the island of arguim was used by the portuguese as a salt.
the island of arguim was used by the portuguese as a salt.
the island of arguim was used by the portuguese as a?
salt
these setbacks did not deter the portuguese from pursuing their exploratory efforts. in 1448, on the small island of arguim off the coast of mauritania, an important castle was built to function as a "feitoria", or trading post, for commerce with inland africa. some years before, the first african gold was brought to portugal that circumvented the arab caravans that crossed the sahara. some time later, the caravels explored the gulf of guinea, which led to the discovery of several uninhabited islands: cape verde, fernão póo, são tomé, príncipe and annobón.
history of portugal
in the fifteenth century the portuguese established trading-posts along the atlantic coast of west africa in an attempt to tap into the overland trade in gold bullion. it is from portuguese sources that we learn a little more about the town. duarte pacheco pereira, a sea-captain and explorer, mentions djenné in his "esmeraldo de situ orbis" which he wrote between 1506 and 1508: "...the city of jany, inhabited by negroes and surrounded by a stone wall, where there is great wealth of gold; tin and copper are greatly prized there, likewise red and blue cloths and salt ..." the portuguese historian joão de barros, writing in the 1520s, mentions djenné and the export of gold from the island of arguin off the coast of present-day mauritania: "genná ... which in former times was more famous than timbuktu ... as it is further to the west than timbuktu, it is usually frequented by peoples of its neighbourhood, such as the çaragoles [sarakolle i.e. sonike], fullos [fulani], jalofos [wolof], azanegues ṣanhāja, brabixijs barābīsh, tigurarijs [people of gurāra], and luddayas [ūdāya], from whom, through the castle of arguim and all that coast, gold came into our hands."
djenné