Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/245

 DURBAN. 187 of the ebb tides, thus lowering the sill by about two feet, while at the same time rendering it more capable of resisting the action of the atmosphere and marine currents. The city built on the shores of Port Natal was founded in the year 1846, in a thicket at that time still frequented by elephants. This place, which received the name of Durban {W Urban) in honour of a governor of the Cape, consists in reality of two distinct towns connected by a railway. These are Port Natal, the marine quarter, with its piers, docks, and stores grouped near the entrance of the inlet, and Durban, the city proper, with its broad streets lined with shady trees, its magnificent sub-tropical gardens, bananas, bamboos, and banians, covering the gentle slope of a hill on the north side of the bay. This wooded hill, which sweeps round to the west, is dotted over with pleasant country seats and villas, whence a fine panoramic view is commanded of the bay vrith its islets and encircling shores. Here reside most of the wealthy merchants, who have their offices in the city. On the west side of the estuary is the little hamlet of Congella, memorable as the spot where the first Boer immigrants formed their camping-ground. Durban, although not the capital, is the largest town in the colony, and is remarkable for the cosmopolitan character of its population, including considerable numbers of Zulu Kafirs, Hindus, Arabs, Chinese, English and other Europeans. The island of Salisbury in the bay is inhabited by over two hundred Hindus, who are almost exclusively engaged in the capture and curing of fish for the market of Durban. Other Hindus occupied with gardening supply the city and neighbour- hood with fruits and vegetables. Durban suffered from the lack of fresh water before the recent construction of an aqueduct, which now brings from a distance of eight miles a superabundant daily supply of no less than 250,000 gallons of good water. Thanks to its port and its railways, which run southwards in the direction of Isipingo and the sugar plantations, northward to the town of Verulam, also lying in a sugar-growing district, and north-westwards to Pieter Maritzburg, Durban has become the great centre of trade for the whole of Natal. It also attracts a large share of the traffic with the Dutch republics, although these states possess alternative outlets for their produce at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, and are also developing their railway system in the direction of Louren90 Marques, with the view of securing that Portuguese harbour as a convenient seaport on the Indian Ocean. When the Orange Free State and the Transvaal enjoy the advan- tage of this direct route through Portuguese territory there can be no doubt that the trade of Durban will be considerably reduced. At present its exchanges far exceed in value those of all the rest of the colony, although the business of Port Natal has already been somewhat injured since the time of the great speculations caused by the diamond and gold fevers. But notwithstanding these temporary checks its general foreign trade has increased enormously from decade to decade, its average value having risen from a little over £110,000 between 1846 and 1855 to about £2,520,000 between 1876 and 1886. Both for exports and imports Great Britain is by far the best customer of