n, and a branch of the
North German Lloyd Steamship Co., which brings immigrants from Europe
direct to the Southern states; there are freight boat lines to ports in
the West Indies, Central America and other foreign countries.

The city extends over 3.76 sq. m. of surface, nowhere rising more than 8
or 10 ft. above the rivers, and has about 9 m. of water front. In the
middle of the harbour, on a small island near its entrance, is the
famous Fort Sumter; a little to the north-east, on Sullivan's Island, is
the scarcely less historic Fort Moultrie, as well as extensive modern
fortifications; on James Island, opposite, is Fort Johnson, now the
United States Quarantine Station, and farther up, on the other islands,
are Fort Ripley and Castle Pinckney (now the United States buoy
station). Viewed from any of these forts, Charleston's spires and public
buildings seem to rise out of the sea. The streets are shaded with the
live oak and the linden, and are ornamented with the palmetto; and the
quaint specimens of colonial architecture, numerous pillared porticoes,
spacious verandas--both upper and lower--and flower gardens made
beautiful with magnolias, palmettoes, azaleas, jessamines, camelias and
roses, give the city a peculiarly picturesque character.

King Street, running north and south through the middle of the
peninsula, and Market Street, crossing it about 1 m. from its lower end,
are lined with stores, shops or stalls; on Broad Street are many of the
office buildings and banks; the wholesale houses are for the most part
on Meeting Street, the first thoroughfare east of King; nearly all of
the wharves are on the east side; the finest residences are at the lower
end of the peninsula on East Battery and South Battery, on Meeting
Street below Broad, on Legare Street, on Broad Street and on Rutledge
Avenue to the west of King. At the south-east corner of Broad and
Meeting streets is Saint Michael's (built in 1752-1761), the oldest
church edifice in the city, and a fine specimen of colonial
ecclesiastical architecture; in its tower is an excellent chime of eight
bells. Beneath the vestry room lie the remains of Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, and in the churchyard are the graves of John Rutledge, James
Louis Petigru (1789-1863), and Robert Young Hayne. At the intersection
of the same streets are also the massive United States post office
building (Italian Renaissance in style), with walls of granite; the
county court house, the