The earliest recorded French voyage to West…
1840 CE to 1851 CE
The first West African French settlement, Saint Louis, was founded in the mid-seventeenth century in Senegal, while at about the same time the Dutch ceded to the French a settlement at He de Goree off Dakar.
A French mission was established in 1687 at Assini, and it became the first European outpost in that area. Assini's survival is precarious, however, and only in the mid-nineteenth century do the French establish themselves firmly in Cote d'lvoire.
By this time, they have already established settlements around the mouth of the Senegal River and at other points along the coasts of what are now Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.
Meanwhile, the British have permanent outposts in the same areas and on the Gulf of Guinea east of Cote d'lvoire.
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West Africa
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