PORT ELIZABETH, an important sea-port of s. Africa, commercial capital of the eastern province of the British colony of the cape of Good Hope, stands on the western shore of .lgoa bay (q.v.), in lat. about 34° s., long. 25° 35' east. Many of the streets are elegant. One range of houses, consisting of four streets, which will bear comparison• with the best streets in England, forms a continuous line 2 m. in length. In the style of its buildings, this town is superior to any other in s. Africa_ Its magnificent ware- houses arc constructed on a palatial scale, and resemble the in London, and its-. public buildings are all solid and substantial edifices. The principat are the town-house, 90 ft. square and three stories high, containing the public library, the Atheumum, and, the municipal chambers; the public hospital, furnished with 100 beds; the Presbyterian. and other churches, and the Roman Catholic cathedral. Its educational institutions are. of a superior description. In 1854, under the auspices ;of governor sir George Grey,, a system of schools was introduced known as the Grey institute schools, founded on a.. magnificent grant of town-lands, lately yielding a revenue of over £1000 per annum, and which affords a very excellent education at a very moderate charge. The chief of these. are a high-school or college, and three elementary or district training-school..
The town was founded in 1820, and the census of 1805 showed the population of the municipality of Port Elizabeth to he 8,700; in 1875 it was close on 13,000. Port Eliza
beth has made more rapid advancement than any other town in the colony; and thee inhabitants are particularly notable for their enterprise and business energy. It owes its, commercial importance in great part to the circumstance of its being the emporium of the great wool trade of the colony.; and besides this it carries on a rapidly-increasing; home and foreign trade. The transactions of its four banks are extensive. Two lines. i of railway run inland from Port Elizabeth. The imports are valued at near £1,500,000, a year, and the exports about £2,000,000. As much as thirty or forty millions of pounds: of wool may be exported in one year. The other colonial exports fall mainly under the heads of skins, hides, horns, ivory, and feathers.
The shore is open to the swell of the Indian ocean, which often rolls in upon the beach with such violence that. until recently, cargoes could only he got to land by the use of surf-boats. Kaffirs, tempted by the high pay offered, used to come from a great, distance to do the difficult and dangerous work of unloading the boats. But this sys tem of landing is now in great measure done away with, and ships now unload at. several jetties. A break-water has been constructed, and there are three lights for the direction of vessels.