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Bombay (Chief seaport on the W coast)

the chief seaport on the W. coast of India, and capital of the presidency of the same name; at the southern extremity of the island of Bombay; is divided into two portions, one known as the Fort, and formerly surrounded with fortifications, on a narrow point of land with the harbor on the E. side and Back Bay on the W.; the other known as the City, a little to the N. W. In the Fort are Bombay Castle, the Government offices, and almost all the merchants' warehouses and offices.

Bombay has many handsome buildings, both public and private, as the cathedral, the university, the secretariat, the high court. Various industries, such as dyeing, tanning, and metal working, are carried on, and there are large cotton factories. The commerce is very extensive, exports and imports of merchandise reaching a total value of over $300,- 000,000 annually. The harbor is one of the largest and safest in India. There is a large traffic with steam vessels between Bombay and Great Britain, and regular steam communication with China, Australia, Singapore, Mauritius, etc. The island of Bombay, which is about 11 miles long and 3 miles broad, formerly subject to inundations, is pro- BOMBAZINE tected by embankments, to prevent which substantial walls have been constructed.

After Madras, Bombay is the oldest of the British possessions in the East, having been ceded by the Portuguese in 1661. Pop. about 1,000,000.