The Spaniards, in more modern times, pretended to have examined all the coasts of Africa, several centuries before the birth of the Messiah; but they said nothing of the interior, and we must give them credit for their reserve. They pretended to have conducted to America the vessels of Solomon and Hiram, when they went in search of the treasures mentioned in scripture; but this pretension was seriously combated by the Portuguese, who insisted on the honour of having made the first discovery of those countries; and with such obstinacy did the latter maintain their opinions, that the subject was brought under legal discussion, and a verdict given in their favour. At this period, some Frenchmen of Dieppe interfered in the famous dispute, and proved, that they were the first navigators who had entered the Senegal, and that they had formed establishments on that part of the coast, long before the Portuguese and other navigators had made their appearance. These expeditions of the merchants of Dieppe, took place at the commencement of the fourteenth century, and from that time they established themselves on the Senegal, and along the coast as far as Sierra Leone. In September, 1365, they engaged with some merchants of Rouen; and the next year they undertook the strongest maritime expedition which had till then been seen on the African coast. They formed factories at certain distances, which served as an asylum for their merchandise and the persons in their employ, by which the Africans always found a ready market, and the French vessels constant cargoes. From this beginning were produced the establishments of the Senegal, Rufisque, Goree, the river Gambia, Sierra Leone, and two others on the coast of Malaguette, one of which was called “Little Paris,” and the other “Little Dieppe.” In 1382, they erected forts at the gold mine on the coast of Guinea, at Agra, and at Cormentin. The consequences of these discoveries, were immense wealth, and the best profit was probably that afforded by ivory. In 1392, owing to the violent agitation of France, in consequence of the civil war and the illness of Charles VI. the commerce of Africa was entirely abandoned; and the factories for which such great sacrifices had been made, fell into the hands of the Dutch, the Portuguese, the English, and the Spaniards. The Portuguese were the most ardent plunderers, as they were authorised by the Popes, who conceded to them in perpetuity all the territories which they might discover from Cape Bojador to the Indies inclusively; they therefore made several fortunate expeditions, and for a long time enjoyed a decisive superiority.