Port Beaufort ( African: Port Beaufort ) is a village at the mouth of the Bride River in the Western Cape of South Africa .
| Locality | |
| Port Beaufort | |
|---|---|
| A country |  South Africa |
| Provinces | East Cape |
| Area | Eden |
| History and Geography | |
| Population | |
| Population | 321 people ( 2011 ) |
History
The village was renamed in honor of the Duke of Beaufort , the father of the Governor of the Cape Colony Lord C. Somerset (another similar example in South Africa is Beaufort West ).
A major role in the life of the city was played by the trading empire of Joseph Barry, who came to the Cape colony from London in 1819. He quickly discovered that it was possible to arrange fast transportation of goods between Cape Town and the Massif. At that time, the team of oxen had to go three weeks to go from Cape Town to Swellendam . Immediately, Barry built a harbor on the north bank of the Broad River, around which Port Beaufort emerged.
Vessels, passing by the sandy shore at the mouth of the river, went further 40 km to the village of , where Barry also built a marina and warehouse . After many ships sank at the mouth of the river along with the cargo, Barry built a Kadie steamer of 150 metric tons at the Scottish shipyard, which made its first voyage on September 26, 1859. Over the next 6 years, Kadie successfully flew to the mouth of the river, but on November 17, 1865, he flew into the rocks off the southern coast and drowned. The following year, Barry's empire collapsed. The construction of railways made shipping company irrelevant.
Not far from Port Beaufort is the village of Witsand .
Literature
- BPJ Erasmus. Op Pad in Suid-Afrika. - 1995. - ISBN 1-86842-026-4 .