Mauritius

or the ISLE OF FRANCE, (mau-rish'yŭs,) an island belonging to Great Britain, lying in the Indian Ocean,bet. S. Lat. 19° 58′-20° 32′, E. Lon. 57° 17′-57° 46'. It was discovered by the Portuguese, but the first settlers were the Dutch, in 1598. From 1721 to 1810 it belonged to France. It was captured by a British squadron in the latter year, and definitively ceded to Britain in 1815. The staple produce of the island is sugar, besides which there are rice, coffee, cotton, and other articles. The interior of the island is hilly, and exhibits much beauty of scenery. The climate, though warm, is healthy, and the soil highly fertile. The pop., 322,000 in number, consists principally of negroes, and the greater number of the whites are of French descent. The C. of the island is the town of Port Louis, on the N.W. coast. Maury, MATTHEW FONTAINE, an eminent American commodore and hydrographer, B. in Va., 1806. After a long and meritorious service in the U. States navy, M. became superintendent of the National Observatory and Dept. of Hydrography, and greatly contributed towards its efficient organization. In 1861 he embraced the cause of Sece ion, and held a high command in the Confederate navy. Com. M.'s world-wide reputation as aman of science rests mainly upon his Physical Geography of the Sea, a work of inestimable value, and one which has pa ed through numerous editions, and been translated into many foreign languages. D. 1873. Mau'ry, in Tenne ee, a S.W. central co.; area, 600 sq. m.; C. Columbia. Pop. 36,289. [s. 585]