But God Be Thanked We Met With Several Ships Of Our
Own Country, During The Five Months We Were At Sea, Which Were Great
Comfort To Us, Having No Consort.
SECTION XVIII.
_Voyage of Richard Rainolds and Thomas Dassel to the Rivers Senegal and
Gambia adjoining to Guinea, in 1591_[321].
PREVIOUS REMARKS [322].
In virtue of her majestys most gracious charter, given in the year 1588,
being the 30th of her reign, certain English merchants were privileged
to trade, in and from the river of Senega or Senegal, to and in the
river of Gambra or Gambia on the western coast of Africa. The chiefest
places of trade on that coast, in and between these rivers are: 1.
_Senegal_ river, where the commodities are hides, gum, elephants teeth,
a few grains or pepper, ostrich feathers, ambergris, and some gold. 2.
_Beseguiache_[323], a town near Cape Verd, and - - leagues[324] from the
river Senegal. The commodities here are small hides and a few teeth. 3.
_Rufisque_, or _Refisca viejo_, a town 4 leagues from Beseguiache,
producing small hides and a few teeth now and then. 4. _Palmerin_, a
town 2 leagues from Rufisque[325], having small hides and a few
elephants teeth occasionally. 5. _Porto d'Ally_, or _Portudale_, a town
5 leagues from Palmerin, having small hides, teeth, ambergris, and a
little gold; and many Portuguese are there. 6. _Candimal_, a town half a
league from Portudale, having small hides and a few teeth now and then.
7. _Palmerin_[326], a town 3 leagues from Candimal, with similar
commodities. 8. _Jaale_ or _Joala_, 6 leagues beyond Palmerin, its
commodities being hides, wax, elephants teeth, rice, and some gold, for
which it is frequented by many Spaniards and Portuguese, 9. _Gambia
river_, producing rice, wax, hides, elephants teeth, and gold.
[Footnote 321: Hakluyt, III. 2. Astley, I. 242.]
[Footnote 322: In Astley, these previous remarks are stated to have been
written by Richard Rainolds; but in the original collection of Hakluyt
no such distinction is made, only that in the text Richard Rainolds
states himself to have written the account of the voyage. - E.]
[Footnote 323: Or Barzaguiche, by which name the natives call the island
of Goree; the town of that name being on the opposite shore of the
continent. - Astl, I. 242. c.]
[Footnote 324: At this place the editor of Astley's Collection supplies
28 leagues, in the text between brackets: But Cape Verd is 39 leagues
from the southern mouth of the Senegal, and Goree is 6 leagues beyond
Cape Verd. Near the situation pointed out for Beseguiache, modern maps
place two small towns or villages named Dakar and Ben. - E.]
[Footnote 325: A league north from Rufisque in modern maps is a place
called Ambo; about 1-1/2 league farther north, one named Canne; and near
2 leagues south, another named Yenne. - E.]
[Footnote 326: We have here two towns called Palmerin within a few
leagues, perhaps one of them may be wrong named in the text.
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