Liberia ««- 



The first definite account of the Grain Coast derived 

 through the Dutch was compiled by a great German geographer, 

 Levinus Hulsius, who published from the beginning to the 

 middle of the seventeenth century all the records of navigation 

 to Africa, the East Indies, and America which he could collect, 

 chiefly from the captains of Dutch vessels. In the map of 

 Africa which Hulsius printed in 1606 the following place or 

 tribal names occur : Cabo do Monte, " Nesurada " (Mesurado), 

 Rio de S. Biante (Vicente), Cabo de S, Clemente (near 

 Garawe), C. das Palmas, and Ponta de Cavallas (at the mouth 

 of the Cavalla). " Crou " is written along the Kru Coast. 

 Cestos is misspelt Chostes. Sino appears as " Synno," a spelling 

 very like its present pronunciation. Wappo (at present spelt on 

 the maps Wapi) was a frequent place of call on the Kru Coast. 

 The far interior of the Grain Coast was described as being: the 

 " Bitornin province of the Kingdom of Melli." ^ Hulsius, in 

 gathering up the early Dutch impressions in 1606, writes that 

 " the natives of the Grain Coast interlarded their conversation 

 with French words, just as the Gold Coast people did with 

 Portuguese." 



In 1626 Hulsius published at Frankfurt-am-Main an 

 account of the voyages of Samuel Braun to the Guinea Coast 

 (among other parts of West Africa), which v/ere undertaken in 

 161 1 and 1 6 14. Samuel Braun was a Swiss (though in those 

 days he reckoned himself as a German generically), a citizen and 

 dentist (" Burger und Mund Artzt ") of Basel. 



He first navigated vessels on the Rhine, and thus came 

 -into contact with Dutch merchants and seamen. He was offered 

 the command (apparently) of two Dutch ships for an adventure 

 in the Guinea trade. 



In 161 1 he proceeded almost direct to the Cameroons, the 



' i.e. Mandingo. 

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