St Louis

St Louis, the capital of the French colony of Senegal in West Africa, is situated on a small low island near the mouth of the Senegal River. Bridges connect it with N'dar Toute, a summer watering-place, on the right bank, and with the suburb of Bouetville, the terminus of the railway, on the left bank. The mouth of the river is rendered dangerous by a shifting bar of sand. The great ocean steamers land goods and passengers at Dakar, on Cape Verde, 100 miles to the south-west, and thence they are conveyed by rail. Nevertheless, the place has a trade worth £1,000,000 a year, gums and earthnuts being exported. The climate is not healthy; water is supplied by an aqueduct 7½ miles long. There are a cathedral, governor's palace, &c., and a public garden. Pop. 16,682.