[3] MacCarthy Island, then known as Lemain Island, was purchased by the British captain Alexander Grant in 1823 in exchange for annual payments to Kolli Camara, the king of Lower Niani.

[5] A dispute ensued when the colonists demanded labor from Niani, but the ruling Kamara clan sent an army instead, forcing the British to take refuge in their new fort.

A counterattack on the Niani capital of Ndougousine failed, with the Mandinka capturing two cannons, but the island remained in British hands.

[7] Janjanbureh is the birthplace of the Yale University historian Lamin Sanneh.

The Wassu stone circles, a major tourist attraction, lie 22 km northwest of Lamin Koto, on the north bank across from Janjanbureh.