MISSOLONGHI, or MISSOLUNGHI; till 1826 the principal stronghold of the Greeks in Western Greece (in the ancient Etolia). Surrounded by morasses, Missolonghi is situated on an alluvial tongue of land, on a shallow bay, west of the entrance of the gulf of Patras and of the outlet of the Evenus (now the Fidaris), and east of the mouth of the Achelous (now Aspropotamo), and was the bulwark of Western Greece in the late struggle with Turkey. The dikes formed by the alluvion, secure the lower parts of the place against inundations, and the lagoons and shallows protect the city against an attack by sea. Missolonghi, also called by the Greeks Little Venice, was, originally, a fishing village, with about 300 inhabitants. At the entrance to the fishing stations lies the island of Anatolico, likewise fortified. Both places can be approached only by fishing boats; the roadsteads for larger vessels are four or five miles distant. Previous to 1804 Missolonghi, which was protected from the pestilential atmosphere of the inarshes and lagoons by a north wind that blows every afternoon, contained about 4000 inhabitants (among whom were rich merchants and shipmasters), most of whom left the place on account of the war. It was then governed chiefly by its own laws, merely paying to the pacha of Negropont the customary poll

tax.

In 1804, it fell under the dominion of Ali Pacha. Missolonghi and Anatolico raised the banner of the cross June 7, 1821, when the Hydriot fleet appeared in their waters. After the bloody campaign of 1822, in Acarnania, the commander-in-chief, prince Mavrocordato, threw himself (Nov. 5th), with 380 men and twenty-two Suliots, under Marco Botzaris, into Missolonghi, which was then untenable and almost deserted, and defended it, with but little artillery and ammunition, against Omer Vrione, pacha of Janina, and Rutshuk Pacha, till on the 23d Nov., it was relieved and reinforced by sea. Mavrocordato afterwards repulsed several assaults, and compelled the Turks to raise the siege January 6, 1823. Missolonghi, with Anatolico, was then fortified under the superintendence of British officers, partly at the expense of Murray, an Englishman, so that it was rendered one of the strongest places of Greece. Missolonghi sustained a second siege of fifty-nine days, in September, October, and December, 1823, when Mustai, pacha of Scutari, with Omer Vrione, invested it by land, and several Algerine vessels by sea. It was defended by Constantine Botzaris, brother of the hero of Carpinitzi. Mavrocordato hastened to its relief, with Hydriot vessels, and the

men.

plague desolated the camp of the barbarians. Mustai, in his hasty retreat, lost his artillery and his army. Mavrocordato now remained master of the place, and directed affairs in Western Hellas. There was also in Missolonghi a school of ancient Greek. Missolonghi was also the death-place of lord Byron, who arrived at the end of January, 1824, and died, April 19th of the same year. Mavrocordato was called to Nauplia, and in 1825, deprived of his office by the party of Colocotroni. The seraskier Redshid Pacha now appeared before Missolonghi, with 35,000 The brave Noto Botzaris (uncle of Marco) defended the place successfully, and the assaults of the seraskier, aided by the fleet of the capudan pacha, after the walls had suffered from a bombardment of forty days, were repulsed in the beginning of August, 1825. Ibrahim Pacha, with the Egyptian army, then joined in the siege. But all assaults were baffled: continued bombardments at length reduced the place to a heap of ruins, and the heroic garrison determined to force a passage through the besiegers. This was attempted at about eight o'clock in the evening of April 22, 1826, while the sick, aged, and wounded, with many women, remained behind in a large mill, which contained a quantity of powder, and which they prepared to blow up as soon as it was entered by the Turks. An old wounded soldier took his seat on a mine, and fired it as soon as they entered the town. About 1800, under the command of Noto Botzaris and Kitros Travellas reached Salona, and afterwards fought at Athens.-See Fabre's Hist. du Siège de Missolunghi (Paris, 1826).

MISSOURI; a very large river in the United States, which unites with the Mississippi a little below latitude 39°. It rises in the Rocky mountains, and takes the name Missouri in latitude 45° 10′ N. and longitude 110° W., where the three branches, Jefferson, Gallatin, and Madison, unite. The spring sources of the Missouri, and those of the Columbia which flows west to the Pacific, are within a mile of each other. The three head branches of the Missouri are navigable for a considerable distance before their junction. Where the river makes its escape from the Rocky mountains, it presents a scene of remarkable sublimity. For a distance of nearly six miles, the rocks rise perpendicularly from the water's edge 1200 feet. The river is compressed to the width of 150 yards, where it rushes through these gates of the Rocky mountains. About 110 miles from this chasm, are the stupendous cataracts of the Missouri. The greatest cascade is eighty-seven feet perpendicular,