He sent wine, brandy, flour, lard and salted Irish beef, and obtained in return refined and raw sugar, among other items.
[4] En route, the ships made a discreet visit to Gorée Island on the coast of Dakar, where they purchased slaves directly from the officials there.
[5] The bankers Cottin, Banquet et Mallet gave solid support to David Gradis and his son Abraham (c. 1699–1780), which allowed them to open the facility on Gorée.
[3] In Martinique the Gradis family owned a home in Basse-Pointe and devoted itself to cultivation and manufacture of cane sugar.
[6] The Gradis house corresponded with all the main markets of Europe, and were prominent in trade between France and the Caribbean, Canada and the United States.
[2] In the years 1764–70 the company was called upon to supply the colonies, and to introduce gold to the islands that they needed to expand their trade.
[7] In 1899 Raoul's sister Esther Lucie Gabrielle Alice Emma Gradis (1866–1925) married Georges Julien Schwob d'Héricourt.
[citation needed] During World War I (1914–18) the Germans occupied the regions of France where sugar beet were grown.