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142 MARACAYBO , and even to the cooked meats of the natives; its services are valuable as a scaven- ger, and its presence is encouraged; it has even been domesticated. In the wild state, they live in small flocks near the mouths of rivers ; their power of flight is great, and their vision very keen. A smaller species (L. mara- bou, Temm.) occurs in tropical Africa, assisting the vultures in consuming the tilth of the ne- gro villages ; it is more ugly, if possible, than the Asiatic bird, and its delicate plumes are equally valued ; marabou is the native African name. Other species are described, with simi- lar characters. MARACAYBO, or Maraealbo. I. A city of Ve- nezuela, capital of the state of Zulia (formerly Maracaybo), situated on the W. shore of a channel connecting the lake and gulf of the same name, about 25 m. from the gulf, and 800 m. W. of Caracas; lat. 10 40' K, Ion. 71 40' W.; pop. about 15,000. The city is built on a dry sandy soil, and the N. portion, upon a rising ground, commands a fine view of the lake. The houses, a few of which are handsome, are for the most part of chalk and sand, or of wood, and covered with reeds. The harbor is commodious and well defended by three forts ; but, owing to the bar at the en- trance, only vessels drawing less than 10 ft. can come up to the town. The climate is excessively hot, but more salubrious than that of the low- land towns of the eastern and inland states. Heavy rain falls from May to November; and in the other months violent and even disastrous rains, accompanied by terrific lightning and thunder, are not infrequent, but hurricanes are unknpwn. Earthquakes are common. The principal articles of export are cacao, cotton, sugar, fustic, and coffee ; of the last 23,000,000 Ibs. were exported in the year ending June 30, 1872. Cattle are reared in large numbers in the surrounding country. Ship building, for which a dockyard in the port offers superior facilities, is extensively carried on. There is an important coasting trade. The foreign trade is mostly in the hands of English, French, and Germans. Tliis city was founded in 1571 by Alonso Pacheco, who named it Zamora; it was afterward called Maracaybo, after a power- ful cacique of the lake region. It has frequent- ly suffered by fire and earthquakes. II. Lake of, a large lagoon or inlet of the sea, in shape resembling a guitar, lying immediately S. of the city ; length, nearly 100 m. ; greatest breadth, 76 m. The channel cbnnecting the lake with the sea is 46 m. long and from 4 to 14 m. wide, and deep enough except over the bar at its mouth for the largest vessels. The shores of the lake are low and barren, and at certain seasons inundated to a distance of 10 or 20 m. Its waters, being fed by about 500 small streams (only about 100 of which however are peren- nial), are generally fresh when the S. wind prevails ; at other times they are brackish. On the N. E. shore is a mine of mineral pitch, which at night during the hottest months emits MAKAOTIAO a brilliant phosphoric light resembling light- ning, and called by navigators the lighthouse (faro) of Maracaybo. The carrying trade on the lake is done by schooners ; but it is now proposed to establish also one or two lines of steamers. III. Golf of. See VENEZUELA. MAKA.IO, or Joannes, an island of Brazil, in the mouth of the Amazon, which it divides into two unequal branches; length about 180 m., greatest breadth about 150 m. ; pop. about 20,000, almost exclusively Indians. The land is generally low and flat, and is watered by several navigable rivers and a number of small streams; the principal of the former are the Moudin, with a course of about 50 m., and the Arajaz, of 60 m. The climate is similar to that of the province of Grao Para. The soil, though marshy, favors the cultivation of most of the tropical products, especially rice, which is grown in prodigious quantities ; but the principal occupation of the people is the rear- ing of cattle, which find excellent pasture in the vast prairies of the island. Maraj6 was first given to Antonio de Souza de Macedo, baron Joannes, and was long known by his name. The Tupinamba Indians, who inhabit- ed it, were civilized by the Jesuit priest An- tonio Vieira; they were celebrated canoe build- ers and coasters. The island was united to the province of Grao Para about 1830. MARANHAO, or Maranham. I. A 1ST. E. prov- ince of Brazil, bounded K by the Atlantic, E. by the province of Piauhy, S. W. by Goyaz, and W. by Grao Para; area, 168,000 sq. m. ; pop. about 385,000, consisting chiefly of Indians. The coast line is very regular to the east ; but about the middle it is deeply indented by the vast bays of Sao Joze" and Sao Marcos, between which lies the island of Maranhao, opposite the embouchures of the Maranhao and Itapicuru rivers ; still further W. occur at short intervals the bays of Cuma, Cabello, and Turiassu, the last forming the mouth of the river of the same name. From this point to the extreme west, and indeed to the mouth of the Parti, or more properly the Amazon, the shore is fringed with innumerable islets, keys, and reefs. The coast of Maranhao is mainly low and flat ; high red cliffs border the shore of the island, and of the mainland to a considerable distance westward. The principal elevations are in the southwest and south, whence low parallel ridges slope almost due N., where they sink into extensive plains. Of the numerous rivers the largest are the Parnahyba, forming the en- tire E. boundary, and receiving a host of im- portant tributaries from the southern corner of the province; the* Itapicuru, Mearim, and Pindare", all navigable nearly to their sources, and the last two uniting 15 m. N. of the town of Mearim to form the Maranhao ; the Turiassn and the Gurupi, separating the province from that of Grao Para; while the S. W. boun- dary line is constituted by the Tocantins and its N. E. affluent the Manoel Alves Grande. A great part of the country is densely wood-