Portendick is a bay about half way between Arguin and isle
St. Louis. Its entrance is very difficult, being closed by two sand
banks, which have only two or three fathoms of water; but in the
middle between the two banks is a passage from 70 to 80 fathoms
wide, and six deep, by the north bank; and from seven to eight on
the south. On proceeding some distance you discover another pass,
which cuts the northern bank at about one third of its length, and
contains about five fathoms of water. The bay is only six fathoms
deep; the bottom is uneven, and it is impossible to remain long
here during the greater part of the year, on account of the heavy
sea and breakers which are driven in by the wind. The Dutch have
erected a wooden fort at Portendick, for which all the materials
were prepared at Amsterdam.
Arguin and Portendick have been disputed by several European nations
with inconceivable rancour. The Portuguese were driven from them,
after possessing them two hundred years, by the Dutch, who took the
isle and fort of Arguin in 1638; but in 1665 they were captured by
the English. The Dutch, however, retook them in the following year,
but lost them in 1678, after sustaining an obstinate siege from the
French. The French destroyed the fort, carried off the artillery,
with every thing else that was worth removing; but the possession
of the isle was secured to them by the treaty of Nimeguen, concluded
between France and Holland 1678.
The loss of this factory did a serious injury to the Dutch merchants,
and they resolved to retake it; but fearing to violate the treaty,
they attacked it in 1685, under the mask of the flag of the elector
of Brandenburgh, who had become king of Prussia. They then restored
the fortifications, and kept the isle during the war, which began in
1688 and lasted till 1698, when it was terminated by the treaty of
Ryswick. This war enabled the Dutch to renew their alliances with
the Moors; and the latter, who were engaged in the negociations,
had their warehouses near the cisterns.
The French company in 1721, fitted out a squadron at L’Orient
and Havre, to retake that valuable possession. It consisted of
three ships of war, a frigate, and three sloops, with land forces;
the squadron was commanded by M. P. de Salvert, who landed, and
finding the Dutch disinclined to surrender, erected batteries to
attack the fort. He was given to understand, that the Moors, who were
then numerous, were determined to assist the Dutch, and perish to a
man, rather than surrender the place. After a vigorous bombardment,
the Moors finding themselves incapable of farther defence, retired
during the night, and passed over to the continent.
The French entered the fort by the same ladder by which the Moors
had left it. They found in it only two negroes, an old female Moor,
and two children belonging to M. Both, the former French governor
of Arguin. The Dutch governor, M. Jan de Wine, voluntarily followed
the Moors, who took with them prisoners to the continent, several
Frenchmen who resided in the fort; they also carried along with
them all the merchandise. The French repaired the breaches, and
M. J. du Bellay, who had been appointed governor of the Settlements,
transferred the command to M. Duval, and embarked in the squadron
for isle St. Louis. Duval was of all others in the service of the
company, the least proper for such a command; he was a violent man,
cruel in prosperity, and cowardly and irresolute in adversity. The
Moors had been informed that they might come back to Arguin, and
would be well received, as it was a matter of much consequence to
attach them to the French interest. Duval, however, counteracted
these orders, and was guilty of the blackest perfidy.
The Moors returned with confidence, when this infamous governor
ordered them all to be massacred. Their bodies were cut in pieces
and exposed in different parts, as an example to their countrymen
of the treatment they were to expect.
After this horrible execution, no accommodation with the irritated
Moors could be hoped for; and the Dutch did not fail to keep up the
resentment of those people towards the French. In the mean time, the
Moors and pretended Prussians had retired to Portendick. Duval was
superceded in his command; and the Moors having landed on the island
in concert with the Dutch, they gained possession of the cisterns,
and seized on M. Leriche and four other Frenchmen, who had been
sent to them with a flag of truce; and after springing a mine, which
injured the fortifications, they compelled the French to surrender
the fortress on the 11th January, 1722, when the latter were obliged
to solicit the protection of the Dutch, to prevent the Moors from
cutting their throats. The captors acquired on this occasion an
immense quantity of merchandise. Shortly before the surrender, a
French vessel was stranded about five leagues from Arguin, and the
crew, eight in number, having effected a landing, were seized by
the Moorish chief Homar, and instantly put to death. Duval became
the victim of his atrocity and imprudence; for Homar meeting with
him off Cape Blanco, as he was returning home, boarded his vessel,
cut off his head, and put to death the whole of the crew, sixteen
in number, Duval not making the least resistance.
This sanguinary warfare lasted for some time; the Moors revenged
the outrages they had suffered; and the Dutch obtained a momentary
triumph.
It would be useless to trace the various operations which were
incessantly carried on against these two possessions. M. de Salvert
in 1724, re-acquired possession both of Portendick and Arguin;
since which, the Dutch have not appeared as enemies in that quarter.
The result of this statement is, that every nation which has
endeavoured to establish itself at Arguin and Portendick, had no
object but to share or monopolize the gum trade, which the French,
who were firmly established in the Senegal, wished to concentrate
amongst themselves. Indeed the gum trade with the Moors, was the
most important of the operations which took place in those roads. The
forests of gum trees are at no great distance from the shore; and the
trade likewise consisted of gold, elephants’ teeth, oxen, sheep,
raw hides, and ostrich feathers; besides which, it is asserted that
ambergrease was formerly found in considerable quantities. But though
I made and caused to be made the most vigorous researches, I could
never obtain any. M. Pelletan, my successor, was more fortunate,
nevertheless he mentions only a single instance in which he found
it; and that was in a different part of the coast; which proves at
least that this substance is very scarce.
The fisheries on this part of the coast are very abundant. All
the capes, as far as the mouth of St John river, afford shelter to
multitudes of fish, which find plenty of nutriment. Indeed these
gulphs are like so many vast ponds completely stocked, with the
only difference that they cannot be exhausted. The Europeans derive
much advantage from these fisheries, which afford them a number
of seals: the fish forms the chief subsistence of the garrisons,
and are exchanged with the Canary and Azores islands, as well as
with the Moors on the coast of Guinea. The green species of turtle
also delights in these roads, and the shell is much sought for
in commerce.
When the French directed their commercial operations to the Senegal,
they abandoned the fisheries.
About 30 or 35 leagues from Portendick, and in 15° 15 m. lat. you
arrive at the mouth of the Senegal. To reach Goree, either from
Europe or from the Senegal, it is necessary to pass Cape Verd, which
is the most western point of Africa; its elongation into the sea,
makes it a vast peninsula. The soil is good, and covered with fine
trees: it is fit for all kinds of cultivation, and is fertilized
by several rivulets; all which render it very desirable for the
establishment of the colony. Its trees being always green, have
given rise to its name, as it is distinguished by its appearance
from all the other capes on the coast, which are dry and barren. The
bay of Yof forms a considerable space between the point of Barbary
and Cape Verd; and the currents set violently into this bay in a
S. S. E. direction.
The approach of a ship towards this cape is known by two mountains,
which are called the Breasts, from an idea that they resemble those
organs in form. As soon as they are perceived, precaution must be
taken to avoid a rocky point, which projects about two leagues into
the sea, and which causes the ships to make a considerable offing
to the S. W. in order to double it: they are obliged to do so, till
the two Breasts appear on the same line, so that one obscures the
other. Thus you arrive at Cape Verd, on doubling which, you reach
Goree, at a distance of two leagues. This cape, from the two Breasts
to Cape Bernard, was ceded to France by two treaties in 1763 and
1765, between the king Damel and the governor of Senegal, as well
as the villages of Daccard and Bin, from which the inhabitants of
the isle of Goree derive their subsistence.
The passage from the Senegal to Goree is made in about twenty-four
hours; but the return is generally longer, from the opposition of
the winds and currents. It sometimes even takes a month to return
this short distance. The island received its name Goree, which means
“_Good Road_,” from the Dutch, who obtained it in 1617 by treaty,
from Biram, king of Cape Verd. They built a strong fort upon it on a
steep mountain to the N. W. and another which commanded the creek,
and secured their magazines. The Dutch enjoyed their acquisition
till 1663, when it was taken from them by the English, to whom this
conquest was the more important, as they had established themselves
in the river Gambia: but next year they were expelled from the isle
by the Dutch admiral de Ruyter, who attacked them with a powerful
squadron. The French took it from the Dutch in 1677, by which
time the latter had put it into an excellent state of defence,
and mounted the batteries with forty-two pieces of cannon. From
that time to the present it has often been contested; and fallen
into the possession of the English, French, and Dutch. The English
possessed it during the last war. The government of the island when
the French retained it, was the same as that of isle St. Louis;
and the religion, manners, and customs of the inhabitants of both
places are nearly similar.
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