yeah, his analysis is limited by his focus on only west Africa, because if he considered Dutch sources from Loango coast he'd contend that the gold coast canoemen weren't just limited to the Bight of Benin. (the small boats linked elmina to kakongo for example, without using Sao Tome)
Jean Barbot's description clearly indicates that the entire stretch of the Atlantic from ghana to angola was throughouly exploited by sea-going canoe groups (he's the one who mentions the Mpongwe going to Cameroon), and these groups would have doubtlessly linked the different regional systems to each other, and possibly sailed the entire length of the coast.
yeah, his analysis is limited by his focus on only west Africa, because if he considered Dutch sources from Loango coast he'd contend that the gold coast canoemen weren't just limited to the Bight of Benin. (the small boats linked elmina to kakongo for example, without using Sao Tome)
Jean Barbot's description clearly indicates that the entire stretch of the Atlantic from ghana to angola was throughouly exploited by sea-going canoe groups (he's the one who mentions the Mpongwe going to Cameroon), and these groups would have doubtlessly linked the different regional systems to each other, and possibly sailed the entire length of the coast.