Port Natal

3796

Porto

the British navy; and has barracks and mili-
tary storehouses. There* arc three graving
docks beside the harbor, through which all the
commerce of Mauritius passes. The city con-
tains a Protestant and a Roman Catholic ca-
thedral, royal college, observatory, and botan-
ical gardens; p. 50,000.

Port Natal, South Africa. See Durban.

Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio
Grande do Sul, Brazil, stands near the n. end
of Lagoa dos Patos ('Lake of Ducks'). It is
favorably situated at the convergence of five
navigable rivers, and is connected with the
bar of Rio Grande do Sul by the Lagoa dos
Patos. Extensive harbor improvements make
it accessible for large vessels. The city is
laid out on modern lines, with well-built
streets and large squares. Porto Alogre is
the principal shipping point of Northern Rio
Grande do Sul, the export trade amounting
to $1,500,000 annually, and the import trade
to $r i,000,000; p. ii 0,000.

Port of Spain, chief town and port of
Trinidad, West Indies. It has wide thorough-
fares and handsome buildings, including a
royal college, governor's^ house, and Protes-
tant and Roman Catholic churches. In ac-
tive trade it has supplanted St. Thomas, and
numerous lines of ocean steamers call regu-
larly ; p. 64,000.

Portola, Caspar de, Spanish pioneer, who
in 1769, with a small company, travelled from
Mexico through the hitherto unexplored re-
gions of California, and discovered the Bay
of San Francisco. He founded a number of
settlements, and became the first governor of
California. In 1909 a commemorative pageant
was held in San Francisco.

Porto Maurizio, prov., Italy, bounded on
the e. by Genoa, s. by the Mediterranean,
and w. by France. Tt is mountainous through-
out, belonging to the Maritime Alps. Fruit,
wine, and olive oil are produced, and fresh-cut
flowers arc exported, especially from San
Remo. Area, 455 sq, m.; p. 160,000.

Porto Maurizio, town, capital of Porto
Maurizio province, picturesquely situated on a
promontory. Surrounded by dense olive
groves, the town is a favorite winter resort.
It lias a well-sheltered harbor, and a brisk
trade in olive oil; p. 8,000.

Porto Novo, seaport, India, in South Ar-
cot, Madras, on the Coromandel coast; 145
m. s, of Madras by rail. Here on July x,
1781, Sir Eyre Coote defeated Haider Ali,

Porto Rico (Spanish Puerto Rico)) an is-
land belonging to the United States, one of the

West Indies and the easternmost and smallest
of the Greater Antilles. Tt lies [,ooo m. e. oi
Key West, and 75 m. e. of Haiti; total area
of 3,435 sq. m. The coast line is compara-
tively smooth, and extends for a distance of
360 m. During the winter the wind often
blows with such violence on the n. coast that
anchorage is dangerous, except in the port of
San Juan. The entire surface of the island,
save for a narrow coastal plain on the n. and
a somewhat wider plain on the s., is a mass of
mountains, ridges, hills, and peaks interspersed
with deep valleys, high tablelands, precipitous
canyons or ravines, and a few small interior
plains. Several large rivers and numerous
smaller streams flow from the central moun-
tain range. None of the rivers is navigable for
any great distance, but they are important
sources of irrigation. The climate is equable
and comparatively healthful. The mineral re-
sources of the island are practically unexplored
although the existence of extensive deposits
of valuable ores ic known.

Porto Rico is notable for the beauty and
brilliancy of its flora, though the abundant
forests which formerly clothed the mountain
slopes have been destroyed in all but a few
sections, held by the government as forest
reserves. Porto Rico is essentially an agri-
cultural country, and practically the entire
population is engaged in agriculture or allied
industries. To supply the water needed for
crops, particularly for sugar cane, the chief
product of the southern coast, extensive irri-
gation is required.

The staple agricultural products are sugar,
coffee, tobacco, and fruits. Since the Ameri-
can occupation, the cultivation of citrus fruits
and pint'upples has made great progress, and
there are now several thousand acres of fine
orange and grapefruit groves in bearing, and
a lesser number of acres devoted to pine-
apples.

Manufactures.—Manufacturing is con-
cerned chiefly with the products of agricul-
ture.

Transportation.—Communication -is dif-
ficult, owing to the mountainous configura-
tion of the interior, but transportation facili-
ties are excellent. The population of the
island, according to the D, S. Census of 1040,
is 1,869,225, San Jutm, thck capital and chief
city, has a population of 160,247.

Education.—The Porto Rican school sys-
tem i» founded on American principles and
comprises rural, elementary graded, continu-
ation and high schools, as well as an excel-