Gambia River Research Articles

The Classic: Sainte-Beuve and the Nineteenth-Century Culture Wars by Christopher Prendergast

MLR, 104.4, 2009 1151 the author's journey to the sources of the Senegal and Gambia rivers in 1818. A naval position enables Mollien to travel to Africa and may also account for his occasional observations on opportunities for colonial expansion or commercial exploitation. Yet, the dominant tone of the text does not echo contemporary, Eu rocentric discourses of alterity, but is rather suggestive of a mode of encounter more readily associated with later travellers writing against colonialist paradigms of intercultural contact. By virtue of travellingwithout a European companion, for example, Mollien's contact with indigenous peoples is unmediated. This disrupts the conventional investment of power and control in the European, forMollien is largely dependent on the hospitality of those he meets for food, shelter, or the right to passage. Only items such as coral or tobacco offer him a commodity with which to bargain. The processes of encounter are thus not unilateral?the white European does not discover the black African?but are based, rather, on ex change. By extension, theEuropean becomes the object of the exotic gaze, regarded with hostility or hilarity, but always curiosity. This curiosity is reciprocated in the textual narrative, but not inways that other' the peoples encountered. Rather, Mollien resists homogenization by reporting in detail the customs, codes, beliefs, and landscapes of each individual tribe, as well as explicitly contesting colonialist stereotypes ofAfricans as cruel and uncivilized. Indeed, Mollien frequently estab lishes commonality between Europeans and Africans. His interpersonal encounters may result inboth celebratory and condemnatory vignettes of individuals, but this coexistence suggests balance, a willingness to look beyond monolithic preconcep tions. The text also offers a captivating tale of adventure, danger, and suspense. It opens with Mollien being shipwrecked on theMeduse and reaches its close with a rapid succession of threats on his life,with a perfidious guide, and grave illness. A highly informative introduction into the history of exploration in West Africa prefaces Mollien's narrative, including such fascinating, but little-known, facts as the Chinese trade in West Africa as early as that of fifteenth-centuryPor tuguese explorers. The availability ofMollien's narrative to a wider audience in the form of this new edition ismost welcome. The textwill be of considerable interest to those working in the fields of travelwriting and colonial/postcolonial studies. Cardiff University Margaret Topping The Classic: Sainte-Beuve and theNineteenth-Century Culture Wars. By Christo pher Prendergast. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007. x+3i5pp. ?60. ISBN 978-0-19-921585-0. Many French scholars know by sight the several feet of shelf space occupied by the twenty-nine volumes of Sainte-Beuve's Causeries du lundi and Nouveaux lundis; some have dipped into these volumes in pursuit of a particular article or illumi nating comment; few have examined them in their own right.Moreover, on first reading Christopher Prendergast's introduction, one may indeed wonder why the 1152 Reviews mere fact of saving a set of Lundis, cast offby his college library, should have led him to bother with a writer with whose anti-democratic views he patently feels so little sympathy. Yet, as this study convincingly shows, Sainte-Beuve, though increasingly slippery, reactionary, and sycophantic in his conversations' with his Second Empire newspaper readers, stands nevertheless as amajor cultural figure of nineteenth-century France, reflecting and inflecting the intellectual debates of his day, as he engages in an ultimately vain attempt to shore up the belletrist notion of an elite French-inspired cultural canon against the democratizing German-led discourses of comparative philology, comparative mythology, and ethnography. Discussion of twentyyears' worth of articles (1848-68), covering a huge variety of authors, topics, periods, and places, presents amajor analytical and scholarly chal lenge. Prendergast's clear central argument starts by skilfully steering the reader through Sainte-Beuve's paradoxical conception of the classic as a phenomenon simultaneously universal and specifically French, rooted in the great writers of classical Latinity, notably Virgil, and carried forward through theMiddle Ages and theRenaissance to a new flowering in the great seventeenth-century authors of Le Roi-Soleil. It then considers the nineteenth-century challenges which this comfort ing notion of the classic aims to counter and contain: the intellectual competition...

Fighting Over Rice Swamps: Conflict and Community across the Gambia River Basin, Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Fighting Over Rice Swamps: Conflict and Community across the Gambia River Basin, Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Anopheles gambiae complex along The Gambia river, with particular reference to the molecular forms of An. gambiae s.s

BackgroundThe geographic and temporal distribution of M and S molecular forms of the major Afrotropical malaria vector species Anopheles gambiae s.s. at the western extreme of their range of distribution has never been investigated in detail.Materials and methodsCollections of indoor-resting An. gambiae s.l. females were carried out along a ca. 400 km west to east transect following the River Gambia from the western coastal region of The Gambia to south-eastern Senegal during 2005 end of rainy season/early dry season and the 2006 rainy season. Specimens were identified to species and molecular forms by PCR-RFLP and the origin of blood-meal of fed females was determined by ELISA test.ResultsOver 4,000 An. gambiae s.l. adult females were collected and identified, 1,041 and 3,038 in 2005 and 2006, respectively. M-form was mainly found in sympatry with Anopheles melas and S-form in the western part of the transect, and with Anopheles arabiensis in the central part. S-form was found to prevail in rural Sudan-Guinean savannah areas of Eastern Senegal, in sympatry with An. arabiensis. Anopheles melas and An. arabiensis relative frequencies were generally lower in the rainy season samples, when An. gambiae s.s. was prevailing. No large seasonal fluctuations were observed for M and S-forms. In areas where both M and S were recorded, the frequency of hybrids between them ranged from to 0.6% to 7%.DiscussionThe observed pattern of taxa distribution supports the hypothesis of a better adaptation of M-form to areas characterized by water-retaining alluvial deposits along the Gambia River, characterized by marshy vegetation, mangrove woods and rice cultivations. In contrast, the S-form seems to be better adapted to free-draining soil, covered with open woodland savannah or farmland, rich in temporary larval breeding sites characterizing mainly the eastern part of the transect, where the environmental impact of the Gambia River is much less profound and agricultural activities are mainly rain-dependent. Very interestingly, the observed frequency of hybridization between the molecular forms along the whole transect was much higher than has been reported so far for other areas.ConclusionThe results support a bionomic divergence between the M and S-forms, and suggest that the western extreme of An. gambiae s.s. geographical distribution may represent an area of higher-than-expected hybridization between the two molecular forms.

Dry season ecology of Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes in The Gambia

BackgroundMalaria in The Gambia is highly seasonal, with transmission occurring as Anopheles gambiae s.l. populations expand during and immediately after a single annual rainy season that lasts from June to October. There has been very limited investigation of the ecology of vectors during the dry season, when numbers are very limited and distributions may be restricted.MethodsWeekly adult mosquito collections (pyrethrum spray, light trap, and search collections from rooms, as well as light trap collections from animal shelters, abandoned wells and grain stores), and artificial sentinel breeding site surveys were performed in four villages near the upper tidal and partially saline part of the Gambia River in the last four months of an annual dry season (March to June). Mosquito species were identified by morphological and DNA analysis, and ELISA assays were performed to test for Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites and human blood meal components.ResultsAdults of An. gambiae s.l. were collected throughout the period, numbers increasing towards the end of the dry season when humidity was increasing. Adult collections were dominated by An. melas (86%), with An. gambiae s.s. (10%) and An. arabiensis (3%) also present throughout. Most females collected in room search and spray collections contained blood meals, but most from light traps were unfed. None of the females tested (n = 1709) contained sporozoites. Larvae (mostly An. gambiae s.s.) were recovered from artificial sentinel breeding sites in the two villages that had freshwater pools. These two villages had the highest proportions of An. gambiae s.s. adults, and experienced the most substantial increase in proportions of An. gambiae s.s. after the onset of rains.ConclusionDuring the dry season population minimum, An. melas was the predominant vector species, but differences among villages in availability of fresh-water breeding sites correlate with egg laying activity and relative numbers of An. gambiae s.s. adults, and with the increase in this species immediately after the beginning of the rains. Local variation in dry season vector persistence is thus likely to influence spatial heterogeneity of transmission intensity in the early part of the rainy season.

Spatial Distribution of Mosquito Larvae and the Potential for Targeted Larval Control in The Gambia

We examined the distribution of aquatic stages of malaria vectors in a 400-km(2) area in rural Gambia to assess the practicality of targeting larval control. During the rainy season, the peak period of malaria transmission, breeding sites were 70% more likely to have anopheline larvae in the floodplain of the Gambia River than upland sites (P < 0.001). However, mosquitoes were found in some examples of all habitats, apart from moving water. Habitats most often colonized by anopheline larvae were the largest water bodies, situated near the landward edge of the flood-plain, where culicine larvae were present. In the wet season, 49% of sites had anophelines versus 19% in the dry season (P < 0.001). Larval control targeted at specific habitats is unlikely to be successful in this setting. Nonetheless, larval control initiated at the end of the dry season and run throughout the rainy season could help reduce transmission.

Microhabitat use by fishes in the middle course of the River Gambia in the Niokolo Koba National Park, Senegal: a unique example of an undisturbed West African assemblage

Snorkelling surveys using a point abundance method revealed high levels of microhabitat differentiation among 14 fish species from a high‐visibility site in the middle reaches of the Gambia River. Habitat segregation was most strongly related to the position in the water column, flow velocity, substratum composition and presence of submerged wood.

Morphometric and molecular characteristics of Labeonema synodontisi n. comb. (Nematoda: Atractidae) from the West African fishes

Numerous nematodes were found in the rectum of three fish species Synodontis ocellifer, S. nigrita, and S. schall (Mochokidae, Siluriformes) from the Gambia River and Mare Simenti, National Park Niokolo Koba, Senegal. A nematode species Raillietnema synodontisi Vassiliadès, 1973 (host S. ocellifer), is redescribed using morphometric (including scanning electron microscopy) and molecular characteristics and transferred into the genus Labeonema Puylaert, 1970. It is morphologically and metrically similar to Labeonema intermedium Puylaert, 1970, the other congeneric species (L. bainae Baker, 1982; L. bakeri Van Waerebeke, Chabaud, Bain et Georges, 1988; and L. africanum Moravec et Van As, 2004) differ from them either by the spicule and gubernaculum lengths, distribution and number of pre-cloacal papillae, position of the vulva, as well as hosts and geographical distribution. The partial sequences of small ribosomal subunit rDNA of L. synodontisi were analyzed and compared with other nematode sequences. Molecular analyses seem to support the position of this nematode species based on the morphological observation.

Eco-Politics of Dams on the Gambia River

In the 1980s, USAID (US Agency for International Development) funded an environmental assessment of dams on the Gambia River, which determined that construction of the Balingho anti-salinity barrage would result in adverse unmitigative environmental and social consequences. Attempts by host country politicians, USAID and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) to discredit this process made it necessary to take the matter to the Natural Resource Defense Council. A case study of the events surrounding these dams and their potential construction illustrates the ‘big dam’ paradigm and its potential harm to people, their livelihoods and the environment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Teaching &amp; Learning Guide for: Teaching African History in an Era of Globalization

Teaching &amp; Learning Guide for: Teaching African History in an Era of Globalization

The Gambia River estuary: A reference point for estuarine fish assemblages studies in West Africa

The Gambia River is one of the last aquatic ecosystems in West Africa that has not yet been affected by strong environmental changes and human disturbances. In contrast to the neighbouring Casamance and Sine Saloum estuaries, the Gambia estuary is free of major climatic perturbation and remains a “normal” estuary, with a salinity range from freshwater to 39. The present paper aims to study the spatial and seasonal variability of fish assemblages in this estuary in terms of bio-ecological categories and of their relation with some environmental variables. Four surveys were conducted, from June 2001 to April 2002, in order to cover the major hydroclimatic events, at 44 sampling sites along the lower, intermediate and upper zones of the Gambia estuary (up to 220 km). Fish assemblages were sampled using a purse seine net, fish were identified to species level and environmental variables such as water depth, transparency, salinity, temperature and percentage oxygen saturation were measured. The main spatial structure of the fish assemblages and its seasonal changes were first studied using the STATIS-CoA multitable method. The combination of fish assemblages and environmental variables was then analysed using the STATICO method, designed for the simultaneous analysis of paired ecological tables. A total of 67 species were observed, belonging to all bio-ecological categories characterizing West African estuaries. The marine component of the community was largely dominant throughout the estuary, while the freshwater component was permanently observed only in the upstream zone. The main spatial structure was a longitudinal gradient contrasting marine and freshwater affinity assemblages, with strong seasonal variations. The most complete gradient was observed in December, at the beginning of the dry and cool season, while in June, at the end of the dry and warm season, there was the least structured gradient. The role of salinity, always correlated with temperature, was emphasized, while turbidity appeared to be another important factor. Oxygen and depth did not play a major role at the estuary scale. The relative importance of the bio-ecological categories varied according to the season and the distance to sea. Stable fish assemblages were observed in the lower zone at the end of the dry season, in the upper zone during the flood and in the middle zone throughout the year. In some situations, a relative inadequacy between fish assemblages and their environment was noticed. The present study contributes to the definition of the functioning of a “normal” West African estuary, the Gambia estuary, with balanced effects of marine and freshwater influences and the presence of all bio-ecological categories. The Gambia estuary can therefore be considered to be a reference ecosystem for further comparisons with other tropical estuarine ecosystems, subjected to natural or artificial perturbations.

Influence of salinity on the size at maturity for fish species reproducing in contrasting West African estuaries

The influence of salinity on life‐history traits was tested using two adjoining West African estuaries: the Gambia with a ‘normal’ salinity gradient (salinity always &lt;40 and decreasing from the mouth upstream) and the Sine Saloum (Senegal) with an inverse gradient (from 35 at the estuary mouth up to &gt;130 in the upper reaches). The breeding seasons and subsequent fork length (LF) at first maturity (LF50) were estimated for different fish species reproducing both in the Sine Saloum and in the Gambia River estuaries using a database built from experimental fish samplings between 1990 and 2003 with a purse seine (30 locations in the Sine Saloum and 44 in the Gambia). The database contained 30 553 individuals belonging to 60 different species among which only 20 species reproduced in both estuaries. The breeding seasons peaked just before, or at the beginning of the rainy season (June to July), and there were almost no sexually mature fishes at the beginning of the dry season (November to December). Patterns of differences between LF50 of the two estuaries did not follow a general trend (positive or negative), but varied in the same way for females and males of a given species. The LF50 was only systematically reduced with increasing salinity in species living in high‐salinity waters (&gt;70). For species living below 70, differences in sizes at first maturity between the two estuaries did not show any clear relationship with salinity. The smallest mature individual found in an environment was a good indicator of the size at first maturity reached in a particular ecosystem because the trend of the species differences between the two ecosystems generally followed that of the differences in size at maturity.

Before It Is Too Late: Constructing an Archive of Oral Sources and a National Museum in Independent Gambia

This article discusses the cultural policy of the Republic of the Gambia in the aftermath of independence. It illustrates the establishment of an archive of oral sources and a national museum, considers the institutional and intellectual vision that inspired their creation, and comments on their relationships to internal political developments and external debates on the relevance of African sources for the reconstruction of African history. At the core of both initiatives was the idea of providing the emerging nation with a decolonized representation of its past, recovering the tangible and intangible expressions of the cultural and historical of the Gambia River. The subsequent developments of the two institutions are analyzed, showing the declining interest for oral sources and the rise of heritage politics, determined more by the needs of promoting The Gambia in the tourist market than by an appreciation of the complexities and richness of the country's cultural heritage.

Demographic and Female Life History Parameters of Free-Ranging Chimpanzees at the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project, River Gambia National Park

We analyzed fertility and mortality records for 113 provisioned, free-ranging chimpanzees at the River Gambia National Park, The Gambia. The chimpanzees are rehabilitated orphans released by the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project (CRP), and their descendants born in a natural environment. Females experienced their 1st births at an average age of 14.3 yr, with average interbirth intervals of 68 mo. Despite limited provisioning, reproductive parameters in both released and 1st-generation females resembled those of wild chimpanzees and showed seasonal fluctuations. Mortality rates were low compared to those for wild chimpanzees, particularly for infants and juveniles; life expectancy at birth was 23.6 yr for females and 18 yr for males. The results have implications for our understanding of variation in reproductive parameters between captive and wild chimpanzees. We also discuss issues related to chimpanzee conservation and captive rearing.

Length–weight relationships for fish populations of a relatively undisturbed tropical estuary: The Gambia

Abstract During fish sampling conducted in the Gambia estuary between 2000 and 2002, more than 5500 fish were individually measured and weighed. From these data, length–weight relationships were established for 25 species belonging to 12 families. These 25 species frequently occur in estuarine and lagoon environments in West Africa. This work is of especial value because of the nature of the ecosystem that was studied: the estuary of the River Gambia, which is one of the last West African estuaries that has not been subject to either natural or artificial major disturbances. For 3 species, the information is new and for two others, these relationships are described for the first time for this sub-region.

Entrustment and its Changing Political Meanings in Fuladu, the Gambia (1880–1994)

AbstractThe practice of entrustment is a form of voluntary allegiance for the sake of protection, one which historically lies at the core of host–stranger relationships along the River Gambia. Deeply woven into the social fabric of local communities, it was appropriated by various historical subjects during the twentieth century in order to construct networks of political confidence and mutual assistance at a local and national level. This article traces this dynamic process of re-elaboration. In so doing, it takes into account the history of a Mandinka commercial settlement in eastern Gambia from the late nineteenth century to post-Independence times, and questions the shifts that occurred in the political significance of entrustment with changing social and economic scenarios. Contextualised in the longue durée, the practice of karafoo shows its relevance as a cultural resource encouraging the creation of networks of trust and interdependence in social settings historically characterised by seasonal and more stable forms of migration.

Fish diversity and distribution in the Gambia Estuary, West Africa, in relation to environmental variables

The Gambia Estuary, a normal estuary with a decreasing salinity gradient from the mouth towards the head, is moderately exploited by small-scale fisheries and does not receive any severe pollution from either agricul- ture or industrial activities. Neither the Gambia River nor its estuary are artificially impounded. As the last large West African estuary free of major human disturbance, it is of considerable interest for comparative studies on the effect of major environmental perturbations in West African estuarine ecosystems. The aquatic environment and fish communi- ties of the Gambia Estuary (about 250 km long) were studied by purse seine sampling at different periods in the river cycle, covering all hydro-climatic seasons that are characteristic of West African estuaries. Emphasis was placed on the diversity, composition, structure and distribution of fish assemblages in relation to fluctuations in physico-chemical factors such as water temperature, salinity and turbidity. Results on the aquatic environment, mainly the salinity range (from freshwater to 39) and dissolved oxygen (never a limiting factor for fish in the estuary) and on the main character- istics of the fish fauna (high diversity of life cycles, all the ecological categories represented) indicated that the Gambia Estuary was free of major climatic perturbation and reinforced the choice of this system as a reference for the study of the effects of major perturbations on estuarine tropical fish communities.

Entrustment and Its Changing Political Meanings in Fuladu, the Gambia (1880-1994)

The practice of entrustment is a form of voluntary allegiance for the sake of protection, one which historically lies at the core of host–stranger relationships along the River Gambia. Deeply woven into the social fabric of local communities, it was appropriated by various historical subjects during the twentieth century in order to construct networks of political confidence and mutual assistance at a local and national level. This article traces this dynamic process of re-elaboration. In so doing, it takes into account the history of a Mandinka commercial settlement in eastern Gambia from the late nineteenth century to post-Independence times, and questions the shifts that occurred in the political significance of entrustment with changing social and economic scenarios. Contextualised in the longue durée, the practice of karafoo shows its relevance as a cultural resource encouraging the creation of networks of trust and interdependence in social settings historically characterised by seasonal and more stable forms of migration.

Influence of salinity on the life-history traits of the West African black-chinned tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron): Comparison between the Gambia and Saloum estuaries

The West-African neighbouring Gambia and Saloum estuaries function in different ways, the first being normal (saltier waters in the lower river, salinity range 0-38) and the second being inverse (saltier waters in the upper river, salinity range 36-90). The common cichlid species Sarotherodon melanotheron was collected in both systems over 16 months (June 2001 to September 2002) at five locations. We quantified reproductive traits from macroscopic examination of the gonads, oocyte counts and measurements, and growth from interpretation and measurements of an otolith sub-sample. There was a clear seasonal cycle of reproduction in the estuaries with a peak at the beginning of the wet season (May-July). Size at maturation was smaller in the more saline environment, the Saloum, for both females (170 mm in Gambia and 131 mm in Saloum) and males (162 and 113 mm respectively). The relative fecundity was lower and the oocyte size was bigger in the freshwater location of the Gambia river. Growth, estimated by counting the annual opaque zones on whole otoliths, was reduced in the hypersaline environment of the Saloum (L∞ = 198 mm, K = 0.26). Differences are less obvious between the growth in the Gambia (L∞ = 238 mm, K = 0.21) and that in the Saloum with a salinity of less than 60 (L∞ = 244 mm, K = 0.22). All these observations suggest that S. melanotheron is able to withstand saltier environments by limiting its growth, reducing the size-at-maturity, and changing its fecundity, but the most profound changes are only visible in hypersaline conditions.

Effects of a targeted shrimp (Penaeus notialis) exploitation on fish catches in the Gambia estuary

Results of an annual survey of fishing activities and catches in the Gambia estuary (200 km long), carried out from June 2001 to May 2002, indicated that fishing effort targets mainly (66% of fishing trips) shrimps. As a result of the globalisation of fish markets, the fishery has become a quasi mono-exploitation of shrimp for exporting. At the opposite, fishing activities focusing on fish were low and carried out with large and medium mesh drift nets, gill nets and surrounding nets (17% of fishing trips), handlines and longlines (15%). The annual catch, estimated at 2350 tonnes for the estuarine part of the River Gambia, consisted of 1800 t of fish and 550 t of shrimp. Stownets were the most efficient gear accounting for 50% of the total production (550 t of shrimp and 600 t of fish) while other significant techniques were mainly drift nets (21%), longlines (11%) and gillnets (5%). Fish catches were composed with 55 fish species among which 16 species accounted for 90% of the annual catch. The average catch length of these first sixteen species was 295 mm, clearly demonstrating that fishing for fish was targeting large fish. The effects of the targeted shrimp exploitation resulted in a low fishing effort for fish leading to low fish landings and consequently to an under exploitation of fish resource in the Gambia estuary.

Localized breeding of the Anopheles gambiae complex (Diptera: Culicidae) along the River Gambia, West Africa.

A study was undertaken to identify the major larval habitats of the Anopheles gambiae (Giles) complex in rural Gambia. Mosquito larvae and pupae were sampled along transects and in specific habitats in the central region of the country during the rainy seasons of 1996 and 1997. The sampling showed that the major breeding sites were located on the flooded alluvial soils bordering the river. The largest numbers of larvae were found during September, one month after the peak rains. Polymerase chain reaction analysis of specimens showed that Anopheles melas (Theobald) was the dominant species in the flooded areas (81.5%), followed by A. gambiae sensu stricto (Giles) (18.0%) and A. arabiensis (Patton) (0.5%). By sampling in specific habitats it was evident that A. arabiensis was mainly breeding in rain-fed rice fields along the edge of the alluvial soils. Anopheles melas and A. gambiae s.s. often coexisted but whereas A. melas were found in water with a salinity of up to 72% sea water (25.2 g NaCl l(-1)), A. gambiae s.s. only occurred in water with up to 30% sea water (10.5 g NaCl l(-1)). Anopheles melas larvae were found in association with plant communities dominated by sedges and grasses (Eleocharis sp., Paspalum sp., Sporobolus sp.) and sea-purslane Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) and the presence of cattle hoof prints, whereas A. gambiae s.s. larvae mainly occurred in association with Paspalum sp. and Eleocharis sp. The study showed that even during the peak rainy season, breeding of the A. gambiae complex is almost entirely restricted to the extensive alluvial areas along the river.