Caxton translated the book under the title of A Boke of the hoole Lyf of Jason, at the command of the duchess of Burgundy.
He was also the patron of Chaucer, whose Boke of the Duchesse was a lament for Blanche of Lancaster.
Rene Caillie, who started his journey to Timbuktu from Boke in 1827, did much to quicken French interest in the district, and from 1838 onward French naval officers, Bout-Willaumez and his successors, made detailed studies of the coast.
The principal towns are Konakry the capital, Boke, on the Rio Nunez, Dubreka, on the coast, a little north of Konakry, Benty, on the Melakori, Timbo and Labe, the chief towns of Futa Jallon, Heremakono and Kindia, on the main road to the Niger, Kurussa and Siguiri, on a navigable stretch of that river, and Bissandugu, formerly Samory's capital, an important military station east of the Niger.