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270 MASULIPATAM MATAMOEOS an immense general history, which has never been printed ; no copy of it exists in Europe. His second work, entitled Kitdb al-wasat, or "Book of the Middle," treated curious ques- tions in history, geography, philosophy, and the sciences ; but copies of it are very rare, and unknown in Europe. Perceiving that these works were too voluminous to be popular, he wrote a smaller history, entitled Moruj al- dheheb ve-maadin al-jewdhir, or " Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems," which is not rare in the libraries of Europe. The first volume has been translated into English by Dr. Aloys Sprenger (London, 1841); there is a French translation by Derenbourg, and an edition of the original with a translation by Barbier de Meynard (7 vols., Paris, 1861-73). He is the author of a variety of other works on religion, morals, medicine, and the sciences, some of which are extant in manuscript, and others are known only by their titles. MASILIPATAM, a town of British India, capi- tal of a district of the same name, on the bay of Bengal, 220 m. K by E. of Madras ; pop. about 30,000. The native town is connected by a causeway with the fort, which contains military establishments, a Protestant and a Ro- man Catholic church, and several residences. Cotton goods and other articles manufactured here were formerly largely exported to the Per- sian gulf, but this business has greatly fallen off. The central part of the town belongs to the French government, and, not being amenable to British authority, is a resort of smugglers. MAT, a coarse fabric made by interweaving strips of the inner bark of trees, flags, rushes, husks, straw, grass, rattans, or similar mate- rials, and used for covering floors, for beds, sails, packing of furni- ture and goods, and a variety of other pur- poses. In Paris mats were commonly em- ployed as tapestry for lining the walls of rooms till some time in the last century. They serve among rude nations as a substitute for wooden doors and glass windows. By gar- deners they are em- ployed to protect deli- cate plants from frost. Mats are supposed to be the first fabrics that were woven by man ; and almost all savage trilies now possess con- siderable skill in their manufacture. The grass mats of the South sea islanders are often of o rf their fineness and the brilliant colors of "their dyes. The Japanese cultivate a peculiar spe- cies of rush for making'mats, and the softness and elasticity of these well adapt them for beds or floor coverings. The Chinese make rattan floor mats of all sizes, but chiefly about 7 ft. by 5 ; also rush floor mats, and table mats of rattans and rushes, all of which are export- ed. In Europe, mats from reeds and rushes are largely produced in Spain and Portugal ; but in Russia the manufacture is a prominent branch of national industry. The material there employed is the bark of the lime or lin- den tree, and the mats are known in Europe as " bast " mats. In the governments of Vi- atka, Kostroma, and those adjoinjng, the vil- lages are said to be almost deserted during May and June, the whole population being in the woods stripping the trees. (See LINDEN.) MATAGORDA, a S. E. county of Texas, bor- dering on the gulf of Mexico and Matagorda bay, intersected by the Colorado river and Caney creek ; area, 1,334 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,377, of whom 2,120 were colored. The soil of the Colorado and Caney bottoms is deep and rich, equally adapted for the cultivation of sugar and cotton. West of the Colorado are large prairies with light sandy soil clothed with luxuriant pasture. Timber (mostly oak, cedar, pecan, and hackberry) is confined to the banks of the streams. The chief productions in 1870 were 94,195 bushels of Indian corn, 13,777 of sweet potatoes, 12,285 Ibs. of wool, 22,225 of butter, 1,590 bales of cotton, and 55 hogsheads of sugar. There were 2,341 horses, 808 mules and asses, 1,395 milch cows, 93,877 other cattle, 8,488 sheep, and 2,811 swine. Capital, Matagorda. MATAMOROS, a frontier city of Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas, on the right bank and 40 m. from the mouth of the Rio Grande, oppo- great beauty for The Cathedral, Matamoros. site Brownsville, Texas, and 450 m. N. of Mexico ; pop. about 12,000. It is situated in a plain on a bend of the river. The streets are wide and cross each other at right angles,