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This 1764 map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, published in the Petit Atlas Maritime, presents detailed navigational charts of two important locations on the West African coast: the Entrée de la Rivière de Sestos (Entrance of the Sestos River) and the Vue du Cap Mesurado et ses Environs (View of Cape Mesurado and its Surroundings).
The upper map focuses on the Sestos River (modern-day Liberia), an area that was of interest to European traders. The chart details coastal settlements, river inlets, and topographical features, including the town labeled La Ville Royale, forested areas, and anchorages. It includes depth soundings for safe navigation and highlights Cap des Baxas (Cap des Basses), an important coastal landmark. French annotations describe water sources and the presence of fresh drinking water, which would have been valuable for sailors and traders stopping along the route.
The lower map provides a view of Cape Mesurado (now Monrovia, Liberia) and its surrounding waterways, including the Rio de Mesurado and adjacent islands. The chart indicates villages, fortifiable locations, and notable landscape features. A section marked Lieu propre pour bâtir un Fort (a place suitable for building a fort) suggests European interest in establishing a defensive trading post.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at only the age of 18, he was appointed Hydrographer to the French Navy. In August 1741, he became the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographic Office) and was named Official Hydrographer of the French King.
During his term as Official Hydrographer, the Dépôt was the one of the most active centers for the production of sea charts and maps in Europe. Their output included a folio-format sea atlas of France, the Neptune Francois. He also produced a number of sea atlases of the world, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame and distinction all over Europe and were republished throughout the eighteenth and even in the nineteenth century.
Bellin also produced smaller format maps such as the 1764 Petit Atlas Maritime, containing 580 finely-detailed charts. He also contributed a number of maps for the 15-volume Histoire Generale des Voyages of Antoine François Prévost.
Bellin set a very high standard of workmanship and accuracy, cementing France's leading role in European cartography and geography during this period. Many of his maps were copied by other mapmakers across the continent.
![[West Africa] Zaara](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/92253.jpg)
![Fessae, et Marocchi Regna Africae Celeberr. describebat Abrah. Ortelius. 1595 [with large inset of West Africa]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/75261.jpg)
