[Illustration: Map _of the Western_ COAST of AFRICA _from Cape Blanco to the River of Sierra Leone_ with the Courses of the Rivers _SENEGAL and GAMBIA, Shewing the Journey of_ M. DURAND from SENEGAL to GALAM. _Published Sept. 30th 1806 by Rich. Philips New Bridge Street._] =A VOYAGE TO SENEGAL;= OR, HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND POLITICAL _MEMOIRS,_ RELATIVE TO THE DISCOVERIES, ESTABLISHMENTS, AND COMMERCE OF EUROPEANS IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, FROM _Cape Blanco to the River of Sierra Leone._ TO WHICH IS ADDED AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY FROM ISLE ST. LOUIS TO GALAM. * * * * * BY J. P. L. DURAND, FORMERLY GOVERNOR OF ISLE ST. LOUIS. * * * * * _Translated from the French, & embellished with numerous Engravings._ * * * * * _LONDON:_ PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, 6, NEW BRIDGE STREET, _By J. G. Barnard, 57, Snow Hill._ * * * * * 1806 PREFACE. * * * * * SINCE the activity of commerce, and the necessity of understanding its relations, induced the maritime powers of Europe to attempt fresh discoveries, all their efforts have been directed towards the new world. When the most fertile parts of that continent, and its still more productive isles, were discovered and explored, the enterprising spirit of navigators carried them even to the south pole; in short, the most distant and hazardous expeditions were undertaken, and immense sums were disbursed to find out a few corners of the earth which were uninhabited. While, however, those navigators were pursuing their adventures, the discoveries which had long before been made, and the establishments which had been formed in the richest country in the world, a country most proper for producing colonial goods, and one situated nearest to Europe, were neglected. That country would probably have been abandoned altogether, if the necessity of obtaining for other regions its robust cultivators, had not drawn many vessels towards the part which exclusively afforded such a resource.