This is the forth and final part of the follow-up material on the Breakwater Project extracted from Looking Back, Sept 1992 Vol. 31 No. 2. The Early Development of the Port Elizabeth Harbour Avinash Govindjee and Darshan Daya Grey High 1992 SIGNIFICANT WORKS (1871-1899) A new jetty at the bottom of Jetty Street was approved. Stone from the old breakwater was used for the masonry approach to the new jetty. The ironwood piles from the breakwater were not able to be used as they were badly worm-eaten. Therefore the resident engineer at that time, James BISSET had to obtain sneezewood from the Alexandria forest. In January 1870 the construction of the timber jetty began and it was eventually completed in April 1872. Sir John COODE who had been appointed Consulting Engineer to the Harbour Board in February 1868, submitted his report on the Harbour in which he agreed with the steps that had been taken. In the report he recommended that a 1600 feet long retaining wall be constructed from the new jetty to the Baakens River to induce a scour and thereby remove sand. The widening of the jetty commenced in May 1874. The construction of a second jetty at the bottom of Fleming Street also commenced. During the same year sand began to accumulate at the bottom of both the jetties and it decided that the second jetty, which was still under construction at that time, was to be discontinued. The Cape St. Francis Lighthouse was commissioned on 4 July 1878. In December 1876 Sir John COODE arrived in Port Elizabeth to make a personal inspection over a period of five weeks. The Number One timber jetty was replaced by an iron-piled jetty which became known as the North Jetty. COODE also authorized the building of an 800 foot iron-piled jetty in December 1879. This was to be known as the South Jetty and it was completed in July 1884. The retaining wall which COODE had recommended in his report in 1870 was built in the same period from the North Jetty to the Baakens River and it extended to beyond the South Jetty. The North and the South jetties were of COODE's design. By 1884 the South Jetty had been completed. The North Jetty was lengthened and widened and it was completed in July 1894. The five old steam cranes on both jetties were also replaced by modern hydraulic cranes. THE DOM PEDRO JETTY The story of how the Dom Pedro Jetty got its name is a very interesting one. In 1839 the Queen passed the Slave Suppression Act. This meant that the trading of slaves was forbidden. In the Mozambique Channel, Her Majesty's brig the CURLEW, was hunting down the salve traders who were violating the recently passed act. The commander of the brig. Lieut. ROSS had seized the ship YARUGA when he came upon another suspicious-looking vessel. He sent a party over to question the Arab skipper as to his cargo and destination. The vessel in question was the DOM PEDRO. On board 19 slaves were discovered. She was taken over by the British brig and together with the YARUGA set sail for the South African station. It was soon discovered that the YARUGA was unseaworthy and she could never have made the voyage. The crew and cargo were transported to the DOM PEDRO. The second officer in charge of the CURLEW, Mr H.C. LEW, was promoted to captain of the DOM PEDRO. The next day, the YARUGA was sent to the bottom of the sea. As they were travelling, the DOM PEDRO lost sight of the CURLEW which was a superior ship. It eventually took 49 days to make it to Algoa Bay. The reason for this was that she struck a severe storm and lost all her masts and sails. She drifted into Algoa Bay on May 20th, 1840. There she lay for three months at anchor awaiting the decision of the Prize Court at Simonstown as to her ultimate fate. News came through that the slaver was not worth repairing for passage to Simonstown. Orders were given that all it carried was to be sold by public auction. Her motley cargo was disposed of by John Owen SMITH on 10 Aug 1840. The ship did not fetch a bid so it was decided to beach her near some protruding rocks near the mouth of the Baakens River. Her timbers must have been strong for she lay there over 40 years. The outline could still be seen when the jetty due to bear her name was being designed in 1898. On the site of the remains the Dom Pedro Jetty was erected. In 1899 works began on the 840 by 60 feet Dom Pedro Jetty. It was originally intended to be completed in 1902, but a further extension of 620 feet was decided on. This by 1902 sailing vessels were being berthed alongside the jetties. At long last a modest sailing port had been provided. BIBLIOGRAPHY Sources used: Literature 1. Leigh, Ramon Lewis: The City of Port Elizabeth, 448-453, 1966. 2. Redgrave, J.J.: P.E. in Bygone Fays, 33, 233-250, 1947. Literary Sources: 1. Inggs, E.J.: Early P.E. Harbour Development, Wits. Dept. of Economic History. 1983. (Unpublished thesis) 2. Huisman, H.: Port Elizabeth: Harbour Engineers. Port Elizabeth, 1985 Best wishes Becky