By: Bruce L. MouserEmeritus Professor, University of Wisconsin

I December 1997

Paper presented at: Co//oque international, Migrations anciennnes et peuplement actuel des basses cotes Guineennes, Universite dessciences et technologies de Lille, France, 1 December 1997.

Not to be cited without the author's permission.

BAGA BOUNDARIES: EUROPEAN PERCEPTIONS,1793 TO 1821.

While it is important to derme Baga characteristics andtheir migrations to the coast, it is equally important todescribe their boundaries during specific historical periods,especially if their histories and those of peoples locatednear them are to be brought into clearer focus.' This paperflows from a longer and broader study ofpeoples andcommercial activities in the Rio Nunez to nes de Lossection ofcoast ofGuinea-Conakry for the 1750 to 1865period, that period just prior to French occupation andestablishment of French suzerainty.' It also rises from arequirement to derme specific locations and relative power­bases vis-a-vis peoples who lived nearby during this periodofhistory. To be sure, the Baga were minor players in.political and commercial transformations that accompaniedthe rise and decline of slave trading and corresponding .establishment ofnew markets for commodities' trafficoccurring after the late 1830s. But, as producers of rice,salt, and livestock, and collectors of cola, and asproprietors of land through which commerce between thecoast and the interior inevitably flowed, the Baga favorablyserved trades that found their basis in the slave trade andthat attached interior markets to those of the coast.'

'In 1967, P.E.H. Hair, in "EthnolinguisticContinuity on the Guinea Coast," Journal ofAfricanHistory, 8, 2(1967),248, noted that early sources were"vague" about boundaries and cautioned that most reportsdescribed navigation landmarks that provide some guide toappropriate boundaries. From these records, however, heconcluded, 254, that is "no evidence in the early sourcesthat the Baga in these centuries ever occupied more thanthe beaches and a very thin slice ofthe interior." This paperattempts to draw boundaries with reference to specific sitelocations and zones of influence, as noted by Europeanswho visited these rivers during the 1793-1821 period.

'Bruce L. Mouser, "Trade and Politics in the. Nunez and Pongo River, 1790-1865," unpUblished Ph.D.dissertation, Indiana University, 1971.

'The author has not attempted, in this paper, toreconcile first-hand accounts from 1793 to 1821 withBagaiSusu traditions as interpreted by Andre Arcin,Histoire de la Guinlle Fran,:aise (Paris, 1911), 129-135,

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The earliest detailed account of the Nunez Baga(Baga-Sitema, Baga-Kapatchez) that dates to this period(1793-1821) comes from the log ofthe Good ShipSandown, commanded by Samuel Gamble, who spentnearly a year on this coast in 1793-I794.' It is reasonableto generalize that the lower Nunez during this period wasnot an area to which slave-ship captains set theirobjectives. The banks ofthat river from its estuary tonearly 50 kilometers upstream were lined with swampylowlands, and few villages were located alone its banks.The most important entrepots ofcommerce with theinterior, the source ofslaves, ivory, gold, and, to a lesserdegree during this period, hides, were located nearCacundy, later known as Boke. The lower river, then, wasa region to be crossed/skirted as an obstacle beforereaching a greater objective, the trading centers of theupper river. Those captains who traversed the lowersection of the river invariably noted the rocks, sand bars,islands, and obstacles, but seldom mentioned the peoplesof this region. In late September 1793, however, Gambleand his crew anchored the Sandown offof Bania Point,restfully explored the neighboring left bank of the rivernear the entrance of Bania Creek, and made theseobservations:5

nor his headmen lists of 167-168.

'Gamble, Samuel. "A Iourn;1 ofan IntendedVoyage, by Gods permission, from London towards Africafrom thence to America in the good Ship Sandown by meSamuel Gamble, Commander," LoglMJ2l, ManuscriptDivision, National Maritime Museum-Grenwich (hereaftercited as "Sandown." The author is editing this journal forpublication. George E. Brooks, Ldndlords & Strangers(Boulder, 1993),276-277, reviewed accounts by Almada(1594), Donelha (1625), and Barreira (1606), all ofwhomdescribed Baga commerce and relations toEuropeans/neighbors, with few references to specific sites.

S Gamble, "Sandown," 52r-53v. See also IolmMatthews, A Voyage to the River Sierra Leone(I788/London, 1966), 12-13 for a 1785 account ofstock/poultry raising among these Baga. Matthews alsodescribed them as "very induftrious in planting rice,

Wednesday Mom" 25" at day break sent the Blacksout upon the furraging order, and to see if the Pinnacewas in sight. at Sun rise saw her at an Anchor[.] shehaving seen our frre in the night, came tor,] frr'd twoMusquets[,] and she came in. at 8 the Blacks return'dwith a Plentiful supply of Shell fish, Crabs, andTurtles eggs. set them to work roasting, boiling, andfrigaseeing them, as best suited their Palates. havingBreakfasted hearty tho upon such a rude spot wecleard our tent and every thing into the Boats andproceeded up the river to the Town ofBania about 8Miles up the river to a Small creek that leads up to thetown which is not large tho full of Inhabitants, greatnumbers ofthem diseas'd[,] their Legs swell'd as thickas their body has well as in other parts afflicted thesame. both Men[,] Women & Children are by far theordinaryest set of beings I ever saw[.] Perhaps thenature of their situation which is in a narrow creeksurround'd by Mud and swamps may greatlycontribute to it. [52vI They are equaly as filthy andbeastly as ugly,-the Men all dress in the same mannerthat Women do on different part of the WindwardCoast.' The Women all go Naked excepting a Smallslip ofCloth about a yard long and 3 fmgers broadwhich they call a Funtungee (and never wash it itswore out). Their houses are Miserable[.] The chief oftheir employment seems to be in cultivating ricer,]Making Salt, and tapping their Palm wine tree[.] Thislatter appears to be their God. They are a tribe ofBagos, peculiar to them selves, follow their own laws,never make Slaves, or sell any. They breed greatquantitys of Stock, but seldom make use ofany themselves. only when either their Parents, some nearRelation, or King dies then they Kill their cattle sometime after they are dead to make what they termSarrise, or the last tribute to the dead, which often endsin a debauch, their principal dish is Rice & fish. Wesaw here at the Chiefof the Towns house who seem'da near Relation. A White Negro Boy he appear'd to begreatly affected in his eyes by the rays of the Sun andin great pain to explore any object he seem'd a greateye soar [sic] amongst them[.] They frequently urg'dus, to take him with us. we staid here till 10 OClock atNight[,] having bought 5 Dozen ofFowls, for Knives,Beads, & C'[untry] white cloths. when we was veryglad to get away baving been from our frrst enteringtheir town expos'd to trouble Vices and as muchadmir'd for a Curiosity as the Crew when in England,especialy by the Ladies who where very attentive.53[r] Those that carried long wands in their hands, astokens oftheir Celibacy. we where follow'd everywhere by Women &" Children[.] The Boys from 4Years and upwards all carried Bows & Arrows,w[hleather they are expert or not with them I cannot

making cloths, faIt, and in fifhing, and trading for ivory..."•

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tell. The Men appear'd rougeishly inclind in theirdealings. We receive'd several presents of Palm wine.made them a return for it and left them and proceededdown the Creek into the River and to our old landingspot. during the whole of this Night we where in astate amongst the wretchedest Creatures living[.] TheMusquetos harrass'd and bit us to a degree ofseverity[.] at 4 we came to an anchor at our old spot[,]found our frre still burning[.] at daylight Thursday26" landed[.] The Musketos all dispers'd. Boild someTea in an old Iron Pot[,] roasted some Crabs, Clams,and Turtle eggs. made a hearty meal of it. at 9 setof[f] for Callibuch partly on purpose to buy a MilchCow and Fowls & partly thro Curiosity to see theplace and nature of the Inhabitants[.] at 10 AM gotinto the river and run up East about 3 Miles till became to a Branch that run to the N'[.] run up it about2 Miles till we came to a Creek that run up W' to theTow;n which is large and well Peopl'd[.] tho of thesame tribe as the Bennas [Susu], they are a muchbetter looking set ofPeople. appear not so stiff in theirmanners, every Person as soon has they hear ofourarrival hastned down to pay their respects to us, [53v)which the Men did by Curtseying and snapping ourfingers with theirs twice, the Women crouch'd downresting their Posteriors on their heels, and stroak'dtheir hand through ours. They dard not snap fmgers,or their Husbands & Parents would be Jealous ofthem.

Gamble also described methods that the Baga used to growtheir wet-rice and a chart that demonstrated theirtechniques:'

The Bagos are very expert in Cultivating rice and inquite a Different manner to any ofthe Nations on theWindward Coast[.] The country the[y] inhabit ischiefly low and swampy. The rice they frrst sow ontheir dunghills and rising spots about their towns[.]when 8 or 10 Inches high transplant it into Lugarsmade for that purpose which are flat low swamps, atone side A they have a reservoir that they can let inwhat water they please[;] other side B is a drain cut sothat they can let of[f] what they please. TheInstruments they use much resembles a Turf spadewith with [sic] which they turn the grass under inridges just above the water which by being confmdStagnates and nourishes the root ofthe plant. Women& girls transplant the rice and are so dextrous as toplant fifty roots singly in one minute[.] when the riceis ready for cutting they turn the water of[f] til theirHarvest is over[;] then they let the Water over it andlets it stands three or four Seasons it being soimpoverishd[.] Their time of planting is in Sept' andreaping. [55vI Strangers that come into the RioNunez, ought to be very Watchful, and careful, to

'Ibid., 55r-55v. /

avoid any disputes with a set of Bloodthirsty Peoplecall'd Nelos that inhabit the north side of the River,they are a great pest to the White traders that areresidents, drawing their Belmy's (or Cuttlasses) for theleast trifling dispute and putting it across the tradersthroat[.]. If they Steal anything, and the right Personsees them in possession of it, they dare not claim it.for the Chiefnever keeps the thing, but gives it to oneofhis Companions who if challeng'd drinks aPoisonous water' as they pretend which will not killthem if they are innocent. when they have done this,and recover". they instantly make a Country Palaver',and two or three Slaves goods will not suffice them.some times that the Challenger is oblig'd to pay. Theyramble up and own 30 or 40 in a gang in large Canoeson purpose entirely to thief, and plunder. what theycan from the Whites, which they sell to the Bagos (tosubsist upon.) The King of whom thinks it nodishonour to receive things, that they know are stolen(even from a White that is a Tenant under them)[.]The Nelos are a hard Savage race, often whennecessity forces them. Migrate in search of prey toimmence distances bearing great hardships and fatigue.They in general are Robust Healthy good lookingPeople[,] live chiefly upon ricer,] fish[,] &c. This isnot the exaggeration of a traveller but what I havedemd as demonstrations of the truth.

These two fragments from Gamble's log, incomparison to his descriptions ofother peoples along theriver, make clear several "outsider" perceptions about theBaga, in this case Baga-Sitema ofthe probableDougoubonalKakouli/Kouli River. By 1793, these Bagawere apparently already acquainted with European trade,but were curious about Gamble and his largely "African"crew. The Baga-Sitema dressed in the fashion customaryto other Baga along this coast, the "Tuntungee" for women,and grew rice, produced salt, and raised livestock insurplus which they used in trade. Their demands forEuropean goods were already known (knives andcuriosities), but they also wanted country cloth producedlocally along the coast. They received Gamble in awelcome fashion; Gamble did not mention anyapprehensions about his safety, or for his men orpossessions, among them. But ofgreater interest isGamble's observation that these Baga were very differentfrom their neighbors. The Nalos he described indisparaging terms while complimenting the Baga for being"peculiar to them selves," seemingly little touched by thecommerce which dominated factories upstream atCacundylBoke. Separateness meant, to Gamble, adheringto "their own laws;" certainly the observation that theyneither held slaves nor sold them was unusual for the area.Perhaps Gamble was describing their character during aspecific period, for later in his journal he described anincident in which Jolof slaves on board the Venus ofNewYork, commanded by Captain Hanunond, had rebelled andtook flight into Baga territory where the Baga seized them;whether the Baga intended to return them to the Venus or to

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retain them is unclear in Gamble's journal.' But perhaps,the Baga simply offered them refuge. Complicating thisanalysis is Gamble's failure to indicate which Baga grouphad detained the Jolofs.

Equally important are Gamble's comments about riceraising. Daniel Littlefield, in his book on rice cultivationtechniques used in the American South during theAntebellum (pre-Civil War) period, used Gamble'sdescription quoted above to draw a parallel betweenAfrican and American practice, incorrectlyleaving theimpression that perhaps this method came from the Nunez'Roland Porteres noted instead that this technique, whichGamble described so well, became known to coastalpeoples from the Sine-Saloum to the Melacoree, aconsiderable distance and covered by many diversepeoples; but Porteres did suggest its peculiar roots lie in theMopti region of Niger, implying a long migration ofthismethod to the coast.'

James Watt, in his journal ofan expedition made fromthe Boke, to Timbo, capital ofthe Fula state in the Fuuta,Jaloo, in 1794, did not mention the Baga at all, perhapsbecause he never saw any while onboard his transport toBoke; however, he devoted significant attention to the riceand salt trades between the Nunez and the Fuuta Jaloo andbeyond. Watt noted that rice came coastward, rather thanin the reverse, with Fula bearers, often numbering in thehundreds of persons, carrying large baskets of rice toeXchange principally for equal quantities of salt from thecoast.'· Indeed, according to his account of discussionswith Alrnaami Saadu, the Fula ruler was in 1794 sodissatisfied with low prices paid for slaves by Nuneztraders, that "he would have shut up the path altogetherwere it not for the want ofsalt."" Clearly, the Fula did not

'Ibid., 72r. In Anon, An Account of.the Colony ofSierra Leone (n.p., 1795), 134, there is an account ofaslave rebellion onboard a vessel (c. 1794) in which theslaves captured the vessel and attempted to escape to shore,but were recaptured and resold to slavers. This may havebeen the vessel mentioned in Gamble's record.

'Daniel C. Littlefield, Rice and Slaves: Ethnicityand the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina (BatonRouge, 1981),92-97.

"Roland Porteres, Unprobleme d'Ethno­botanique: relations entre Ie Riz flottant du Rio-Nunez etI'origine medinigerienne des Baga de la Guinee Fran93ise,"Journal d'Agric. Topicale et de Botanique Appliquee, T.2,No.IO-I 1(1955): 539.

"James Watt, Journal ofJames Watt: Expeditionto Timbo C.,ital ofthe Fula Empire in 1794, edited byBruce L. Mouser (Madison, 1994), 5v, 12v, 31r, 32v, 98v.Adam Afzelius, in Adam Aftelius: Sierra Leone Journal,1795-1796 (Uppsala, 1967),3 Iv, noted that salt and ric,ewere bartered near Bassaya "at equal measure."

"Watt;Journal,80v.

seek rice on the coast; rather the most important item for.purchase was salt which they needed for their herds in theuplands. I' Salt came from the lowlands, one of which wasthe territory of the Baga-Sitema. But Nunez traders alsomoved latitudinally along the coast, to conunercial contactsin rivers north of the Nunez and southward to the lowlandsof the Morebaya and Melacoree rivers. All of these areaswere involved. in salt production. Whether the Baga­Sitema were the only producers ofNunez-demanded salt isunclear, but highly unlikely considering the huge demandsrequired by Fula merchants and by the fact that salt alsoentered the upper river's conunerce via ships carrying saltfrom England.!' Watt also observed that salt, especiallybar-salt, was used as currency in both the Nunez and theFuuta Jaloo and that cola was in high demand in areasinland beyond-the Fula. 14 The only cola producing area ofthe Nunez was located within Baga-Sitema and Baga­Mandori (north of the river) territory, unless one considersthe coastal conunerce which could be used to gather cola aswell as salt from long distances. Clearly, except for salt,the Baga-Sitema were minor/insignificant players in theriver's overall COnunerce at the turn ofthe century.

It is unlikely that large numbers of Baga-Sitemabecame conunodities in the slave trade during this period. ISInstead, Watt observed that many of those (presumablynon-Fula) who carried rice and conunodities coastwardalso became conunodities in trade themselves, should theirlabor not be required on the return to the highlands. Hewas told in Timbo that a principal cause of wars there wasto gather slaves with which to barter for guns and powder;clearly, the quantity of rice and ivory exported were notsufficient to purchase both salt and other goods wanted inreturn-guns and powder would require slaves inexchange. I' Indeed, Gamble at nearly the same timecomplained frequently that slaves seemed not to be insufficient supply in the Nunez, that it was necessary tocollect slaves from the Pongo and as far south as theSherbro River to secure his cargo." Perhaps, insufficientnumbers alone made the Nunez Baga immune to raids fromcoastal merchants, but more likely, as noted by Gamble,they were well-armed and were important additionalsources of salt and therefore integral to continuedprofitability of conunerce in the upper river.

12"Sandown," 73v.

1lIbid., 71v, noted that a salt ship had arrived atWalker's factory from England, the Zephyr ofLiverpool.

"Ibid., 13r, 14v, 16r, 26r, 31r.

ISAdam Afzelius, Adam Aftelius: Sierra LeoneJournal, 1795-1796 (Uppsala, 1967), also noted that theseBaga did not sell any oftheir own people.

I'Watt, Journal, 62r-63r, 94r, 101r.

17"Sandown," 67v, 71r, 71v.

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Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society rarelymentioned the Baga-Sitemu in their records, and seldom inflattering terms. Rev. Butscher, however, in 1811encountered the Nunez Baga when the vessel on which hehad sought passage to the Nunez needed to land onshorefor water and provisions, and they stopped at a small Bagavillage near the Nunez's mouth. Butscher described theanchorage there as very muddy, conunenting that the Bagacame into the water to carry them ashore. To Butscher, hishosts were friendly and offered them palm wine in greatabundance. His informants, principally Jolm Pierce whowas then a prominent "headman" among the Nalos, toldhim that the Baga occupied the seashore and that the Nalosand Landuman held the upriver. Butscher did report that,on one occasion, Fula warriors were looking for runawayslaves who had escaped into the lower Kapatchez Riverarea (clearly Baga lands) and that in their quest for theserunaways, the Fula also seized Baga who were working onrice plantations. The tone of Butscher's report did suggest,however, that such seizures were unusual and unexpected,at least among the Baga. 18

The boundaries of the Baga-Sitema for the 1793-1821period are difficult to reconstruct from the documentedsources cited above. Clearly, traders at Boke warnedvisitors that overland conununications between the Nunezand the Pongo were difficult and dangerous, consideringthe armed status of peoples in the area, whether Baga,Nalo, or Hubu, the latter located in a direct overland linebetween Boke and trading settlements on the Pongo. Baga­Sitema boundaries, therefore, for this period will need toawait further research and perhaps village-by-village oralreconstructions.

The first lengthy observations ofPongo-based Baga,the Baga-Kakissa (also called the Baga-Sobane) and Baga­Koba (also called the Kobatai), come also from travelers,but more particularly from missionaries or those interestedin establishing schools or in learning a Susu language thatwas considered at this time the principal medium of tradeused by European and African merchants located north ofthe Sierra Leone River. If the Baga-Sitemu were peopleswhom captains only occasionally met in the Nunez, theBaga-Kakissa were far different because narrow feederestuaries into the Rio Pongo flowed directly through theirlands; Europeans, consequently, were interested in them,but more interested in the Susu who lived behind themperhaps as close as 15 kilometers from the shoreline. Themain estuary of the Rio Pongo divided the Baga-Kakissafrom the Baga-Koba, the latter occupying the areasouthward to the mouth ofKOnkoure (Dembia) River.

At the mouth of the Pongo River, the Baga-Kakissaoccupied lands whose characteristics were similar to thoseoftheir etlmic kin in the Nunez, coastal lowlands with

I'CMS, CAl1E21l03, Butscher to Secretary, 22October 18 I I. Elizabeth Donnan, Documents Illustrativeofthe History ofthe Slave Trade to America (New York,1965), volA, 513, noted that the Doris imported 70 slavesto America in 1806, composed of"Mandingos, Soozees,Ballams, Bagos, Naloofe Negroes," but did not providerelative numbers of Bagas within that list.

meandering streams, mangrove swamps, and numerousislands. I' Between the Koumbalan River and Cape Verge,however, the mangrove coast quickly dissipates and thecharacter of the land is much more amenable to occupation.In consequence, the former area was sparsely populated

with few villages, while the latter came to have the largestsettlements of Baga-Kakissa along this coast." Above theislands (called Caxa on early maps), often as little as 15kilometers from the coastline, began a more hospitable landoccupied principally by Susu peoples, the "old ones."Missionaries seldom ventured into Baga-Kakissa lands, butthey did visit neighboring Susu villages because Susu wasthe recognized language of"superior" peoples and because"scholars"/students and converts/patrons generally camefrom Susu and from traders who lived among them. Thesereports from the 1796-1817 period designate Sususettlements and only incidentally Baga-Sitema ones, and,therefore, help indirectly to distinguish a boundary, ofsorts, between the Baga and the SUSU.'I

Another important consideration for any treatment ofthe Baga-Kakissa is the character ofAtlantic commercenear the mouth of the Pongo and possible reasons forsignificant ethnic changes that may have occurred duringthe mid- to late-eighteenth century. As long as Europeans

l'Matthews (1788), 12-13, called these the CaxaIslands. Perhaps following his lead, Peter McLachlan,"Travels into the Baga & Soosoo Countries in 1821," inThe Royal Gazette: and Sierra Leone Advertiser, No 177(22 October 1821), called the Baga-Kakissa the Caxaswhom he described as having "no kings nor headmen" andwhose exports included palm-oil and ivory "in smallquantities." [note: I have typed McLachlan's reports fromRGSLA, and they are available on request.)

"See Frederick Lamp, Art ofthe Baga: A DramaofCultural Reinvention (New York, 1996),442-43; UnitedStates, Army Map Service-Corps ofEngineers, Map Series150I, Sheet NC 28-7, Edition 1.

21Church Missionary Records are kept in twodepositories: the society's headquarters in London and the

. University Library, University of Birmingham. Earliestrecords are housed at the Birmingham site. The latter are·arranged in categories ofcommittee minutes of the homesociety, sub-committee minutes for committees that dealtwith particular mission stations, outgoing correspondenceto missionaries, and incoming letters from the missionaries.Missionaries were required to maintain regularcorrespondence with the patron society and to keepjournals in which they summarized observations over alonger period. All of these records are valuable to areconstruction ofPongo history. The society alsopublished periodic reports that contained extracts ofmissionary letters. Lengthy selections are found in SamuelAbraham Walker, Missions in Western Africa Among theSoosoos, Bul/oms, Etc. (Dublin, 1845) and [ChurchMissionary Society), Missionary Records: West Africa(London, 1836).

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were willing to use "coasting" practices along thisshoreline, any estuary into the Pongo would suffice, atleast not be a hindrance to commerce. By mid-century,however, shippers began to use larger vessels, and thePongo's main estuary became a problem because shiftingsand bars were located here, making it treacherous to crossfor vessels ofdeep drafts." The Modeba and Dangaraestuaries, located north of the Pongo's main entrance, werefed by rivers with slower currents and, while muddy, haddeeper and softer bottoms which meant that larger shipsused them to enter the river, subsequently winding theirway to factories nearby or to the river's main branch andfurther upstream to factories in the Bangalan and Fatalarivers. By the end of the eighteenth century, several newtowns/factories had developed in the headwaters oftheModeba and Dangara rivers. These were called Kissing,Charleston, and Boston, but Europeans!Americans orAfricans who operated these factories negotiatedstranger/landlord contracts with Susu overlords of nearbyTiye, apparently not with the Baga-Kakissa. In 1796,Adam Afzelius visited this section ofthe river and notedthat Tiye was only the latest Susu capital governed by theKati family, the first being located further inland near thetown of Domingya. He wrote:"

The Susoo people, among which he [Thomas Cooper"at FreeportlTonkekering) lives and which inhabit theRio Pungas at least 150 miles up the country, are notso great beggars, and tho' slow and difficnlt to dealwith, not half so much as the Foulahs. They [Susu)lived former.lY more to the Southward but have of lateextended there [their) dominion toward the north,driving away the aborigines and Bagas towards theseashore.

Afzelius' reference to a recent "of late" population shiftmay have been correct, or at least provides an explanationuntil better sources are discovered. As long as shipsvisiting the coast remained small, with shallow drafts, theheadwaters of the Modeba and Dangara rivers would haveremained unimportant to commerce in the river. But onceshipping teclmiques changed, the Susu, as activeparticipants in and fmancial profiteers from the trade,extended their sovereignty coastward, displacing ordominating the Baga along this section of the Modeba and

"Edward Bickersteth, Report ofthe Visit oftheAssistant Secretary to the Settlements and Schools oftheSociety on the Western Coast ofAfrica, "Journal," entrydated 22 March 1816.

"Adam Afzelius, Adam Aftelius: Sierra LeoneJournal, 1795-1796 (Uppsala, 1967), 103.

"For extensive treatment ofThomas Cooper'scareer in the Rio Pongo from 1795 to 1800, see theauthor's "Trade, Coasters, and Conflict in the Rio Pongofrom 1790 to 1808," Journal ofAfrican History, 14(1973):45-64.

Dangara rivers. This probably was occurring in the 1750­1790 period. This does not, however, provide a defmitiveborder between Baga-Kassisa and Susu-Surnbia lands; themore probable answer would suggest that the Kati familyexercised a suzerainty over remaining Baga villages andterritory, with a significant segment of Baga moving to theregion north and east of the Dangara River.

Information about the placement of Baga-Koba ismore complete for this period because of insightful reportswritten by missionaries of the Church Missionary Society(Church of England) who maintained missions and schoolsat Bassaya , Kalara, Canofee in the Fatala River from 1807to 1817, and at Bouramaya(Bramaya) on the KonkoureRiver and at Kaporo on Kalourn peninsula for shorterperiods." This area was also better known to Europeanship captains and to officials from Sierra Leone because ofthe prominent presence ofLuso-Africans who were apolitical and commercial force in this region. JohnMatthews' description of 1785, for example, focusesalmost entirely upon those persons of Portuguese descent,and with Bissao connections, who exercised politicalinfluence over coastal peoples." Sierra Leone Companyrecords and correspondence from 1794 to 1802 identifiedthe Gomez family ofBakiya (Bakia) as a dominant familywith authority (or sufficient powers) to call conferences

"Alfred Barrow, in Fifty Years in Western Africa:Being a Recorda/the Work a/the West Indian Church onthe Banks a/the Rio Pongo (London, 1900), 127,mentioned a report by Rev. P.H. Doughlin, c.1885, whodivided the Baga into the Koba Baga, Kakisa Baga, Blackor Naken Baga, the Mikh-ii Fori, and Klilurn Baga, andthose peoples of Bouramaya as Susu. In 1875, ThomasGeorge Lawson, an official of the Sierra Leone Colonialadministration, submitted a report, "Information relative tothe neighbouring countries," in which he divided territorybetween the Rio Pongo and He Turnbo into threeregions-Kobab Bagga Country, Bramaiab Country, andCarlome Bagga Country. The Kobab Bagga (Rio Pongo toBouramaya River) he described as occupying the coast,having a "King," being good seamen, and producing palmnuts, palm oil, groundnuts and Beniseeds for export. Hedescribed Bramaiab Country as having headmen ofLuso­African descent and bordered on the east by the Konkoure,on the west by the Bouramaya, and "on the north by themainland." Perhaps this was the way that Europeansdivided the region at the time, but it is uncertain whethersuch divisions were as clearly drawn by 1821. ForLawson, see David E. Skinner, Thomas George Lawson(Stanford, 1980),85-87. Denise Paulme, "Des riziculteursafricaines: Les Baga," Les Cahiers d'Outre-mer, 10(1956),260, also described the Baga-Koba as occupyingthe islands south of the Rio Pongo.

"Matthews, A Voyage, 13-15. Matthews' mapshows the Baga as occupying all of the shoreline fromTurnbo Island to the Kapatchez River

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and negotiate agreements between headmen locatedbetween the Pongo and the Konkoure rivers, with theFatala River serving as an inland boundary, of sorts,between Baga and Susu territories. Whether Baga were theonly peoples within this sector is unlikely, because theserecords do not clearly designate villages as Baga.27 But itis clear that Susu headmen were located on both banks ofthe river and that Europeans north of the main branch ofthe Rio Pongo on the right bank as far as Devil's Island(where the Fatalajoints the Pongo) negotiated theirlandlord ,agreements with the Susu rulers at Tiye. Thosetrading in the Fatala negotiated their arrangements withheadmen who "sat down" under the protection of MungeBake of Bassaya /Lisso, and Bake was a Baga headman."Traders in the Bangalan (Rio Baladi) branch of the riverapparently were beyond Tiye's effective control, and theynegotiated their agreements with a Susu headman at

27The author's, "Trade, Coasters, and Conflict," as

cited. An 1814 reference (CMS CAlIE3/74, Wilhelm'sJournal, entry dated 6 December 1814) to a conferencecalled by Monge Bake indicated that Susu headmen from"both sides of the [Fatala] river" should join forces tooppose Fula incursions into the river.

"CMS CAllEl1E5N68, List ofChildren inCanoffee School[1816]. Bake's son was named Henry.The extent of Bake's influence in the area south of Bassayais unclear in the sources; however, Bickersteth in 1816noted, p. 5, that when he sought to travel from Bassaya toBouramaya overland, it was necessary to go by canoe tothe Tibola Creek, upstream to Ganganta and then overlandto Kambaya, then to Bouramaya. This report may indicatethat Bake rule only effected settlements along the FatalaRiver and did not extend more than a few kilometerssouthward. See also CMS CAlIE2/90, Wenzel's Journal,passim; on one occasion, the headman of Kalara threatenedto "set down" under Kati ofTiye, should Monge Bake nothonor a promise given to the missionaries. In CMSCAlIE3/39, Renner to Secr., 24 December 1812, everyreference to Bake suggesteil that he had authority tosununon Susu headmen to palavers at Bassaya. Bake(CMS CAlIE3/116, Wilhelm to Secr., 19 February 1814)again summoned an exclusive "SUSll palaver" to meet atLisso at which charges against the missionaries would bediscussed. An earlier account by Anon, An Account a/theColony a/Sierra Leone, 1795,137, described Bassia as atown surrounded by Baga peoples.

(

Fan!nya or with a Fula governor who resided in the area."Munge Bake's tenitory of influence centered at

Bassaya /Lisso, and extended further up the Fatala toCanoffee and Kalara, and perhaps as far as Korita,although Korita is not mentioned specifically in Companyrecords or in those ofChurch Missionary Society reports.His period of rule is not certain from records thus farresearched, but those records do cover 1794 to 1817, andBake remained in place during this entire period. At firstmention, his immediate landlord or effective superior wasEmmanuel Gomez, Jr., of Bakiya on the Sandoro River,about 15 kilometers due east of the main branch of the RioPongo. Between 1794 and 1802, Gomez forced Bake'shand on several occasions by promising military supportshould he get into difficulty with traders in the BangalanRiver, Susu from Tiye, or Fula who followed the Fatalacoastward to factories in the Pongo, in consequence ofGomez's directives. Records for 1807 to 1817 are morecomplete than those of the 1794 to 1802 period, and thesesupport earlier observations ofeffective BakelBaga controlof the southern and eastern bank of the Fatala River andcontain some (but limited) information about thecomposition ofvillages in the area. Bassaya, for example,was composed of two towns, the "old Bashia" which wascomprised mainly of Susu while the main Bassaya wasapparently Baga.30 One obtains the impression that "beingBaga" was something of a political statement; it meant thata headman identified himself as "outside" the control ofboth the Tiye-based Susu and SusulFula of the Bangalan .branch. Missionary records continued through 1817 todivide children/scholars at its mission schools along ethniclines, identifying most as "mulattos," but many were listedas Susu, Baga, or others." By 1806, however, nearly every

29See Mouser, "Trade, Coasters, and Politics," ascited. Recently discovered genealogical data in thearchives of the Congregation du P.P. du SI. Esprit alsosuggest an independent center of landlord relationships inthe Bangalan branch ofthe river; these records arecurrently undergoing analysis with Victoria BombaCoifinan. See also CMS CAl1E3/39, Renner to Secr., 24December 1812; CMS CAl1E3/99, Renner to Secr., 5November 1813; CMS CAl1E6/53, Renner to Secr.,Journal,5 February 1817. In "A Map of the PongasCountry in West Africa, Shewing the Stations of the WestIndian Mission," [c. 1860] [note: still searching for thesource ofthis map], six royal towns are Iisted-Tiah (KingKatty), Bara (King Bango), Lisso (King Bango), Bashia(King Allafah), Yenungia (King Simor), and Bramia (KingJelloram [Fernandez]). Reconstruction, based on data fromthis map, West Indian Mission records, and Congregationdu P.P. du SI. Esprit records, remains to be completed.

JOBickersteth, "Report of the Visit," 28.

'lCMS, CAl1E2/92, Wenzel to Seer., 12 July1811; CAl1E21103, Butscher to Secr., 22 October 1811;CAl1E4170, List ofWenzel's students [1814]; CAl1E4174,Wilh~Im's Journal, Account ofthe Children at Bashia;

7

student spoke Susu, clearly attesting to the importance ofSusu as a trade language and perhaps a declining power­base for the Baga in this section ofthe Fatala River.

The principal difference between the 1790-1802description ofeffective powers and that of 1807-1817 wasfound in the absence after 1806 of reference to EmmanuelGomez, Jr., or of Bakiya as a principal base of power, andthe appearance of William Fernandez (d. I823) ofBouramaya who was able to intervene forcefully indisputes that infrequently developed between missionariesand their immediate landlord, Mange Bake. Generallywhen missionaries explained their differences with Bake toFernandez, the latter generally sided with the missionariesand a messenger sent from him was sufficient for Bake tochange his mind." It was Fernandez who, in response to athreatened punitive expedition into the lower Fatala byFula warriors in 1813, called a grand palaver (conference)of all Baga and Susu chiefs within his tenitory andmarshaled resources to repel such an assault upon hisdomain." The absence ofGomez after 1806 may indicatelittle about a declining influence ofBakiya; it may insteadsay more about the nature of leadership among the Baga­Koba for this period. Power, apparently, was not location­based, nor was it linked to a traditional Baga center.Instead, effective power, at the top, was held within anextended family of Portuguese traders who hadintermarried within the prominent Tanu (elephant, in Susu)clan of the Baga-Koba and who were able to provide theBaga-Koba with protection against interior peoples anddeliver extensive opportunities in the Atlantic trade at thesame time. Clearly, Fernandez in 1816 did not see himselfas a "mulatto" nor identify with those merchants at Kissingand Domingya, nor with those in the Bangalan branch ofthe Pongo. He was an "African," with the welfare ofhispeople, property, and lands foremost in his vision.Whether he saw himself as Baga is less certain; perhaps heonly saw himself as modem or a "bigman," representing anew group that dominated domestic politics/power,protected his interests and those ofhis "retainers" orsubordinate headmen, and adjusted to changes occurring inthe Atlantic trade. Bickersteth's report ofhis 1816 visit toBouramaya and Bassaya essentially supported the aboveanalysis.

CAl1E5A168, List ofthe Children in Canoffee School.

"CMS CAIIE2/39, Butscher to Secr., 24 October1810; CMS CA IIE211 02, Butscher to Secr., 22 October1811; CMS CAl1E3/99, Butscherto Seer., 5 November1813; CMS CA 1/011 05/62, "Extracts from the Journal of aMissionary Tour ... ," 8. In CMS CAl1E3/99, Renner toSecr., 5 November 1813, Fernandez is identified as Bake'slandlord. On one occasion, Fernandez had sufficientauthority to have "delivered him [Ormond] up as a child toM. Bake in Lisso" for discussions relative to properownership ofmission-held property at Bassiya.

,"CMS CAl1E3/83, Butscher to Secr., 16 June1813.

Events in the Pongo after 1812, however, had changedcircumstances, placed missions and schools in the Fatala injeop.ardy, and lessened Fernandez's defense of themissionaries in the Fatala. From the beginning of themissions, the Church Missionary Society, whether rightlyor wrongly,.had published extracts from missionary lettersand journals in its reports and some ofthese were criticalofMunge Bake and revealing in ways that the slave tradeoperated in the Rio Pongo. In some instances, thesepublished reports (and rumored private letters to friends atFreetown) provided commanders in the Royal Anti-SlaverySquadron with suggestions of whose factories wereoperating and the names offactors who were breakingEnglish laws that prohibited English subjects fromengaging in that trade." In 1813 and 1814, vessels of theSquadron raided factories in the lower and upper river andeffectively forced landlords to defend strangers againstthose who sought their destruction. Traders havingagreements with Bake or with those landlords within hisregion naturally appealed to him for protection and chargedthe missionaries with secretly reporting their everymoves." Gradually, from 1814to 1816, Bake tried toprotect commerce and, at the same time, to bring themissionaries under control, but he had little success in thelatter task; by 1816 many traders had withdrawn their

.children from the mission schools. Finally, a group ofBaga burned several buildings at the Bassayamission/school, making it clear that CMS support atBassaya had collapsed; Bake had given his permission forthis attack, perhaps only in an indirect fashion by notopposing it." Fernandez now offered to provide resourcesfor a school at Bouramaya, as long as it was only for boysand for neither children from Freetown nor those of themulatto traders in the Rio Pongo. Perhaps Fernandezsought only a way to educate his Own children (none of hiswere listed as enrolled at the schools in 1814), but morelikely he was interested in those of his headmen as well. Inany case, in 1816 he discussed with Bickersteth thepossibility of establishing a school at Bouramaya and of

"CMS CAI/E4/40, Wenzel to Secr., 10November 1814. Wenzel warned that these extracts mightfmd their way into the hands of headmen whose continuedsupport might, thereby, be placed in jeopardy.

"CMS CA1/E3/99, Butscher to Seer., 5November 1813; CMS CAI/E3/l00, Butscherto Secr., 10November 1813; CMS CAI/E3/108, Wenzel to Secr., 12December 1813; CMS CAI/E3/113, Klein to Secr., 6January 1814; CMS CAI/E3/l16, Wilhelm to Seer., 19February 1814; CMS CAI/E4/63, Butscherto Secr., 14

.December 1814.

"CMS CAI/E3/l13, Klein to Secr., 6 January1814; CMS CAI/E3/116, Wilhelm to Secr., 19 February1814; CMS CAllE4/IO, Wenzel to Secr., 14 April 1814;CMS CAl1E4174, Wilhelm's Journal, 6 December 1814.

8

closing the Bassaya mission/school." This effectivelyended the Bassaya experiment in 1816 and the Canofeeand Kalara schools a year later. Peter McLachlan's 1821comments about the Baga-Koba, specifically, are minimaland add little to our understanding of boundaries in theinterior or of bases of power among this group."

The Kaloum-Baga (also called the Sangara-Baga andSumbia-Baga) are in some ways easier to defme beeause ofphysical characteristics ofthe area and the limited landspace available for settlement. But that apparently was notto be so simple for the period ofthis study. The first todescribe this group, if one separates the lIes de Los-Bagaas a distinct subgroup, was Rev. Jonathan Klein whoestablished a school near Kaporo, an important townbelonging to Monge [Boye] Demba, "land king" withproprietary rights over Baga territory between theMelacoree and DoumbalDubreka rivers.J9 Rev. Klein wasalso the person who most thoroughly investigated theplacement of a school at Bouramaya, although ~at projectnever came to fruition. Klein's letters andjournaiscertainly contain much on the character of Baga occupationand politics of this area and should be given more attentionthan they have received thus far. Bickersteth visited thisarea in 1816, and, in his published report, he described thestrip of land on the northwestern base of theManialSangara hills as densely populated, but even Kaporohad only 59 houses and perhaps as few as 400 inhabitants.

"Bickersteth, "Report ofa Visit," 5. See CMSCAI/E3/8, Rennerto Seer., 8 June 1812, for Fernandez'srequest for a school only for Bouramaya boys.

38McLachlan, "Travels," stated, in totality: "TheCoba Baga are a race of people who inhabit a part of thenorth bank of the river Dembia [Konkoure], 'near its mouth:what I have already said regarding the former tribe [theBaga-Kaloum] may be applied to this, and also, with everydegree of propriety, to those in the Rio Pongos, with thisexception, that the two last tribes are a much more braveand warlike people [Kaloum and Koba]." In Sierra LeoneArchives, Colonial Secretary's Letter Book, ColonialSecretary to King Jellorum Fernandez, 28 September 1860,Bouramaya and the Bouramaya [Konkoure] River arespecifically designated as belonging to the "CobahBaggars."

"'Mahawa Bangura, "Contribution ill'histoire desSosoe du XVI' Siecle," Memoire de diplome de fmd'etudes superieures, 1971-72 (Institut polyteehniqueGamal Abdel Nasser, Conakry), 161-165, wrote thatMonge Demba [Boye Demba] was the descendant ofMonge Tomboli ofKaporo who married a daughter ofSumba Tun~dni Dumbuya, a Susu. Three sons of thisunion, Demba, Kanta, and Sangata were given sections ofthe coast to rule, but Demba was given jurisdiction overthem all. Demba was, according to Bangura, of mixeddescent and this perhaps helps to explain thepreponderance of Moslem headmen among the Baga­Kaloum during·the period covered in this paper.

(

The residents of Kaporo he described as primarily Baga,but all spoke Susu; indeed a headman ofKaporo andimmediate landlord of the missionaries was Monge Seaka,a Moslem. Bickersteth described Monge Demba'sinfluence as extending nearly 150 kilometers ("90 miles")along the coast and inland 320 kilometers ("200 miles"), anarea that clearly would have duplicated some of thatclaimed by William Fernandez of Bouramaya. Perhaps, inthe nature of things here, Demba was actually Fernandez'slandlord. Demba also claimed paramountcy over Bagasettlements on the nes de Los, which will be discussed laterin the paper. Demba's residence was at Tumania, in thehighlands of the Sangara hills.40

Klein's observations place the Baga-Kaloum in closercontact with Moslem teachers and traders than may havebeen the case at Bourarnaya." It was not uncommon forMandingos from Moria (Forekariah), Susu from Sumbuya(Wonkapong), or traders from the far interior to visitKaporo or pass through Demba's territories on their way toDubn!ka or to the Konkoure River, apparently intending tovisit or make trade with Fernandez at Bouramaya. In his1816 report to the Society, Klein listed Kippy, Rodoma,Robanne Fria (Rogbane), Cassuna, Dicksing (Dixinn),Kamaing, Tumbo and Butabina (Boulbine) as townslocated between Kaporo and the lIe Tumbo and within aday's walk from the mission settlement. Northeast, withina day's walk, were Nuneo, Kapporoo-Kungy, Kompy,Sambia (Simbaya), Kobia (Kobaya), Backy-Singnia,Foddia, Hansmania (Ansoumanya), Kasson Borimania, _Debrica (Dubreka), Domia, Maffia, Kaeca, Kapaeleng,Kundia, and Tumania." Unfortunately, Klein did notindicate the ethnic composition of these towns, but he didnote that nearly all ofthe headman were Moslems and

-suggested that when the Society sent religious literature toKaporo for distribution, it send tracts, printed in Arabic, forheadmen.4' -

McLachlan's 1821 visit to Kaporo, his travels toBouramaya, and his report contains more particularcomment about the Kaloum-Baga and mention of moretowns, some of which he specified by ethnic group. First

4°Bangura, "Contribution," stated that hisresidence was at Tomboli, perhaps Tomboleya.

"No correspondence has thus far been locatedfrom missionaries who were at Bouramaya, even for a shortperiod. Whether Moslem clerics or visitors came toBouramaya in large or frequent numbers is unclear atpresent. See CMS CAl1E5A160, Klein to Secr., Kaporo, ISeptember 1816, for entries mentioning Moslem clericsvisiting Kaporo.

"CMS, CAlIE5/147, Reports ofthe Missionaries,Rev. Klein. In his journal ofI817, CMS CAl1E6/l01,Klein's Journal, he mentioned many other towns but failedto give their ethnic group. This journal needs to be readmore carefully.

43Bickersteth, "Report ofa Visit," 20.

9

he observed that there were Baga towns, Baga towns withsome Susu living in them, Susu towns with some Baga, andSusu-towns. Those towns in the highlands tended to beSusu, but those on the coast were of mixed descriptions;Baga towns located near Susu ones seemed to be in bettercondition. Kaporo was Baga, but had a Moslem headman.Dubreka was Baga, with a population ofapproximately500 persons. North of Dubreka were the towns of Kontiah(Baga), Telemaya (Baga), Yatiya (Baga), Boney": (Baga)and Taban (Susu). He identified Taban as being populatedby 700-800 people of the Kabitah-Susu group, with ties toWonkapong; the headman ofTaban was Andrew. Theethnic group that occupied lands between Taban andBourarnaya were primarily Baga (towns of Kangoleya,Yoniya, Wassou), although they dressed in the Susufashion."

Assuming that McLachlan's observations wereaccurate, the lands of the Baga-Kaloum covered theterritory from lIe Tumbo to Bouramaya itself; but theselands were jointly occupied by the Baga and a separateSusu group called the Susu-Kobatai. The latter may simplyhave represented outposts ofthe Sumbia Susu whosenominal capital(s) were located south of Kaloum atWonkapong (Sumbuya) or with ties further south to Moria.His description, however, do attest to the mixed characterof the region, with the general population basically Bagaand headmen already converted to the faith of their morepowerful neighbors to the south. This area, therefore, wasperhaps more allied politically, socially, and economicallywith the Sumbuya Susu than to the Baga-Koba to theirnorthwest.

The ethnic and political character of the nes de Los inthe 1793 to 1821 period is ambiguous, at best. Unlikereports about the coast which are scarce for this period,accounts of the nes de Los and its peoples are numerous,even for much earlier periods." Located but a fewkilometers offthe coast from Tumbo Island, these islandswere frequented by European voyagers as early as 1461(Cadamosta), and they continued as an important point ofreference and source ofcommodities, fresh water, andprotection for sail-driven vessels for the next fourcenturies." By the mid-eighteenth century, tradersregularly negotiated their "relationship" with a local Bagaheadman who generil1ly was located on Tamara Island, themost western island in the chain. This headman wasThomas Williams in 1793; but Williams was considered

44McLachlan, "Travels," 8-9.

"Brooks, Landlords & Strangers, 279, andnumerous articles by P.E.H. Hair.

"See P.E.H. Hair, "The History of the Baga inEarly Written Sources," History in Africa, 24 (1997): 288­391.

subject to Mange Demba of the Baga-Kaloum." In 1793­94, Samuel Gamble visited the islands and described themas having a mixed population, however small(approximated at 800 persons, with 600 ofthat numberlocated on Tamara Island) that it Was. The majority of itspeople were Baga, but there were significant numbers ofEuropeans and their offspring, and an unspecified numberof slaves that were either Susu or Mandingos or ofmixeddescent."· In 1793/94, the islands continued as animportant bulking center for the slave trade as well as fortrade in other commodities coming from the coast."

The fact that the islands were important to trade andinevitably a source of revenue for coastal people, whetheras landlords or traders, meant that property rights andduties owed to landlords were often contested. As notedabove, Monge Demba claimed traditional ownership to theislands, but rights to customs, anchorage, salt, trade, orallegiance could be owned by another person or persons.Although Monge Demba held the superior claim toownership, strangers generally made their agreements withThomas Williams or, as of 1815, with Monge Amurah,who lived but a few miles on Kassa (Factory) Island fromthe CMS mission establishedthere." Control over salt towns within Monge Demba'slands were contested at the turn of the century by MorlKanu ofSamo/Tanene (south of the Melacoree River) andFendan Modu Dumbuya ofWonkapong, and Fendan Modutraded regularly with merchants located on the !les deLos.51 These ambiguous claims made landlord/stranger.agreements on the !les de Los difficult to maintain andprotect. Missionaries, in 1815, made their rent payments toMonge Amurah, perhaps suggesting that Tamara Island andKassa Island were treated separately by all landlords in thearea." The reports by Bickersteth and McLachlan, as they

"Bruce L. Mouser, "!les de Los as Bulking Centerin the Slave Trade, 1750-1800," Revue Fran,aised'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 83 (4' trimestre 1996): 77-90. Seealso Bangura, "Contribution," 161-165.

"Gamble, "A Journal," 118r..

. "Ibid., 32r, 33r, 33v, 35r, 36r, 49v, 58v, 59r, 60v,63v, 68v, 71r, 88v, 89r, 118r.

"McLachlan, "Travels," 3, described Amurah asthe best scholar among the Baga. See CA11E5/123, Kleinto Seer., 27 May 1816.

SlGeorge E. Brooks and Bruce L. Mouser, "An1804 Slaving Contract Signed in Arabic Script From theUpper Guinea Coast," History in Africa, 14 (1987): 341­347.

"Letter and journals from missionaries at the !lesde Los need to be researched more systematically for aclear understanding ofthe nature oflandlords on theislands during this period. In CMS CA11E3/108, Wenzel

10

explain the ethnic composition or political status of theislands, say little and further research ofthis topic needs tobe undertaken.

In summary, the sources consulted in this papersuggest that some boundaries, as reported by FrederickLamp, need to be adjusted when considering the locationsof Baga or Baga influence along the coast for the 1793 to1821 period. Unfortunately, our information about bordersfor the Baga-Sitemu are unclear, especially the linedividing them from the Nalo, Hubu, or Susu peoples intheir hinterland. The Baga-Kakissa were located inapproximately the area that they now hold, but that mayhave been a consequence ofa recent (1750 to 1790) forcedmigration coastward caused by Susu expansion to theirnew capital at Tiye (c. 1795). The largest discrepancieswith boundaries suggested by Lamp is in the placement ofthe Baga-Koba and Baga-Kaloum. The former, for the1793-1821 period, apparently occupied a much largerspace, bordered by the main branch of the Rio Pongo andthe Fatal;lRiver (as far as Kalara) on the northwest andnorth, a near straight line from Kalara to Bouramaya on thenorthwest, and the Bouramaya River on the south, TheBaga-Kaloum occupied, with mixed populations ofBagaand Susu/Susu-Kobatai, the area from the BouramayaRiver to the !le Tumbo, with the !les de Los Baga includedas a subject subgroup. These reports indicate little aboutstate building among the Baga-Sitemu or the Baga­Kakissa; perhaps there was none during this period. Thatis far different, however, than the case among the Baga­Koba or the Baga-Kaloum. These latter groups appear tohave been highly structured, with paramouncies operatingamong both groups and with headmen or "bigmen" whowere able to hold/host regional and international palaversand enforce agreements. The latter Baga were alsoapparently well integrated into the commercial life thenexisting along this coast; Baga regularly served aslandlords to European and American strangers wishing toestablish residence among them and profited directly, inthe Case of Fernandez, or indirectly, as with the Kaloumheadmen, in tlie international trade that came through theirterritories. The impact ofthese contacts upon theeconomies of these peoples needs further investigation,much of which can be done within the voluminous recordsofthe Church Missionary Society.

to Seer., 12 December 1813, Amurah was described as aBullom whose father had sent him to Fula country for aneducation; he was a "Mahomedan preacher, and a teacherof Arabic. At the death of his father, he obtained hispaternal inheritance the Isles and established it by adecision of arms." The above is unsubstantiated by othersources and contains contradictions of normal inheritancepatterns along this coast. )

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