DAKAR — WHITTLESEY 393 



climate. Beginning with 70 tons exported to France in 1849, Rufisque 

 sent 3,000 in 1853. For seven decades the name of the port remained 

 synonymous with Senegal peanuts, trade in which replaced traffic 

 in Negroes as the leading export of the colony. To handle the busi- 

 ness, large warheouses were built, and in time five piers extended 

 through the surf, A gridiron pattern of sand-drifted streets, laid out 

 earlier, was extended and in considerable part built up. Counting- 

 houses of cut stone and residences of masonry with balconies occupy the 

 center. Beyond are cabins of Africans, largely built of wood. 



As the peanut-growing area pushed inland, Eufisque had to share 

 its exporting business with towns on the Southern Rivers. Dakar, 

 25 kilometers farther from the fields along a track heavy with sand, 

 got none of it. The locational advantage of Rufisque seemed to be 

 so unassailable by economic weapons that the founder of Dakar pro- 

 posed to suppress its trade by governmental purchase of the ware- 

 houses and removal to the new town. When, years later, Dakar 

 began to export peanuts and, after another interval, outstripped its 

 rival, the change resulted from improvements in transportation. To- 

 day most of the Rufisque warehouses stand empty, its piers are breaking 

 up, and the trading firms have voluntarily abandoned their offices 

 for new ones in Dakar. 



During its first stage of occupance as a European station, Dakar 

 had little to do with its remote and inaccessible hinterland. Rather, 

 its life hinged on the location of the peninsula and the character of 

 the anchorage with reference to vessels passing along the West African 

 coast. 



Any of the coves in the lee of the peninsula required a breakwater 

 to be a safe anchorage during the rainy season. Goree harbor was 

 strongly supported by vested interests in the town ; but small size 

 and the limitations of the island were no longer offset by personal 

 security, when once the whole of Senegal had been made safe by 

 French arms." Bernard Cove had 3 fathoms of water only 200 meters 

 offshore, but the breakwater would have to be built into water 6 

 fathoms deep. The high land gave complete shelter against west 

 and north winds, but the steep shore left no low ground for a townsite 

 (pi. 3, upper left). Dakar Cove had ineffective protection from the 

 northeast, but a breakwater in shallow water would deflect waves 

 kicked up by east and south winds. The relatively low shore was 

 suitable for a port. The tide range in the entire Bight of Goree is less 

 than 1 meter and therefore presented no problem. 



Dakar was selected, and the government undertook to run a break- 

 water from the coal park of the Messageries Maritimes, using the 

 soldier-prisoners and unskilled enlisted Africans. More than 200 



For the pacification see General Faidherbe, Le S6n6gal. Paris, 1889. 



