LOURENCO 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 snot where the English river enters the bay, the line if the frontier should be traced farther inland than shown on the 1883 maps . The Lisbon government required the extension to Komati Poort to be completed in eight months (five of which were in the rainy season), an impossible stipulation . The railway not being finished, the Portuguese seized the line on the 25th of June 1889 and cancelled the concession .

Portugal in so doing acted, to all appearance, under pressure from the Transvaal . Great Britain and America at once protested, Portugal admitted the illegality of her act and consented to refer the amount of compensation to the decision of three Swiss jurists . This was in 189o, when Portugal paid £28,000 on account . It was not until the 29th of March 1900 that the award was made known . The arbitrators ordered Portugal to pay—in addition to the £28,000–a sum, including interest, of 950,000 . The damages were promptly paid . Meantime the railway had been continued from Komati Poort and was opened for through traffic to Pretoria on the 8th of July 1895 . In 1906–1910 another railway (47 M. long) was built from Lourengo Marques due west to the Swaziland frontier, being a link in a new line to shorten the distance by rail between the Rand and the sea by some 6o m . See also DELAGOA BAY and the authorities there cited . The text of the railway arbitration award was published in French at Berne in 1goo . Annual reports on the trade of Lourenco Marques are issued by the British Foreign Office .