ABSTRACT
Tambacounda is the principal town and administrative capital of Eastern Senegal, a vast region containing more than a quarter of Senegal's area but less than 6 percent of its total population. Tambacounda lies across traditional trade routes from the interior to the coast. As J. Dupon's account of Tambacounda makes clear, however, the present-day town is essentially a colonial creation. Tambacounda grew slowly at first, and then more rapidly, becoming Eastern Senegal's main commercial center. Europeans in Tambacounda tend to be either mission workers or contract specialists such as teachers, doctors, and mechanics or factory managers. In 19/8, the long-term Bassari community in Tambacounda consisted of 707 migrants grouped into 130 separate households. The general strategy for survival in Tambacounda is not therefore very different from that operating in Etyolo. As in Etyolo, larger households can deploy labor on several fronts, thus minimizing some risks.
