NEW WORLDS: EXPLORATION & THE COLONIES - Maps: Their Untold Stories - page 259

A slave fort
JAMES ISLAND, RIVER GAMBIA, 1755
In the autumn of 1755, Justly Watson, Director of Engineers, arrived in West Africa. He was
there to report on the state of the British fortifications between the Gambia and the Gold
Coast. This was a considerable distance, and the tour occupied him until the following May.
His maps of eleven forts made on these visits offer a view of how they were set within the
surrounding landscape. Each fortress was a centre for trade with its local area and a large hin-
terland, and all were linked to a network of routes along the coast (see the map Elephant and
castle ) and across the oceans. Larger ones such as Cape Coast Castle on the Gulf of Guinea
also acted as headquarters for the British presence in the region.
Watson began his visit at Fort Gambia on James Island (named after the Duke of York,
later King James II, and now known as Kunta Kinteh Island). His report describes 'a small
irregular Square upon a small Island about ten leagues up the River Gambia', which 'if it was
in good Order, would command the River very well'. The fort's strategic position in the lower