Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/27

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MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL MOZAET 19 tempt the expulsion of the original settlers. This was not difficult, and in 1508 they had obtained a footing in two places, and built a fort upon the island of Mozambique. They have .made some unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the interior; but since 1860 a con- siderable part of the territory immediately ad- jacent to the. Zambesi, and its tributary the Shire, to Lake Nyassa, has been explored by Dr. Livingstone. The slave trade is still car- ried on, but not so actively as formerly, and several Portuguese officials have been removed for permitting it or participating in it. In 1873 Sir Bartle Frere visited Mozambique and adjoining countries, and negotiated with the sultan of Zanzibar a treaty for the suppression of the slave traffic on the E. coast of Africa. n. A city, capital of the territory, on a coral island near the mainland ; pop. about 7,000. The centre of the island is in lat. 15 3' S., Ion. 40 48' E. It is about 1 m. long and m. broad, in the form of a crescent, with the hollow side toward the sea; and, with two other islets, it is near the mouth of a bay 6 m. long and 5 m. broad, which furnishes a safe and excellent harbor. The ground on which the town stands is from 20 to 50 ft. above the water, and the position is strongly fortified. The governor's palace is an extensive stone building. There are two churches and three chapels, a custom house, a hospital, prisons, tanks, and storehouses. The streets are very narrow, and the houses being all whitewashed, the glare and heat are very great, the mercury rising from 6 to 10 higher in the town than on the mainland. The inhabitants are a mix- ture of Indian, Arabian, and European, and their costumes are as various as their races. With the exception of the governor and his staff, the greater part of the European settlers are convicts. Other classes are descendants of the old Arab settlers, most of whom are sailors, the Banian traders from Hindostan, and ne- groes. Mozambique formerly supplied nearly all the markets in that part of the world with slaves, besides sending some to the West Indies. Mozambique. The legitimate traffic of the place is principally carried on by Arab ships, which bring piece goods and eastern produce from India, and take back ivory. It was made a free port a few years ago, but the rise of Zanzibar and the almost total suppression of the slave trade have interfered with its prosperity, though its export of ivory is still important. MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL, the passage between the E. coast of Africa and the island of Mada- gascar, lat. 12 to 25 S. At its S. entrance it is 550 m. wide, at its N. nearly 600, and in the middle about 250. Its length from N. E. to S. W. is about 1,050 m. The Comoro islands lie at its N. entrance. MOZART. I. Johann Georg Leopold, a German musician, born in Augsburg, Nov. 14, 1719, died May 28, 1787. He excelled on the organ when a youth, and paid his way while study- ing law by teaching music. Having gone to Salzburg to perfect his studies, he accepted the post of chamberlain to Count Thurn, a preb- endary of the cathedral. In 1743 Archbishop j Sigismund appointed him chamber musician; a few years later he became court composer and leader of the orchestra, and in 1762 vice chapelmaster. In 1757 his musical works were already very numerous. His "Violin School" (1756), which laid the foundation for modern German violin playing, is remarkable as the first of its kind, and as teaching that mere execution is but a means to the true ar- tistic end. He married in 1747 Anna Maria Pertlin, who bore him seven children, all of whom died in infancy excepting a daughter and a son. The daughter, Maria Anna Wal- burga Ignatia (born 1751, died 1829), became known as a pianist and afterward as a teacher, and married Baron Berchthold. II. Johannes Chrysostomns Wolfgang Amadens (generally called Wolfgang), a German composer, son of the preceding, born in Salzburg, Jan. 27, 1756, died in Vienna, Dec. 5, 1791. When in his third year he attracted his father's notice by striking chords upon the harpsichord, and by readily learning passages in his sister's music