Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/205

MASULIPATAM. 177 MATAGALPA. mer brisk export trade in cotton manufactures is in a state of decline and at present the city is of little industrial impoVtance. Masulipatain was visited by a very severe storm in 18ti4, during wliiob it is estimated nearly 30,000 persons were killed. Population, in 1891, 38,800; in 1900, 59,507. MA'T (Egyptian ilu'ct. truth). An Egyp- tian deity, the goddess of truth and justice. Slie is usually represented as a woman wearing upon her head an ostrich feather, and occasionally her «yes are bandaged to indicate that she judges without res[]ect of persons. She is always pres- ent at the judgment of the dead (q.v. ), and it is her symbol, the feather, against which the heart of the deceased is weighed. At all periods the kings of Eg}-pt professed themselves zealous wor- shipers of the goddess; judges especially were her priests and wore her image when on the bench. Ma't was the daughter of the sun-god Ke; by the Greeks she was identified with Themis. Consult Wiedemann, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (New York, 1897). MATABELELAND, mat'a-be'le-land. A dis- trict in British South Africa, extending about 200 miles north of the Limpopo River, which separates it from the Transvaal Colony (Map: Africa, H 7). It now constitutes the southeast- ern part of Rhodesia (q.v.). In 1888 the Matabcle came within the British sphere of in- fluence by a treaty signed by their chief, Loben- gula. The following year they were brought un- der the administration of the British South Africa Company (see Rhodesia), against whom they declared war in 1893. They were subdued after a spirited campaign, during which Lobcn- gula died. In 1896, soon after the Jameson raid, there was another revolt, after which the natives were allowed a share in the government, the country being divided into districts, each with a native commissioner, who was responsible for the good conduct of his people and subject to the general commissioner residing at the capital, Buluwayo (q.v.). The population of Matabele- land was in 1000 estimated at 155,000. The capital is Buluwayo, which is connected by rail with Cape Town. The ilatabele, or Matabili, are a Zulu people of Bantu stock driven out of the Transvaal by the Boers into South Zambezia, thenceforth known as Matabeleland. The celebrated chief X'msilikatzi in 1838 led the exodus and after crossing the Limpopo established his seat of government at Buluwayo. His successor (1870) was the chief Lobengula. The Zulu military organization copied from Europeans enabled the Slatabele, previovis to British domination, to harass and almost destroy the surrounding Ma- shonas and other peoples and rendered much of the territory beyond the Limpopo a wilderness. The ilatabele are herdsmen and to their cattle they attach the highest importance, but they also raise great crops of maize, tobacco, and other agricultural products. Their houses are thatched, circular in plan, and have conical roofs. The villages have no particular arrangement. The women brew beer and grind maize as their principal duties. The men are brave hunters and are accustomed to attack the lion with their as- sagais. They smelt iron and work it into spears, battle-axes, hoes, etc. Rude pottery is made and cloth from bark. They are polygamists. Con- trary to the custom of most African tribes, they do not kill twins. Ancestor worstiip is the most prominent feature of their religion. Consult: iMontague, The Interior of Central Africa (Lon- don, 188U) ; Wills and Collingridge, The Down- fall of Lobengula (London, 1894) ; Norris, Mata- beleland (London, 1895). MATACHINES, ma'ta-che'nas (from Sp. malachiii, clown performer, masked dancer). An itinerant Mexican dance society, popular along the Rio Grande, which goes about from town to town toward the close of the Lenten season giv- ing a crude dramatic performance founded on the story of Montezuma, the Aztec Emperor. The performers, male and female, are in pseudo- Indian costume, with especially resplendent head- dresses, and carry Indian rattles with which they keep time to the songs. The principal char- acters are El Monarca, "the monarch' (i.e. Monte- zuma) ; Malinche, the Aztec girl who became the interpreter and mistress of Cortez ; El Toro, 'the bull,' a clown and general disturber, enveloped in a shaggy buffalo skin with the horns above his head: Aguelo, 'the grandfather'; Aguela, 'the grandmother' ; and the chorus dancers and musicians. The presentation is ba.sed on the Aztec tradi- tion which represents Montezuma, 'the sorrowful lord,' as of a gloomy and sullen disposition, quick to offense and slow to appeasement. In a fit of anger he has left his people, who seek him long in sorrow. They find him at last, but he refuses to be conciliated, not even raising his head to notice the messengers who urge him to return to his throne. After several rebuffs of this kind, Malinche is sent for, and by her w'inning address and graceful dancing provokes first his notice and then his smile, with the result that the monarch finally rises from his place, and, taking her hand, escoi'ts her to the throne between the files of dancers, who cross wands above their heads as the two pass and then fall in behind in procession to the music of an Aztec song and accompani- ment. In the last act El Toro, who is held re- sponsible for most of the trouble, is slain amid general rejoicing, when the floor is cleared for a dance in which all the audience take part. Somewhat similar Indian-Spanish dramas are found in Central and Southern Mexico and Cen- tral America. MATACO, ma-tii'ko. A group of tribes con- stituting a distinct stockj ranging along the Vermejo River in the Chaco region of Northern Argentina. They are pastoral hunters, subsist- ing entirely by hunting and fishing and the prod- uct of their horses and cattle. They fish with nets and arrows. The.y dress in skins, and live in small brush huts, but are apt in the use of tools. They are rather under medium size, with hair frequently wavy. They are sometimes called Matagiuiyo, a name properly belonging to another tribe of Guaycuran stock living some- what farllicr to the north. MAT'ADOR, Sp. pron. mii'ta-Dor'. See Bull- ElGIIT. MATAGALPA, mii'ta-giil'pa. A town of Nicaragua, capital of the Department of Mata- galpa. It is situated on a plateau in the north central part of the country, and is tfie centre of a rich agricultural district producing sugar, tobacco, and coffee ( Map : Central America, E 4) . A railroad is projected which will connect it