The Gambia trade once it was outlawed in the 19th century.) Some of this history was popularised in the Alex Haley book and TV series "" which was set in the Gambia. The music of the Gambia is closely linked musically with that of its neighbour, Senegal, which surrounds its inland frontiers completely. It fuses popular Western music and dance, with "sabar", the traditional drumming and dance music of the Wolof and Serer people. The cuisine of the Gambia includes peanuts, rice, fish, meat, onions, tomatoes, cassava, chili peppers and oysters from the River Gambia that are harvested by women. In particular,
History of the Gambia captured on four occasions by the French, in 1695, 1702, 1704 and 1708. However, no attempt was made by France to occupy the fort permanently. At the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the French recognised the right of the English to James Island and their settlements on the River Gambia. One of the results of these wars was an outbreak of piracy along the West African coast. The English trade in the Gambia suffered heavily from the efforts of the pirates. In 1719, one pirate, Howel Davis, captured James Fort. In 1721, part of the garrison of the fort mutinied