LOURENÇO MARQUES, capital of Portuguese East Africa, or Mozambique, on the north bank of the Espirito Santo or English river, Delagoa Bay, and 396 m. by rail via Pretoria from Johannesburg. Pop. (1904) 9849, of whom 4691 were Europeans and 1690 Asiatics. The town is situated close to the mouth of the river in 25° 53´ S. and 32° 30´ E., and is built upon a low-lying spit of sand, formerly surrounded by swamps. The streets are regularly laid out and adorned by several fine buildings. The principal thoroughfare, the Avenida Aguiar, 2 m. long, goes from the centre of the town to Reuben Point. The harbour is well equipped with piers, quays, landing sheds and electric cranes, which enable large steamers to discharge cargoes direct into the railway trucks. The depth of water at low tide is 18 ft. The streets are lit by electricity and there is an electric tramway system 7 m. in extent. At Reuben Point, which marks the spot where the English river enters the bay, are the lighthouse, barracks and the private residences of the wealthy citizens. At its mouth the English river is about 2 m. across. Lourenço Marques is the nearest seaport to the Rand gold mines. The port is 8374 m. from Southampton via Cape Town and 7565 m. via the Suez canal. It is served by British, Portuguese and German liners, the majority of the goods imported being shipped at Southampton, Lisbon or Hamburg. Over 50% of the import trade of Johannesburg is with Lourenço Marques. Great Britain and British possessions take some 40% of the import trade, Portugal, Germany, Norway, Sweden and America coming next in order. Most of the imports, being forwarded to the Transvaal, figure also as exports. The chief articles of import are food-stuffs and liquors, iron, mineral oils, inks and dyes, timber and live stock. These all form part of the transit trade. There is practically no export trade by sea save in coal, which is brought chiefly from the collieries at Middelburg in the Transvaal. At Port Matolla, 20 m. from the town, on the river of that name, one of the feeders of the English river, is a flourishing timber trade. The average value of the total trade of Lourenço Marques for the five years 1897-1899 and 1902-1903 (1900 and 1901 being years during which trade was disorganized by the Anglo-Boer War) was over £3,500,000. In 1905 the value of the trade of the port was £5,682,000; of this total the transit trade was worth over £4,500,000 and the imports for local consumption £1,042,000. The retail trade, and trade with the natives, is almost entirely in the hands of Indians. The chief import for local consumption is cheap wine from Portugal, bought by the Kaffirs to the extent of over £500,000 yearly. These natives form the bulk of the Africans who work in the Rand gold mines.