the commercial capital of Jamaica, is situated on the S. coast of the island, N. Lat. 17° 57', W. Long. 76° 49', 16 miles N.E. by rail from Spanish Town. It is built on a gentle slope ascending towards the Liguanea Plain. Beyond this is the lofty ridge of the Blue Mountains; the country around is highly cultivated, and the whole aspect of the place, approached from its magnificent harbour, is not a little imposing as well as picturesque. A nearer view reveals a state of internal disorganisation and filth, pronounced by the unanimous testimony of high authorities to be utterly disgraceful to a city so wealthy and important. The streets are regular, the houses built generally of brick, with verandahs, piazzas, &c., to ward off the heat; but there is neither pavement nor sewer, and in the May and October rains torrents sweep the streets, sometimes undermining the houses; the principal thoroughfares are ploughed like river courses, and heaped with stones, rubbish, and filth; while starving dogs, swine, and carrion crows wander about at will, enjoying an atmosphere tainted with congenial odours. As a result of this extraordinary neglect on the part of the city corporation, one-eighth of the population was, in 1850, carried off in about six weeks by cholera. The harbour is completely landlocked, the long narrow reef, on the western extremity of which Port Royal stands, forming a natural breakwater within which there is anchorage for the largest ships. The entrance is narrow and intricate, and is protracted by the Apostle's Battery on the left, and Fort Charles on the right. Further in is Fort Augusta, a place of considerable strength. Kingston was founded immediately after the destruction of Port Royal, the original capital of the island, by the great earthquake in 1692. Port Royal is still, however, an inhabited place, being the naval station for the island. It contains an arsenal, and is well fortified. The principal exports from Kingston are sugar, rum, coffee, pimento, and ginger, the several quantities of which, for the nine months ending July 5, 1855, were 17,600 hogsheads, 10,558 puncheons, 4,528,110 lb., 4,673,323 lb., and 183,168 lb. The actual value of taxable property in the parish of Kingston in 1851 was estimated at £700,000; the taxes, public and parochial, amounted to £19,413. Pop. in 1844 (last census) 32,943, of whom 4253 were whites, the rest black or coloured. See JAMAICA.

a flourishing town of Canada West, on the N.E. shore of Lake Ontario, county of Frontenac, 177 miles E.N.E. of Toronto. It is substantially built, chiefly of stone, and contains among other public institutions, a handsome market-house (containing town-hall, &c.), a Presbyterian college, a mechanics' institute, an hospital, &c. Several weekly papers are published. The harbour, which is sheltered by several islands, and protected by two batteries, affords good anchorage up to 3 fathoms. The trade of the port is considerable, and increasing. The value of imports in 1854 was £276,397, of exports £96,570, ranking it fifth among Canadian ports, their order being Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Hamilton, Kingston. It is in the line of the Grand Trunk Railway, and at the head of the Rideau Canal and Cataraqui River, here crossed by a bridge 1800 feet long. On the opposite bank is Fort Henry. As a military position Kingston commands the source of the central St Lawrence; and the neighbouring inlet of Navy Bay is the principal naval station on the lake. Pop. (1842) 11,585.