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252 Antonio Carreira

figures which we give further on in this study show glaring disparities in the

volume of the slave trade in each of the areas of the different traders and/or

contractors. As a basis for our work, we divided the west coast of Africa into

three sectors. This should provide a framework for examining the disparities

in the various figures (whether estimated or available from the customs records).

First sector

From the Bay of Arguim and the mouth of the Senegal River to Cape

Palmas (the southernmost part of Sierra Leone) or the rivers of Guinea and

Cape Verde.

The slaves taken here (fifteenth century) were legally shipped to Portugal,

Madeira, Cadiz, Seville, Sanlucar de Barrameda and other ports in southern

Spain. Slaves were also shipped illegally to the West Indies. The slave raids

and sale transactions occurred in Argium, around the mouth of the Senegal

River and the ports of Sine, Salum, Cacheu, Bissau and Ribeira Grande (San-

tiago Island, Cape Verde). However, there are no accurate figures for this

traffic; there are estimates for the years 1455-99 and for the entire sixteenth

century (see Table 1). Figures are available only for the period 1757-94 when

a total of 24,594 adults and seventy-two children were dispatched to Bahia,

Pernambuco, Para and Maranhäo from Cacheu and Bissau. With respect to

the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries we have only passing references to the

fierce slave wars waged against the populations in large areas of Senegal

(south), Gambia, Firdú, Casamansa (including Futa Toro and Futa Djaló),

Guinea and part of the interior of the continent. One of the main aspects of

these wars was the involvement of the dominant classes seeking to gain political

power and further the cause of Islam. Religious interests were more powerful

than political and social considerations. From 1840 onwards, the slaves were

practically always sent to Cuba or another Caribbean island down the Gambia,

Casamansa and other rivers. One of the main reasons for this was the war

between the emancipated Fulas and the black (i.e. captive) Fulas which lasted

from 1863 to 1888.

From our knowledge of the region and its history, we are convinced that,

of the three sectors, this area supplied the lowest number of slaves for foreign

markets. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Oliveira Mendes wrote :

Bissau, Cacheu and some other islands are hardly worth mentioning. While there
are blacks in the backlands those who could be taken into slavery are barely sufficient
for working- the land on the islands.

The social and political organization of the peoples in the area did not favour

(but rather went against) any significant volume of slave trading with other

countries. Considerable numbers of slaves were absorbed by the home markets.^1