Kunta Kinteh Island, formerly called James Island and St Andrew's Island, is an island in the Gambia River, from the river mouth and near Juffureh in the Republic of the Gambia. Fort James is located on the island. It is less than 3.2 km (2 miles) from Albreda on the river's northern bank. As an important historical site in the West African slave trade, it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with related sites including a ruined Portuguese chapel and a colonial warehouse in Albreda, the Maurel Frères Building in Juffureh, and Fort Bullen and Six-Gun Battery, which are located at the mouth of the Gambia River. History The first record of European interaction with the island is in May 1456, when a Portuguese expedition led by Italian explorers Alvise Cadamosto and Antoniotto Usodimare moored off the island. They buried one of their sailors, named Andrew, on the island, giving it its first European name—St Andrew's Island. Diogo Gomes also anchored off St Andrew's Island on his expedition in 1458. A Portuguese settlement, San Domingo, was built on the northern bank of Gambia River, opposite St Andrew's Island, in the 15th century. The first European settlers on the island came from the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a vassal state of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, who also had other colonial possessions in the area, although the English Crown had granted the island to two separate companies in 1588 and 1618. In 1651, the settlers built a fort that they named Jacob Fort after Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland, and used it as a trade base. Major Fock, a Courland soldier, was placed in charge of the first settlement and oversaw the construction of fortifications on St Andrew's Island, which were built following the recognised contemporary rules of military engineering. The main building was in the shape of a rectangle, and was flanked at each corner by a bastion, each of which was triangular. However, the fort had no water supply, and was forced to rely on the good will of the King of Barra in order to stay operational. It was the intention of the Duke of Courland to establish a permanent settlement on St Andrew's Island, and so married couples were sent out to the island as well as a pastor. The first pastor was Gottschalk Eberling, who was replaced in 1655 by Joachim Dannefeld. The island