Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Graham's Town

GRAHAM'S TOWN, the metropolis of the eastern dis tricts of the Cape Colony, South Africa, is situated in the division of Albany, 80 miles inland from Algoa Bay, 40 miles inland from Port Alfred, and 600 miles from Cape Town. In 1812 the site of the town was first chosen as the headquarters of the British troops engaged in protecting the frontier of the colony from the inroads of the Kaffre tribes, and it was named after Colonel Graham, then com manding the forces. In 1819 an attempt was made by the Kaffres to surprise the place, and a body of 10,000 men attacked it, but were gallantly repulsed by the garrison, which numbered not more than 320 men, infantry and artillery, under Colonel Willshire. From 1820 Graham s Town was the centre of what was termed the " Albany Settlement," and it soon became the chief emporium of frontier trade. The town is built in a basin of the grassy kills forming the spurs of the Zuurberg mountain range, 1760 feet above sea-level. It is a pleasant place of resi dence, and is regarded as the most English-like town in the colony. The streets are broad, and most of them lined with trees. The principal thoroughfare is the High Street, where stand St George s English Cathedral, built from designs by Sir Gilbert Scott, and Commemoration Chapel, the chief place of worship of the Wesleyans, erected by the British emigrants of 1820. There are no fewer than twelve churches and chapels in Graham s Town Church of England, Roman Catholic, Wesleyan, Presby terian, Baptist, and Independent. It is the seat of the Eastern Districts Court, presided over by a chief judge and two puisne judges. Among the institutions of the town are an excellent public hospital, a lunatic asylum, colleges and grammar schools, a museum and natural history society, a public library, a club, and masonic, templar, and other societies. There is also a botanic garden, in which there is a memorial of Colonel Fordyce of the 74th regiment, who fell in the Kaffre war of 1851. The population of Graham s Town, according to the last census, is 7000. It is the centre of trade for an extensive pastoral and agri cultural country, and has easy communication both with Port Alfred, at the mouth of the Kowie River, and with Port Elizabeth on Algoa Bay.