Pirogue is a wooden canoe used on the rivers of West Africa. Where trees are alrge enough, they are fabricated out of a single tree trunk, but in the Middle Niger Valey, they are made by sewing together planks of wood and packing the seams with rope and tar. Niger River pirogues are some times quite large and may displace as much as ten tons.


From here after two courses off the mainland lies the last mart of Azania, called Rhapta, which has its name from the sand tortoishell.


swahili traders also built boats called metepes,which had oars and sails.