Cherished Memories of Africa — Page 5
5 • It passes through Senegal and enters the Gambia through Tambacounda, runs through the middle of whole length of the Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. • From Banjul to Kaur the water is salty and not conducive to agriculture. • From Banjul to Kaur the water flows towards the sea at times and in the opposite direction at other times. That is caused by the tides in the sea. Travel by Ferry • When I arrived in the Gambia, there used to be a ferry service from Banjul to Basse that people used for travelling with their bag and baggage. Those days, roads were as good as non-existent being in such a state of disrepair that made travelling impossible. • Maulana Muhammad Sharif Sahib had used this service to visit some jama’ats of the country; arriving at Basse he stayed in the ferry for a few days. • I also travelled by ferry from Basse to Georgetown once. Probably the same year, a ferry drowned in the river near Farafenni. Ferries were also used for postal service those days and we lost a lot of our post in that ferry. After that country-wise ferry service was discontinued. Gambia River and the slave trade • Gambia River provided an important route for the slave trade. • There were many prisons for the slaves in some islands of the Gambia, of which Georgetown and James Island are well-known. • The river is not very wide but is deep enough to be naviga - ble for a few hundred kilometres for small ships. • During fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, this river was used to ship about 3 million innocent humans to be sold