Poole

Poole, a town and seaport of Dorsetshire, England, on a peninsula, 20 m. E. of Dorchester; pop. in 1871, 10,097. The principal street is a mile long, but the older part of the town is irregularly built. The parish church was rebuilt in 1812, and there are places of worship for many denominations, a custom house, a town hall, a guildhall, and the ancient king's hall or wool house. The harbor is a fine estuary about 6 m. long, connecting with the sea by a very narrow entrance. The quays and warehouses are extensive. About 500 coasting vessels annually enter the port, and nearly 200 ships are engaged in the foreign trade. The fisheries of plaice and herring are considerable, and there are large ship-building yards and manufactories of sail cloth, cordage, etc. The port is of great antiquity.

Popish Plot

See.OATEs, Titus.

Porcelain

See Pottery and Porcelain.

Porgy

See Scuppaug.

Porsena, Or Porsenna, Lars

Porsena, Or Porsenna, Lars, a king of Clusium in Etruria, to whom, according to legendary Roman history, the Tarquins in the second year after their expulsion from Rome applied for assistance in recovering their kingdom. Porsena marched with an Etruscan army to the fortified hill Janiculum, and on his appearance the Romans fled to the Tiber and to the Sublician bridge, the defence of which was intrusted to Horatius Codes, who held the Etruscans in check at one end while the bridge was broken down behind him, and then swam the river safely. Porsena besieged the city, but learning from 0. Mucius Scasvola, after the siege had lasted for some time, that 300 noble Romans had bound themselves by an oath to kill him, he made peace upon the reception of hostages, and retired to Clusium. This legend is believed by critics to veil the fact of a short subjugation of Rome by the Etruscans, which is implied by Pliny, Tacitus, and other writers.

Port Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth, a free port of Cape Colony, S. Africa, in the district of Uitenhage, on the W. shore of Algoa bay, 400 m. E. of Cape Town; pop. about 10,000. Next to Cape Town it is the principal port, and has an arsenal and several churches. Its chief trade is with Great Britain, and to a small extent with the United States, particularly with Boston; the chief imports are tobacco, provisions, flour, shoes, farming implements, some cotton goods, and other manufactured articles.

Port Glasgow

Port Glasgow, a town of Renfrewshire, Scotland, on the left bank of the Clyde, 4 m. S. E. of Greenock; pop. in 1871, 10,823. It was made a free port in 1668, but greatly declined after the rise of Greenock and the improvements on the Clyde. The shipping is now almost entirely devoted to the American timber trade. The imports in 1872 amounted to £275,226, and the exports to £108,806. Ship building is carried on extensively; rope, canvas, and other articles are manufactured; and there are several large sugar refineries.

Port Hope

Port Hope, a town, port of entry, and the capital of Durham co., Ontario, Canada, on the N. shore of Lake Ontario, at the S. terminus of the Midland railway, and on the Grand Trunk line, 60 m. E. by N. of Toronto; pop. in 1871, 5,114. It is built in a valley and on the side of a hill commanding fine views of the lake. The streets are lighted with gas. Good water power is furnished by Smith's creek, which flows through the town. The harbor is one of the best on the lake, and the trade in lumber and grain is considerable. The value of imports for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $251,004; of exports, $1,474,853. Port Hope contains five flouring mills, a plaster mill, a planing mill, a distillery, two breweries, manufactories of woollens, buttons, leather, wooden ware, steam engines, machinery, iron castings, etc, three branch banks, two weekly newspapers, and five or six churches.