was soon adopted by the French navy, and now, under various names, is in use by many governments. He also invented a smokeless powder (q. v.), incandescent lamps and search-lights to be used on board of men-of-war. He received a number of decorations from European courts. He was also made a member of many scientific associations. He has resided in England many years, and having transferred his citizenship to that country was knighted in 1901.
Maximilian (măks′ĭ-mĭl′yan) I, German emperor, the son of Frederick III, was born at Neustadt, near Vienna, March 22, 1459. When only 10 he married Mary, the heiress of Charles the Bold, by whom he gained Burgundy and Flanders. But this brought him into war with Louis XI of France, and Maximilian was forced to give Artois and Burgundy to Louis. In 1486 he was chosen king of the Romans. In 1490 he drove out the Hungarians, who, under Matthias Corvinus, had seized a great part of the Austrian territories on the Danube, and at Villach in 1492 he routed the Turks. The death of his father in 1493 made Maximilian emperor. His marriage with the daughter of the duke of Milan turned his ambition toward Italy; but after many changes of fortune he was driven to give up Milan to France and Verona to the Venetians. He, however, gained Tyrol by peaceful means; the houses of Spain and Hapsburg were joined by the marriage of their children; and the marriage of his grandson, Ferdinand, brought Hungary and Bohemia to Austria. Maximilian ended the feuds of his nobles, improved the courts, and divided the empire into six (afterward into ten) circles, each ruled by a governor. He also encouraged the Universities of Vienna and Ingoldstadt in learning and arts generally. He was well-educated, skilled in all bodily exercises, chivalrous and genial; so that he has been called the first knight of his age. Maximilian died emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, at Wels in Upper Austria, Jan. 12, 1519. See Coxe's History of the House of Austria.
Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico. Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, archduke of Austria, was born on July 6, 1832, at Vienna, and was the younger brother of Francis Joseph I. He became an admiral of the Austrian navy, and in 1857-59 he was popular as governor of the Lombardo-Venetian territory. In 1862 the French interfered in the affairs of Mexico, and next year called together an assembly of notables, which offered the crown to Maximilian. After carefully reviewing the offer he accepted it, and in June, 1864, he entered Mexico. For a time all went well, but he was unable to keep the Mexican parties under control. Juarez, the republican leader, again raised the standard of
