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2 unusual facts about James Covey


James Covey

Yale professor Josiah Gibbs, seeking anyone who spoke the Mende language to assist him by interpreting for the Amistad captives, went to New York Harbor and loudly counted to ten in Mende until someone who could understand him approached.

James Covey (né Kai Nyangua; c. 1819 – ?) was the interpreter used in the Amistad slave ship case (40 U.S. (15 Pet.) 518 (1841)) who spoke Mende and possibly other African languages.



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