Port St. Johns
Encyclopedia
Port St. Johns is a town situated at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River in the Eastern Cape
, South Africa
. It is thought to have been named after a Portuguese
ship (the São João), which was actually wrecked at Port Edward
. Later seafarers mistakenly identified the mouth of the Umzimvubu River as the site of this wreck. The town was established in the 1880s by the British
, after negotiations with local Pondo
chiefs for rights to the banks of the river and adjacent territories. The river mouth was used as a port, however this activity was abandoned in the 1940s due to siltation
, which caused the river to become too shallow for vessels. The town is now mostly a tourist destination.
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It is thought to have been named after a Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
ship (the São João), which was actually wrecked at Port Edward
Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal
Port Edward is a small resort town situated on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, right on the Eastern Cape Province border.Port Edward is a tourist resort for seasonal visitors from more affluent regions of South Africa...
. Later seafarers mistakenly identified the mouth of the Umzimvubu River as the site of this wreck. The town was established in the 1880s by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, after negotiations with local Pondo
Pondo
The Pondo or Phondo are an ethnic group who have given their name to Pondoland, a sub-region comprising much of the northern seaboard of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The Pondo comprises several tribal groups that are all defined as amaXhosa and speak the Xhosa language...
chiefs for rights to the banks of the river and adjacent territories. The river mouth was used as a port, however this activity was abandoned in the 1940s due to siltation
Siltation
Siltation is the pollution of water by fine particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments, and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable...
, which caused the river to become too shallow for vessels. The town is now mostly a tourist destination.