Manipuris. Natives of Manipur, between Burma and Assam, mostly wild hillmen of mixed Burmese and Hindu blood, but classed with the Indo-Chinese stock of the Southern Mongolic family.
Man-Tses. Inhabitants of the mountain districts of Sze-chuen in China, akin to [Lolos] (q.v.). m
Manx or Manxmen. Inhabitants of the Isle of Man, belonging to the Celtic stock of the Aryan family, and the Goidelic or Q Celt branch of it. There is a strong Scandinavian element in their blood, from the numerous invasions of the old Norse pirates. Their customs are also strongly marked by the Scandinavian element.
Manyuemas. Warlike Bantu Negroes of the Upper Congo, long allied with the Arab slave-traders.
Maoris. The aborigines of New Zealand, belonging to the tall brown race of [Polynesians] (q.v.), a branch of the Indonesian family. A brave, generous and warlike people, who are said to have reached New Zealand from the Pacific islands about a thousand years ago, they are one of the few native races which promise to assimilate western civilisation with success.
Marathis, or Mahrattas. A numerous Indian race of mixed origin, probably of aboriginal (Dravidian) blood in the main, with a Hindu element. They inhabit West and Central India, where they became the dominant power under Sivaji in the seventeenth century. The English had long and bloody contests with these wild and warlike mountaineers, who founded several great native states, some of which (Gwalior and Indore) survive to this day.
Maronites. A sturdy, warlike Christian race of mountaineers in the Lebanon, belonging to the Syrian branch of the Aramæan stock of the Semitic family. Implacable foes of the Druses, with whom they are constantly at war.
Marquesans. See [POLYNESIANS].
Masais. A branch of the Eastern Hamites, settled in British East Africa on the Tana River. A finely-built race, whom only their chocolate colour and frizzy hair prevent from passing for Europeans. Extremely warlike and intelligent, they are confirmed raiders and cattle lifters.
Mashonas. Natives of Mashonaland, in South-eastern Rhodesia, formerly the half-fabulous empire of the Monomotapa, and the home of a forgotten civilisation, to which the ruins of Zimbabye and other similar relics bear witness. The Mashonas are Bantu Negroes, a peaceful, industrious people, who were subjugated about 1838 by the Matabeles under Umsilikatzi, and are now under British rule.