Pisania, was a settlement in The Gambia. It was visited by the British explorers Mungo Park and

Daniel Houghton Daniel Houghton (1740–1791) was an Irish explorer and one of the earliest Europeans to travel through the interior of West Africa. Early life and family Houghton was born into an Irish military family c. 1740. At the age of 18, he signed up wit ...

on their expeditions into the interior of

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. It has since become the town of Karantaba Tenda.

History

Foundation

In the late 18th century, British traders began independent establishing factories at settlements along the

Gambia River The Gambia River (formerly known as the River Gambra) is a major river in West Africa, running from the Fouta Djallon plateau in north Guinea westward through Senegal and The Gambia to the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Banjul. It is navigable f ...

. By 1786, a factory had been established north of MacCarthy Island, at a place named Pisania.Gray, p. 284 This factory, and the surrounding settlement, were likely established by two brothers named Aynsley, one of whom, Robert, was likely captured by the French in 1779, but returned soon after. In 1791, the Aynsleys were joined by a surgeon named John Laidley.Gray, pp. 290–291

Mungo Park

Mungo Park arrived in Pisania from Jufureh in July 1795. He was befriended by Laidley and stayed with him for six months. While in Pisania, he studied

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and collected information on the neighbouring countries. He left Pisania on 1 December, but returned after his journey into the interior of Africa on 10 June 1797. Laidley had died earlier in the year in

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, while on his way home to England.

Abandonment

Robert Aynsley had a mixed-race son who had taken over the running of Pisania prior to 1818. He was forced to leave Pisania and travel to Tendaba as raids and conflict between kingdoms on the upper river became more prevalent. In his 1842 expedition, Governor

Thomas Lewis Ingram Thomas Lewis Ingram (1807 – 1868) was a British merchant who served as the acting colonial governor of the Gambia on five occasions. Early life and education Ingram was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of a linen draper, and brought up in L ...

passed by Pisania. He noted that the ruins of the factor were still visible from the river side, although at that point there no inhabitants anymore.

References

Sources

* {{coord missing, Gambia Former populated places in the Gambia