Saturday the 1st.

On Saturday around 6 o'c. in the morning, the winds to the W and Grand Popo falling to the NW1/4N of us at a distance of about 2 l. and the mountain that is about 4 l. from Juda falling to the NE and NE1/4N of us by 2 l. in our reckoning, we steered to the E, skirting the coast, which appeared to me as follows.

(Detail of page 53 of "Journal de bord d'un négrier : Guinée / Lieutenant Durand, 1731." Image courtesy of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. [Call Number GEN MSS VOL 7])

Around 7 o’c. in the morn., I was the officer who was ordered, according to custom, to take the launch t. go see the French commander of the Juda harbor, in order to give me time to arrive there some time before the ship itself, which was using the its small sails.

In the Juda harbor were the English coast guard ship that we had seen at Cape Cors, two Portuguese ships and a French ship from the Indies Company named the Pontchartrain, under Cpt. Mr. Du Roscher Sorin and second Cpt. Sr. Le Blanc.

Once aboard, after having been informed of the bad trading at Juda, and after learning of the misfortunes that had befallen him, having lost the first pilot of his crew and with him almost all those who were in his tent, which had just been overturned and ransacked several days prior. The Jazon was t. go then to Jaquin to finish its trading which had just begun, having experienced the same disgrace at Juda. At the same time, its cpt. Mr. Fillion having died a week ago, and because of the sorrow that he had over his [word missing].

With all these troubles caused by the people of Juda despite the vigilance of the Dahomets, who did not at all prevent them from breaking the yawls into pieces, when finally informed of all these particularities, and with our ship still approaching, Mr. Durocher asked me if we did not by chance have a passenger named Verger who had missed Mr. Cadou's ship, which had his gds. I answered that we did and he immediately showed me a letter from Mr. De La Vigne, governor of the French fort, in which he ordered him to arrest this Verger aboard his ship and send him to the fort and, in case the Capt. would pass on by and oppose the governor's orders, he would be punished as a rebel according to the orders of His Majesty, who would be informed of it.

After I read these orders, I wanted to leave, but Mr. Durocher opposed this. He told me that our launch would leave with an officer aboard, carrying Mr. La Vigne's orders, and that on his return, having brought this Verger aboard, I would be free to return aboard our ship, which was approaching with the intent to anchor.

Seeing that there was no way to oppose this arrest, I wrote to Mr. Mary, telling him what I had learned in order to make him decide not to anchor at Juda. I also told him the reason for which I was detained and Mr. Le Blanc carried the letter, being the deputy officer in our crew.

When they received my letter, they brought to and sent over Sr. Verger, who came aboard the Pontchartrain as a criminal. I immediately took the launch and went back aboard.

After the news of so many misfortunes, it was easy to decide not to anchor in this place, despite the orders that specified that we were to stop there to trade and to take f. this Mr. La Vigne's second, who would not have failed to arrest us there if we had written to him as we as we [sic] were considering, which would have been our complete doom, for we would have been obliged to leave Juda after having paid the customs duties there in full, and then to leave for Jaquin to pay them just like the Jazon.

Juda was always a place very busy with trading, where several ships at a time could acquire acquire [sic] a lot of gold and captives, and one can only attribute its loss to Assou, who was once the cpt. of the French and was chased out by the Dahomets, along with the king and all his subjects. Obliged to retreat to Grand Popo, on an island, Assou was annoyed to see himself living like a slave outside of his country after having seen himself living like the king of the country in Juda, and he was jealous of the trade that he saw flourish while he could do nothing, and finally shook the yoke and decided to lose it.

There are three forts a half l. inland, in a place that they call Gregay. One belongs to the French and is the most beautiful, the other to the English and the other to the Portugese, and is not very big.

This is the place where all the warehss. of all the ships were, and where trade has taken place since the destruction of the city of Xavier, which was one league further inland and very renowned for the great trading that took place there. This city was big and contained a lot of people. It was the place of residence of the king and that of Assou, who had there his fortified house and soldiers who were ever ready to take up arms at the slightest noise indicating that the Dahomets were approaching.

The coast of Juda would be very easy to pass by, as the land is rather low and bare and the forts are difficult to see on land. When they had no flags they appeared to me in the manner that follows.

(Detail of page 56 of "Journal de bord d'un négrier : Guinée / Lieutenant Durand, 1731." Image courtesy of Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. [Call Number GEN MSS VOL 7])

When I went back aboard from the Pontchartrain around one o’clock in the afternoon, we set out to look for Jaquin, which is 7 l. east of Juda. We did not tarry to get there, having a strong wind from the WNW, and at around 4 o’c. in the evening, we anchored there to a fine sandy bottom 8 fathoms deep, with the tents to the N of us. We saluted with 7 cannon shots.

In the harbor of Jacquin are an English company 20 cannon ship, a Dutch company 40 cannon ship, two interlopers from the same countries, eight Portugese ships, and two ships from Nantes, the Jazon and the Superb, cpt. Mr. Cadou, on the eve of his departure, had been trading less than two months. We each gave him our letters that very evening.

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