Senegal River

“ Lake Cayor on the right side of the lower Senegal and Lake Panieful (Guier) on the left constitute reserve basins, receiving the surplus waters of the river during flood and restoring them in the dry season. In the upper part of the river the reservoirs are partially protected by curtains of verdure from the effects of the evaporation which makes itself so severely felt on the treeless seaboard. Owing to these natural “locks,” the Senegal never discharges less than 1700 or 1800 cubic ft. per second. The lower Senegal forms the boundary between the Sahara and the western Sudan ”

“ Then were discovered the Canaries and in 1444 the Azores. The southward exploration of the coast of the mainland steadily continued until in 1445 the Portuguese reached the mouth of the Senegal River. Up to this point the African shore had not yielded much of interest to the Portuguese explorer or trader. Below Morocco the great Sahara Desert reaches to the sea and renders barren the coast for hundreds of miles.
South of the mouth of the Senegal and comprising the whole Guinea coast, Africa is tropical, well watered, and populous. This is the home of the true African Negro. ”

“ SENEGAL, a river of West Africa, entering the Atlantic about 16° N., some 10 m. below St Louis, after a course of fully 1000 m. It is formed by the junction of the Bafing or Black river and the Bakhoy or White river, and its chief affluent is the Faleme. North of the Senegal the Sahara reaches the coast, and for over 1000 miles no river enters the Atlantic Ocean.
The Bafing rises in the Futa Jallon highlands about 2400 ft. above sea-level, in 10° 28′ N., 10° 5′ W., its source being within 125 m. ”

“ SENEGAL, a country of West Africa belonging to France. As a geographical expression it is the land watered by the Senegal river; politically it has a much wider significance. The French possessions in this region are divided into (1) the colony of Senegal, and dependent native states; (2) the colony of Upper Senegal and Niger, with a dependent Military Territory; (3) the Territory of Mauretania. The first colony includes the most westerly coast region of Africa; a large part of the second colony is the country enclosed in the great bend of the Niger ”

“ North of the Senegal no large river reaches the coast, and for a space of 4,800 miles from the bar of Saint Louis to the Nile delta nothing is met except a few wadies or small streams, such as the Draa, in the south of Morocco, the Moluya, Shelif, Mejerda, flowing to the Mediterranean. The Congo alone probably discharges as much water as all the other African rivers together. Next to it rank the Niger and Zambezi, the Nile in this respect taking only the fourth place. ”

“ The country, like that of Woolli, is very generally covered with woods, but the land is more elevated, and, towards the Falemé river, rises into considerable hills. In native fertility the soil is not surpassed, I believe, by any part of Africa.
From the central situation of Bondou, between the Gambia and Senegal rivers, it is become a place of great resort, both for the slatees, who generally pass through it on going from the coast to the interior countries, and for occasional traders, who frequently come hither from the inland countries to purchase salt. ”

“ The part of the coast beginning at Cape Blanco, and extending to the arm of the river Senegal, called the Marigot of the Maringouins; is so very arid, that it is not fit for any kind of cultivation; but from that Marigot, to the mouth of the river Gambia, a space, which may be about a hundred leagues, in length, with a depth of about two hundred, we meet with a vast country, which geographers call Senegambia. ”

“ Though the central channel is deep enough, the entrance is made difficult to strangers by the shallows and sand banks on either side; every six hours the river rises and falls with the flow and ebb of the ocean, and where it pours out its waters into the sea, the flux and reflux of waters reaches to a distance of sixty miles, as say the Portuguese who have watched it. The Senegal is nearly four hundred miles beyond Cape Blanco; a sandy shore stretches between the two; up to the river the sailor sees from the shore only the wandering Azaneguys, tawny, squat, and miserable savages ”

“ Mankind had no criterion by which to judge of the truth.
Since then the Arabian geographer, who had written the most extensively on the subject, had conducted the Niger into the Atlantic, we cannot wonder that the early Portuguese discoverers, who doubtless learnt from the Arabian authors the particulars of African geography, should adopt the same idea; and that they should regard the Senegal river as the Niger ”

“ That first impression has all the force of reality to the superficial observer; but if he remain any time, the illusion vanishes, and Senegal appears what it really is—a parched and barren country, destitute of the most necessary vegetables for the nourishment and preservation of the health of man.
The town of St Louis, which is also called Senegal, because it is the head-quarters of the French establishments on that coast, is built upon a small island or a bank of sand, formed in the midst of the river Senegal, at about two leagues from its mouth. ”

“ The distance between Kooniakarry and the Senegal river, 13 miles, points to a WNW course, or thereabouts, of the river between the falls; not much different from its general course, lower down. But as the Ba-fing, or principal arm of this river, must run almost directly to the north, from the place where Mr. Park crossed it, in Jallonkadoo, it is highly probable, that the two great branches unite at no great distance above the upper fall; for the same ridge of mountains that occasions the fall, may, perhaps, occasion a junction of the different streams above it. ”

“ There is, however, some very good soil. We arrived on the banks of the Bâ-fing (the black river) so called because its bed consists of enormous rocks of black granite. Some of these rocks are pointed and very sharp, so that they often cut the feet of the negroes in crossing the river. The Bâ-fing is the principal tributary of the Senegal: it runs from south to north among the mountains. The masses of granite, of which its bed is composed, form several islets. Its current is astonishingly rapid and white with foam, which I supposed to be occasioned by some cataract. ”

“ Within the district now in contemplation, flows the river of Senegal, with its valuable gum trade; the Gambia, abounding with innumerable objects of commerce, such as indigo, and a great variety of plants for staining, of peculiar properties, timber, wax, ivory, &c.; the Rio Grande, Rio Noonez, Rio Pongo, &c. all greatly productive, and their borders inhabited by the Jolliffs, the Foollahs, the Susees, the Mandingos, and other inferior nations, and communicating, as is now generally believed, with the river Niger, which introduces us to the interior of this great continent ”

“ Southwards also they reach to the river Nigritis or Niger, which agrees in its nature with the Nile, as it increases and diminishes like the Nile, and contains crocodiles. Therefore, I believe this to be the river called the Senegal by the Portuguese. It is farther said of the Niger, that the inhabitants on one side were all black and of goodly stature, while on the other side they were brown or tawny and of low stature, which also is the case with the Senegal. [215] There are other people of Lybia, called Garamantes, whose women are in common, having no marriages or any respect to chastity. ”

“ The soil is in general good, and all colonists from the Antilles, who have visited these countries, think that they are well adapted to the cultivation of all kinds of colonial produce. This immense country is watered by the Senegal and the Gambia, which bound it to the north and south. The river Falémé crosses it in the eastern part, as well as many other less considerable rivers, which, flowing in different directions, water principally that part covered with mountains which is called the high country, or the country of Galam. ”

“ Three races or tribes of Moors, each of whom have their chief, frequent the desert which borders on the Senegal, collect the gum, and carry on the trade exclusively. The first is called Trarzas, and occupies all the country comprised between Arguin, St. John’s river, and the Senegal. This country extends from the shores of the sea to forty leagues in-land; and the chief of the tribe is a descendant of Alikandora, whose name is celebrated in the festivals of the country: his name is Alikouri. The state is hereditary; and the eldest son of the king succeeds the father. ”

“ They profess an attachment to and claim relationship with the inhabitants of Senegal, and if hospitality can in any degree prove the sincerity of the former, it must be allowed they have such attachment, as the house of a Serrawolli, and every thing it contains, is at all times at the service of the poorest inhabitant of that place. ”

“ Who knows but some large tributary to the Dhioliba may run in the close vicinity of a similar tributary to the Bâfing, or even to the Senegal below Galam, such as the Red River, or the Baoulima, or the Kokoro, so that the communication between these two rivers might be established without much difficulty? Who knows, in short, whether the progress of civilization may not one day effect the construction of a canal between such tributaries, suitable for commercial purposes ”

“ Senegal is most certainly a great and valuable acquisition to this country, if put upon a proper establishment, as it will secure to us all the gum trade, so useful in our manufactures, and will greatly encrease the slave, gold and ivory trades in Gambia river. ”

“ Both banks of this river are inhabited by savage and cruel Felups, who will not hold any communication with the whites, and are always at war with their neighbours. Their country is interspersed with rivers, or rather with torrents, which proceed from a lake that is formed by the heavy rains, but which is dry in the fine season. At the rainy period the whole country resembles a vast marsh. ”

“ It might, nevertheless, be of great advantage, if we were, by Senegal, or some other river, to get farther up the country and establish settlements, as we should find, according to all appearances, a country as rich in precious mines as Peru or the Brazils. ”

“ Louis, until a woman with a basket on her head could travel unmolested from one place to the other. It was to no purpose I endeavoured to convince him that such an improbable arrangement had never been entered into between any European governor of Senegal and his enemies; and I likewise as ineffectually brought forward to support my assertion the friendly intercourse which had so long subsisted between the several English governors of Senegal and himself, and the very handsome and rich presents he, as well as his predecessors, had received from them and the vessels trading in the river. ”

“ To increase the unpleasantness of our situation, some of the Kaartans who had gone on before set fire to the grass, which, being to windward of us, made rapid progress towards the spot where we had halted. [299] It providentially did not reach us, and we had only to complain of a restless night, and much anxiety, to say nothing of our labour in clearing the ground around our bivouac.
Four o’clock on the morning of the 22d again found us moving to ENE. At seven we passed the Kolle-m-bimee, or black creek, nearly dry and running south; it joins the Senegal a little above Feloo. ”

“ Land boundary: 740 km with Senegal
Coastline: 80 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 18 nm Continental shelf: not specific Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm Disputes: short section of boundary with Senegal is indefinite
Climate: tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November) ; cooler, dry season (November to May)
Terrain: flood plain of the Gambia River flanked by some low hills
Natural resources: fish
Land use: 16% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 9% meadows and pastures; 20% forest and woodland; 55% other ”

“ The Fulis are settled on both sides of the river Senegal: Their country, which is very fruitful and populous, extends near four hundred miles from East to West. They are generally of a deep tawny complexion, appearing to bear some affinity with the Moors, whose country they join on the North. They are good farmers, and make great harvest of corn, cotton, tobacco, &c. and breed great numbers of cattle of all kinds. ”