French blades on Saharan Edged Weapons

[Edster]

Jim,

I'm thinking why there are apparently so few examples of local swords & daggers from French bayonets any be statistical. Where, how and how many French bayonets became available to be repurposed into Sahelian styles? By the late 1880s-90s German trade blades had already flooded the Central Sahel as exhibited with Mandinka swords and takouba, and even kaskara into Wadai. I suspect that the battles between the French and local forces left few bayonets as battlefield pickups by locals. Also, local swords smiths were more than capable of forging short sword and dagger blades to meet local demands and conform to local styles.

Sorry, I can't add these maps as attachments, only as a link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French...-1880-1913.png

Just a thought,
Ed