As the Dutch tightened their control of world trade, their presence increased in the area now known as Liberia. In the early 1700s, a detailed account of West African life was published by William Bosman, a Dutch merchant. From the age of 16, he spent 14 years in West Africa.
He noted the presence here of pineapples, bananas and “Paquovers” (very likely papayas or guavas. All other foodstuff were in short supply, including “great Milhio” (meaning corn or millet), yams and potatoes.
Footnote: Bosman, 1967, pp. 473-474; John Ralph Willis, “Introduction, in William Bosman, A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1967), pp. xvii; vii, xviii, viii-ix; William Bosman, A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea (New York: Barnes & Nobles, 1967),, p. 471; Jones, 1990, pp. 171-209.
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