DISCOVERIES OF THE FRENCH. 
155 
to the region through which he travelled ; but he 
asserts, that it had been the practice of navigators, 
for two centuries, to name this coast " Maritime 
" Libya." His geography of the interior deserves 
little attention \ as it is derived, not from any in* 
formation which was, or could be collected by him- 
self, but from the popular belief which happened 
at the moment to prevail in Europe. 
From the time of Jannequin, there is no record 
of any French discoveries in the interior of Africa 
till that of Brue, who, in l697> went out to take 
the principal direction of the Company's affairs on 
the Senegal. These had fallen into a deplorable 
condition, in consequence of the frauds and mal- 
versations of its agents, and of the quarrels in 
which they had involved themselves with the prin- 
cipal sovereigns on the river. In consequence of 
this misconduct, it required all the efforts of an 
able and prudent governor to retrieve the affairs of 
the Company ; and the choice made of Brue seems 
to have been highly judicious. In fulfilment of 
the proposed object, he made repeated voyages up 
the Senegal, and procured a great accession to the 
knowledge which his country then possessed re- 
specting this part of Africa. 
Brue set out on his first voyage on the 28th 
July 1697> from Port St Louis, where the French 
had now established a factory. His objectwas to visit 
