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286 MAULMAIN MAUNA LOA try, highly cultivated, and affording excellent pasturage for numerous cattle. The Maule, which rises in a lagoon near the base of the Descabezado peak, and forms the boundary line with Talca, is a considerable river, but is only navigable 30 m. for small vessels, on account of its numerous rapids and a bar at its mouth. Many irrigating canals branch from it, and flour mills abound along its banks. The Itata and Perquilanquen separate the province re- spectively from Concepcion and Nuble. There are several smaller rivers and numerous moun- tain torrents. The climate is temperate. The hilly region is for the most part covered with forests, yielding among others a species of tim- ber eminently adapted for ship building, being remarkably strong and durable ; and many ships are built along the coast. The principal productions are wheat, barley, maize, garden vegetables, &c., which, with good wines, cheese, and salt, are sent in large quantities to the neighboring provinces, but especially to Valparaiso, between which port and that of Constitucion an extensive coasting trade is carried on. Gold mining, which was active in the last century, has nearly ceased. There are many mineral springs. The province is divided into the departments of Cauquenes, Constitucion, Itata, Linares, and Parral. The capital is Cauquenes, and the ports are Con- stitucion (the largest) on the Maule, Curanipe, and Huechupureo. A line of railway across the province, from Curic6 to Chilian, is in course of construction (1874). MAULMAIN, or Monlmein, a port of Tenasse- rim, on the E. side of the bay of Bengal, at the mouth of the Salwen, on a small peninsula formed by that river and the Gyne and Atta- ran, and nearly opposite the Burmese town of Martaban; lat. 16 30' K, Ion. 97 37' E. ; pop. about 60,000. The banks of the Salwen are lined with jungle from its mouth to the town, and the horizon is bounded, at the distance of from 1 to 6 m., by hills parallel with the stream, covered with trees to their summits. The na- tive houses are raised on piles, 10 or 12 ft. from the ground, and are formed of mats and palm leaves. The houses of the Europeans and those of the wealthier Burmans are built en- tirely of wood, also raised upon piles. There are a few scattered brick buildings. The native town consists of one long street, which runs for nearly 4 m. along the bank of the Salwen, and a few others which branch from it toward the heights on the east and connect it with the European houses. There are several wooden jetties along the shore. The inhabitants con- sist of Burmans, Talains, Chinese, Bengalese, and Madrasese, with a few Armenians, Jews, and Cingalese. A considerable number of Eu- ropeans are settled there, and a few mission- aries. There are seven Christian churches, five of which are Protestant. Maulmain is a place of considerable trade, principally with Calcutta, Madras, Rangoon, and Penang. The exports consist chiefly of timber, ivory, wax, stick lac, caoutchouc, cajeput oil, gum resins, nut oil, sandal wood, dammar, tanning sub- stances and dyes, aloes, and sapan wood. With the exception of timber, all the articles used in ship building are imported, besides cotton cloth, coarse earthenware, sugar, to- bacco, arms, and gunpowder. The forests in the immediate neighborhood yield an abundant supply of teak timber, and ship building is suc- cessfully carried on. When the Tenasserim provinces were ceded by the Burmese to the British in 1826, the site upon which Maulmain stands was covered with jungle overrun by tigers. The heat is not so oppressive as on the coast of Coromandel, the thermometer sel- dom rising above 90 in the shade. MAIYA KEA, the highest mountain in the Hawaiian islands and in Polynesia ; elevation, as estimated by the United States exploring expedition, 13,953 ft. It occupies the north- ern and central parts of Hawaii, and is a dome of volcanic formation, with terminal craters that have long been extinct. Though steeper and apparently rougher in surface than Mauna Loa, it is easier to ascend, owing to the greater degradation of the lavas which form its slope. Snow rests upon it during the greater part of the year. The terminal peaks are truncated cones of gravel and reddish scoria; the angle of their outer slope is about 30. Herds of wild cattle roam in the forests that cover the flanks of the mountain, and are hunted for the sake of their horns, hides, and tallow. MAUNA LOA ("long or high mountain"), a volcanic mountain occupying a large part of the central and southern regions of the island of Hawaii ; elevation, 13,760 ft. It is entirely composed of lavas which have been thrown out in a highly fluid state, and which in conse- quence have flowed laterally with such freedom as to build up a mountain with extremely gen- tle slopes, averaging, according to Prof. Dana, but 6 30'; the declivity upon the E. side is somewhat the steepest. It presents the ap- pearance of a smooth, regular dome, usually crowned with snow, and partially forest-clad. On the east the forests cease at the elevation of 5,000 ft. Vegetation reaches to the height of 7,000 and 10,000 ft. on the leeward and windward sides respectively. The surface of Mauna Loa is composed of recent lavas in three forms: 1, the paJioihoi or " satin lava," a dense and solid rock ; 2, scoriaceous lava, or " clink- ers;" 3, a black slag or spongy lava, of the horrible roughness and hardness of which it is difficult to convey any idea. Its craters are numerous, occurring near the summit and on the sides ; new ones sometimes open, and are the source of the grandest of the Hawaiian eruptions. The terminal crater, Mokua-weo- weo, is circular, 8,000 ft. in diameter, with two lateral depressions which increase its dimen- sions in the N. and S. direction to 13,000 ft. It was about 1,000 ft. deep in 1864, with nearly perpendicular walls. Eruptions from Mauna Loa often take the form of enormous lava