Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/115

MUTTEA MUYSCAS 107 or disobedience, and insolent conduct or lan- guage toward the master or violence to his per- son, if unaccompanied by other acts showing an intention to subvert his authority as master, are not sufficient to constitute the offence of endeavoring to excite mutiny. An indictment for this crime, it is said, must set forth a con- federacy of at least two of the men to refuse to do further duty, and to resist the lawful commands of the officers. The offence of making a revolt was by the act of April, 1790, punishable by death. By the act of 1835, now in force, it is punished by fine not exceed- ing $2,000, and by imprisonment and confine- ment at hard labor for not more than 10 years, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence ; while attempts to excite mutiny are punishable by fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both. Sailors refusing to go to sea from rea- sonable apprehension of the unseaworthiness of the vessel are not punishable as for a revolt under the act; neither are those who refuse to do duty after a deviation from the voyage named in the shipping articles. Mutinous con- duct in the army and navy is provided for by the acts of April 10, 1806, and of April 23, 1800. In the navy it is punishable with death ; in the army with death or such other punish- ment as a court martial may inflict. MUTTRA, a city of British India, in the Northwestern Provinces, capital of a district of the same name, on the W. bank of the Jumna, 30 m. N. N. W. of Agra; pop. in 1872, 51,540. It is picturesquely built on high ground in the form of a crescent, and was once well forti- fied. Flights of stone steps, or ghauts, adorned with temples, lead down to the river, which is accounted sacred by the Hindoos, and every day crowds of devotees frequent its banks to perform their religious rites. The streets are steep, narrow, and dirty, and rendered more difficult by deep ravines which run through the town. There are some striking ruined buildings, among which is a fort, having on its roof an observatory with astronomical instru- ments. One of the most beautiful edifices is a temple and dwelling house together, built by a former treasurer of the state of Gwalior, and approached through a richly carved gateway. The British have extensive cantonments about a mile distant. Muttra is held in great rev- erence by the Hindoos as the birthplace of Krishna, and is overrun with sacred monkeys, bulls, paroquets, and peacocks, which are fed and protected, but allowed to go at large in the streets. The wealth and importance of the place were formerly much greater than at present. Mahmoud of Ghuzni sacked it in 1017, and carried off or destroyed an enormous amount of treasure. Among other rich speci- mens of handicraft, he found five idols of gold with eyes of rubies, and 100 idols of silver, each as large as a camel could carry. At the commencement of the present century the town was taken by Sindia, who bestowed it on the French adventurer Perron; and in 1803 it was occupied by the British troops, and soon afterward ceded to the East India com- pany. A detachment of sepoys mutinied at Muttra in the latter part of May, 1857, shot their British officers, and marched to Delhi. MCTTRA, or Matara, Arabia. See MUSCAT. MU1SCAS, or Chibchas, a nation of South American Indians in what is now the United States of Colombia. They were highly ad- vanced in civilization, founded an empire, and reduced all the tribes between Serinza, lat. 6 N"., and Suina Paz, 4 S., including the table lands of Bogota and Tunja. At the time of the Spanish conquest the Muysca or Chibcha empire, including the less civilized conquered tribes, had a population estimated by Acosta and Uricoechea at 1,200,000, and by others at 2,000,000. They were divided into three inde- pendent nations, governed by the zipa residing at Funza, the zaqui at Tunja, and ihejeque, an ecclesiastical chief residing at Sogamoso. The greatest of the line of zipas was Sagnanma- chica. They honored Nemterequeteba as the great mythical civilizer of the race. They worshipped the sun and a number of inferior deities, but offered human sacrifices only to the sun. They had two great temples at Sua- moz and Leiva. Their priests were called jeques. They made offerings by throwing pre- cious objects into the lakes. They had a kind of week of 3 days, 10 making a month; 20 months were a year, and 20 years an age. Suc- cession was in the female line. They cultivated maize, potatoes, and quinoa, and made a spir- ituous liquor of maize; used rafts and balsas in fishing ; raised cotton, and spun and wove cloth, in which they were decently dressed. They wore square mantles, some of them dyed and painted. They were ingenious car- vers of bone, wood, and stone, and worked in precious metals. They were a commercial peo- ple, had a rude kind of money, and carried on a trade in painted mantles, gold ornaments, salt, and emeralds. They taught parro.ts to talk, and sacrificed them instead of human be- ings. Their houses were of wood and clay, with conical roofs, surrounded by a palisade. The floor was covered with mats, and benches were ranged around as seats. They buried in caverns. Chibcha seems to have been their real name, Chibchacum being the national dei- ty. Muysca means men. The Chibcha lan- guage was cultivated by Gonzalo Bermudez, Jose" Dadei, and Bernardo de Lugo (Oramdti- ca mosca, Madrid, 1619). There is a recent Gramdtica, vocabulario, catecismo i confesio- nario de la lengua Chibcha, by E. Uricoechea (Paris, 1871). There is no d, I, or r. There are two conjugations, and inseparable pro- nouns; there is no variation in tense for per- son or number, and no gender, case, or num- ber in nouns. The language is generally rep- resented as having been lost about 1765, but it is still spoken by some bands on the Meta, &c., who represent this ancient civilized race.