Captain Lambert, with the Sieur de Rochefort among its soldiers, went on to the Senegal and put together a small boat out of timber which had been brought from France. Into this small vessel was transferred a portion of the crew, including De Rochefort; and the Senegal river was explored for 110 miles from its mouth. Although the Dieppe adventurers were said to have built a fort on the site of St Louis in 1360, and the Portuguese had a few trading posts on its lower reaches in the 15th century, there were no Europeans on the river when it was visited by De Rochefort, though the Dutch had established stations on the coast not far off. After obtaining concessions from the natives, Captain Lambert’s expedition returned to France, experiencing many delays and adventures on the way; and six years after he had started from Dieppe De Rochefort published an interesting account of their adventures. But this pioneer expedition was not soon followed up, owing to the hostility of the Dutch. The Norman Company sold its rights to the French West India Company, and the latter again transferred them to a subsidiary association afterwards called the “Royal Senegal Company.” In 1677, the French navy (France being at war with Holland) captured the Dutch ports on the Senegal coast—Rufisque, Portudal, Joal, and Goree Island—this last, famous in the history of West Africa, being named after a little island on the Dutch coast, and commanding the now important harbour and capital of Senegal, Dakar. In 1717, Portendik, south of Cape Blanco, and in 1724, Arguin, an islet north of Cape Blanco, were also taken from the Dutch, who had earlier still acquired them from the Portuguese.