Trade centres · named 1461
Cape Mount
The great Vai headland and lagoon port at the northwestern corner of the coast.
Biography
Rising abruptly from a flat shoreline, Cape Mount is visible far out to sea and served as the primary landmark for shipping on this coast.
Behind it lie the Fisherman Lake and a lagoon system navigable inland by canoe — the geography that made Vai middlemen indispensable to both legitimate and illegal trade.
Historical significance
Geography as political economy: the lagoon system is why the Vai became the coast's dominant brokers.
Timeline
- 1461Named by de Sintra
- c. 1550Vai settlement consolidated
- 1830sVai script devised nearby
On the map
Associated with Cape Mount. Open the historical atlas.
Related entries
References
- Pacheco Pereira (c. 1505).
- Holsoe (1990).
Suggested reading
- Rodney (1970).