was annihilated by the Ottoman forces led by Soliman the Magnificent. In the second (Aug. 12, 1687) the Austrians under Charles of Lorraine gained a decisive victory over the Turks, whose power was afterwards still further broken by Prince Eugene of Savoy.
MOHAIR, the hair of a variety of goat originally inhabiting the regions of Asiatic Turkey of which Angora is the centre, whence the animal is known as the Angora goat. The Arabic muḥayyar, from which the word came into English probably through the Ital. moccacaro or Fr. mocayart, meant literally, “choice” or “select,” and was applied to cloth made of goats’ hair. In the 17th century the word, which before appears in such forms as mocayare or mokaire, became corrupted by connexion
with “hair,” cf. “cray-fish” from écrevisse. From the
English “mohair” the French adapted moire, a watered silk fabric.
The typical mohair fibre is 7 to 8 in. long, very lustrous owing to its physical structure (which although akin to wool is different in that the wool scales are indicated only instead of being fully developed, while the fibre is always solid), 1600 to 1800 of an inch in diameter, of a soft elastic handle, and usually of a clear white transparent colour. The staples of which the fleece is formed should be uniform in length and clearly defined, naturally lending themselves to a good “spin”—a difficult attainment in the case of mohair (see Woolen and Worsted Manufactures). There are many varieties of mohair, from the first qualities as here defined to lower qualities of a kempy, unsatisfactory character. Thus in Constantinople, the chief centre of the Turkey mohair trade, a large variety of fleeces is recognized. For example, from the Lake Van district a distinctly inferior kind known as “Van” mohair is obtained, while other districts produce varieties ranging from Van up to the typical quality described above.
The animal from which mohair was originally obtained was a finely-bred Angora goat. Owing to the demand for raw material exceeding the supply, from 1820 onwards there has been a great deal of crossing of the well-bred Angora with the common kind of goat: in fact it has been said that by 1863 the original Angora had practically disappeared. The growing demand for mohair further resulted in attempts on a commercial scale to introduce the goat into South Africa—where it was crossed with the native goat—the United States, Australia, and later still New Zealand. Perhaps the introduction of the Angora into Australia and New Zealand may in part be due to its value as a scrub and blackberry browser; these growths being the “pests” of the two respective countries.
The manufacture of fabrics from mohair—as in the case of alpaca and cashmere—was in the first instance due to the genius of the rearers of the goat. It would, indeed, be interesting to know if the present day mohair goods—often styled “alpacas” really had their origin in the earlier products of Asia Minor. That fabrics of mohair were in use in England early in the 18th century is obvious from Pope’s allusion:—
“And, when she sees her friend in deep despair,
Observes how much a chintz exceeds mohair.”
Raw mohair was first exported from Turkey to England about 1820, and from that date onwards marked strides were made in its manufacture into useful yarns and fabrics. England has always had, and still maintains, supremacy in this manufacture. Practically the whole of both the Turkish and Cape clips is at least converted into yarn in Yorkshire mills. Quantities of these yarns are also woven into dress goods, dust cloakings, pile fabrics, imitation furs, &c., in Yorkshire, but even greater quantities of mohair yarn are exported to Russia, Germany, Austria, &c., to be converted into astrakans, ordinary braids, brush braids, &c. In the first decade of the 20th century the mohair braid trade received a blow from the introduction of artificial silk.
The history of the introduction of the Angora goat from Asia Minor into the other countries mentioned is as follows. In 1838 pure bred Angoras were introduced into Cape Colony—cashmeres having been previously tried and found unsatisfactory. These pure-bred goats crossed with the common goat; laid the basis of the Cape flocks. In 1856–1857 other importations of pure-bred goats were made. From 1868 to 1897 further importations were made, but these were not of the pure-bred goat and consequently were not so valuable. It should here be noted that the Cape flock-owner clips twice—the summer clip yielding a staple which should be of not less than 7 in., and the winter clip a staple which should be of not less than 3 in. to 4 in. Bradford from time to time has objected to the winter clip as being too short, but this clip seems to have established itself and at least once during recent years has been as saleable as the summer clip. The introduction of Angoras into the United States took place in 1849. Other importations of goats from Asia Minor were made between 1857 and 1880, and interchanges of blood also took place between the United States and Cape Colony. Between 1856 and 1875 some three hundred goats were introduced into Australia. Other importations from Cape Colony and the United States have also been made from time to time, and it seems at least possible, if not probable, that Australia may yet find the Angora goat an important asset.
From the following statistics relating to mohair it will be realized that the mohair supply practically comes from two sources, viz. Turkey in Asia and South Africa:—
| Country. | No. of Goats. | Yield of Hair. |
| Asia Minor | 312 to 4 millions | 11 to 12,000,000 ℔. |
| South Africa | 4 millions | 12 to 14,000,000 ℔. |
| United States | 800,000 | 1,600,000 ℔. |
| Australia | 30,000 | — |
The price per of mohair has varied from 4s. 1d. in 1870 to 13d. or 14d. in 1903, and it is interesting to note that the shipments from Turkey to England follow these price fluctuations in a most curious manner.
Of the consumers of English mohair yarns Russia takes from 15 to 25%, and the continent of Europe as a whole a very large percentage of the total mohair yarn production of Bradford.
MOHAVE (corrupted from hamok-habi; “three mountains,”
their native name, with reference to three peaks, which form a
prominent feature of their country), a tribe of North American
Indians of Yuman stock. They have always lived along both
banks of the lower Colorado river, in Arizona and California.
MOHAWK, a tribe of North American Indians, the chief people of the Iroquois confederacy. The name probably means “man-eaters”; they call themselves Kaniengehaga, “flint people.” Their villages were in the Valley of the Mohawk river, New York. Their territory extended northward to the St Lawrence and southward to the Delaware river and Catskill Mountains. They were thus early in touch with Dutch and English, and were the first Indians to obtain firearms. In the War of Independence they fought with the English, and finally took refuge in Canada, where most of them have remained.
See Indians, North American. For Mohawk cosmology see 21st Annual Report Bureau Amer. Ethnol. (1899–1900).
MOHICAN, MAHICAN and MOHEGAN, the first two the alternative names of an important tribe and confederacy of North American Indians of Algonquian stock, and the last a dialectic form of the name applied to a branch tribe. The Mohicans inhabited the Hudson valley, and their domain extended into Massachusetts. The Mohicans were called by the French Loups (wolf Indians), a translation of “Mohican.” At first their council-fire was at Schodac, on an island near Albany, and they were grouped in forty villages. In consequence of attacks by the Mohawks, they moved their council-fire to what is now Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1664; in 1730 many migrated to the Susquehanna valley, Pennsylvania, and became absorbed into the Delawares. In 1736 those left in Massachusetts were placed on a reservation at Stockbridge, and called by that name. A few of these Stockbridge Indians, who may be truly called “the last of the Mohicans,” are now settled, with some of the Munsees, on a reservation at Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Mohegans, originally an offshoot of the Mohican, lived on Thames river, Connecticut, their county extending into Massachusetts and including Rhode Island. In 1637, on the destruction of the Pequots, an offshoot of the Mohegans, the Mohegans claimed their country too, and thus the territorial power of the
