PORT ROYAL, an island in Beaufort county, South Caro lina, U.S.A., at the head of Port Royal sound, about 16 m. from the Atlantic coast, and about so m. south-west of Charleston. It is about 13 m. long and 7 m. wide, generally flat, and with much marshland in its southern part and along the north-eastern shore. The principal town is Beaufort (pop. 1930, 2,776), a port of entry and the county seat of Beaufort county. It is served by the Charleston and Western Carolina railway, has inland water com munication with Savannah, Ga., and its harbour is one of the best on the South Carolina coast. Its situation and climate make it a popular winter resort. In the vicinity, cotton, rice, potatoes and other vegetables are raised, and there are groves of yellow pine and cypress. About 5 m. south of Beaufort is the town of Port Royal (pop. 1930, 353), the terminus of the C. and W.C. railway. The island was named by Jean Ribaut (152o-65) who in May, 1562, entered the harbour with a shipload of Huguenot colo nists from France. Ft. Charles (probably situated on Parris is land) was built and 29 volunteers under Captain de la Pierria were left as the first garrison. Soon afterward they mutinied, killed
Pierria, put to sea in an insufficiently equipped vessel, from which they were rescued by an English ship and carried to England. In 1683 a settlement of Scotch families led by Henry Erskine, third Lord Cardross, was established; but three years later most of the settlers were murdered by Spaniards from Florida and the re mainder fled to Charleston. In 1710 after the lords proprietors had issued directions for "the building of a town to be called Beau fort Town," in honour of Henry Somerset, duke of Beaufort, the first permanent settlement on the island was established. In Jan. 1779, during the American Revolution, the British occupied the island but were dislodged in February by Col. Moultrie. In the Civil War, Confederate forts on Hilton Head and Bay Point were reduced by the bombardment of a northern naval expedition, after which Port Royal harbour became a Federal coaling, repair and supply station.