View of the fort of El Mina in Portuguese hands

View of the fort of El Mina in Portuguese hands.

Casteel Del Mina ten tyde der Portugesen.

El Mina fell into Dutch hands in 1637 after having been held by the Portuguese for one and a half centuries.

Although the plate is said to depict the Portuguese time, several Dutch East Indiamen are shown lying at anchor.

Dr Olfert Dapper (1636-1689) published a large number of books after 1663. He wrote a history of the city of Amsterdam and furnished the first Dutch translation of Herodotus. But he is known particularly for his many descriptions of foreign lands which he compiled from various sources, without ever seeing the countries he wrote about for himself. This plate is taken from a description of Africa.