Senegal - French Exploration
The story of the French conquests throughout West Africa is inseparably connected with the history of Senegal. Trading stations were established elsewhere on the coast, but the line of penetration into the interior of the continent was, until the last few years of the 19th century, invariably by way of the river Senegal. Hence there is a peculiar interest in the record of the early settlements on this coast.
The Portuguese had some establishments on the banks of the Senegal in the 15th century; they penetrated to Bambuk in search of gold, and were for some time masters of that country, but the inhabitants rose and drove them out. Remains of their buildings are still to be seen. The first French settlement was probably made in 1626. Between 1664, when the French settlements were assigned to Colbert's West India Company, and 1758, when the colony was seized by the British, Senegal had passed under the administration of seven different companies, none of which attained any great success, though from 1697 to 1724 affairs were conducted by a really able governor, André Brue, who did not, however, spend the whole of his time in Africa; from 1703 to 1714 he directed the affairs of Senegal from Paris. Brue made many exploring expeditions and was on one occasion (1701) captured by the natives, who extorted a heavy ransom.
Under Brue's direction the auriferous regions of Bambuk, long since abandoned by the Portuguese, were revisited (1716) and the first map of Senegal drawn (1724). In the meantime (1677) the French had captured from the Dutch Rufisque, Portudal, Joal and Goree and they were confirmed in possession of these places by the treaty of Nijmwegen (1678). In 1717 the French acquired Portendic, a roadstead half way between capes Verde and Blanco, and in 1724 Arguin, an island off the coast of the Sahara, which belonged to the colony. Goree and the district of Cape Verde were captured by the British under Commodore Keppel in 1758, but were surrendered to the French in 1763, and by the treaty of peace in 1783 the whole of the Senegal was also restored.
The British again captured the colony in the wars of the First Empire (Goree 1800, St Louis 1809) and, though the treaty of Paris authorized a complete restitution, the French authorities did not enter into possession till 1817. At that time the authority of France did not extend beyond the island of Goree and the town of St Louis, while up to 1854 little was effected by the thirty-seven governors who followed each other in rapid succession. Of these governors Captain (afterwards Admiral) Bouët-Willaumez had previously explored the Senegal river as far as Médine and was anxious to increase French influence, but his stay in Senegal (1842-1844) was too brief to permit him to accomplish much.
The appointment of General Faidherbe as governor in 1854 proved the turning-point in the history of Senegal. In the meantime the Niger had been explored, Timbuktu visited by Europeans and the riches of the region were attracting attention. General Faidherbe sought to bring these newly opened-up lands under French sway, and dreamed of a French empire stretching across Africa from west to east. As far as concerned West Africa he did much to make that dream a reality.
Lieut. E. Mage (1837-1869) of the French navy, an officer of brilliant promise, first visited Senegal in 1856 when, under Faidherbe's direction, he went on a mission to the Duaish Moors. The "Gorgone,” which he commanded, was wrecked off Brest in December 1869 and Mage was drowned.
On taking up the governorship General Faidherbe set about subduing the Moorish (Berber) tribes of the Trarzas, Braknas and Duaish, whose “kings”, especially the king of the Trarzas, had subjected the French settlers and traders to grievous and arbitrary exactions; and he bound them by treaty to confine their authority to the north bank of the Senegal. In 1855 he annexed the country of Walo and, ascending the river beyond Kayes, erected the fort of Médine for the purpose of stemming the advancing tide of Moslem invasion, which under Omar al-Haji (Alegui) threatened the safety of the colony.
In 1857 Médine was brilliantly defended by the mulatto Paul Holle against Omar, who with his army of 20,000 men had to retire before the advance of General Faidherbe and turn his attention to the conquest of the native states within the bend of the Niger. The conquest of the Senegambian region by the French followed.
The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 checked the French schemes of penetration for some five or six years. The delay proved to be no disadvantage for Great Britain, France's only serious rival in West Africa at the time, which remained inert. In 1887 the governor of Senegal took possession of a small uninhabited group of islands, named the Alcatras, lying off the coast of French Guinea. This act had a tragic sequel. By agreement with the governor, a chieftain of the neigh: bouring mainland sent four of his warriors to the islands to guard the tricolour. These soldiers were, however, like the islands themselves, completely forgotten by the authorities, and, the Alcatras producing nothing but sand, the four men starved to death, after exhausting the supplies with which they had been originally provided.
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