town and seaport, western Guinea, western Africa. It lies at the head of the estuary of the Mélikhouré (Melacorée) River, 10 miles (16 km) upstream from the Atlantic coast. Important for the export of bananas (second only to Conakry), its port can accommodate oceangoing vessels of 21-foot (6-metre) draft. Benti is also a collecting and trading centre for pineapples, swamp rice, fish, salt, coconuts, and palm oil and kernels that are grown in the hinterland by the Mandenyi (Mmani) people. Formerly the site of a French military post (founded in the 1860s), the town has an agricultural training school.