A < SS - . \ - A — A \} MMA Saw SLAG “ as or AX NS = Re QQ NS AN NK u WN — \ \ AC \ \\ ANAK \\ \\\ _ AN AWS < ‘ \ \< \\ \\ IQ Ss A\ \\ \ \\ \\ — \\ RQ SS Cornell Mniversity Library BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWNENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henry W. Saqe 1891 A/32662 a 213/79 6421 RETURN TO ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY ITHACA, N. Y. “Tia: sk ETCH FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ITS PRESENT PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS. f en ~ BY oy ALFRED MOLONEY, C.M.G. OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COLONY OF LAGOS. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 1887. (AU Rights reserved.) QK 420 ri i2 Av i32663, LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. TO HIS WIFE. THIS work, which monopolised much of its Author's spare time that should otherwise have been devoted to her society, is gratefully dedicated to one of the best of women and the most dewoted of wives, who, during its preparation, generously supported him by her consideration and self-sacrifice, and shared con- jointly the hope that it would prove of some advantage, in the direction of the enlightenment and progress, to the people of West Africa for whom chiefly it has been put together. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I.— INTRODUCTORY REMARKS e : : ‘ é 1 IJ.—DIvisions OF WEST AFRICA. 7 . 7 - 30 JIJ.—IMpoRTANCE OF WEST AFRICA TO TRADE OF UNITED KINGDOM . 7 P . = 33 IV.—RUuBBER (Landolphias and Fice) . ‘ ‘ . 78 V.—CoFFEE (Coffea liberia). . » + + + 96 VI.—GuMs AND RESINS : 5 é ‘ . «18 VII.—Dve-woops (Baphia nitida, &e.) - ‘ : » 136 VIII.—CotTton i ' . . 4 7 . » 40 IX.—CINNAMON (Cinnamomum xeylanicum), CACAO (Theo- broma Cacao), &e. . F , . 7 . 148 X.—INDIGO . . . ’ . . . . - 153 XIL—WeEsT AFRICAN VINE . 7 . ‘ : . 157 XIIL—Cotia (Cola acuminata) . . . 2 : . 188 XIII.—Topacco é ‘ . : ‘ : > . 169 XIV.—FIBRES , a 7 . . é ; 3 + 180 XV.—Woop AND TIMBER e ‘ ‘ < ‘ + 197 XVIL—REFORESTATION . : ‘. ‘ : : - 224 XVIL.—DENUDATION ° ° . = . . - 231 XVIII.—Botanic STATIONS . . . . i » 249 vi CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE XIX.—ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 2 : 4 - 265 XX.—List OF Economic PLANTS OF WESTERN AFRICA 269 APPENDIX I.—INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING PLANTS AND SEEDS : : : _ ‘ : 459 3 Il—ORNITHOLOGY OF THE GAMBIA e 464 », ILL—CoLroprera OF THE GAMBIA 484 >», IV.—DriurRNAL LEPIDOPTERA OF THE GAMBIA - . 488 $e V.—LEPIDOPTERA HETEROCERA . ‘ é 492 » VL~—SHELLS OF THE GAMBIA ‘ ‘i 508 » WIL—REPTILES, BATRACHIANS, AND FISHES OF THE GaMBIA .. ; 3 : 513 INDEX TO ECONOMIC PLANTS’ . 2 ¥ 514 GENERAL INDEX. ‘ ; i. ‘ ta [sy © SKETCH OF THE FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. As a humble contribution by the Author commemorative of the Pubilee of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen. ——— I IT is with some pleasure I have endeavoured here to build up a Work that, however poor, may be deemed worthy of addition to the Literature of the current year commemorative of the Queen’s Jubilee. The task might have been undertaken by more able hands; yet, in order that West Africa, described by pessimists and disparagers as the Land of “Bush” (for where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise), might have some share of representation on this auspicious and ever-to-be - gratefully - remembered Anniversary, I have willingly undertaken the duty : it has been a severe one, for both temperature and other local demands on my time have not been favourable. I have done my best so far as time at my disposal B 2 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. and climate have admitted, so that for shortcomings and a generous hearing and verdict the writer leaves himself in the hands of his readers. “So vast is this vegetable kingdom, that the animal world sickens and dies out before it—this immense forest holds scarcely a living creature. For months I have trodden its labyrinths, and seen only a diminutive deer, a grey monkey, and a few serpents. How little we knew in England of the true nature of this forest. ‘It will” wrote one wise man to a daily paper, ‘take plenty of petroleum oil. Pour it over the forest, and then set fire to it.’” “«T know tropical forests well,’ wrote another. ‘The underbush will burn when the dry weather comes, as it does in Burmah and Tenasserim ; then you will be able to march through it with ease.’ “But, alas! the African forest is always green, always wet, always fireproof.” Such is the poetic description, in his ‘ Akimfoo,’ by the “Great Lone Land” Butler, of a West African forest; and, although he must be given credit for taking advantage of an author’s picture-writing and licence, yet in the main his verbal illustration can be accepted. With such a prologue or preface, it would not be too much for any one to expect botanically great scientific and commercial results from such a field. The field has existed, and still exists ; but while the results scientifically are comparatively meagre, yet FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 3 commercially they are important. It will, however, be my endeavour to give here a sketch of what has been done, so far as I can within the scope of this Book. In June, 1874, a Circular Despatch covering a copy of a representation made by the Commissioner of Woods and Forests was addressed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Officers Administering the Governments of Her Majesty’s Colonies. It covered a list of questions as to Foreign and Colonial Timber used for ship-building, general building, and railway purposes ; for furniture, fancy articles, firewood, lath-wood, shingles for roofs, &c.; also as to timber from which valuable barks, gums, dye-woods are derived. As the headings under which information was asked may at any time prove useful and more productive in results, I will here repeat them :— 1. What are the kinds of timber trees produced in the country, and to what uses are they generally applied ? (State the botanical name where known.) 2. Are the forests or lands producing the trees owned by the Government or by private persons ? 3. What is the approximate extent of timber- producing forests or lands at the present time ? 4. Is this area increasing or diminishing ? s. If diminishing, from what cause? 6. Are any steps taken for the prevention of waste or for replanting any area which has been cleared ? B2 4 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 7. What is the quantity of timber which might fairly be cut every year without permanent injury to the forests ? 8. What is the quantity actually cut every year? 9. What is the proportion for home consumption and for export? 10. What have been the annual exports of each kind of timber during the last 10 years ; stating the propor- tions to each country, and the value of such exports ? 11. What are the reasons for or causes of the increase or diminution of quantity or value in the exports? 12. (If it be so), what are the causes of the small exportations in comparison with the capability of production ? 13. Have any observations been made or con- clusions arrived at as to the climatic influence of forests or the effect of their clearance on the rainfall, floods, &c. ? 14. Forward any reports made by departments or societies, or any Acts of Legislature bearing on the subject. Alike endeavour to that made in June, 1874, by the Colonial Office was made in the same year by the Foreign Office, through Her Majesty’s Representatives abroad, towards the collection of information on the production and consumption of timber in foreign countries. The result was compiled in Command Paper C, 1161 of 1875. So far as the West African British Possessions, FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 5 including islands adjacent, are concerned, the Gambia and St. Helena seem alone to have at all responded to the invitation to supply information, which has been condensed into the following analysis* :— “The timber products of Gambia are—Mahogany, used for ship-building ; rosewood, used for boat and canoe building; ‘runs, the male species of which is used for bridge and house building ; black stick, used for boat-building ; mangrove, used for props, posts, and small vessels; black mangrove, used in native houses ; monkey bread, the bark of which is used for making ropes ; cotton tree, used for canoes, and for the manufacture of domestic utensils; and the india- rubber tree.” “The forests are owned by the Government. They are said to be diminishing owing to the operations of woodcutters. At the date when these statistics were compiled the acting Administrator was contem- plating the framing of an Ordinance to restrain the cutting of wood and the imposition of a licence duty. The export trade in timber ceased with the intro- duction of iron shipbuilding, but the Board of Trade Returns show a rise in the values of caoutchouc ex- ported from Gambia and Sierra Leone to the United Kingdom from £1,959 in 1872 to £25,276in 1876, and the value of gum exports for the latter year as £ 18,363.” Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus, * Command Paper 2197 of 1878, Missing Page Missing Page 8 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. “During the last ten years large numbers of labourers and small cultivators have emigrated to the Cape and Natal, and at the present time labour is scarce and expensive. Wages range from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per day, but the quality even at this price is not quite satisfactory. “The Crown lands, with the exception of Long- wood Farm and a few other places, are barren wastes on the outskirts of the island, incapable of cultivation. “Of the area, two-thirds are composed of barren rocky wastes or clayey slopes totally unfit in their present condition for any agricultural operations. . “About 8,000 acres are in pasture and hay land. The tendency is to throw more and more land out of cultivation and place it in grass. There is a retro- grade step as regards the agricultural interests of the island, but it is inevitable under the influences which obtain at present. “Under forest, both of indigenous and introduced trees, in detached and straggling patches, there may be altogether about 400 acres. “ Under cultivation, with root crops, ies orchards, and gardens, there are not quite 300 acres. “This last area, viz. 300 acres, practically re- presents all the land now used for raising crops and for contributing to the food supply of the inhabi- tants.” I understand that in St. Helena there is now absolutely no indigenous timber, the native trees FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 9 being of quite small dimensions; and the foreign element is next to nothing, and undeveloped. Of the Flora of St. Helena an account will be found in Melliss’s Book on that island; but its Botany, as well as that of Ascension, is fully given in the Botany of the ‘ Challenger Expedition, 1873-6, which was prepared by Mr. W. B. Hemsley, A.L.S., from which it will be observed in the following extract that in the Island of Ascension, the area of which is about 34 square miles, there is no native arboreous vegeta- tion, Hedyotis adscensonis and Euphorbia origanoides being the only endemics. “ Ascension.—Whether this island ever supported anything more than its present extremely meagre flora is problematical: but the presence of two dis- tinct endemic species of flowering plants, belonging to widely diffused genera, is no help to the solution of the problem. The one, Hedyotis adscensonis, is not very different from African and Asiatic species ; and the other, Euphorbia origanoides, belongs to a group of littoral, mostly shrubby species, widely spread in Polynesia, with one species in the West Indies and the Bermudas, and two on the Western Coast of Tropical Africa. Two St. Helena endemic plants are recorded from Ascension; but there are no specimens in the London Herbaria corroborating this, and it is almost certain that there was some mistake.”—Vol. I. Botany, ‘ Challenger Expedition, Report III. p. 65. “St. Helena was discovered by a Portuguese, Jean 10 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. de Noya, in 1501, on the 18th of August, St. Helena’s Day—hence the name the island bears. At that date it was entirely covered with forests, the trees drooping over the tremendous precipices that overhung the sea. Now nearly the whole of the indigenous vege- tation has disappeared, except on the upper part of the Central Ridge, and is only very partially replaced by introduced plants, in consequence of the soil having been washed off from its rocky foundation since the destruction of its forests."—Vol. I. Botany, ‘ Challenger Expedition, 1873-6, Report IIL. p. 49. The following may be appropriately inserted here from Cook’s first voyage around the world, when in 1771 he visited St. Helena :— “ Among the native products of this island, which are not numerous, must be reckoned ebony (Je/- hania melanoxylon), though the trees are now nearly extinct, and are not remembered to have been plenty ; pieces of wood are frequently found in the valleys of a fine thick colour and a hardness almost equal to iron: these pieces, however, are always so short and crooked that no use can be made of them. Whether the tree is the same with that which produces ebony upon the Isle of Bourbon or the islands adjacent is not known, as the French have not yet published any account of it.” Now as to our own Possessions on the west side of the Continent of Africa, the West African Settle- ments, commonly understood as Sierra Leone and the fLORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. II Gambia, were reconstituted under Letters Patent of the 17th December, 1874, into one Government, comprising Her Majesty’s Settlement of Sierra Leone, embracing all places, settlements, and terri- tories which may at any time belong to Her Majesty in West Africa between the 6th and 12th degrees of N. latitude, and lying to the westward of the roth degree of W. longitude, and Her Majesty’s Settlement on the Gambia, comprising all places, settlements, and territories which may at any time belong to Her Majesty in West Africa, between the 12th and 15th degrees of N. latitude, and lying to the westward of the 1oth degree of W. longitude. The population of the British Settlements on the Gambia, with an area of 69 square miles, was given, in 1881, as 14,150, of whom 105 were Europeans, including crews of ships in harbour. Of the total, 4,454 were returned as farmers and farm labourers, and .506 as mechanics whose pursuits are mainly, if not altogether, confined to the Island of St Mary. The population of Sierra Leone and its dependen- cies, with an estimated area of 3,000 square miles, was given, in 1881, as 60,546, of whom 271 were whites, inclusive of 108 crews of vessels in harbour. Of this total 12,317 were farmers, farm labourers, and market people, and 2,293 mechanics. On the former group the Colonial Secretary reported as follows :— “Farmers, farm labourers, and market people number 12,317, but one half of these belong to the Quiah and 12 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. second Eastern districts; and as a large number of the remainder are market women, who do little else than purchase vegetables in the districts and bring them to the town to sell, it reduces the class of people who are most needed, namely, the agriculturists, considerably below the minimum of the number required. “Of mechanics, butchers, bakers, &c., the numbers, 2,611, may be considered proportionate to the popula- tion ; but it must not be supposed that the 2,293 who are pleased to return themselves as mechanics in any way represent the real numbers who are authorized by experience or capability to claim such a title. The real number of artizans or mechanics who have any right to the term in the true meaning of the word is very limited, and it is to be regretted that in Sierra Leone, where the people are apt to learn and tolerably quick to apply when they give care and attention, there is not a greater number of thorough workmen to teach their handicraft, and become examples to the rising generation. A youth who has been two years with a carpenter, boat-builder, blacksmith, or mason, arrogates the title to himself without any compunc- tion, and frequently, whilst he is learning from an indifferent teacher the rudiments of his trade, he sets himself up as a master of his profession.” “There is hardly a single trade that can turn out half-a-dozen men who would be certificated by any European firm for possessing a thorough knowledge of it.” FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 13 It is very difficult to form an estimate as to the numbers of any native population of a somewhat migratory character and of a Protectorate—for we must remember that Her Majesty’s Settlements on the Gold Coast are represented by “Colony” and “Protected Territories”—the statements alone of natives as to numbers being uncertain, and, I may say, quite unreliable. Then again natives are peculiarly suspicious, and would be disposed to be at once on their guard against supplying information, which they would view as intended to be directed against themselves in the shape of taxation, perhaps conscription, as was fancied at places in the Ashantee War, 1873-4. The population of the Gold Coast, with an estimated area of 18,784 square miles, has, it would seem, not yet been got within the range of “practical statistics.” It will be ideal to state that the people have been repeatedly consigned to the estimate in round numbers of 400,000, at least up to 1885, when the estimate progressed to 651,000. The Gold Coast Colony—prior to the following date —made up of the Settlements on the Gold Coast and the Settlement of Lagos—comprises, according to Letters Patent of 22nd January, 1883, all places, settlements, and territories belonging to Her Majesty the Queen in West Africa between the 5th degree of W. longitude and the 5th degree of E. longitude. These Settlements are divided by a strip of coast and 14 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. country, commonly known as the Dahomean sea- board and territory, which has, unfortunately for the trade of the Gold Coast and Lagos, been interna- tionally divided up between Germans, French, and Portuguese. The population of the Gold Coast has, as already stated, never yet got beyond anestimate. Lagos was, however, more favoured, for in 1881 the Census effort there applied, and gave its population as 75,270, inclusive of 117 whites and 68 mulattoes ; there were, according to the Census, 5,592 under the heading “Traders, manufacturers, mechanics, artisans,’ and 11,083 returned as farmers and agricultural labourers. The thatched houses in Lagos numbered then 5,961. The walls of these buildings are of wattle, with or without mud daubed over, and the thatch is generally composed of palm leaves (Raphia vinifera) ; in some instances and places, of grass. The natives, outside of the professional classes, on the Gold Coast, as to their employments may be described as cultivators, traders, artificers, fishermen, Jabourers, or servants. One of the many grand issues of the emancipation of the unfortunate slaves in 1874 has been the more general spread of the farming (former slave) class, and the consequently increased cultivation in proportion. This may not have been felt as regards cultivation of products that benefit by marked increase directly the Exports, but rather in cultivation for home consumption, bringing about FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 15 better supplied native markets, more settled habits and vested interests, increased sale of Imports, im- proved condition of People, and thereby direct benefit to Commerce. The Colony of Lagos, with an area of 1069 square miles, is situated between the 2° and 6° E. long., and its history may be learnt from the following data. The former “ British Settlements,” which comprised the Island of Lagos, Iddo island, Ebute Metta or Northern District (conterminous with Eastern and Western Districts, exclusive of Appa, Katanu and Mahin kingdoms and of the Ogbo and Jakri Terri- tories), were added, in August, 1861, in consideration of a pension of £1,000 per annum during his lifetime to the British Crown by the then reigning king, Docemo, who died in 1885. As regards the Eastern District, extending and inclusive of Odé, Docemo’s action was supported by the renewed cession, in February, 1863, of that part by Kosoko, formerly king of Lagos, and Docemo’s rival. And as to the Western District, its inclusion in the Treaty of 1861 was ratified by its repeated ces- sion by the Chiefs of Badagry on the 7th July, 1863. Under Letters Patent of the 24th January, 1851, provision was made for the government of the Queen’s subjects with Her Forts and Settlements on the Gold Coast lying between the 10° W.L. and the 10° ELL, within which came the “British Settlements” ceded in 1861. 16 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. For the separate government of the Settlements of Lagos it was deemed expedient to provide, which was done under the Royal Commission dated 13th March, 1863. Next, the erection of a Central General Government, with its centre at Freetown, Sierra Leone, was pro- vided for under Royal Commission dated 19th February, 1866, when the Administrative independence of the Settlements of Lagos merged into the general government exercised from Sierra Leone by a Governor-in-Chief for all Her Majesty’s Possessions on the West Coast of Africa. After the Ashantee War, 1873-4, it became ex- pedient to redistribute the general administration pro- vided for under Royal Commission of 1866, when the Settlements on the Gold Coast and the Settlements of Lagos were erected into the Gold Coast Colony, under Royal Letters Patent dated 24th July, 1874. Her Majesty’s Possessions at Lagos were increased in September, 1879, by the acquisition of the Kingdom of Katanu, to the south and east of the Denham Waters, on voluntary cession, by its kings, chiefs, princes and elders ; of the Kingdom of Appa (lying between the Kingdom of Katanu and the Western District) in 1883, on voluntary cession, by its king, chiefs, princes and elders; in 1885, of the Kingdom of Mahin, and of the Ogbo and Jakri Territories, by voluntary cession on the part of the respective native Authorities, lying between the Eastern District and FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 17 the Benin River. Thus these Possessions are conter- minous with the English Niger Protectorate, and represent with the latter a coast line extending from the Western Boundary of Katanu Kingdom to Ambas Bay, and forming a sea-board of over 500 miles. In view of its commercial importance and in generous compliance with the popular demand, by further Letters Patent dated 13th of January, 1886, Lagos was again separated from the Gold Coast and erected into an independent Colony, which was pro- claimed on the 13th February, 1886. The grand inland waters of Lagos, extending to the Volta in the one direction, and to the Oil Rivers in the other, are approached from the sea by a well-buoyed Bar, the dangers and difficulties of which are reduced to a minimum by the presence of a fleet of local Bar steamers. For Bar service there is available a com- petent staff of European pilots. This port constitutes the only safe harbour along six hundred miles of coast, and its trade is likely to have a grand future, which must, as has been the case in the past, be largely dependent on the peace of the surrounding and interior tribes and nations. Inter- tribal wars, or rather guerilla and kidnapping expe- ditions, that have unfortunately from time to time been carried on, act as a commercial barometer. What has been and was known as the “ Interior War,” begun in 1877, between the Ibadans and Egbas, gave rise to the Ekiti-parapo Confederation, which, with Cc 18 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. the Ifés, Modakekes, Jebus (tribes around Lagos), it has brought within its meshes. It has spasmodically continued since, but has of late applied to a smaller area. Worthless intrigue gave way at last to the exercise of common sense, and action, at the instance of the parties concerned, was in March, last year, directed inland by the Government of Lagos towards the general restoration of order to the Interior, which has fortunately resulted in the conclusion of a treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce among the contending parties; in the breaking up of the two hostile camps of Kiji and Oke Mesi, and in the dispersion of the armies that occupied for years those camps; and, thereby, in the restoration to agricultural, social and commercial pursuits of several thousands of people (from my messengers, I learnt, some 200,000). Within the limits of West Tropical Africa, as defined by Professor Oliver in his ‘Flora of Tropical Africa,’ lie also the following Foreign European possessions. The French possessions are generally represented as Senegambia, Assine and Dabou, Porto Novo and Gaboon, with a returned population in 1878 of 324,038. According to ‘Notices statistiques sur les Colonies Frangaises, 1883,’ the population of the Senegal had increased to 190,789 persons, composed of 90,521 men and 100,268 women and girls, besides having a fluctuating population of 2,135. Of the population of the Gaboon it is said that the nomadic life which the FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 19 natives lead does not admit of the estimate of the number of the population, but that on the coast occupied by the European element the population comes up to 200 souls ; and of the cultivation it is said that “manioc” is the principal farming, with dried fish the ordinary food of the people. Rice and maize are cultivated to a small extent. The imports from Senegambia and the other French settlements into the United Kingdom do not afford detailed particulars, which by way of comparisqn I had hoped to have here inserted. I notice, however, in the ‘Statesman’s Year Book, 1886, the French Possessions in Africa represented as—Senegambia, with an area of 250,000 square miles, and a population of 197,644; Gaboon and Gold Coast, with an area of 20,000 and a population of 186,133 ; and the Congo Region, of an area of 430,000, with a population of 500,000: and that France claims also as “ Protectorate, a considerable area in West Africa extending along the Ogoué and its tributaries to the Central Congo,” and extended “in 1882-3 the area of her Protectorate in Senegambia as far as Bukako on the Niger.” French Gold Coast Possessions are made up of Grand Bassam, Assine, Grand Popo, Kotonu, Porto Novo. The Portuguese Possessions on this coast are represented as—in Senegambia, Bissao, area 26 square miles, lying between the rivers Cacheo and Nunez, C2 20 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. with a population (1873) of 9,282; Prince’s and St. Thomas Islands, area 454 square miles, with a popu- lation (1878-9) of 21,037; Ajuda (Whydah), area 13 square miles, with a population (1873) of 4,500; the countries of Angola, Ambriz, Benguela, and Mos- samedes, situated between Rivers Loge and Cape Frio, with an estimated area of 312,509 square miles, and an estimated people of 2,000,000 ; and the Congo districts, of an estimated area of 382,683, with a population of 350,000. , From the ‘Statesman’s Year Book, 1886,’ I extract as follows:— “At the Berlin Congress, 1884-5, the claim of Portugal was admitted to the territory from Ambriz to the mouth of the Congo—along the river to nearly opposite Vivi, eastward to the River Kwango, and south along the river to beyond 10° S.L.: also to a small stretch of coast north of the Congo, including Cabinda and Landana.” According to the Census of 1878, the Cape Verde Islands, ten in number—the most important Portu- guese Colonial possession—divided into windward and leeward groups, with an area of 1,650 square miles, situated abreast of Senegambia, about 320 miles from the Western Coast of Africa, contained a population of 99,318. In 1881 the British subjects were 89, The Cape Verde Islands lie so approximately, viz. between 17° 13' and 14° 45" N.L., and 22° 45" and 25° 25" W.L., to our Possessions on the Gambia, that I FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 2r am induced to here make a brief allusion to them. As to their Flora, I must refer my readers to the work on the Botany of the Islands, by P. Barker Webb, under the title ‘Spicelegia Gorgonea.’ Until 1879, these islands, with the other Portuguese Possessions on the coast of Guinea, formed one Pro- vince : the islands by themselves now form a Portuguese Province. They are of volcanic nature, of high eleva- tion, and in the valleys fertile. The uncertainty of water supply and frequent droughts paralyse trade and destroy the crops there, and in consequence the islands should offer a market for certain West African products, especially corn (Zea Mays), which can be grown cheap and good, and of two crops annually. I may add that these islands are somewhat supplied with this corn from the Portuguese Possessions lying south and adjacent to the Gambia. Indeed from the Gambia itself corn has found its way to them, spasmodically as are efforts sustained generally in West Africa. Even from Lagos, so much further south and east, it has been proved that corn can be shipped to England with profitable results, It can be grown extensively and procured—taken in quantity—at the former place, in fact in most places on the Gold Coast, at od. per bushel. Here, as elsewhere along this coast, American trade insinuates itself and progresses, whether in wooden gimcracks, furniture, rum, or tobacco. 22 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. The trade in cereals and wood-work done with the United States, conducted by sailing ships, is of moment, and among the Imports for 1882 into these islands were found— Kilos. Lbs. Reis. Corn meal , ‘é 5,053 11,116 188,000 Flour ‘ : . 140,081 304,178 13,850,300 Worked wood material a a J,513,450 Manufactured tobacco 9,145 20,119 3,062,000 —About £3,965 There were exported to the United States during the same year— Reis. Coffee . . . . : 3 - 841,116 Willow furniture . c ‘ . « 19,200 —About £190. The planting as a Government duty of the tur- queira trees (¥atropha Curcas, or Curcas purgans) by thousands is now being proceeded with in those islands, but under difficulties in consequence of droughts. Oil is made in some countries from the seed, for lighting and medicinal purposes. The seeds are largely exported from Portugal to France, the chief market being Marseilles, for use in the manufacture of soap and for lighting purposes. About 350,000 bushels of the seed are annually exported to Portugal from the Cape de Verde Islands. As to its yield, vzde table at page 74. This shrub would grow, under culture, luxuriantly in West Africa, We have there many rich samples growing without care or appreciation. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 23 On the other Portuguese Possessions, which offer, as well as the other parts of West Africa, extensive fields for the development of economic botany, there will be found remarks as regards the different products in the market. In addition to the Canary Islands, the other Spanish Possessions on this coast appear as Fernando Po, Annabon, Elobey, Corisco, San Juan, &c., with an area of 850 square miles, and a given population of 36,000, exclusive of that of the first-mentioned group, represented by 279,806 (about). I observe further that Spain also claims the West Coast of Africa between Capes Bojador and Blanco, the district of Ifin, near Cape Nun, opposite the Canary Islands, the islands of Elobey on the West Coast of Africa, and the country on the banks of the rivers Muni and Naya.”—‘Statesman’s Year Book, 1886.’ The Canaries should, properly speaking, be out of this Book, for they do not lie within the Tropics. Yet I call attention to them in view of the fact that nine-tenths of the inhabitants of the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, represented by 280,000 and 99,000 (approximate), live upon fish with toasted corn or flour, “ Gofio,” a considerable proportion of which, as Indian corn, comes from Europe and Asia, whereas it might be supplied from West Africa, a nearer and cheaper field. By the growth now of sugar-cane and tobacco are 24 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. represented fresh and necessary industries in those islands, consequent on the falling off of prices obtained for cochineal. Tobacco from these islands of local growth finds its way already to West Africa. The sugar-cane plants have and are being received from Madeira, where they were and are imported from Mauritius. Of the Spanish Island of Fernando Po, the Landers, in their ‘ Niger, published in 1833, write :— “ There are various sorts of timber at Fernando Po, among which the African oak is very plentiful, and particularly so in George’s Bay, where it grows close to the sea-side. Satin wood, ebony, ignum vite, yellow camwood, and several sorts of mahogany, besides other wood of a very hard nature, grow in profusion all over the island, and may probably hereafter become valuable.” ; “During 1884 Germany extended her Empire beyond the bounds of Europe by taking under her protection certain portions of the West Coast of Africa. On the slave coast Germany has annexed the territories of Togo and Bajida, extending about twenty-four miles beyond the eastern limit of the British Gold Coast Colony. In Biafra Bay to the east of the British Oil River Territory, Germany has annexed the district of Bimbia, the island of Nikol, and the various kinglets of the Cameroon River, the district of Malimba, Plantation and Criby where the French Territory of Gaboon is reached. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 25 On the South-West Coast of Africa Germany has annexed the coast of Damaraland from Cape Frio, the southernmost point of Portuguese Possessions, to Walvisch Bay, and the Namaqualand coast from Walvisch Bay to the Orange River, the north boun- dary of Cape Colony.”—‘Statesman’s Year Book, 1886.’ In Command Paper C. 1161 will be found, in the form of tables marked “Export,” Statistics of Timber from the United States for and inclusive of the years 1866-1873, which will give some idea of the African trade in this commodity. The headings under countries to which timber has been exported have varied in the years given. A regular export, however, to West Africa of timber proceeds from the United States of America. This information, of course, dates back some years ; but it will admit, notwithstanding, of a comparative estimate of the Timber Import Trade in the direction to which it applies, and will serve as a basis for completion later to date. . In explanation of the international distribution of this trade I may add, however, of the United States export trade, that “British Possessions in Africa” would seem to include the Cape Colony and Natal ; the “ French Possessions in Africa,” those in North as well as West Africa; the “Portuguese,” Madeira, Azores, and all other Portuguese Possessions ; and “ All other Spanish,” Canary Islands, Philippine, San Domingo, and all West Africa Possessions, 26 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. As regards trade with British Africa, it would seem. to include Her Majesty’s Possessions in South Africa. and Natal; so that the statistics do not afford the: same pointed interest and value they would otherwise,, could I have used and confined figures to West Africa and the West African Islands alone. Reporting on the Forestry of Sweden and Norway,. Mr. Dering stated, vide Command Paper just referred to :— “There is hardly a maritime country in the world, with the exception of China and Japan, to which the produce of Swedish forests does not appear to find its. way.” West Africa is not here an exception. Swedish and Norwegian vessels regularly find their way to this. coast, and as an instance I would here give that, according to the Specification and Value of Exports. from Sweden of each kind of timber during 1872 to each foreign country, consignments, as under, valued. at £7,000 17s. 6a, reached Africa exclusive of the Cape of Good Hope—meaning Cape Colony. Pieces. | Cubic Feet. Kroner, English Value. Timber trees. . .| 23 778 280 Beams and spars. . | 642 22,554 14,660 Deals and planks. . 160,718 | 110,896 Fashioned wood 180 126,016=|£7,000 175. 61. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 27 Although from Norway no direct African timber trade of any importance seems to exist—for in 1870 the exports were represented by 108 Commercial] Lasts, averaging in total about 216 tons, of planed timber and flooring—yet, as Great Britain has absorbed nearly one half of the whole timber export represented by sawn timber, deals, battens, boards, staves, &c., no doubt a fair proportion as manufactured articles finds a market later in West Africa. Through the courtesy of Mr. J. Bolton, of Messrs. Stanford, I am enabled to here summarise the result of the late European scramble for Africa and the positions consequent thereon. Its Western side is now almost completely appropriated by European Powers. The Sultan of Morocco claims the coast from Gibraltar Strait as far as Wady Dra’a, from which to Cape Bojador the coast is commercially worked by an English Company—‘“ The North-West Africa Trading Company ’—with its head-quarters at Cape Juby. From Cape Bojador to Levrier Bay, in lat. 21° N., Spain has declared herself mistress. From Levrier Bay to Punshavel Point on the right of the Saloum River the coast is French ; from a point opposite to Punshavel Point on the left bank of the Saloum River to southern limit of British Combo is the Gambia, the first British West African Settle- ment. Next to Gambia and conterminous with British Combo is Foreign Combo, a native State somewhat under British protection, presided over by 28 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. a Mohammedan Chicf—Alimami Phodey Selah. Then we come again to French territory, extending on either side of the Casamance River as far south as Cape Roxo. From Cape Roxo to the River ‘Cassini—a distance, as the crow flies, of more than 100 miles—the coast is held by Portugal. The River Cassini itself is claimed by France, and her territory here extends to the Mellicorie River, where is met the British West African Settlement of Sierra Leone, extending to the Manah River in lat. 6° 50' N. From this point to the River San Pedro,a distance of nearly 350 miles—stretches the Native African Republic of Liberia. From the Rio San Pedro to Grand Lahou there appears a portion of unappro- priated coast of upwards of 100 miles in extent. From Grand Lahou to Assine is the French Ivory Coast Settlement, and from Newtown, Assine, to Bey Beach is the British Gold Coast Colony. From Bey Beach to Little Popo is one of the recently-acquired German Protectorates, and con- terminous with it is the French acquirement of Grand Popo, which again adjoins the Portuguese Pro- tectorate of Whydah, which is conterminous with the French Possession of Kotonu, where begins the British Colony of Lagos, ending with the Benin River, whence the British coast-line runs continuously past the Niger River and its many mouths to the Rio del Rey. From Rio del Rey to the Campo River in 1° 20' N. lat. is German, whence to the northern flank FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 2g) of Cape St. John is French. From Cape St. John to the centre of Corisco Bay is Spanish, from which to. the Chiloango River at Landana is French. From. Chiloango River to Vermilion Point is Portuguese, where begins the Congo Free State, ending on the north bank of the Congo River. From the southern bank of the Congo to the Rio Cunene is the Portu- guese territory of Angola, &c. From the Rio Cunene to the Orange River is German territory, with two exceptions—British Walvisch Bay, with some 40 miles of coast-line, and a group of small islands lying close to the coast, called Penguin Islands. At the Orange River begins the British South African Colony. 30 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. II. In the Preface to his ‘Flora of Tropical Africa,’ 1868, Professor Oliver (from whom I take the liberty to quote) has deemed it expedient to divide Western Tropical Africa into two principal geographical regions, viz. :— 1. Upper Guinea, including under this term the Western Coast Region from the River Senegal on the north to Cape Lopez immediately south from the equator ; the interior drained by rivers interme- diate between these limits and the small islands of the Gulf of Guinea, Fernando Po, Prince’s Island, St. Thomas and Annabon. 2. Lower Guinea, Western Tropical Africa from Cape Lopez southward to the Tropic of Capricorn, including Congo, Angola, Benguela, and Mossamedes. The collections—I get my information from the above-quoted Preface—of botanical specimens received from time to time from the first Region, together with many from Sierra Leone, Fernando Po, and Accra, and other points on which is based the information as to Upper Guinea, were :— 1. The plants collected by Dr. Theodore Vogel and his assistant, Mr. Ansell, on the Niger Expedi- FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 31 tion in 1841, which formed the basis of the ‘Flora Nigritiana’ of Dr. Hooker and Mr. Bentham, pub- lished in 1849. 2. The plants collected by Mr. Charles Barter under Dr. Baikie’s Expedition in 1857, 1858, and 1859, as well as those of the latter gentleman. 3. The important contribution made by Mr. Gustav Mann, under the auspices of the Admiralty, in Fer- nando Po, St. Thomas and Prince’s Island, Old Calabar, Cameroon Mountains, Corisco Bay, Rivers Muni and Gaboon, and the Sierra del Crystal. 4. Collections chiefly in the neighbourhood of Abbeokuta, by the late Dr. Irving. 5. The collections of Rev. W. C. Thomson from Old Calabar and its neighbourhood, from Senegambia by Heudelot and Leprieur, of M. Bidjem and of Don, Whitfield, Miss Turner, and others from Sierra Leone. The collections in the Herbarium of the British Museum have also been referred to; of Afzelius, Smeathmann, Daniell, and others of Sierra Leone, of Leprieur and Perrottet in Senegambia. For the material from Lower Guinea, Professor Oliver acknowledged his indebtedness to Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch as regards the Congo, to Professor Christian Smith, to Captain R. F. Burton, and to Dr. Curror as regards Elephants’ Bay. Although it may be advanced that such references have to do with the Science of Botany rather than 32 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. with its economic value, yet the information which has reached, and on which has been built the Flora of Tropical Africa, has contained important data which should be useful “to future explorers and residents in Africa interested in the natural produc- tions and economic products of the country.” It is, I might venture to remark, a pity that the Economic does not as a rule somewhat merge into the General Botanic interest, and that the Science of Botany does not condescend to admit more of the introduction of economic notes explanatory and suggestive of parti- culars on points of commercial interest. It may, and very naturally, be advanced that either subject affords a sufficient field for itself. I will acknowledge the justice of such an assertion. But who are more able and can more readily and fully deal with the addition suggested than the many gentlemen who make the Science of Botany a lifelong study, and who have so many veins of information, inaccessible to the many, within their grasp and under their control? Much useful work in an economic sense I must acknow- ledge has been done, and I would ask not to be viewed as a reflector or disparager, but rather as a suggester. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 33 III. ALTHOUGH I have so far given definitions of the various Possessions in West Africa, yet much more may be expected in the direction of affording forestry statistics. True, on the one side, those Possessions have a marked and fixed water boundary to the west or south, according to the course of the Atlantic; but otherwise inland, to the north, to the east, and again to the south, boundaries can be compared to the rings of concentric circles as observed when a stone is thrown into water—they are ever moving outwards, never inwards. This may in a measure account for the want of territorial definiteness, and, I may say, somewhat in consequence, for the entire absence of information on the forested or deforested portion of the colonised countries in West Africa, and on their grand prolific interior which must still be looked upon as scienti- fically and commercially unexplored, I endeavoured in vain to gather some forestry statistics as regards the French Possessions, hoping to find that, among those comparatively much more advanced Colonies, data existed not procurable cer- D 34 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. tainly in our own Colonies. I fancy the other Possessions are no further advanced in this direction. Our next step, then, it would seem, is to turn to the Exports from this comparative “terra incognita,” and thence glean facts that come within our knowledge to illustrate their importance to the trade of the United Kingdom. In the first place it is suggested what are the present economic botanical productions. They, taking them in the order of their value to the Mother Country, are chiefly, so far as are known commer- cially, palm oil, nuts, and kernels, caoutchouc, coffee, gum, dye-wood, cocoa, cotton, fibres, and wood. Under headings mentioned I have put together data-statistics for so many years, and in a later part of this Work I will hope to furnish the distribution of such Imports. PALM OIL.—On the 20th March, 1845, an Order was issued from the House of Commons for a Return of an Account of the quantity of palm oil annually imported into the United Kingdom from the West Coast of Africa since the year 1790, when the palm oil industry may be said to have been in its infancy : it has since become the chief staple of trade in the Gold Coast, Lagos Colonies, and elsewhere. The Return which follows was then completed to date, and has, with the additional information since afforded, been placed at my disposal through the courtesy of E, Banner, Esq. Wessex House, FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 35 Northumberland Avenue, London, W.C. The figures speak for themselves of the growth of this trade, and of the important part the Elais guineensis has played and commercially still plays in West Africa. Query whether it will continue to play, in view of price to which its oil has fallen, from £52 per ton it formerly fetched ; of the scare and temporary cessation of business its low price caused last year; and of its growing rivals in the shape of petroleum, tallow, home and foreign ; cotton, ground-nut and linseed oils? I must say, however, that if there is a commodity which from the circumstances and conditions of the growth of the palm-tree, the harvest of its crop, and the manufacture of its oil, should be able to accom- modate itself to any variation of the market, it is palm oil. Years. Quantity. Years. Quantity. cwt. cwt. 1790 2,599 1807 2,233 1791 3,625 1808 11,047 1792 4,609 1809 14,983 1793 3,071 1810 25,754 1794 1,584 1811 235537 1795 1,350 1812 11,637 6 Records destroyed 181 (Gea destroyed 179 by fire. 3 by fire. 1797 2,164, 1814 19,344 1798 35336 1815 41,278 1799 4,147 1816 23,831 1800 4,467 1817 29,700 1801 3,807 1818 29,310 1802 7,718 1819 74,049 1803 9,790 1820 17,456 1804. 6,327 1821 102,490 1805 45327 1822 63,754 1806 7,215 1823 65,402 D2 36 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Years. Quantity. Years. Quantity. cwt. cwt. 1824 73,989 1833 266,991 1825 85,366 1834 269,907 1826 99,068 1835 256, 337 1827 04,246 1836 276,635 1828 126,553 1837 223,292 1829 179,922 1838 281,373 1830 213,467 1839 343,449 1831 163,288 1840 315,458 1832 217,804 * About 1873-4, floating cargoes began to go direct to France owing to the imposition of a surtax on indirect imports. In 1875 about 3,000 tons went in floating cargoes direct to the continent, in 1876 the quantity had risen to 10,000 tons, and since then 10,000 to 15,000 tons have gone annually. Quantity Quantity Years. Quantity. re-exported| Years. Quantity. re-exported in tons. in tons. cwt. cwt. 1841 397,076 3 m. 1865 706, 380 1842 420,171 23m. 1866 698, 580 1843 407, 884. 32 m. 1867 761,760 1844 414,570 35 m. | 1868 830, 000 1845 500,833 12m. 1869 703,560 1846 360, 452 3im. | 1870 868,270 144 1847 469, 348 4gm. | 1871 | 1,031,635 253 1848 499,719 4; m. | 1872 995,006 23% 1849 493,364 77 ™. Tons. Exported. 1850 434,450 32m. | 1873 44,827 21,380 1851 584,477 5¢m. | 1874 44,741 20,510 1852 507,896 54m. 1875 42,490 21,823 1853 620, 134. 5 m. 1876 41,827 19,500 1854 731,659 7m. | 1877 40,076 19,159 1855 780,599 8% m. | 1878 42,500 19,339 1856 786, 700 gsm. | 1879 43,469 17,801 1857 854, 791 102 m. | 1880 51,319 22,161 1858 778,230 82 m. 1881 40,987 22,764 1859 685,794 7 mu. 1882 40,077 21,407 1860 804, 326 o# m. 1883 37,176 17,827 1861 740, 332 8: m. 1884 41,201 18,051 1862 865,890 ism. | 1885 44,924 19,444 1863 790, 224 Io m, | 1886 49,655 24,454 1364 619,780 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 37 Here also is a West African native product other than Liberian coffee that finds its way to different parts of the world. I would mention that at the instance, in 1876, of Sir Joseph Hooker, and with the co-operation of the Colonial Office, action was begun for the in- troduction from the West Coast of Africa into Labuan of the Elais guineensis as a means towards the establishment of an industry considered to be well adapted for that and adjacent islands. On its introduction the Acting Governor of Labuan reported in 1878 that 700 young trees were yielded by the experiment, and, “notwithstanding a drought which was quite exceptional and lasted for nearly five months, flourished and were transplanted in July last.” It will be interesting to follow up this acclimatisa- tion and industry. In connection with the growth and methods in use there in the extraction of the oil (both palm and kernel) the Governor of the Gold Coast Colony was addressed in 1877 by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the following full Report, under “ Culti- vation and Produce,” which I give in extenso, was the issue—to be found printed in the Gardeners’ Chronicle for June 30th, 1877—and for which we are indebted to the late zealous and able Dr. Africanus Beale Horton :— CULTIVATION.—‘ The ripe nut is selected for this 38 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. purpose. The ground is first well raked, and the nuts scattered broadcast over it and lightly covered with earth, or a number of nuts ranging from six to ten are deposited in one spot at various distances and covered with earth. The planting must be during the rainy season, as it requires a good quantity of water. When the young shoots have grown to about a foot in height they are carefully removed in the evening, and transplanted a distance of at least fifteen feet from one another, and if planted during one season, it is better toallow them to remain until the next before they are transplanted. “The African oil palm grows luxuriantly and bears more abundantly at the height of from ten to twelve feet in a damp, semi-marshy soil, where water does not, however, stand. In arid, dry soil it becomes stumpy and grows very slowly, and sometimes bears at four feet ; but to cultivate the plant so as toensure a proper growth, a development of a good number of nut branches, large in size, with nuts well supplied with flesh, or what is technically called ‘fat nuts, the trees must be at a distance of at least twenty feet from one another and well supplied with water. “The supply of nuts fit for use is biennial, but the most abundant supply of commercial oil is obtained from nuts gathered during the rainy season.” COMMERCIAL PALM OIL MANUFACTURE.—(a) “The nut bunches are cut down from the trees and put FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 39 in a heap outside in the air, where they are allowed to remain for a week or ten days, which causes the joints of the nuts to be weakened by the process of decom- position, and allows them to be detached by simply beating them against any substance ; the nuts are gathered and the husks (decayed sepals) that adhere to their base removed, either by the hand or by rubbing them together, and separated by throwing them in the air, and allowing a strong breeze to blow them away. A hole about four feet is dug in the earth, which is lined with plantain leaves, into which the nuts with the hard unyielding pulp are put, and covered over first with plaintain leaves and then with palm leaves and earth. “The nuts are allowed to remain here for various periods from three weeks to three months, until de- composition of a more or less extent has taken place, so that when removed the pulp is soft, and appears as if it had been thoroughly boiled. They are now put into a trough made by digging a hole four feet in depth into the earth, and paving it below and around with rough stones. In some cases a portion of the nuts is boiled in iron or earthenware pots and then mixed with the unboiled portion, before putting into the trough. “They are now pounded with wooden pestles by several persons standing round the trough until the pulp is quite removed from the surface of the hard nut, the whole is removed from the trough, put into 4o FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. a heap and the stones taken out, leaving the oily fibrous pulp, which is put into a pot with a small quantity of water under a good fire and well stirred until the oil begins to melt out. The pulp is then removed and put into a rough net opened at both ends, to which are attached two or three short sticks, by turning which at opposite directions the oil is squeezed out ; from the nettings it runs into a receiver or tub, leaving the fibre in it. “The longer the oil-nuts remain underground the thicker the oil will be when made; the quality will also be inferior, and the smell bad ; ceteris parzbus, the shorter time, within certain limits, the nuts are under- ground, the more superior will be the quality of the oil made from them, This in a great measure will account for the difference in the quality of the oil shipped from different parts of the coast.” PALM OIL FOR HOME CONSUMPTION.—(0) “The nut bunches are kept in a hot place for three or four days, and the nuts are taken out ; a small quantity— from three to four lbs—is made at a time; they are boiled in iron pots, then put into wooden mortar and pounded with wooden pestles. The pulpy mass is then mixed with tepid water with the hand, the chaff is first removed, and afterwards the stones. The oil remains mixed in the water, which is passed through a sieve, to remove the remaining chaff, into a pot placed on the fire, and heated to boiling point, and FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 4I allowed to continue in that state whilst the oil floats up as a bright red substance. The water at this stage is being continually stirred and the oil removed as it floats up, until the whole is removed. The oil is now put into a pot and heated, to drive out any water it may contain.” SECOND PatM KERNEL OIL, (a) WHITE, (6) BROWN OR BLACK.—“ The nuts which have been subjected to: the process already described in making oil, deprived of their external pulp or old nuts picked up from under the palm-tree, are put in the sun for days, and even months, until they are perfectly dry; they are then broken between two stones, and the kernels obtained whole or in perfect condition and fit for exportation, and is the commercial palm-kernel. If they have not been perfectly dried, the kernels break into pieces.” WHITE KERNEL OIL.—(a) “ The kernels are put into wooden mortar and pounded very fine; then removed to a grinding-stone and ground into a homogeneous mass, which is put into cold water and stirred with the hand ; the oil rises in white lumps on the surface of the water, which is collected and boiled. It is of a very light straw colour, and when exposed to the sun and dew becomes after a time perfectly white.” BROWN OR BLACK KERNEL OIL.—(0, “The kernels 42 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. are put into a pan and fried, the oil oozes out into it from them, and it is strained ; the fried nuts are put into wooden mortar, pounded, and afterwards finely ground on a grinding-stone; the mass is thrown into a small quantity of boiling water and stirred con- tinually, the oil rises as a supernatant fluid, and is removed until none rises. The pulpy mass is removed from the fire and spread out in a large bowl and allowed to cool, after which it is again ground and put by until the cool of the day, when it is mixed with a little water to soften it. It is now beaten with the hand for some time, until the air comes out in white pellets. As soon as this is observed a large quantity of water is put into it and the oil in some fatty substance floats on the top, which is skimmed off and boiled and the pure oil obtained. “Under the circumstances detailed above, the ex- ported kernel could not retain its germinating power ; besides, I think, like cocoa-nut and the other plants of the palm tribe, for plantation the nut requires the hard exterior covering for protection in the earth.” The following table (page 44) is drawn up from the General Imports into the United Kingdom of the palm oil exported from West Africa as designated, and is useful in showing in a measure the direction, for eight years, of the export trade. In view of these statistics it may afford approximate means of calculation to show how much we owe, apart from its botanic interest, in the way of the immense FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 43 tracts of country that lie covered by this beautiful tree, commercially to the Elazs guineensis, when I say that on an average a palm-tree is supposed to yield 20lbs. nuts a season (of which there are two) and that a good crop should afford in oil 35 to 45% of the weight. This is supported somewhat by the fact that a gallon of palm oil weighs about 9 lbs. The fruitfulness and size of palm-trees are dependent on the soil. They bear in seven to twelve years, and for thirty-five to forty years. According to native estimate and wasteful process of manufacture it will take 30 to 35 lbs. of palm-oil nuts to give a gallon of palm oil. I have been further informed that 120 bunches of palm nuts go to make six old wine gallons of oil, and 6,000 bunches to make a ton of palm oil; but I would be disposed to question the accuracy of this informa- tion, as the yield would depend on size and richness of the nuts and clusters. The nature and quality of this commodity vary with locality and care in preparation. In the trade it is called “hard” when it contains a larger proportion of “stearine,” “soft” when it con- tains a smaller proportion, and “medium” when it sets after melting, whether hard or soft. The “hard” oil is exported chiefly from the Congo, the Niger, Brass, New Calabar; Saltpond, Appam, Winnebah of the Gold Coast Colony; is used by candle manufacturers: while the “soft” oils from FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 44 9$0‘6L1 ‘1 LL1‘o1g oo1 ‘€bz beL‘vor | * et ysvoD prog oy, =‘ gle ‘zr bzz‘6 + (ysttg) sjuamapag worry isan‘ S cs I9gI gls ‘E26 6zz‘g€9 | payeustsap Aprefnoried jou “WOM OSS 6L1 ‘16h! | —— gS1‘C10'1 fob‘ gt bgz‘toz | * st ysvop pron oe Egl ‘Lr of 1 ‘zr * (qsutg) sjuawiaqag worsy saa, SS L6L ‘£9051 621 ‘Ez Pajeue leap Ayrepnoyied jou Sywsom OSS us Oggi go9 ‘gt 126 ‘OI * guoissassog asensnyiog = ‘‘ | gss‘s zbg‘S fo Rs oe oS oeropueureny. et ble ‘1ee 1 £1 ‘SL 1of ‘orf zGi‘zoz | * * *' * *) tyseog pron SS ve $63 ‘g SEgis sof of 8 8) pOUPY ISAM UsoUg ‘‘ $6z ‘966 zr‘ LSo peleaaisep Ayrefmoysed you “yg tm SS es 6Lg1 cLbSS vhSe * suoissassog asansnyiog =‘ orf ‘or ogb‘g ao FS Fee hy Sa ie 38 OM Opueua dy (tt 699°ES1‘1 | —— Ebz‘£o9 F PSL ETE “syd LEr‘gLt é « . . . *y5e07) PIod “cc ce POE ‘ez oL6‘St . ne . - : Sy SoM USN ; : bg ‘LOL tLo‘1ob payeusjsap Ajrepnonsed you Sy °D “MA dena 164 eo * suorssassog asandnyiog = ¢ ¢ wero | gégi gAS‘h 1L2'v 1 ¢ © ¢ 8 © s ‘oq opueurqg S oe * © (uBra10J) van Jo Jsvog ysanq wor |) “yeqoy, a “RIOT, “STAD one A, ssarquend *payioduit aduaya\ sarajuno|; ‘sapuIy wah 45 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. zgg‘zdi‘I 6bz ble ‘1 ere Sher 666 ‘ogi ‘1 101 Sgf ‘gh 199 “gt 416 obs ‘S 191 ‘ZI Lb1‘6b9 69£ ‘1 34g‘9 961 °SLS 900‘ LI Ibb‘or 6SE S15 gol‘b 690 66z LeeoLy Lob‘t1 1hL‘o16 zob ‘fez Lot ‘oz 6b ‘zr 1L6‘¢z6 zbe‘zlg 1g4‘61g zSb ‘SoZ gis ‘SLs of org‘ LSE zog ‘V1 SbL boz'v g64°8 C11 S9ogh bol L60‘b gvf ‘obt 961 ‘or £g0‘o1 S62‘ bSb 9S ‘z £Sb‘ Cor gth'6 Sbo‘L og ‘zz 166‘Sbr C11 ‘€1 bz1‘g 06z ‘go9 * + + * suorssassog YSN 190 . di ystOD PIOD eU.L (ys) SJUSUIATIIAS VOL S94 * suorssassog asansnj10g ape * (ystuedg) og opuvurdyy ‘+ + + suotssassog youd. roeeietp Apejnorjaed you “Vy 9 ‘Ay ‘ * + suorssassog osandnjq10,, ‘+ + + (ystuvdg) og oputulay ‘ ns ysvoD PIOD PULL : (usta) SJUIUIITIJAS BOY ISO AA . * © suolssessog OUaAT payeusisap Aqaepnoyaed you “y “OD “AY aes ae ‘suorssassog osandnyiog : sto) PIOD 4L ‘ (usnia) SJUIWIIT}JIG BOLIFY ISOM * ‘ "Wom ‘suorssassog Yous peyeusisap Aprvpnorjaed you “WOM . iS ysvoD plot) e4L : (usta) SJUSWII]I}AS VOY ISOM, zi ‘ * — suotssassog YoU. poyeudisap Aprepnonzed you “y "9 ‘M Sgg1 Fog fear ZQQI 46 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Lagos, Bonny, Opobo, Old Calabar, Operta (Niger), Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Sherbro, &c., are used princi- pally for lubricating, and soap. Lagos oil, which is imported in a very pure state, and fetches the highest price, is required largely by tin-plate manufacturers in South Wales. The difference in nature of oil, although obtained from the same tree, Elais guineensis, is attributed to soil, climate, time of gathering nuts and mode of preparation. And I am informed that “soft” oil is shipped from rivers near to “hard” oil exporting rivers. . The market value of oil must depend largely on its purity : that from Lagos, known as the purest, fetches the highest price, and it is the only oil sold precisely in the condition imported. All other oils from the water and impurities contained have to be analysed when sold, and the buyer is entitled to an allowance proportionate to impure condition on analysis. The “regular” oil, that is, what comes from Bonny, Benin, Old Calabar, Opobo, Niger, Operta, New Calabar, Brass, Cameroon, Congo, Accra, Addah, &c., is only subject to this allowance if the water and impurities exceed 2 per cent. All other oil, that from Lagos of course excepted, is called “irregular,” and is sold on the basis of purity, the buyer getting an allowance for the total percentage of water and impurities found on analysis. Oil usually imported in an impure state is of less FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 47 value than that which is clean, apart from allowance on analysis, because it requires special cleaning, and consequently entails more outlay. The import from West Africa into Liverpool—the chief market for palm oil—is given for ten years in the following table :— Year. Tons. Year. Tons. 1876 . . 38,648 1882. «(39,114 1877. . 38,900 1883. . 35,804 1878 . . 35,064 1884. . 42,651 1879. . 38,793 1885. . 40,354 1880 . . 45,787 1886 . . 44,644 1881 . . 38,526 (11 months) In December last, the quotations of palm oil were as follows :— L Ss a. Lo ede Lagos . . - . 23 5 0 | Accra Bonny . . . . 21 15 © | Addah 21 5 0 Opobo . . . . 28 15 © | Quittah Operta. . . . 2110 0 | Loanda. . . . 21 0 0 Benin . . . . 28 5 O | Saltpond Cameroon. . . 228 15 oO | Appam 19 5 0 Old Calabar . . 22 0 O | Winnebah Niger . . . . 21 0 0 | Grand Bassa . . 19 Io Oo Brass . . . . 2% 0 © | Sierra Leone New Calabar . . 2% © oO | Sherbro te te ae Congo. . . . 21 © © | Otherirregular oils 197, to 217. The following useful and interesting notes on Palm Oil are by Mr. A. Norman Tate, analytical and con- sulting chemist and consulting chemical engineer, Liverpool :— “Palm oil as imported into this country contains varying amounts of water and impurities such as sand, earthy matters, vegetable fibre, mucilage, &c, 48 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. The proportion of water and impurities in the ‘ re- gular’ oils varies from under one per cent. (this is rare) to 7 or 8 per cent., but rarely exceeds 5 or 6 per cent. In the ‘irregular’ oils, water and impurities are frequently as high as 16 or 18 per cent., and some- times even so much as 25 or 30 per cent. ; but most of the irregular samples run from about 5 to IO or 12 per cent. “The oil itself when fresh consists chiefly of the fatty bodies known as tripalmitin, a compound of palmitic acid and glycerol, or glycerin, and triolein, a compound of oleic acid and glycerol, or glycerin, the tripalmitin being present in greater quantity. There are also present in most specimens of the oil free fatty acids, and these increase in quantity as the oil becomes older. ‘“The oil is largely used for soap-making, and generally in combination with tallow and other fats. And by processes of saponification, or treatment at high temperature with super-heated steam, its con- stituents are separated into a solid fatty acid, palmi- tic acid (often mixed with other solid fatty acids), a liquid oily body, oleic acid, and glycerin. The solid fats are largely used for candle-making, whilst the oleic acid is employed for lubricating and many other purposes for which the liquid oils, such as olive, are used. The glycerin when refined is made use of in medicine, surgery, for the manufacture of the ex- plosive nitro-glycerin, and many other purposes. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 49 “Some typical samples of Palm oil from which water and impurities had been removed gave me the following results ”:— * New Old Grand Brass. | Benin. | Lagos. | c.iabar. | Calabar. | Bassa. Specific gravity at 15°C. 921°3 922°8 920°3 926°9 920°9 924°5 Saponification equivalent | 280*2 282°2 285°4 280°9 284°5 278°8 Percentage of fatty acids| 96-97 | 96-96°5 | 94-97 94-97 | 9472-95 | 95°5-96'5 Solidifying point of seer : ; cena e é, < i 5 fi . ‘ acids. . . . . «§|/ 444745 8] 45°-45°5 | 44°5-45°5 | 44°2-45°5| 44°2-45°5 | 41° 5-42°3 Combining weight ae: fattyacdsts 273"4 | 273°7 | 272°7 | 273°2 273°2 273°0 As to the distribution of the Elazs guineensis, Dr. Schweinfurth, in his ‘Heart of Africa, says: “On the south of the Welle there is a very extensive cultiva- tion of the oil palm. It is a tree that, although common to the west coasts, has not hitherto been found in the Nile districts, and consequently, like the -cola-nuts, which the wealthier of the Monbuttoo are accustomed to chew, it yields a significant evidence of the western associations of the people.” And speaking of the Monbuttoo country, he adds: “The oil palm (Zlais) is here at the extreme northern limit to which cultivation has ever transferred it, as it is still utterly unknown in all the districts of the Nile. Not until we crossed the Welle did we find it planted out in groves, and to judge from appearances it had only been planted even there for purposes of experiment.” NuTs AND KERNELS.—“ Nuts and Kernels” may E 50 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. be mentioned as an Official Heading, and applicable in its embrace to Imports commonly used for ex- pressing oil therefrom. The component parts are not specialised in the Statistical Yearly Abstract pre- pared by the Imperial Custom House. However, quantities imported into the United Kingdom for eight years ended and inclusive of 1885 are afforded in the Return (page 51). Such imports were chiefly composed of the kernel of the fruit of the West African Palm-oil tree (Z/azs guineensis), and of the ground nut (Arachis hypogea), although beni-seed (Sesamm indicum), the kernel of the cocoa-nut (Cocos nucifera), the niko and m’poga nuts (West African Parinaria, so far undetermined from insufficiency of botanical material supplied), the tooloocounah, carapa or crab nut (carapa guineensis), akee nut (Blighia sapida), cashew (alien) nut (A za- cardium occidentale), ordeal or Calabar bean (Physos- tigma venenosum), opachelo nut (Pentaclethra macro- phylla), coco-plum ‘kernel (Chrysobalanus Icaco), Niger or Ramtil seed (Guzzotza abyssinica), the Dika almond (frvingia Barteri), tambacoombah and other oil- yielding nuts of doubtless much commercial value in the future are to be found among the exports from West Africa, which is in its infancy as a prolific and profitable field of discovery and utilisation in the matter of other undiscovered oil-yielding kernels. According to Kew Report 1877, the M’poga nut exudes abundantly oil on pressure by the fingers, 51 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 98g ‘gob = LoS ‘bE ‘ gi‘ Por €1Z‘o1 ‘8 * © (aBraz0q) sf gf iziz POLS LI ‘8 8 8 (ysrg) vonypy 189A. } oe " Sggt gol ‘66S zLe‘ty : g6z‘ Pre zos ‘zz ‘8 + + (uBtaroy) voy y S24 26g ‘giz ozg ‘Si "+ *(qsnug) yse0D Plog eqL a bgt 81S ‘99 oSo%S (ystug) sjuswayyag woryy 3SOA\\. 916‘06b 9£0'6E 609 ‘oof of1 ‘Fz ‘5 + + (uBtar0j) von W 1S9M zzo‘obr 69 ‘11 * * *(ysntg) yseod ploy eu ie aes fggr Sgz‘by LES*E (Yst}Ig) sjuautaq}}eg OLY SOA. 60€ ‘heb Sgg ‘Ib 696‘E1r £96‘6 sh fe 4sv09d ploy aL S10‘0g 646‘9 v3 ae SJUBULIT}IIS BUY ISI st ss zggt SzE ‘o6z £b6 ‘bz * (ud1aI0}) voLyW JO ysvODd IS9A\. 116‘9gz 190 ‘bz bzL ‘Sq 669‘S "tf 8 8 4svodg pjoxr euL 6Lo‘zz 996‘1 * (qsug) ee ans a” Se 19g! gor ‘661 96 ‘or * (udIaI0J) vaLIyY JO }SvO7 SOMA PSL ‘IL ggh ‘ve 69 ‘Siz 666 ‘Sr sh ff 8 4svon pjoy ou ££1 ‘oz GIQ‘I * (ysig) fe ee aie ace Oggr £26 ‘SEz Li‘ Lt * (udta10j) BOTW JO ISvOD 1SIM 6S9 ‘Eze £bo'be b60‘1f1 999‘6 "hf 8 8 4svod pjoxy ou P66°CE gb ‘z . ‘ysnug) “ce oe ce ec 6Lgr ILG ‘QS 6z9 ‘TI * (udr1a10}) woLyW Jo ys¥O>D ys9 AA. Pe 1zg ‘fz ozL ‘St “suo, oS1 ‘II "or of 8 8 4seog ppojeayzt |). . €16‘0¢ 96z‘z * (ystg) ie ts 4 sjou } glgt 169 ‘cbr ELE ‘or + (uBtax0y) vouyy Jo ysvog ysayy |f-PT PUP INN “TeIOY, ¥ ‘Tew0], *suoy, “One A *sanizaeng *payioduir aouayM sarjun0d *sapnay tea R FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 104 ‘6zz bzeS'Se |——_—_—— ob6‘z1 6Eb‘1 sf 8 8 8 4sKOD preMpUT o1S ‘6 LSo‘1 . . . . . . . . . Ayeay LSb‘z flz yee ee ee poremry LS ‘ IZ 66£ 4 . . . . . . . « purljoy . es ae ZQgI 66€‘z Loz bar a) OR ee ureds 96h ‘1S ££ ‘QI Bg OB SES EBL oa, IB” oe SOUT got ‘6z gSz‘E sof h 8 8 8 areqg yearn |/ zi4‘gri gS6‘g1 zog‘I 6zz ‘4 8 9 sarpuy ysaAQ YSIg £00'T evr so 8 4 + 4svog preapury |t . i i Pree z61 ‘901 [oy A ak a sof 8 8 goueny 88 $16‘6 gih't sof oh os 8 8 ureyg yearn $6 ‘or1 beg ‘1 €vL ‘gor Eve or poe ee Pe toe 8 Souter } ‘ zSg a 1gh sore 8 8 8 ureyIg year % 7 0881 1z1‘€gr 068 ‘zz —— ¥ LS "suo, Lor ‘tt + sarpuy ysa qq Ys } z6L‘b 66S ‘6 8 8 9 4svoz preapuryy [t , 0z9 ‘E91 zSb‘oz mS ee F sof ss) some | SIWN punorg | 6Zgr ehg 1 zeL‘1 sof of 8 8 8 ureqg yearn "1210, $ [eo], “‘suoy, ‘One A, *satgiquend *pajrodxa yorya 03 sarzjun0d ‘SapPIIY — “1e9 *“LYOdXY VIGNV+) FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. z11‘Lg Sgt‘rby tor'ol1 og 16g‘ eho PLiSé 1S1‘9 £vz‘bg Sbece 994 Sz Sol‘z g6z‘r $6 ‘Ez £64 ‘oor 153°9 vf9 1zl‘t SoS ‘6 zoz‘61l zoS ‘bE G.2S€ ‘zr *suoL zob‘gt glo‘tz Sof ‘6 Lot £E0%€ bot‘ t1 194 Lor Sf9 LS1 z6z‘T LoL ‘gt gly se song ‘+ ga105 * + elrepey reypeaqry * + poowy . . ©. Ayeqy ‘+ gouRly weg yeolt ‘ ' poy Areury puvin ‘ taytaua + + eILapeyy oe oe Ayeyy ‘+ g0utay uleyLIg }wa14) * * 9ar0r) ‘+ eirapeyl ‘+ vouoUry ‘5 © Apery ‘+ pours uleyg ywaIN Sggr $331 £ggr 54 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. which is said to be the richest and most fluid oil known, yielding on pressure 80 per cent. Of the Dika nut it is stated, “Another remarkable produc- tion is the Dika almond, which on strong pressure yields from 65 to 70 per cent. of grease resembling the butter-cocoa, fusible at 122° F., and fitted for the manufacture of soap.” And of the Niko nut I give the following analysis by Mr. I. A. Voeleker, which I have taken from Kew Report 1881 :— Oil (of a yellow colour, readily ane into a thick varnish- like mass) . . & ce ee SOAS Albuminous dontpounds (epitainting “75 Rea: se & 4°69 Sugar, gum, mucilage, &. 2 6 ee ee ee ee 29°75 Woody fibre (cellulose) . 2. 2 1 6 ee ee 3°60 Mineral matter (ash) . 2. 0. 7 ee te ee "94 MOIStUTE Ss: e-nbe te) Gee el ciel ee ee 1°59 100*00 I may here remind my readers of the seed of the Shea butter tree (Butyrospermum Parkit), and the butter or tallow tree of Sierra Leone (Pentadesma butyracea), and of the physic (jatropha curcas) and castor-oil (Ricinus communis) nuts. The chief centre of the ground-nut crushing industry is Marseilles: and at Harbourg, Bordeaux, Dunkirk, Nantes, Caen, there are important mills. The finest ground-nut oil is used as a substitute for and mixture with olive: it is also used in Holland in the manufacture of butterine: the next qualities are good for lubricating and engine oils, while the inferior FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 55 qualities are used in the manufacture of soap and for lighting. The nut is also used in confectionery. From the West Coast of Africa (Niger and places to windward of Sierra Leone being somewhat excep- tions) this nut is exported in the shell: from the South-West Coast, shelled or decorticated. From the countries to windward of Sierra Leone —inclusive of and chiefly from Senegal and Gambia— there is exported the bulk of this commodity. I am advised that in Cajor of Senegambia is generally grown the finest nut: next come Rufisque, Saloum and upper Gambia: from the lower Gambia, Casamance, Boulama, Rio Nunez and the interjacent rivers as far as Sierra Leone, go inferior nuts. Kernels that have properly matured, large and heavy, clean and fresh, are of most value to the crushers, and therefore command the higher price. The extended culture of ground-nuts, not only in India and North America, but also in South America, East and South Africa, and Spain, has affected sensibly this West African staple product; as also have rash and short-sightedly premature gatherings of crop, variability of seasons, and intertribal wars. In verbal illustration of the foregoing, I would mention, as I have been informed by Monsieur Bohn, that in the year 1876 the port of Marseilles received : From W.C. Africa. . . « « « about 40,000 tons (in shell). », S. America, Spain, India. . . . . 700 45 os »» Mozambiqueand Congo. . . . + 3,325 5, (shelled). >» India .« 2 6 6 5 «@ © «© « © FE,000 55 a4 56 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. At the same port, for. 1885, the receipts were: From W. C. Africa . . . . «. « about 35,000 tons (in shell). » S.Americaand Spain . . . . . 1,500 yy ae »» Mozambiqueand Congo. . . . . 8,180 ,, or vy: Amid, Gs es se we ee 1G BODO? 55 ” While in the first eleven months of 1886 there were received into Marseilles : From W. C. Africa (50 per cent. of which came from Senegal) . . . about 12,600 tons (in shell). >», S.Americaand Spain... . . 255. 95 $3 »» Mozambique and Congo. . . . . 41,100 4, (shelled). gy HMI! ak es et GR eA OBO 555, Ae In the year 1880 there was the most prosperous season on the West Coast of Africa for this com- modity, when the receipts in Marseilles alone reached 72,000 tons. Detailed particulars will be found on pages 52-3 of the export trade from the Gambia in the ground nut, which in Senegambia and Her Majesty’s settle- ments adjoining forms the chief and principal article of export—the local commercial idol—and accordingly deserves more notice here than to be allowed to be generally absorbed, as is the case in the general Table of nuts and kernels imported into the United Kingdom. Writing on the staples of Africa to Mr. Martin (British Colonies) in 1842 or 1843, Mr. Mathew Foster, to whom I have elsewhere alluded by quota- tion, conveyed on the Arachis hypogea: “I have FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 57 lately been attempting to obtain other oils from the Coast, and it was only yesterday I received from the hands of the oil presser the result of my most recent experiment on the ground nut, which I am happy to say is encouraging. I send you a sample of oil ex- tracted from them. They are from the Gambia.” And he went on in the same letter to say, on the kernel of the Elais guineensis : “I lately received from Cape Coast a quantity of the palm nut from which the palm oil is previously obtained, for the purpose of examining the kernels to see whether they would not yield an oil worth extracting. I send you a sample of the nuts, and one of the candles made from the stearine obtained from them.” Here we have proof that, although the palm-oil industry has existed since 1790, if not before, yet the valuable palm kernel on the Gold Coast did not attract attention until/1842 or 1843, when also the ground- nut industry, at least in the Gambia, had its birth. Then, in proof of how little may mar or promote trade in West Africa, I may relate here particulars of an incident to which, if it has not owed its birth, yet the palm kernel trade of the Gold Coast owes indeed much of its youth and manhood. After the Proclamation of the Abolition of Slavery in 1874 (towards its end), my old friend Sir George Strahan, then Governor of the Gold Coast Colony, now of Hong Kong, made a tour of inspection through Aquapim, Croboe, and the Valley of the Volta. His 58 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. attention was attracted to large heaps, in numbers, of rotting palm-nuts which presented themselves, in the kingdom of Croboe, continually to our gaze. I may here remark upon the cause, which was to the effect that the cracking of the nut had been proclaimed against by the fetishmen, and their reason for the pro- hibition was that it gave small-pox. At a large public meeting which Sir George Strahan held at Odumasseh, in Croboe, he pronounced to the king, chiefs, and people against the stupid absurdity of the edict of the fetish, pointed out the riches that were being allowed to rot at their very doors, and expressed the wish that the king should remove the blindness from the eyes of his people in this matter. His wishes were promptly attended to, for that very evening, and for some time after, a gong was beaten throughout Croboe to the effect that henceforth palm kernel nuts could be cracked, and that the kernels could be taken to the traders and merchants. The following Tables of exports in palm kernels for the past seven years from the Gold Coast and the other West African Colonies will show the extent to which this industry has grown (pp. 59, 64). The old and respected firm of W. B. Hutton and Sons, then established in London—now in Liverpool and Manchester—was the first to import regularly (about 1848) kernels into the United Kingdom, after which several years passed by before crushers would use them. 59 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. “poateoar you Sger y ght ‘LzE ‘ : 99h ‘E o @ Gr €&¢ fe Rv ont): ae ee TIBET 368 ‘ofz z @ 4 olotiz sors 8 8 8 Kupunary : ite 1z9‘9 61 z GS €€S tone 8 8 8 6 goer bggr 19z ‘0g 61 zz SEgtL sof fs 8 ureyg yearn zot ‘glz TIO‘ QzI gor o 4 abstr yore 8 8 kureurar 060 ‘Sz ZIoz gor 72Sfiz sof hk 8 8 8 gaunt ' se Eger oo ‘Gz1 I 0 gg) Szd‘rr "oh of 8 8 ureqig year S61 ‘19% IESG © oOo or £09 sof ff 8 8 eonaury oSg‘€ 0 0 oO Sgt en 2 9 or ‘F6 $ Zz o4 oobi sof hs 8 8 faemay ‘ ee ZQQt 1z‘bz 8 € or zzS'z Soh fe 8 8 8 poueT 169 ‘€€r gz 1 ¥ ogg‘€1 Soh hs 8 ureqg year S£g ‘122 - 9g6‘t tI I Z = ogz BOOP STE es i Tear ooL ‘z 0 0 0 oof rn 206100 g $g9‘1g 0 0 o LLb g hots os 8 8 kueurary : 6s Iggt zlO'Sp bo€ Li oge't soft 8 8 8 aomer ay 1f1 ‘Eg € € L LSbts sof of + 8 ureywig yearn gb ‘SPE gor‘otr boo or Ibgtor sorts fs Kueuraxy 160‘LE 41 1 bv 6g9°E sof ee 8 8 8 goueny : “ Oggi Lgu‘cly Il O Zr oor‘s1 sos 8 8 ureyg years Sbb‘61€ 629 ‘6L Oo o or 119‘9 sof ee 8 Kueunary 182‘96 6 o or z9S‘6 sof fe es © sown ‘pussy weg | 64g1 ¥ Gre ‘rb tro € ggog‘'11 "of 8 8 8 arene year “yeIOT, $F *suoy, onyeA “solytqueng. *peyodxe yorym 03 sazzzunos sapnay "rea “sOOV'T FORBSTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 60 gos ‘Lb gz oz I ir € 2g ow ee ee QUIS: ofz 0 0 Oo $€ i ro 20 fl ae eG Foor 196‘11 lz o + L6b1 soe ee 8 8 faewe 88 Sgz‘SE 9 € 6 zL*P ‘os + + wopSury pag 999 ‘101 S09 o o § Lg sof os of ss puelor SQ o o €1 iL oe eee OUT Lgo‘gt 6 z br bog‘t soe oe os os 8 Kure) a se oggt oz 61 It @ tos of 8 pouaMYy "SA ozf ‘zg 9 € gt 1196 ‘+ + + wopsurny pag gr1‘es Ere ‘1 0 0 oO SLI soe ee 8 8 Bota gzI o oo A&I Bi A Et eT vol o OO Zz sof ee 8 os Binqurepy + ‘yoursy weg | 64gr gos‘ o oo MIIg sof fe 8 8 Kuvurresy : ¥ £16‘Ch 0 0 Oo Z6rss ss 8 + wopsury paag “TeI0L | F *suoy, : ‘one A ssarquend, *poqiodxe yorya 07 satzyUNOD "1eaA apy “LSVOD aTI0y 61 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. ‘sjiodxa sodey sapnpouy y gt SEE 4943 ‘Cov bS ‘19 L1€‘oS Sob‘ ZIO‘E 1Lg°9 gzS ‘161 61g‘1S bel ‘6L LE6‘Sz1 £bg‘ogz ofS ‘Z 99S‘ £91 ‘6E ghz 1Lg ‘Lr zoz‘v Sez ‘e 6S0'1v zl GL1‘9 II GI 9z ve maoo NNOM NAROMMO oorA Me Sor 6Sh SL9 zoS ‘oz obo‘S 266'8 oSz‘f1 6zz ‘be Z8g £t¢ gol‘ ggi'z 96h 60£ Lv6‘9 £v 909 gtz OI + + + nu0}0y eouowy *S ‘0 ‘8 yesnjy0g + + Aueurrary ‘+s pouvag wopgury peyug wopsury, paul ‘+ Kuvuray ss 8 gouely st 8 [izerg wopsary, payuy * wesseg puvin ‘+ Aueuwyex sof gue BoLEMV *S “1 wopsury paiun * wesseq puri) * + suvuLIEx) ss gouely ‘8 * guIssy ae Ssgr $ggi £gg1 zggt FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 62 ogi r0r — s€ ZI er ‘8 8 © 4seos preMpuUrAA, gzrts 9 z@ ggrfsr‘symo fe os # ef ee “< 6916 690‘ 6€ ‘ysnq of ee 8 8 kaeurex Lggbz €1z Gor‘ZG smo fs ot ot fe tt te we zggr off‘ bSz<€ “ysnq BM ae ke cggaeaaT , 196 ‘bE 11 Lr1Séghesymo fs os oe ote oe ££0'gr ZSe‘cl sof oe 8 8 ureyg yearn 1F6‘ vor 1€E ‘or z96 ‘gE shh os 8 8 Atreurtaxy 162‘bL 6Lo‘olz 6 Se pour | ‘4 as 1ggt 61£ ‘oz b1g‘6L sof of 8 8 areqg year zzz‘ Lor stg SEg‘E "#8 * 4svod pIBMPUTAA obg‘Z 66£ ‘Sz Sos ee 8 8 Kueuax at “ oggt boS ‘zg gob ‘zgz 2 PE ee sg iteET ogr ‘gr 938 ‘b5 ht ss ureyrig: year Z66 ‘C11 o1z rol sf 8 © 4seod premea’y fb Slo‘z ‘£8 © 4svo5 prempur gzz'S6 £90‘€SE dp gigs ah ws hs : : . Ba Pepe aes 3058 6 ¢ . . . . . sate ee gi pia uleyig years ‘one A. ssorueng¢ *paytodxa yorya 0} solzquNOd opnIy reo R *€AaNOET VuUugis FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. £03 ‘gh gLt ‘go 615 ‘1g bh 23 eob 16€ ‘64 £1g‘9z Lox Ly $99 ‘z 006 ‘zz ogt ‘zp goz Shi Sez 660‘zE Lzr'Lz ol amon Oo InI ti a lz bz ol oe OF cet Sf Sr € ZS1'z oz z60‘I IfQg ‘Olt 38S ‘zg och gor z6b'bS Liz‘iv £69°L6 got ‘1 Lge irs S£g ‘ol LYS ‘£9 “SIM 4sv0>) preMpUT A, - + eopemy + + Kueurary 8 + g0uenT * ureyug aig ‘+ wot Sto PIVMpULM * + fueurraxy ++ + gomery + ures, year JSvod PIVMPUIAA "+ Kuvwiyey tae aoued * ureyg yearn oe , Sggr best fgg FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 64 102 ‘Z Lox £1 oO zz ‘6 5 8 4svod pavmaaT 1L6‘1 St 1 S66‘€ ee 8 gouBay . ts S991 fcr 6 oO gz sof of 8 + ulepIg year S€r‘1 Sie ° £ €1 1g sof oh os 8 agrauay zgS or x St £9 soe hee 8 goueg es Pggr Stz iz o 6 tz sof 8 8 8 ureyg yBaLN ver‘t 636 9 o 1 LYI hohe 8 8 gouRy } P a: eget Stz ZI 0 Zz cz sof oe 8 + uTeqg year bee‘ € ° € +1 z sor fs 8s pIBAMpUl AA, ZeI ° oO II BS Sere ag eee - Aaa i ee zegi cll oz € Lt ccf fe ot tt ttf aouRI yy LEE fr € 6 gi sof 8 8 8 ureyig eatin bg eh ssass * OplaA 9p sdvyd ‘[essus ae oe Wes el jones ‘Surpnyoat eons . ve 1981 Loz 4 o &£ Sz soe ee ees gourd 6£€ 4 1 6 ab sof 8 8 8 ureyig yarn verse “ zlg‘t 61 1 I oo fs st 8 8 ff a9mBIT \ : Ge oggr zgz £1 %@ oO gz ‘8 8 8 8 upeWIg ywaIy zgt 8 gt tr € Li ob soho ee 4s pour *youroy weg | 6Lgr *[210L, F$ *suoy, “an[eA *saiqtuend *poqiodxa yor 0} sataiqunoy “spy “Tea VIENVD FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 65 These nuts are cracked one by one by the natives, by means of manual labour and the use of a rough stone (what a loss of time and labour!). At various times kernel-breaking machines have been introduced into West Africa, but have so far not been appreciated. As is understood, but should be better known, the value of kernels depends on their cleanliness, freedom from adulteration or soaking, freshness, and conse- quent richness. I am informed that the best kernels come from the Oil Rivers and Lagos: the worst from ports to windward. Sandy beaches and sandy hills and banks adjacent to and along the sea edge represent conditions of site essential to and favourable for the growth of the cocoa-nut tree, ‘Such sites toa vast extent exist along the Bight of Benin and Biafra, where groves of this tree are to be seen ficurishing ; yet the copra industry is but little known, and comparatively undeveloped, and in the Gold Coast and Lagos Colonies there is offered a ready and rich field of fairly large promise. Copra, worth now about £14 per ton, properly dried yields over 60 per cent. of oil and under 40 per cent. meal. Its oil brings in £26 per ton. The extent of copra and beni-seed industries and exports may be estimated from the following statistics, pages 66, 67, 68, 69, for five years: they are capable of considerable and profitable extension. The development of the growth of the cocoa-nut F FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 66 bSo%z Iz & gSh‘g g00‘z gz 0 III‘9 sf 8 gouery \ ee ee Goai ov £2 1 LE mo *‘wopsuryy payug, 88 QLLSE v 1 S96 I g £ +S . 8 8 porrauLy £16'% & 0 0269 s 8 6 gouerg |}* oe os F981 1&g IZ 1 0691 "ya\9 *Wopsury, poyuQ 0z4'6 € z gir‘iz o19 gz a Leb 1 "38802 PIEMPUTAL 09 £1 0 611 * Aweuary |, ee ee a5% 10£‘/ Sz € 9So‘g1 #4 8 goueay 88 6b ‘1 fz & zoS*€ mo "WOPSUTyy, poy 100‘O1 a rn ° 1 Lz1 *JS8OD PIVMPUTAA £zS° ZTE PEDTL ym]. , ae 621 ‘bz Sena oouenT |\ oe ee ZQQI I 1M £99 ye vung} | “opsuryy paren L59‘E ee 6EbLe ¥ 1z%‘ bSr'lz s 8 5 gourd, ‘ oft Sgz_ysnq | ‘wopSuryy aaa } auoe'y vars | * poos-tuag | 1g9t “TEAL, 7 THIOL “One A, *salqiquen?d ‘Wodxg jo uotjanqg | ‘Auojod ywyM wor ‘apnay “ABO 67 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. ad 9 2 o1 bz 6b Orr 71S }.* * * kuvuray zr Orlk g © it .* 4% . aouvag [es ee ‘ se Sger gor br € Si fi | *wopsury poy 1LE‘1 a 170 0 601 : : ' z60‘1 1 €1 2€1 | *wopsury poy By, ox ‘ 6Lz 41€ 9 gf J* Teeth \. . a . bear sem nee ne a) one tee Eger on ats tin ° 3 wa ive z9gl £ tz1 00 *wopsury poyug | * *3se09 pfor | * poas-tuog | 1gg1 r1E%1 a € 1 O gor a aa z 1£ 9 ‘+ © fuvuua ON ot ae : z60°1 bra €1 2&1 |, *wopSury nae } “ ae Pegi SOS‘ 61 z 6 o6b S99 71 o1ég [* * * Sueutory Olt 0 0 0 o% |," * .* douvrg [bs 4 8 66 : oe €ggr og‘ Sz o £1 zov | *wopSuryy poyuy, 6g4 ‘1 z 2 Si 261 6gL‘1 e @ Si z6r|.*wopdury pag | s+ + & : £¢ ZQQI 88 fz1 116 - ; ¥ vE zz SIé (8 + fuvurrar ce 0 0 O1z " * * wonaury |p* * * sodey | * poas-tuog | rgg1 ze 9 € SF £. |. *mopsury payug ‘TROL F ‘TROL, "suoL | ‘one A “sorquen?) “HOdxy Jo uoysauqg | *Auojog yey wor sappy “AVIA FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 68 rgd gor j Iv S19 ZIQ‘T 62S ‘1 08 £ LLz°1 zSz‘t SI or zoe z6z 92 ¥ 9SZ ‘TROL, F 98 zi Li 2oh§ Zz £Sz L z cIr 601 S I 2 Ze 64 64 ‘[eIOL ‘su, Aueurras) * 90uvly wopsuryy poy, wopsury pan + Aueudes see soueiy * wopsury pay s+ + fuvurrer) * souely wopsuny pay wopsursy payua « e 6 * *43880D PIOD . 66 * vido Seer bgt £991 zggi IQQI (‘suoryerysnq{t Sulosaioy ay} waas peoporey Moy “pyard yenuur ay} oq pynoys yeyM YM poreduioa se yndyno spreSa1 sy) G1 cc 61 . ° ° * sour e a 8 6eé “ ce Sggr eee eee wee vee see aoe bggr €2 ‘Sgt * MOPS Pe He we we - 6 € ob *sq] OS@ 8 AS RIS 881 zg ‘ysnq 12 . a e ® ° 6@ « a ® oe . ce ZQQT ZI “Sq] O71 se 8 * gouvrg | * * *eIquive | * poas-tueg | 1991 "Ss oS ‘one A *sorqiquen?d) *yaodxg jo wonder *AUOTOD yey WOT apnay “Iva AK 69 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. *poATooar Jou Sggt y rn LE z 7 LE ' fz * wopdury poy | ote as a ee bgt 19 v 19 + ‘ wmopsury poyg | sos 6 fs a £ggi lz z bz z * wopsury pan | sos ff a zggt Sgz 35 61 - i I ‘8 *% Aucutay jy... . ZS or * wopsury pou \ sodeT wadop | 198% ‘TeIOT, = ‘(BIOL ‘suo, (‘722 uaeq sey viIquivy wor j10dxa srvak ows 10,7) Iv “ ‘ . . . Oo ee By Sq ue I be Sham \ «6 6 66 Sggx OLE 5 LS *z ie 99 Qa *% se 8 8 gouvny |, ‘ £1 £1 * wopsuryy pay } i i - bear £9 ZI II 6 5 8 © 8 aaron I s 8 8 eiquiery | f, ‘ z ot s 8 8 Auras ‘e a = Eggt 6P 48 * wopsury poy 0g £9g‘1 z 8 ef @ © Doro) I z oe 8 seiquivry |, 3 vl 11g ‘1 fo8 8 © goueny a) =) 298t € z * wopdury pou, , of 6 6 © goues, 4 ey * wopsuryy aan \. SUT] UAOIG vided | 1981 ‘TeIOJ, yx M19], “SBT E ; ‘ONL A “saturn? *yiod yop JO UOIIaALCT *AUOTOD YM WOAT ‘op ay UO 7o FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. proceeds in the Lagos Colony in the hands of the Government, whose lead has been followed to some extent by the natives. Such efforts, with appreciable later commercial advantages, should be followed up by the establishment of Botanic Stations, Model Farms, or Nursery-gardens. The conditions of soil on the strips of land that lie for hundreds of miles along West Africa between the inland waters (lagoons) that run parallel to the coast- line and the sea are so favourable to this growth that there should be in time a large export trade in copra and coir. It has much astonished me to find that a large and important firm in West Africa, with extensive crushing mills in Germany, should have to establish in Fiji for copra, knowing as I do that there is annually available along West Africa an abundant harvest sufficient for a considerable export. For the benefit of those whom it may concern, I would remark that in the Gold Coast and Lagos Colonies nuts should in quantity be procured at 2d. each ; and, with an estimate that it would take, say, 4,000 to 6,000 nuts to yield a ton of oil of value in the home market £26, we have a purchase outlay for material of £6 5s. to £9 7s. 6d. against the home price. The freight may be put down at 30s. to 4os. additional. Thus for manufacture, other incidental expenses and profit, there is left a margin of £15 to £18 in round numbers on each ton of oil. And here I take no account of the value of the coir. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 71 In the Portuguese Possessions the ground-nut is largely cultivated. Monteiro, in his ‘Angola and the Congo,’ describes the industry as follows :— “The native name for it is ‘mpinda’ or ‘ ginguba,’ and it is cultivated in the greatest abundance at a few miles inland from the coast, where the comparatively arid country is succeeded by better ground and climate, It requires a rich soil for its cultivation, and it is chiefly grown therefore in the bottoms of valleys or in the vicinity of rivers and marshes.” * * * * * “The greater part of the several thousand tons of nuts that at present constitute the season’s crop in this part of the country is grown in the Mbamba country, lying parallel with the coast at a distance of from thirty to eighty miles inland, or at the first and second elevation.” So as to attract attention, I give here from Cameron’s ‘Across Africa’ his account of the Mpafu tree of Tropical Africa, which is described in Kew Report, 1880, as an oil-producing tree of great value :— “On this march (through the Uguhha country W. of Lake Tanganika, long, 29° 30’) I first saw the *mpafu,’ from which the scented oil is obtained. It is a magnificent tree, often thirty feet and more in circumference, and rising to eighty or a hundred feet before spreading and forming a head, the branches of which are immense. The oil is obtained by soaking the fruit, which has some resemblance to an olive, 72 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. for a few days in large pits of water, and when the oil collects on the surface it is skimmed off. It is usually of a reddish colour, very pure and clear, with an agreeable smell. Under the bark are great masses of scented gum, used by the natives in fumigating themselves.” This tree, or something closely allied to it, is, ac- cording to Dr. Welwitsch, to be found in West Africa. The tiger nut, the tuber of the Cyperus escilentus, is well known in West Africa, and might be grown to. any required extent. It is called by the French souchet comestible or Amande de terre, and is used as food in the south of Europe. It is used in West Africa symbolically as love messages, &c. On the Gold Coast it is eaten raw by the natives: it is also cooked (boiled down), with a result something like to custard flavoured with chocolate. According to Dr. Royle, these tubers when roasted have been proposed as a substitute for coffee and cocoa. Indeed the idea has also occurred to myself, both as regards the tiger and ground (arachis) nuts. The adulteration of produce, especially palm oil and palm kernels, has for some time and does form a peg on which the members of the mercantile world in those parts hang their hat of discontent—and natu- rally, so long as they act as they are accustomed to do. Representations have been repeatedly made in the Gold Coast and Lagos Colonies on the adulteration of palm oil by the addition of water and agidi (ground FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 73 Indian corn boiled). It was the opinion that penal legislation that existed was and is sufficient to reach offenders and offences of the kind complained against. Notwithstanding, at Lagos in 1879, the mercantile agents aimed at being empowered by further legis- lation to proceed against persons found in the act of adulteration, or in mere possession of adulterated kernels, without the necessity of having to wait, as the law stood and required, and I think stands, for the completion of a fraud by such possessors. One can understand the irritation caused by the soaking of palm kernels, almost under the eyes of the intended purchasers, and by the prospective loss of 15 per cent. in consequence ; but the keen and short- sighted competition, and the reckless and-dishonest credit that prevail amongst buyers, are assisting the adulterators of oil and kernels. In my opinion the remedy was and is in a great measure in the hands of the merchants and agents themselves, who for instance’ in the matter of the purchase of palm kernels, if they combined together, which they will never be got effectually to do—and perhaps it is as well—could remove almost entirely the evil complained of by their purchasing’ by measure, as is done elsewhere on the Coast, instead of by weight, as now. The object, viz. increased weight, on account of which adulteration is resorted to, being thus removed, there would be no further reason for its continuance. 74 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. O1L-pRopuUCING SEEDS. 5 Bea No.| English Name. French Name. Scientific Name. {Field of Supply. ag 3 2° E francs. i ni 5 fi a Sene- 2 Grou : pi 7 i Arachides. . | Avachis hypogea « Co 7 aT ar 29 2 Py ae a > e | Gambia. « 25 jee eegaeet| 3 22 ay a = a aa . and Sierra Leone, Ground nut (shelled) { Pee =\ si — re 22 vassica Napus\| India alcutta, 2| Rapeseed. « .|Colza . . . { oleifera . . } Kurrachee) . | = 3 | Cocoa-nut . « .| Coprah e« « | Cocos nucifera. «| Singapore, Fiji «| 37°50 Gossypium herba-\\{North America 4| Cottonseed « .|Cotons « . cout ss ot { Beppe =e °} 2r 5 | Linseed. . « «| Lins « © « (ae Be India (Bombay) . 25 6| Palmkernel . «| Palmistes . . | Elais guincensis . | Lagos, Gold Coast 27 2 oe > o- 2 ” : | Sierra Leone . . 25 7 | Poppy seed. « «| Parotse « « eee See India (Calcutta) . 22 8 | Purgeira seed . «| Pulgheres. «| Yatrophacurcas « Cape Verde Islands | 18°50 9 | Castor-oil seed. «| Ricins « « « | Récénus communis {ewan} 21°50 to | Beni-seed « « «| Sésames « 0 | Sesamunz indicum| Levante « « « 40 29 o 8 ” ee » os - | W.C. Africa « « | 30/3 Gingelly or Bomba: Kurra- ee re 7 { Jeel seeds zi xe m2 : { chee) « ( . 4 ae a + « + | Gingelly seed ” on + | India (Coromandel) 25 az | Nikoseed . « « Parinariuim sp. . | Liberia 12 | M’pogaseed . . a 23 + | Gaboon Irvingia Barterz ; (Mangofera ga- 13 | Dikaalmond . . donensis, from re-}| W. Tropical Africa semblance to mango. »« « «4 One kilogramme = 2°20 Ibs. Avoirdupois. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 75 OILS. re) a 2 Price for each per whe cent. kilos of Oil Uses to which put. Principal Markets. So produced. = BE Rotterdam, Bordeaux, Mar-| 1st pressure 120 | Substitute for butter. « seilles, , Nantes, London, irk., 3r ae 2 tae » for salad oil . | Marseilles, Bordeaux. >? t Marseilles, Bordeaux, Dun- 30 aa 2. = es a2 . kirk, Genoa. ae ae 70 ” for cooking oil | Marseilles, Bordeaux. Ist 49 go | Lighting and cooking. . J 3° \ en 22 = Soap manufacture. . . Marseilles, Hamburg. 29 36/37 48/46 pees sep mane eee rageeseall = 40 57 Burning. 2 2 2 ee Londen. ewerpy, uly Soap and candle manu-)|fMarseilles, Hamburg, Liver- 62/63 57 { facture awa eh oe : { pool, Lisbon. : 20 { aa a } Cooking and lighting. . | Hull, Marseilles. 37/38 54/55 Paint. « +» « © « «| Hull, London, Marseilles. 45 58 Soap manufacture. . « Ce Hamburg, Liver- 41/42 58 ai ae: pool, Rotterdam, Nantes. ist pressure 60 | Substitute for salad oil . . . 42/43 { end > 47 | Soap manufacture. . } nes Dunkirk. 35 47 zs ies at, is arseilles. F icine. lubric i 42/44 56/52 ae ae ey Marseilles, Genoa. 55 Bee Bee 95/ is} Substitute for olive . ‘ Marseilles, Genoa, Bor-j oy 2 Soap manufacture. « - deaux. ae on wijee Substitute for olive . . 48 Hag a8 = Soap manufacture. . + Marseilles. 2 46/47 a ay eZ } Substitute for olive . i Marseilles, Genoa, Bor- ” rd: = A5% Soap manufacture. . . deax, Nantes. Ist 95 52 | Lighting - ss o + Marseilles, Nantes. 46/47 jyand } 49 | Soap manufacture. . . rd as 320, oa Fit for soap manufacture 130/140 One kilogramme = 2°205 Ibs. Avoirdupois. 76 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. So far there does not exist any tax on palm oil or oil-producing nuts and kernels on their import into the United Kingdom: such immunity also is en- joyed on their export from British Possessions, West Africa, with the exception of the Gambia, where is levied a duty of 6s. 8d. per ton of 2,240 lbs. net weight on ground nuts exported ; and of Sierra Leone, where is charged 1d. per imperial gallon on palm oil, 2@. per cwt. on palm kernels, beni-seed, and decorticated ground-nuts, and 3a. on last-mentioned in shell. For the information and guidance of cultivators and commercial men, there is given a Table of the principal oil-yielding seeds (with purposes to which put) that find their way to the markets of European and American countries. I also show whence they come, their yield and value. For much of this information I am indebted to Herr Heldbek of the German house of Gaiser, Hamburg ; and to Monsieur Bohn, the enterprising Managing Director at Mar- seilles of the Compagnie du Sénégal et de la céte occidentale d’Afrique. (See Tables, pp. 74, 75.) The foregoing Return is divided, it will be observed, into two parts. The first relates exclusively to the seeds: the second to the oil therefrom. IT understand that the price of oil extracted from the same seeds (I would mention ground-nut and beni-seed) varies according to the pressure : the first yielding the best, a fine bright oil which admits of its competing with ordinary olive oil, with which it is not FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 77 unfrequently mixed; the second and third pressures yield an inferior quality. The last column in the first Return shows the present price of the seeds per each hundred kilos (or two cwts.): the first column in the second shows the yield percentage from each hundred kilos of seed: while the second embodies the price for each hundred kilos of oil produced, which varies according to the pressures. 78 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. IV. RUBBER.— Rubber has for some time taken a prominent place among the exports of the French and Portuguese Possessions on this Coast, to the shame of our English Colonies, with the exception of Sierra Leone, where a trade in this article has shown marked progress, increasing in value from £ 37,796 in 1878, to 4126,806 in 1882. As the statement of trade already referred to includes, as far as the West African Settlements are concerned, the following particulars as made up of exports from Gambia and Sierra Leone (which is deceptive, the former Settlements having only begun a trade in rubber in 1882), I accordingly furnish sepa- rately the Gambia rubber export after the following return of what has been received as the export trade in the same article from the West African Settlements, composed of Sierra Leone and Gambia, for cight years ended and inclusive of 1885 :— Article. | Year. | Quantities. Value. cwts. b 1878 4,910 37,796 1879 3,808 31,524 a 7,104 84,815 1881 9,000 96,634 a rae 1882 11,207 126, 806 299) , 1883 11,353 131,008 + 12 1884. 12,698 127,283 1885 6,979 62,384 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 79 The exports from the Settlements on the Gambia to Europe and America for the same period have been (their distribution will be found at page 93) :— Article. Year. Quantities. Value. 4 1878 ae 1879 1880 1831 i da Caoutchouc, 1882 2 pkts. 273 lbs. 114, 1883 52,003 lbs. 6,048 1884 257,285, 23,142 1885 42,179 5; 2,671T In 1883 there were imported into the Gambia from the Windward Coast 141 lbs. of rubber, at a value of £11; and from the Leeward Coast 6,422 Ibs., at a value of £341. The exports direct from the Gambia in the same article for 1883 were, to Great Britain, 41,755 lbs., valued locally at £5,107 ; to France, 4,453 Ibs., valued locally at £361 ; and to Goree, 5,800 lbs., valued locally at £580. In 1884, there were imported into the Gambia—from Windward Coast, 3,120 lbs., valued at #189; from Sierra Leone, 98,560 lbs., valued at £9,680 ; and from Leeward Coast, 1,675 Ibs., valued at 4134. These exceptionally heavy imports swelled correspondingly the exports for that year. I am unable at present to give botanically the * Annual Statement, 1885, of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions. + Imports into Gambia 1885 were from Goree 921 lbs.= £60, and from Windward Coast 1,736lbs. = £87. 80 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. names of the trees from which Gambia rubbers are obtained. It will be however something to record the names by which they are known in the country, for such information will give a clue for following up the matter, and for securing specimens of leaf, flower, and fruit of each tree, to admit of its classification scientifically. There seems to be in the vicinity of the Gambia, so far known, two kinds of rubber—the one white elastic, and very like in substance, as also in bark wood and in fruit (according to description), to the rubber obtained from the Landolphia owariensts of the Gold Coast, called in Yoruba “ibo.” The tree producing this is called in Volof “tawl,” and in Mandingo “ pholey.” The second kind of rubber is obtained from a tree called in Volof “maddah,” and in Mandingo “ cab- bah”: is much inferior in quality. It is generally considered locally that the first comparatively high price per pound, viz. 2s, paid at the Gambia caused such a run to be made for its collection, that quantity not quality seemed to have been, and seems to be, the order of the day. The result has been that the quality so deteri- orated that the price considerably fell, and the natives who collected rubber were disappointed—a sad issue, and one that should be avoided in the development of fresh industries in West Africa—the sequence of the, however praiseworthy as a stimulant, yet short- FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 81 sighted commercial policy resorted to at the beginning of this industry. Fluctuations in the industry and a bad article have been the consequences, which we must hope are but temporary and removable. Competition and rivalry are so rife among commercial houses, that it seems merely a case of every one for himself. Notwithstanding, rubber has been within my know- ledge refused at Bathurst, and had to be taken to and was accepted by French trading branches of the same Firm outside the River Gambia, where bulk, not profit of business, was seemingly aimed at. The best Gambia rubber, viz. “tawl,” when clean, is now worth in European markets from Is. 8d upwards per Ib. The local price at which it is purchased is Is. 4a. to 1s. 6d. per lb. The inferior kind, viz. “ maddah,” hovers as to price around Is. per Ib. The process of collecting, as regards the reckless tapping of the trees at the Gambia, is somewhat similar to practice elsewhere, either by wounding by direct and deep incisions, or by slicing the bark to any depth, or by removing wholesale lengths of the vine. As the juice exudes, salt water (sea-water weakened to a known strength by the addition of fresh water) is sprinkled on the same from a bottle (of glass, or a gourd—“calabash”) by experienced hands, with the result of bringing about rapid coagulation, and ‘subsequent rolling off in a ball (as twine) of the coagulated matter. Where sea-water is not available, a solution—one part salt, and three parts water—is G 82 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. made from the salt of commerce, which when it has to be resorted to would render in countries in West Africa the collection of rubber more difficult and more expensive ; for, as I have said elsewhere, the sale of salt acts as a barometer of the state of the intertribal relations of the Interior: it is often used as currency, or means of barter, showing its importance. With petty warfare proceeding in the Interior—a normal condition of things—and with roads blocked, or rather trade routes obstructed, as a sequence, the trade in this much-coveted article (salt) is small, as compared with its disposal in peaceful times. Again, it is found that rubber-yielding vines have to be sometimes sought beyond Governmental juris- diction—due to reckless deforestation in part of our Colonies—where the industry has at times to be pursued under great difficulties, represented by jealousy entertained by owners of soil and forests against intruding and sometimes inconsiderate col- lectors or hunters, usually experienced and alien hands, who indeed run great personal dangers as- sociated with loss of collection, the distinction be- tween “meum” and “tuum” having been temporarily overlooked : indeed such collectors have not always right on their side, for they as often as not trespass without leave or license from owners of soil. In their own interests the collectors should be careful, and make it a golden rule to respect the legitimate rights of others, to put on the market as FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 83 clean an article as they can, to avoid mixing juices’ which should be kept separate and distinct, devoid of bark, mud, stone, or other extraneous matter ; and for their own credit, as well as for the general interest, they should avoid adulteration, and the use towards such an end of the articles mentioned. Grand fields in the Gold Coast and Lagos Colonies for the extended general development of this industry: attracted my attention and surprise in 1882, and my action will be now best explained by here repeating what I then wrote on the subject to the Local Press, which I give verbatim, and by following it up by the result :— “To the Editor of the ‘Lagos Times.’ “ S1r,—The importance to the commercial world, apart from the scientific interest that must attach to the development of its economic botany,—of which so little seems known of this Colony,—induces me to address you in the hope that, through the medium of the Local Press, and thus through the exercise of the influence of such as are interested in the future of West Africa, the Natives of the country may be en- lightened to a sense of their own wealth, as also to an interest in its acquisition, and that thus fresh ex- ports may be developed to the general advantage of the Colony, and of European and other markets. “JT mean in this letter to confine myself to a few remarks having for their object a move towards the G2 84 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. development of the rubber trade, now remarkable by its absence as regards the Gold Coast Colony.* “The importance of the encouragement of the pro- motion of fresh industries other than, I may say, the main and sole one of palm-oil, apart from the economic advantages of rubber in connection with the many and useful purposes to which it is now applied, must be my apology. “Tn June last, I had collected some specimens of the tree Landolphia owartensis, which I forwarded to the Royal Gardens, Kew. This tree is no doubt to be found everywhere in the Colony; but I can personally bear testimony to the fact that it grows extensively in the countries of Akim, Aquapim and Croboe. “J may remark that the present commercial sources of African Caoutchouc belong principally to the genus Landolphia. “Landolphia owartensis, the species from which specimens I allude to were obtained, is a climbing plant with a stem four to six inches in diameter near the ground, but dividing above, climbing along stems and branches of neighbouring trees, supporting itself by a kind of tendril formed of the flower-stalk after the fruit has fallen. “The fruit is about the size of an ordinary orange, perhaps a little smaller, with a reddish-brown woody * Prior to 1886 Lagos formed part of this Colony, under Charter of 24 July, 1874. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 85 shell, and an agreeable, sweetish acid pulp; I am informed monkeys are partial to it. “The rubber is extracted by tapping the stem and branches. This operation is simple. Slices of the rough bark are cut off the surface of the trunk and branches, and also just enough of the true bark until the juice starts out in drops. Great care should be taken not to injure the bark by removing it too deeply. “The incisions should be from 3 to1o inches in length and from 1 to Linch in breadth. The cuttings ought to be made on only one side of the tree. The method of making the balls of rubber, which may average two inches in diameter, is as follows :— “ A quantity of milk is dabbed upon the fore-arm of the operator, and being peeled off, forms a nucleus. This is applied to one after another of the fresh cuts, and being turned with a rotary motion, the coagulated milk is wound off like silk from a cocoon; for the coagulation is so great, that not only is every particle cleanly removed from the cuttings, but also a large quantity of semi-coagulated milk is drawn out from beneath the uncut bark, and during the process a break in the thread rarely occurs. “By working hard, a person can collect 5 Ibs. of rubber per diem ; although the average is only half that amount. “This one process of collection was described by Mr. F. Holmwood, the Vice-Consul at Zanzibar, who 86 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. remarks that, owing to the destruction of trees by the reckless manner in which they were incised for the collection of juice in some districts, the supply has altogether ceased. “Consul Smith, of Carthagena, also calls attention to the wasteful custom in Columbia, United States of America, rubber-hunters have of cutting down, in- stead of tapping, every tree from which they extract the rubber ; the consequence being that all the trees near some river to which he alludes have been long since destroyed, and the hunters have now to go ‘several days’ journey before they can find the rubber. This issue should be impressed on the mind of collectors on the West Coast. “The exports in this article from the district Mungao and Kilka in 1880 exceeded 1,000 tons, where since the last season the price has risen from 4140 to £250 per ton. “Consul O’Neill, in his Report for 1880 on the Trade of Mozambique, states: ‘It is curious to note the marvellously rapid development of the india-rubber industry. In 1873 only £443 worth passed through the Customs House at Mozambique. In 1876 it reached the value of £22,198, and in 1879 it exceeded ‘£50,000. It would seem now to have reached its climax, whilst the present method of collecting this produce prevails, and until communications with the Interior are properly opened up; for the careless cutting of trees by the untaught hands of the Natives FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 87 has resulted in the destruction of enormous tracts of india-rubber forest near the Coast.’ “Sir John Kirk of that Coast has stated: ‘The plants are certainly not easily killed by the process of collection, as I have seen hundreds in full life so thickly scarred with the cuts, that nearly two- thirds of the bark must have been stripped from the trees.’ “Under a proper system of cultivation it is evi- dent, therefore, that the plant may be more easily preserved than other rubber-yielding trees that are being introduced, and, there is reason to think, will prove of rapid growth. We know, moreover, that it will endure a considerable drought, and that one of the species will flourish in a light sandy soil. “Mr. Thisselton Dyer, C.M.G., Assistant-Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, in reporting on the Speci- mens of Rubber sent to England by me, has been good enough to convey: ‘Landolphia owariensis.— White-rubber. This is the best rubber vine of Western Africa. The rubber, if properly collected, might be sold to almost any extent in the London market.’ “In the prices current for African produce for August, 1882, rubber is quoted at 2s. 9d. per Ib. “T trust the foregoing may be deemed sufficiently interesting and important to induce you and your readers to do what you can towards the adoption of 88 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. measures, having for their object the addition of one more to the industries of the Colony. “T have the honour to be, Sir, “ Your obedient servant, “ ALFRED MOLONEY, “ Admintstrator, Gold Coast Colony. “ September, 1882.” I have been enabled to secure the Export Returns since date of my letter in September, 1882, from the Gold Coast and Lagos, which show that, while in 1882 and in previous years the export in this com- modity was nil, there were, according to the Blue Books, exported in 1883 from the Gold Coast to the United Kingdom 25tons 17cwt. glbs. of rubber, valued at £2,371 12s.; and in 1884 the export amounted to g9tons 18cwt. 2qrs. 11 lbs. valued at 413,619 17s. 7a. with the following distribution, viz.: 13 cwt. 1 qr. 6 lbs. to Germany; 96 tons 19 cwt. 2 qrs, 26 lbs. to the United Kingdom; and 2 tons 5 cwt.2 qrs. 7 lbs. to the United States of America. In 1884 a small quantity was imported into the Gold Coast from Assine, and was valued at £13 5s. For the same years there were no imports into Lagos Colony, and the exports therefrom trifling, and represented altogether by a couple of packages at a valuation of £3. For 1883, 1884, and 1885, the imports, according FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 89 to the Annual Statement 1885 of Trade of United Kingdom, from the Gold Coast were as under :— Year. Quantities. Value. Cwts. & 1883 414 4,618 1884 1,552 13,139 1885 4,636 35,471 It will therefrom be observed that in 1885 this industry increased to a value of £35,471. Further, I learn from many sources that the greatest activity prevails now in rivalry among rubber-hunters and collectors. Further, experienced hands from Sierra Leone and elsewhere have established at certain centres in the Colony as instructors, at so much for so many lessons in the art of best collecting and dealing with the juice of rubber-producing trees. And as of interest and moment I here quote an extract from a Report of Mr. Thompson, late an Assistant-Inspector of the Gold Coast Constabulary, who in January of 1883 visited the country of Wassaw of that Colony :— “Mr. J. A. Dawson of Cape Coast is here engaged in the manufacture of india-rubber. He pays the natives 9@. per quart for the juice of the rubber vine, and with the assistance of one man boils and dries it, obtaining about twelve hundredweight of india-rubber per week. “ He sent a consignment to England in September 90 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. last, which realised 25. 11d. per pound. The white- rubber vine (probably the Landolphia owariensis) grows in profusion in this part of the country, and the natives are beginning to recognise the juice as a valuable article of commerce. The native name of the white-rubber vine is Pauwee.” The black-rubber vine, known to the natives as “Duah Kurrie,” grows in even greater profusion than the white, but its juice is not collected, its value, “if it has any, being unknown. I understand that the substance (I am not sure that it is india-rubber) pro- duced from the black juice has not the same elasticity that the rubber made from the white juice possesses.” Of the French Settlements, rubber is classed among the exports of the Senegambia. Of the Gaboon, where among other botanical products the rubber vine has abounded and resulted in a flourishing and profitable trade, it is well known that there has been almost an extermination of the trees that produced this valued article of commerce, which has now ceased, I am told, to be included among the exports from that part of West Africa. How different would it have been had there been some system of conservancy or re-forestation, or even had timely advice been tendered and advantageously followed as to the treatment of the trees and the collection of the rubber. This was a regular case of killing the goose for the golden egg, and adds another instance to those mentioned in my previously quoted gt FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. L19‘Sgz boo ‘ot 55g ‘L6 S1g‘tt 7 8 yshg © sry Seat z9Z‘ Lor 6gf ‘gr * + usta10 7 oe 25S ‘60€ o10 bE zeb‘ovr oSz ‘br ‘os ysnug 5 ae peer of1 ‘691 094 ‘61 : uS1910jT ot 6gz bey o0€ ‘9€ 619 ‘SEI LoL‘ 11 ‘8 ysng. 6 ; me Saat oL9‘g6z £ES ‘bz * + udtar10yy a 9gz‘6gF elpsze |—_—_——_ of ‘421 1LZz‘1I so ysnug ae . ae . ZQgl 9S ‘192 : zozS1z * + ustal0 st ect zlb‘gze 196 ‘of E996 0006 ‘os ysnug i: Cane ist gig ‘1fz 196‘1z * + wsroI0 J ee : o1b ‘fof £61 ‘of : ; us 699 ‘98 rLz‘k ysng ; ‘i oggr tbl ‘olz zz6‘7z ‘+ udiai0g se bee‘osr £€6‘L1 ¥ vg ‘ie ozg‘t e YSNuE . a 6Lg1 o19‘bz1 €11 ‘br : uSr010 yf «s ponies ‘ 1191 6 . . oe CPE “ge 0g6‘P wong * onoysynorg | gégr ¥ zSL ‘og “yMo r€L‘1r ‘ * uBtai0.7 ‘eoupy 1s [v0], FE Te10, "JMO ‘onye A *somquend *poyodunr aouaym sorxjzuN0d py “wa, 92 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. letter of the result brought about by the reckless destruction of trees. Further, the mercantile world and the Government of the Gaboon are now obliged to busy themselves with the promotion of the growth of the oil palm (Elais guineensis), coffee and cacao, &c. Blind adherence to one industry is not to be advo- cated, as was proved, though somewhat late, to the cost of many, in some of our Colonies ; but when we have a good thing we should deal with it kindly and tenderly. The imports of Caoutchouc, classed under general imports, free of duty into the United Kingdom from the West Coast of Africa, during the eight years ended and inclusive of 1885, have been as shown in table on p. 91. The rubber industry is in its infancy as regards Her Majesty’s Possessions on the Gambia, on the Gold Coast, and at Lagos. Let the sad experience here recorded be a lesson both to buyers and collectors in Colonies named, that we may not have also in them to listen to a tale of woe and to the cry of “spilt milk,” in consequence of the cessation of the rubber industry by means of the extermination of the trees. For future use I embody the following table of rubber exported from the Gambia, as the trade there is in its childhood, and its growth should be watched with care and ‘interest :— FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 93 Year. | Article. eg Quantities. Value. L \ Total. 1879 | Rubber a8 ie Nil Nil 1880 55 wae aioe oe x 1881 a as a8 ae 3 1882 a Great Britain. . |2 pkgs.,273 lbs. 114 114 Great Britain. . 41,755 lbs. 5,107 1883 sis France . . . 45453 55 361 Goree. . . . 5,800 ,, 580 6048 Great Britain . 955523 » 8,471 France . . .« | 133,548 5, 12,719 1884"), Goree. . 13,802 ,, 999 Windward Coast . 13,962 ,, 993 America . . 450 5, 39 23,212 Great Britain . 32, 380 33 ae France . . . 1,833 55 12 1885t a3 America . . . 2,238 ,, 132 Goree. . . «1 5,728 4, 363 2,671 On this article in the Portuguese Possessions of South-Western Africa, Monteiro, in his ‘ Angola and the Congo,’ writes as follows :— “We now come to one of the most curious products of this interesting country, namely india-rubber, called by the Natives ‘Tangandando. It has been an article exported in considerable quantities north of the River Congo, and knowing that the plant from which it was obtained grew in abundance in the * During same year there were imported into Gambia—from Windward Coast, 3,120lbs., valued at £188 16s.; from Sierra Leone, 98,560 lbs., valued at £9,680; and from Leeward Coast, 1,675 Ibs., valued at £133 155. } Vide footnote, p. 79. 94 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. second region, about sixty miles inland from Ambriz, I distributed a number of pieces of the india-rubber to natives of the Interior, and offered a high price for any that might be brought for sale. In a very short time it began to come in, and the quantity has steadily increased to the present day. “The plant that produces it is the giant tree-creeper (Landolphia florida ?), covering the highest trees and growing principally on those near rivers or streams. Its stem is sometimes as thick as a man’s thigh, and in the dense woods at Quiballa I have seen a consi- derable extent of forest festooned down to the ground from tree to tree in all directions, with its thick stems like great hawsers; above, the trees were nearly hidden by its large bright dark-green leaves, and studded with beautiful bunches of pure white star-like flowers most sweetly scented. “Its fruit is the size of a large orange, of a yellow colour when ripe, and perfectly round, with a hard brittle shell. Inside it is full of a soft reddish pulp, in which the seeds are contained. This pulp is of very agreeable acid flavour, and is much liked by the Natives. The ripe fruit when cleaned out is employed by them to contain small quantities of oil, etc. “Every part of this creeper exudes a milky juice when cut or wounded, but, unlike the india-rubber tree of America, this milky sap will not run into a vessel placed to receive it, as it dries so quickly as to form a ridge on the wound or cut, which stops its FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 95 further flow. The blacks collect it therefore by making long cuts in the bark with a knife, and as the milky juice gushes out it is wiped off continually with their fingers, and smeared on their arms, shoulders and breast, until a thick covering is formed. This is peeled off their bodies and cut into small squares, which are then said to be boiled in water. “From Ambriz the trade in this india-rubber quickly spread south to the River Quanza, from whence considerable quantities are exported.” By way of comparison with preceding statistics the exports to the United Kingdom of Caoutchouc from the West African Portuguese Possessions have been as follows :— Article. | Year. | Quantities. Value. | Cwts. Bes 1878 1,822 15,086 t 1879 2,689 32,612 1880 5 9248 79,750 1881 3,704 46,836 Caoutchouc . 1882 | 3.976 56,885 1883 | 3,382 48,751 1894 2,998 29,177 1885 2,559 24,465 As a rule, rubber juice had better be collected separately, as regards yielding tree, and either allowed to coagulate in layers by evaporation, or be turned into rubber by being poured first into hot water, the heat of which for coagulation must be locally regulated, and be dependent on nature of juice, some coagulating more readily than others. In addition to the Landolphias, species of Ficus are on the Gold Coast much resorted to now for rubber. 96 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. V. CorFrEE.—Liberian Coffee (Coffea liberica) has de- servedly secured a world-wide reputation, and seems to tend so far to bestow by its introduction for cultivation and export more prospects of wealth to other countries than to its own, and to engage deservedly, as to its worth, the attention and energy of aliens rather than of natives. It is indigenous to the forests of the country embraced within the Republic of Liberia, and indeed beyond ; but of the exports of this article from that State I am unable now to afford statistics. According to Reports of Kew 1882 and previous years, Liberia coffee has been introduced therefrom with marked success and advantage into Fiji, Grenada, Natal, Queensland, Jamaica, Nilgiris, Sechelles, Mau- ritius, Ceylon, where (at Kew) the policy of a general and generous distribution of this plant, as of others, is properly advocated and pursued. “ Eggs-in-the- basket” policy has had to be set aside. In a useful pamphlet periodical for October, 1882, entitled the African Repository, and published monthly by the American Colonization Society, there will be FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 97 found an article referring to an “ Elaborate report on Liberia Coffee,” by the Honourable J. H. L. Smyth, LL.D., Minister Resident and Consul-General of the United States to Liberia. In this article it is advanced that “the export of coffee from Liberia the last season was a little more than 300,000lbs. Considering the productiveness of the Liberian variety, the fertile soil and genial climate, one would naturally be surprised to see so small a quantity of coffee produced for exportation, but it must be remembered that coffee production in Liberia is in its infancy, and the people are poor.” The Annual Reports on the Progress and Cultivation of the Royal Gardens at Kew contain most interesting accounts of the distribution and growth of Liberian coffee, and on its history and cultivation. There was also published on the same subject in 1881, in Jamaica, an able and useful Paper, entitled “ Notes on Liberian Coffee, &c.,” by D. Morris, Esq., the then Director of Public Gardens and Plantations in that Island. Mr. H. C. Creswick speaks, after ten years’ experience of Liberian Coffee, as follows :— “That Liberian Coffee possesses merits as yet unknown to the trade at large, and that if successfully cultivated will in the future be a dangerous rival even to that of Eastern growth. It is also evident from the various lists made, that greater fragrancy, more mellow flavour, are obtainable when the bean has been H 98 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. matured byage. The general verdict of the gentlemen brought together at this time appears to be that Liberian coffee promises to play a most important part in coffee culture, and will be well to the front in competition with all other descriptions, as soon as the general taste becomes educated for fuller bodied though less delicate flavour than now produced from Ceylon and East Indian Plantation coffee.” I have quoted the foregoing from Mr. Morris’s Report alluded to. That gentleman adds :— “The information given in the last two sections of his Paper as regards the yield of Liberian coffee trees and the commercial value of the produce, will doubt- less lead to the conclusion that this coffee possesses characteristics which according to the circumstances of a country may be utilised to an extent now unthought of. In the first place, the fact that this coffee will grow on the plains, where the preliminary expenses in the acquisition and clearing of land are naturally much lower than on the hills, where labour is cheaper and where the difficulties and expenses of transport would be avoided, gives Liberian coffee an advantage not only over its congener the Arabian coffee, but also over almost any cultivation requiring the same capital and attention. The prolific yield of this coffee is also a character- istic much dwelt upon. . . . There can be therefore no doubt that in Liberia the coffee yields, according to the nature of the cultivation, at the rate of from 8 to FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 99 20 cwts. per acre. Mr. Agar, who had many opportu- nities of forming an opinion, “is confident that trees properly cultivated would give 6 to 8 pounds each, or from 22 to 30 cwts. per acre of 400 trees.” That this is not confined to the coffee when growing in its native country, but is maintained under other con- ditions of soil and climate, may be seen in reports which have reached us from Ceylon and other colonies.” Another peculiarity of the Liberian coffee is dwelt upon, which if found generally applicable to it will greatly increase its value. The tree is mentioned as possessing the habit of sending its “strong tap roots far into the ground,” and this characteristic it is believed will enable the Liberian coffee to live and bear fruits in seasons of protracted drought, which prevents the setting of blossom on the ordinary coffee at low elevation.” After assuming that Liberian coffee should sell generally at gos. per cwt., Mr. Morris continues :— “From its adaptability to cultivation in the plains, from its more robust and prolific character, and from the generally more economic treatment to which it is amenable, it is quite possible that its cultivation will prove even more remunerative than the high-priced varieties of Arabian coffee.” Then on the subject of the West Indian blight, that has proved so fatal to coffee cultivation (Coffea arabica) in the West Indian Islands and Brazil, it H 2 100 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. would appear that in these parts the Liberian coffee can withstand its effects with comparative impunity. I here subjoin data collected in 1876, which has been kindly placed at my disposal by James Irvine, Esq., of the Exchange, Liverpool, which will be found to embody very desirable information on the con- ditions of circumstances surrounding the cultivation of Liberian coffee in its home—Liberia : Q. Does the Liberian coffee grow well in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea; or is it desir- able it should be planted at some distance from it ? A. The Liberian coffee grows equally well in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea, and at consider- able distances from it. Under like conditions of soil and cultivation, trees near the sea-shore in Monrovia are about the same as those at Careysburg, and other places thirty miles distant. The wild coffee, from which the cultivated comes, is found at even still greater distances in the Interior. Our nearest trees are a hundred yards from the sea. At Bassa and Sinou, we are told trees grow well still nearer to the sea. Q. What is the general temperature, and what the elevation above the sea-level under which the Liberian coffee thrives best ? A. Lowest temperature observed at Monrovia near the sea, 62° Fahrenheit, at 7 o’clock a.M.in the month of January, during the prevalence of the Harmattan winds. Highest temperature observed 91° Fahrenheit FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. I0r ‘These are exceptional cases. The general temperature ranges from 72° to 87° in the shade. In the country, at the furthest point where coffee is cultivated by the settlers, there is a difference of one or two degrees lower, owing principally to the rise of the land. Along the coast, the coffee-tree thrives at only a few feet (say 10) above sea-level. At Careysburg and at Mount Coffee it succeeds as well at an elevation of 550 feet. Q. Will the plant grow well on level ground, or does it succeed better on slopes ? A. The coffee-tree grows as well on level ground as on slopes, with this precaution : care should be taken that, on slopes, the rich mould or surface soil be not washed away; and on level ground, that the water does not stand. For while the leaves of the coffee- tree delight in frequent refreshing showers, the roots are averse to standing water. Q. Is it necessary for its successful cultivation that it be planted on land from which the forest has been recently removed, or will it thrive equally well in ordinary soil? A. Virgin forest soil is considered best for the coffee- tree, simply because it contains sufficient plant-food, and saves the expense of manuring for several years. Ordinary soil will answer as well, provided it contains sufficient plant-food, or otherwise can get a sufficiency of manure. The soil should be of loose texture ; the tree will not thrive in stiff clay soils. 102 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Q. Are distinct varieties of the plant recognised, and if so, to which variety is the preference given as yielding the most profitable crop ? A. There is a distinct variety, coming sooner into bearing (18 months), and giving a smaller berry. But the larger variety is preferred, as yielding a superior coffee, and a larger crop. The larger berry varies somewhat under changed conditions of soil. The same berry which is very large in the moist lowlands becomes a little smaller, but of finer flavour, in the dry rocky hills or uplands. Q. Does the same plantation generally contain plants bearing berries of tolerably uniform size, or do some of the trees produce large, and others much smaller berries, or do the berries from the same tree vary much in size? A. The trees on a plantation differ in the size of their berries. Besides, while many contain berries of a uniform size, others will contain berries of various sizes. We are not prepared to say to what extent high cultivation would remedy this. In planting nurseries with seed of a uniform size, we have not been able to obtain plants of a uniform size. Q. Does the coffee grow best when fully exposed to the sun, or is a slight shading preferable ; and how are the amount and quality of crop affected by these two systems of cultivation respectively ? A, The coffee-tree does not produce well under shade, either in the quantity or the quality of the FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 103 crop. When the trees are not large enough to shade the ground with their branches and fallen leaves, they should be mzlched in the dry season ; that is, their roots should be covered with dried grass, straw, shavings, or anything capable of shading them. But the leaves and branches should have the influence of the sun, to elaborate a due proportion of sap into fruit-buds. The Liberia coffee being indigenous, when well established does not suffer from our tropical sun. MULCHING in the dry season is generally required for very young trees on dry hilly slopes. Q. In planting are the trees put in so close together as eventually to quite cover the ground with their foliage, or are they planted so as always to leave some portion of the ground visible between them? A. Both methods of planting are adopted. Some trees are planted close (six to eight feet), while others are planted at greater distances (ten to twelve feet). When trees are planted close, so that they meet, they thrive and bear well, provided their leaves and branches have the influence of the sun. There is also this advantage: By shading the ground they prevent the grass from growing, and thus save the expense of weeding. But it is very inconvenient to pass among them for the purpose of gathering the crop, pruning, manuring, &c., &c. Even at the distance of twelve feet, if the trees are topped and kept down, they will eventually meet. 104 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Q. At what age does the tree commence to give a crop? A, The smaller variety referred to above begins to bear at eighteen months; but the ordinary time for the larger variety is in the third year. Some plants of this kind, however, have been known to bear sooner. The first crop is generally only a few berries ; but the tree goes on increasing until it becomes capable of yielding twenty pounds—we have heard of trees giving twenty-four pounds each ; these are very old trees—more generally depends upon cultivation than upon age. Q. To what height does the tree eventually grow, and are the trees in the best plantations allowed to reach their full height, or are they kept low for the convenience of gathering the ripe berries, or for other reasons connected with cultivation ? A. The tree grows to a height of twenty feet or more. We have seen one more than thirty feet in height, this was in the woods near an old plantation. Some cultivators top their trees, others let them grow up ad libitum. Our trees are topped at a height of five feet. Trees that are topped are more conveniently picked, and, other things being equal, give a larger crop. When the trees grow up tall, moreover, they are frequently injured by climbing with ladders, and pulling down the limbs, &c.; and as the tree ripens its crop and blossoms for the next year at the same time, much of the blossoms and young fruit is rubbed FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 105 off the trees, whereas the low trees are picked by Standing on the ground. Q. What, if any, is the system of manuring adopted in the plantations? A. Manuring is not done extensively, owing principally to the fact that most of the plantations -are young, although there are some that need manure. We use the coffee pulp mixed with cattle manure, also decomposed vegetable matter, wood ashes, the “compost heap,” the earth from the hills made by the white ants (termites), &c. &c. The coffee-tree delights in nitrogenous manures. We find surface- manuring best for the coffee-tree, as the fibrous roots -or feeders keep always near the surface. Q. Are the plantations kept up permanently, or are they supposed to be cultivable profitably for only .a certain limited period ? A. We have no very old plantations; but we believe the plantations can be kept up permanently, -or, at least, for a great number of years. With us, the coffee-plant is not a shrub, it is a forest tree. There -are trees here forty years old, flourishing in all the vigour and verdure of youth, and bending down under their weight of berries. We have seen a few of these -old trees, when cut down, shoot up more rapidly and more vigorously than when first planted from the seed. Q. It is said that the Liberian coffee-tree is liable ‘to have its leaves attacked by a disease which dis- colours them, and causes them to fall prematurely. 106 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Is this disease common in the plantation? And is it believed to do much injury to the trees, or to reduce the amount of crop, or affect its quality, and have any successful attempts been made to get rid of this disease, or to mitigate its injuriousness ? A. Last year some of the trees on different planta- tions were affected with what was said to be the disease—Hemileia vastatrix. The leaves of the trees. turned yellow (although want of cultivation will cause: the same phenomenon) ; there was a tendency in some of the upper branches to decay, and dry up the: berries before they could ripen. This may have happened before, but we observed it only last year.. Occasionally the bark of a tree will decay, partially or wholly—when wholly it causes the death of the tree.. Occasionally a borer will attack a tree. We have as. yet observed nothing that would cause serious losses in coffee growing in Liberia ; we rather think that the: yellow appearance in some of the trees was owing to. the want of cultivation. Some of the trees supposed. to be diseased were as full of berries as the other trees.. An interesting summary, the results of inquiries. generally on coffee disease, will be found in Annual Report for 1877 on the Royal Gardens at Kew. As. regards these inquiries, set on foot through the: Colonial Office at the suggestion of the Director of the Royal Gardens in February, 1874, on the subject of the causes of coffee-leaf and tree diseases, it may” be well to embody here the Report, dated the year: FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 107 after, thereon of the then Superintendent of the Basel Mission as regards the Aquapim range of hills, from twelve to sixteen hundred feet high, and lying back from the coast line some sixteen or seventeen miles inland, which seemed then, and seems stil!, with one or two exceptions, the locality in the Gold Coast Colony where the coffee-tree has been cultivated. “ The coffee-leaf disease is not observed in Akwapen (Aquapim), and is not likely to infect the coffee-trees in this part, as the soil is mixed with much mineral substances, in particular iron-ore, which are used against this disease. The two enemies of the coffee-tree here are, as already known :— 1. The coffee-bug, which, however, is doing no great harm. 2. The coffee-bore, of which there are two species or kinds— a. One looks white grey, and is more in the upper part of the tree (stem) ; &. The other is reddish, and bores itself into the roots of the tree and destroy it. The greater part of our coffee-trees suffer from this disease ; these insects are coming from the surrounding forest, and nothing effective can be done against them. This is the notice of our gardener, Mr. A. Paterol.” In July, 1882, whilst on the Gold Coast, I placed myself in communication with Mr. Rottmann, the efficient Secretary of that praiseworthy and well- ao8 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. ‘deserving Body, the Basel Mission—who have done so much in an industrial sense for the elevation of the native, and for the consequent advantage generally of the West African commercial world—on the subject of the coffee industry, which has existed to a limited extent for many yearson the Aquapim Hills. He was good enough to inform me that the Aquapim coffee is of West Indian origin, the seed being introduced from Jamaica in 1843—doubtless Coffea arabica. The object of the Mission was to promote imitation on the part of the natives, and thereby bring about a profitable industry for them. I fear the aims of the Mission were not realised to the extent hoped for. Indifference to the needed care that should be ex- tended, and disappointment at prices received, as com- pared with what were expected, were the consequences. Further, the limited means of the Mission against the heavy expenses that were incurred from the introduc- tion of European overseers with their families, and the limited production with a proportionate monetary return, did not admit of the continuance of European supervision, and necessitated the handing over to the matives at low rentals of the Mission farms. To this issue there has been fortunately some different results, for I am reminded of a case which was brought to my notice where, in 1881, coffee was grown, on the small plantation of a native near Nsatsi on the Aquapim Hills, to the extent of five hundred- weight. This crop was cleaned, and packed by manual FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 109 labour, and exported to Hamburg, with the result of a return at the rate of between Is. to Is. 1d. per lb, which speaks well for the native’s labour, and points to what can be done on those hills. Coffee can within my own experience be grown in British Combo, Gambia, and in other parts of that Settlement. From Sierra Leone (Coffea stenophylla) and the Gold Coast (Coffea arabica?) there is a small free export of native growth in this commodity, which should have by this time outstripped in quantity the export from the Portuguese Possessions further south. In former years there was an encouraging export in this article from Sierra Leonc, the hills of which are admirably suited for its growth. Why has it not developed ? As regards the Gold Coast, apart from my re- marks on the coffee movement on the Aquapim Hills, there was in years gone by a healthy planta- tion of some seventy acres in extent at Napoleon, near Cape Coast, covered by some 3,500 trees of en- couraging promise: whence I have also had at times fruit of the Crtrus aurantium, that was also natural- ised, but allowed since to run to nature. Again, in the times of the Danes on the Gold Coast, they established inland behind Christiansborg a coffee plantation which was said to produce excellent results, In the Island of Lagos I introduced, through the generosity of Herr Vohsen of Sierra Leone, plants. TIO FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. of the Coffea liberica, and left them thriving in the gardens to Government House, as also in Kokomaiko. Among the natural products of Senegal and its dependencies are mentioned “Rio Nunez” and “ Rio Pongo ” coffees, which are the names by which they are known in the trade. The former grows wild in Fouta Djalon, and in the country of the Sousous. According to a report of Dr. Corre from which inform- ation has been extracted, “The tree which bears this coffee grows to a height of thirty to forty feet in the middle of almost impenetrable forest, half choked by tropical climbers, and devoid, as far as its upper part, of branches which form a summit which is sparingly covered ; also the crop is obtained generally by cutting down the trees when the fruit is ripe.” “ According to this process,” said Dr. Corre, “ coffee- trees will not take long to disappear, if they are not multiplied through means of culture. This variety, when it grows in the open air, has the appearance of our poplars; its produce has incomparable flavour ; in Foulah it is called ‘legal-cofé, and the ‘grain- cofé ;? in Sousou it is named ‘houri-coff’ (egal and Aourt signify ‘tree’). The price of this coffee has been returned at from 300 to 350 francs the 100 kilogramme.” A similar coffee to foregoing is, I understand, to be found in Rio Pongo: hence name given. T here particularly call attention to the existence, in the country named Fouta Djalon, laved by the waters of the Upper Gambia River, of coffee in its FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. III wild state—a field ready for development and easy of approach. Yet, strange though it may seem, coffee is, and has been, noticeable by its absence from the exports of one of the oldest possessions of the Crown, viz., the Settlements on the Gambia. Attempts on a large scale at coffee plantation in different parts of the French Possessions, to wit, at Assine by M. Orndier, and the Gaboon, principally at Sibange, proceed ; but these plantations are not yet, I learn, in a state to be reported upon. With regard to the Portuguese Possessions, Mr. Monteiro, in his ‘Angola and the River Congo,’ says :-— “The trade in coffee is almost entirely restricted to Ambriz, and it comes principally from the district of Encoge, a considerable quantity also being brought from the Dembos country, and from Cazengo to the interior of Loanda, from which latter place the trade is shut out by the stupid and short-sighted policy of high custom-house duties on goods, and other restric- tions on trade, of the Portuguese authorities. Very little of the coffee produced in the provinces of Encoge and Dembos is cultivated ; it is the product of coffee- trees growing spontaneously in the virgin forests of the second elevation, The natives, of course, have no machinery of any kind to separate the berry from the pod, these being dried in the sun, and then broken in a wooden mortar, and the husks separated by winnow- ing in the open air. “The great forests in the slopes of the chains of 112 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. mountains and valleys of the country about Golungo Alto and the Dembos are also full of coffee-trees growing wild, and they are gradually being cleared of bush or underwood by the natives, so as to enable them to collect the berry. I did not hear anywhere that they had taken to planting coffee, nor are they likely to do so as long as they can find it growing wild. As far as has been ascertained, wild coffee is only found growing in the forests of the country of the second elevation from the coast, nor does it grow well in the littoral region, where air is much too dry ; it is a plant requiring a moist heat, and the shade of large trees; and a certain amount of elevation above the level of the sea may possibly have something to do with its proper growth. “The future production of coffee on the whole West Coast of Africa might be simply unlimited as far as extent of ground eminently suitable for its cultiva- tion is concerned ; it becomes only a question of time and labour.” The West African trade for four years in this article with the United Kingdom is represented in the following table :— Year. Article. Whence. Quantity. Value. Cwts. b 1882 | Coffee . . .| W.A,, Foreign | 25,338 41,538 1883, 35° a ws a 26,871 46,922 1884 ops .9 35,194 | 64,463 1885 yy tee a9 34,927 | 55,828 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 113 For most of the foregoing we are indebted to the Portuguese Possessions, as will be explained in the under-given statistics for like years :— Article. Year. | Quantity. Value. Cwts. £ 1882 24,215 39,316 Coffee... 1883 26, 522 45,947 1884 345924 63,952 1885 31, 669 50,873 Since 1872 there has been a tax on this import into the United Kingdom of 14s. per cwt. on raw coffee ; and on kiln dried, roasted or ground, of 2d. per lb. Maybe it is providential that coffee should take the lead as an agricultural industry in West Africa, to be thus instrumental in a measure in paying back in the coin, I may say, in which or on account of which her sons were sold in the past. Africa’s children were sought for and condemned to slavery—to play the part of beasts of burden—to labour and toil in the coffee plantations* of the East so as to gratify, with little or no trouble or cost to the consumers, the appetites of the slave-hunters and masters of plantations. By coffee also, maybe, in return, the country is to be opened up. Where coffee formerly flourished by means of slave labour, it has almost died the death of slavery ; and to some of these very parts, West Africa, forgiving and unmindful of the past, furnishes, through the instru- * I omit mention of the cane fields of the West. I 114 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. mentality of the bean of Liberia, the West African native State and welcome home of the former slaves and children of slaves of the New World, the seed of renovation in this product, but, by means of free labour. The prospect of its development looks promising elsewhere, and should, in its native land; but for local success—and for a continuance of success with beneficial results of some duration—perseverance, exertion, energy, and care, with introduced capital, must be prominent factors. In thus dwelling on this subject, I have with much pleasure come across, in the ‘Heart of Africa, the following expression of experience of that celebrated and able traveller, Dr. Schweinfurth. “But nowhere in the world has slavery been so thoroughly engrafted and so widely disseminated as in Africa; the earliest mariners who circumnavigated its coasts found a system of kidnapping everywhere established on a firm basis, and extending in its business relations far into the interior of the continent; the idea arose, how advantageously the owners of land in the distant East might cull the cost of products of their soil by the hands of slaves ; and the kernel of a single plant, the coffee-berry, became ‘the means of uniting the remotest lands, and had the effect of throwing a large portion of the human race into subjection to their fellows, whilst Christian nations became the patrons and the propagators of the dis- graceful traffic. It has therefore happened in the FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 11S natural course of things that philanthropists have first applied their energies to the slave trade in the West ; the East has still to tarry for an enlightenment which is destined in the fulness of time to gladden a future chapter of history.” I must not close this chapter without briefly mentioning the Cassia occidentalis (the benta-maré of the Volofs, and known generally as such in Sene- gambia and Gambia, which finds its way to Europe for purposes of adulteration with the genuine article), “negro coffee,” although said to be a native of the East and West Indies—the seed of which was, according to the ‘Treasury of Botany,’ found by Livingstone to be used by the natives of Central Africa as coffee: it is also used similarly in Mauritius. If an alien originally, the plant has now become naturalized in West Tropical Africa, where it thrives in wild and “stinking” luxuriance. It is considered among the natives as “senna,” and used as such. On the Casstas occidentalis and tora, Professor Attfield, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., reported as follows—vide Indian A griculturist, Ist September, 1882 : “Neither the seeds of the Cassa occidentalis nor those of the Cassia tora contain theine. Neither contain the principle somewhat analogous with theine, viz. theobromine, Each variety was submitted to two distinct processes—either of which process readily extracts theine from coffee, &c, but no trace of theine was detected: indeed neither variety yields i 2 116 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. any one of the class of chemical substances(alkaloids) to which theine belongs. “The seeds of the Cassia occidentalis affords in 100 parts— Mucilaginous matter, that is soluble gum or arabica, and insoluble gum or bassorin, with some legumin 38°2 Celluloid matter or fibre » » « «© « © e « « 30°F 1 OE er ae a a ee a a Pe ee ee a ee Bot Other organic matter, including a little sugar and starch, a good deal of reddish-brown colouring matter, and some insoluble albumenoid matter . I1°5 Woaten ve 88) ap See lw oe a ae ae 1 EO Mineral matter, similar to that of most vegetable sub- stamces. » 6 «© © © © © © «© © © «© 4°9 100'0 “A qualitative analysis of the seeds of the Cassia zova showed that they resembled in composition the seeds of Cassia occidentalis. “The roasted seeds resemble coffee in odour and flavour ; an infusion of the ground roasted seeds can scarcely be distinguished in taste, aroma or appearance from infusion of coffee. “The foregoing investigations enable me to give the opinion that Cassza tora, or ‘Cassofee, is not analogous to true coffee, because it does not contain theine, ‘sometimes termed caffeine,’ or any similar principle. “ Cassofee is equivalent to ‘ fig coffee,’ ‘date coffee, ‘chicory, &c. Such substances when torrefied, parched or roasted, have their gum, sugar, starch, &c., converted into dark brown coloured matters having FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 117 a pleasant odour and aroma: indeed coffee itself after roasting owes its sensible properties to the same matters. Theine is practically flavourless. “I am of opinion that the two Cassias cannot be considered in any way injurious to health.” For any more detailed information on the indigenous coffee of West Africa generally, and its distribution, I must invite the attention of my readers to Oliver's ‘Flora of Tropical Africa,’ and to W. P. Hiern’s paper on the African Species of the Genus Coffea: Transactions of the Linnean Society, April, 1876. 118 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. VI. GuMs * (using the vulgar and general term for them, including gums, resins fossilized and unfossilized), especially fossil “ gums,” should play a much more important part in the exports of the West Coast. The following table shows the quantity of this article of commerce imported from British West Africa during the five years ended and inclusive of 1885 :— Countries whence Year. Articles. imported. Quantities. | Value. cwts. L 1881 | Gum unenumerated (iiiee Benen} 6,057 | 20,601 1882 at 2? +2 72: 75131 20,573 1883 +2 29 a9 29 8,494 26,596 1884 as ee ae 23 75321 20,995 1885 99 29 29 2? 7,641 22,177 The gums and resins known in the trade with average values are :— “ Senegal” (Acacias of various species) gos. per cwt. Sierra Leone (Copatfera Guibourtiana), natural 6d. to tod. [per Ib. 5 5 56 cleaned 1s. to Is. 6a. [per Ib. * Gum is soluble in water or swells in it ; the best and most useful gum dissolves entirely, forming an adhesive mucilage; resin in essential oil, boiling fixed oils, also in ether and chloro- form. Many are soluble in alcohol; but a few, such as copal and amber, either not at all soluble in alcohol or only partially. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 119 Accra (Copatfera?) . r 3 natural 50s. per cwt. » ” . . . cleaned Ioos. ,, Congo (1) : z : - natural 80s. ,, ” (2) : : : : natural sos. ,, » (2) : ‘ j ‘ cleaned Ioos. ,, Angola, roundred x a natural 80s. to Ioos. [per cwt. 95 flat ‘ % 5 = natural 805. to Ioos. [per cwt. x white. . : F natural 60s. ,, 5 55 é 3 : * cleaned Ioos. ,, Benguela . . 2 . natural 855. to 1055. [per cwt. 3 : “ * . cleaned 240s. to 3205. [per cwt. Gaboon—as red Angola; of which it is considered to be a variety. From the Catalogue of the Products of the French Colonies, exhibited at the Paris Show of 1878, I extract as follows (in translation) :— SENEGAL GUMS (gums proper).—The commerce of gum is one of the chief resources of Senegal; about three million kilogrammes* are exported annually. The harvest, which begins in November with the winds of the desert, and after the periodical inun- dations, is made from several species of Acacia, principally the Acacias Verek, Neboued, albida, Adansonii, &c., &c. The first gum, called Bas du Jleuve, is generally found buried, in the moist soil, by Moorish slaves sent to seek for it; it loses greatly in weight and value by drying, and is generally covered by a light layer of sand. The gums of the second * 1 kilogramme = 2°205 lbs. avoirdupois. 120 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. season, allowed to dry thoroughly on the trees and taken direct to the points where steamers touch, are exempt from these defects. Lastly, from the Upper Senegal, a gum is received which the annual burning of forests renders extremely friable ; its price is from 40 to 50 francs the 100 kilogrammes. The principal places of supply are on the right bank of the Senegal—(1) the country of the Moors, Braknas, and Trazas, who encamp annually near the gum forests which their slaves cultivate; (2) the country of Galam; (3) Bondou and the Bambouck (Upper Gambia). Gum is also procured from Oualo, Cayor, and Djolof, situated on the left bank. The commerce for gum in France is carried on mostly at Bordeaux, where the sorting is undertaken by several houses ; this picking comprehends the fol- lowing category: Gomme blanche, for drugs, pharmacy, distillation, confectionery, delicate dressing, lace, and linen. Gomme petite blanche, for drugs, pharmacy, confectionery, distillation, fine dressing, lace, and linen. Gomme blonde, for drugs, pharmacy, confectionery, distillation, fine dressing, impression on_ tissue. Gomme petite blonde, for drugs, pharmacy, confec- tionery, distillation, ordinary dressing, impression on tissues, sticking labels, envelopes, matches, &c. Gomme 2° blonde, for drugs, pharmacy, confectionery, dressings, impressions on tissues, sticking, matches. Gomme gros grabeaux, for drugs, confectionery, ordinary dress- ings of cotton tissues, sticking labels, envelopes, &c. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 121 Gomme “moyens grabeaux,’ for drugs, confectionery, ordinary dressing, sticking labels, envelopes, &c. Gomme “menus grabeaux,’ for drugs, confectionery, ordinary dressing, sticking labels, envelopes, ink, &c. Gomme fabrigue, used a great deal in a Russian industry for dressings of tissues, wool, and cotton. Gomme (half white) “ grabeaux tries,” for drugs, phar- macy, confectionery and distillery. Gomme friable blanche, for drugs, pharmacy, confectionery and distil- lery. Gomme friable blonde, for drugs, pharmacy, con- fectionery and distillery. Gomme petite fabrique, for ordinary dressing of cotton tissues, sticking. Gomme poussiére, for ordinary dressing, impressions on ordi- nary tissues, ink and blacking. Gomme “marrons et ozs,” for sticking, ink and blacking. Gomme “ boules naturelles,’ for drugs, pharmacy, dressing the silks from Lyons. Gomme bdellium, for pharmacy. According to Messrs, Guillemin, Perrottet & Le- prieur, the Acacia Verek is found (so far) generally over Senegambia, but most abundantly to the north of the right bank of the River Senegal, where exist the forests, historically known, yielding gum, traversed each year by the Moors (Braknas, Darmankos, &c.) for the collection of this commodity. This rich harvest used generally to fall into the hands of the English commercial houses at Portendic before that port was given over to the French in 1857. In the time of Adanson, towards the middle of the 18th century, the quantity of gum sold at the different 122 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. markets of Senegal (exclusive of Portendic trade ?) was about 30,000 quintals (cwts.): in 1827 the quantity similarly exported from Senegal to France increased to 613,504 kilogrammes: the annual export has now reached some 3,000,000 kilogrammes. The commerce in this article varies with the conditions of the atmo-. sphere, and has been affected from time to time by the partial destruction by fire of the forests of gum-trees accidentally caused by the Moors in their efforts to burn the dry scrub in the neighbourhood of such forests. The gum Verek is identical with the true gum arabic of Arabia; its gathering is effected in the month of December, viz. two months after the ces- sation of the “ Rains,” which fall from July to October. The Moors employ in its collection their unfortunate captives of war, whom they make slaves. For any more detailed particulars that may be required concerning the gums exported from the French Possession, Senegambia, I would request that reference be made to ‘Flore de Sénégambie,’ by Messrs Guillemin, Perrottet & Richard, and to the appended list of economic plants, p. 269. From the Gold Coast the export of gum (fossilized resin) to the United Kingdom—indeed, to the European market—is trifling compared with what it should be. The United States attract the bulk of the trade, which in this article also seems in that direction to be increasing, as will be observed from the follow- ing return, pp. 124-5. fORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 123 Resin abounds on the Gold Coast behind Accra and in Aquapim, the Akims, and Croboes, also in Appolonia; and its greater development requires attention, and the friendly defeat of the prejudices of the natives. From the Colony of Lagos there has been no export trade in this article, which I will prove to be somewhat surprising. IT have had some correspondence and personal interviews during one of my stays in England with Mr. Ingham Clark, a gentleman who has much experience, and takes deep interest in the “gum” of commerce. I learnt that Accra copal (fossilized resin) is not-much sought after in the trade, as sufficient attention has not been turned to promote its de- velopment into a régular export and steady supply, as has been done in the cases of Zanzibar, Animi, Sierra Leone copal, and the Kauri gum of New Zealand ; further, that the last-mentioned gums are properly sorted, cleaned and washed when put on the market, so that the varnish manufacturers can suit their tastes and pockets. It would seem that there has been an improvement in the imports of Accra copal, which had been for some time chiefly an inferior quality—“ dusty, drossy, full of bark, the gum opaque and acidy. The latter fault is much against Accra.” Such conditions of import are not favourable to a ready sale; in fact, manufacturers fight shy of “Accra,” which, on the contrary, if collected clean, like a FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 124 1bo'P bol ‘ga It z16 soe ee 8 Kueunay Lbo‘é 1101L1 hoe 8 8 8} ora ‘ 66 1991 £36 1gL‘bS se 8 8 ureyg yen or6'1 gor 'gzr ‘Sq] 9 obd soe 8 8 ee Kueutasy 909‘1 4 bob VII. WEST African dye-woods are chiefly represented or known in the trade as camwood (Baphia nitida), barwood, and redwood. In the Gaboon and that quarter I think red sandal-wood is synonymous. The dye-woods that have reached the United Kingdom between 1878 and 1885 are embodied, as to quantity and value, in the following table :-— Year. Articles. Countries whence imported. /Quantities.) Value. Dye-wood Wott | ye-woods un- est Coast o: rica, 1878 { enumerated \ Foreign. as 15408 1879 56 Ae ee No separate headling. . C. A, not icu- zea 2 a { larly Geueca } 1,444 | 12,029 1881 2° 2” 29 29 oe 2,593 | 15,451 1882 29 29 29 2»? oe 1,893 | 18,732 1883 W.A., British 2. 90} 1,231 oe, ae. >> Portuguese . 1,580 | 13,113 W. A., not particu- a 1884 ais ae larly designated , 2274 | 12,749 ba a British . , 1,053} 8,354 - A, not ticu- 1885 2? 29 { larly Neseaua si } 1,053 8,354 Liberia, the Oil Rivers, and the Gaboon at present, I think I am right in saying, offer the most prolific field for camwood, barwood, and ebony. The last- FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 137 mentioned, as indeed the others, is to be found in the Gambia and on the Gold Coast. The foregoing Return must not be viewed as repre- senting the total export trade, for there is a consider- able trade done direct with France, Germany, and America. From the Gaboon it has been reckoned that of sandal-wood and ebony 40,000 tons are yearly exported under French, English, and American flags. An estimate of imports under this head annually into Hamburg has been given as 300 tons, I am indebted to Mr. G. S. Saunders—of consider- able timber experience—of 106, Fenchurch Street, for some interesting information on barwood and cam- wood, which I give as received :— “ Barwood ” used to be freely imported with ebony, but the demand for it has much fallen off in conse- quence of the increased use of dyes produced from the coal-tar refuse; and although occasionally this wood is used for turnery purposes, by far the largest proportion of it is consumed in dyeing. “Like ebony, barwood is also imported in billets, only much smaller, split out from large logs, two to two and a half feet in length, and frequently not more than an average of 500 pieces to the ton, or four to five pounds per piece. It is a porous, light wood, long in the fibre, and when first cut, of a bright orange red; but on exposure this red darkens to a deep brown. Price varies from £2 Ios. to £4 per ton, 138 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. “Camwood is also imported much less than before, from the same reason as that which has stopped barwood; but it still comes in in small quantities, mostly from the ports north and south (in the neigh- bourhood) of Sierra Leone, such as Sherbro, Monrovia, &c. This wood used to come in short logs, fifteen to twenty-four inches long and five to twelve in diameter ; but latterly the greater part of what has come forward is in rooty, badly-shaped picces, fit for nothing but to cut up for dyeing purposes. Formerly it was in great request for high-class fancy turning, as the straight clear logs I before mentioned were of smooth, even, firm, close grain; but of course roots are of no use for such a purpose. “The colour when quite freshly cut is a pale yellowish pink, which soon deepens into orange, and then toa good red. This however in time darkens until it is almost black. This wood fetches a good price ; some was sold recently at £29 per ton.” I addressed, on the same subject, Messrs. Gardner & Sons, the widely-known timber importers of New London Street, Mark Lane, and they were kind enough to convey thus :— “Black ebony without sap, and usually cleft without heart centre, averaging all the way from two hundred to forty pieces to the ton, is worth here from £4 10s. to £13 per ton, according to sizes, colour, and freedom from defects. “Camwood, for dyeing purposes, is worth about FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 139 435 perton.” The price must, however, depend on its condition and demand. “Barwood, also for dyeing purposes, in small cleft pieces brings from £2 15s. to £4 Ios. per ton, accord- ing to demand; present value being £3 15s. to 44 258. 6d. per ton. “There may be other woods from that portion of Africa, which would possess a commercial value if imported, but they are not known to us.” Botanists—at least some—give out that camwood and barwood are obtained from the Baphia nitida- The different colouring given in description, the great difference of prices per ton, would make one inclined to differ, or to question whether accurate and reliable information has reached us. I see the French give to barwood the name Ptero- carpus angolensis ; and to camwood, Baphia laurifolia. If, however, it has been satisfactorily proved that Baphia nitida is the tree; why then is it not allowed to age? or why are the natives so shortsighted as not to promote the export of camwood, with a pecuniary return ten times as much as is obtained for barwood? I don’t think it has been yet clearly explained what botanically is barwood and what camwood. Camwood is used for dyeing light browns, as in. tweeds ; and in Sheffield barwood is used for knife handles. Redwood comes chiefly from Old Calabar, gives a stronger colour than barwood,and is worth a little more. 140 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. VIII. CoTTON.—Cotton is to be found wild all along this Coast. In some places it is cultivated, but rather for local use than for export. The low prices for the past few years—in fact, since the American War—realised in the European markets for West African cotton have militated against the demand for the article, and ‘consequently there has not been the same attention turned to its development as might be expected from what should prove to be a rich and extensive field for supply. Again, intertribal wars, slave-hunting, and cattle- lifting raids—the present curses of West Africa, and the main obstacles now against its development and opening up—have much to account for as regards the backwardness of the cultivation of cotton, indeed of other articles, the quantities of which might otherwise multiply themselves. The high prices obtained for cotton during the American War proved a great incentive to the native growers and native buyers, especially in the cotton- growing country of Crepee bordering the Upper Volta and its neighbours on the Gold Coast, and in the Yoruba country behind Lagos. Great exertions were then put forth by merchants, and cotton gins FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 14t and other machinery were introduced. It was some- what a case of “making hay while the sun shone.” The death of the American War, the consequent return to cheap rates there, of supply and purchase: that prevailed before its outbreak, the proportionately low prices offered locally, the devastating cruel raids. in 1868-9 of the Ashantees over the country of the Crepees—the most agricultural people there—and the then blockade of its upper Volta River, stand forth as reasons for the present state of the cotton trade in the Gold Coast Colony. West African raw cotton (Gossypium herbaceum ?). is imported chiefly, first from the Colony of Lagos, secondly from the Portuguese Possessions, and thirdly from the Gold Coast Colony, as will be found in the explanatory tables that follow. It would appear that the Lagos cotton, the plant of which is indigenous, is brownish in colour, rough and. short in style, and therefore does not command the: higher prices. Now, on the contrary, the cotton of the Portuguese Possessions, to wit Angola, is white, silky, and of good length in staple. When properly prepared it is as valuable as American: it is supposed to be naturalized American (Gossypium barbadense). Western Africa, especially our Colonies, has. become a home for many alien plants: why should not the best cotton be there naturalized, and thus. reduce our demand on foreign markets ? 142 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. The same reasons, if we substitute Dahomey for Ashantee, and add the intertribal wars now happily approximated to a close by the Government of Lagos, that have gone on for years in the Yoruba Kingdom, and have militated so much against its development and commercial progress, explain the past depression in this industry in the Colony of Lagos. I was glad to find, in 1885, that a long-established and prominent house of West African notoriety, Messrs. Swanzy, took the lead in the Gold Coast Colony in the matter of the development of the Volta Valley export cotton trade. They had and have a grand inlet and outlet in the Volta River, and deserve every encouragement and success. They intended to utilize the force of the river, and divert some of it towards the working of suitable machinery which they exported to the Gold Coast. Their endeavours find favourable support in the statistics of export in this article from the Gold Coast, inclusive of Lagos, which from 1878 to 1885 were as follows :— Article. Year. Quantities, Value. . Cwts. at 1878 35534 9,810 1879 646 1,678 1880 260 691 Cotton, raw rae pes 32223 ? se 1882 3,654 10,672 1883 4,014 10,395 1884 5,671 13,926 1885 2,600 6,166 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 143 Of the above, there reached the United Kingdom from the Colony of Lagos and the circumjacent countries :— Article. Year. Quantities. Value. 4 1881 1,093 pkgs. 3,646 1882 3,000 ,, 8,103 Cotton, raw » . 1883 415,254 cwts. 10,419 1884 520,414 4, 11,454 1885 278,850 ,, 5,797 Against the foregoing, and in addition to local cotton manufactures, there were imported into Lagos from the United Kingdom cotton goods of the under- mentioned values :— 188r. 1882. 1883. 1884. 1885. & £ 4 & & 102,034. 188,069 230,680 225,112 193,782 In the French Possessions along this Coast grants of land are given on the condition that cotton is cultivated. In the vicinity of the Settlements on the Gambia— the export trade from which is at present very small, but could be considerably enlarged—the people of Cayor, Dualo, Fouta and Galam cultivate somewhat this shrub, while in the kingdom of Bondou planta- tions are extensive. The Settlements on the Gambia should be able to 144 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. compete with the Gold Coast and Lagos in the matter of cultivation and export trade in this article. If it will pay to buy and ship cotton to European markets from ports thousands of miles further off, it would surely pay to do the same from those Possessions. From the Gambia and Sierra Leone there has been no export worthy of separate mention in the raw material; but I must not omit to mention that behind the latter and up the Gambia River proceeds an im- portant and extensive manufacture of the cotton of the country, in the shape of rich country cloths, fine specimens of which were seen in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. The currency of the River Gambia is also represented in this manufacture. I may here add that in the year, viz. 1885, when I left those Settlements there were, in the mercantile houses of Bathurst, country cloths of currency to the value of over £60,000. Such an exceptionally large stock was due to the failures of the crops in ground nuts, and to the unsettled state of the country consequent on the Baddiboo and other wars prevailing. Superior cloths, on indigo-dyed cotton foundation, of various and quaint patterns in silk and wool, are also made by the Volofs, who have learnt the art from the Moors. This Gambian industry admitted, in addition to supply for home consumption, of an export in pagns to the value of £480 in 1883, and of £2,742 in 1884. Again, in such manufactures, a considerable native FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 145 industry proceeds around Lagos which should admit, in time, in addition to the supply of local wants, of a considerable export. In 1883 and 1884, against like imports to the value of £1021 and £480, there were sent out free of duty from that Colony to the Wind- ward and Leeward Coasts, and to Brazil, pagns worth 47,403 and £6,822. The primitive hand-loom in use among the natives is what has come for centuries to them from their ancestors, and is capable of improvement to their advantage. It deserves attention. The nearer the coast line, the easier is it to procure European stuffs, and hence the same necessity does not exist for an extended cultivation of the cotton shrub ; yet I found that in certain parts, especially in Yoruba and in the Gambia, Mahommedan natives preferred for their tobes the home-made article, viz., the cloth loomed from the cotton thread of the country, which can bear the wear and tear of use for years. To arrive at some estimate of supply and demand, we must pit against the foregoing statistics the imports from the United Kingdom into West Africa of cotton manufactured, with the direction they take. And we must bear in mind that the largest supply of the raw material for these manufactures reaches the United Kingdom from the United States of America, from plantations the output of which has been dependent in the main on the labour of Negroes freed from the slavery to which they before were condemned. Why L * 146 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. cannot Negroes in their own countries do likewise ? Such information is afforded in the following Table :-— Cotton MANUFACTURED, PIECE Goops PLAIN. Year. Countries. Quantities. Value. Yards. b 88 West Africa, Foreign . 14,005,000 127,707 TOG2 », British . 16,612,400 171,485 88 West Africa, Foreign . 19,535,400 177,660 tong re > British . 22,896,200 232,006 188 West Africa, Foreign . 20,598,200 193,882 a » British . 21,851,400 222,372 188 fstest Africa, Foreign . 16,352,300 142,634 5 55 » British . 15,082,700 149,581 COTTON MANUFACTURED, PIECE Goops PRINTED. Year. Countries. Quantities. Value. Yards. L 1882 oe Africa, Foreign. | 30,185,100 430,117 >» British . 22,183,100 325,044 188 fe Africa, Foreign . 41,688, 100 604,790 3 >, British . 21,999,000 314,429 188 oo Africa, Foreign . 38,211,600 546,590 4 > British . 25,309,900 358, 692 1885 c Africa, Foreign . 25,698, 100 340,400 ” » British . 16,611,300 221,475 CoTTON MANUFACTURED, UNENUMERATED. Year. Countries. Quantities. Value. Yards. L 1882 West Africa, Foreign . gas 55438 > British . sce . ‘est Africa, Foreign . ae 4, 87 I 1883 His 95 ” British fi = : West Africa, Foreign . sti 13,440 1884 s ” British ‘ sia . 4 West Africa, Foreign . me 16,786 1885 ee 35 ” British é ere oe 1883. Piece goods of mixed materials, cotton predominating, to W. A. (British) 220, 100 yards, £7,597. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 147 From the Portuguese Possessions the exports for the past eight years in this article have been :— Article. | Year. | Quantities. | Value. Cwts. L | 1878 . | Se 1879 2 es 1880 954 2,722 1881 295 1 840 Cotton, raw . 1882 339 i 8354 1883 aA | ss 1884 1,119 2,973 1885 1,830 | 4,648 And from West Coast of Africa (not particularly designated) for a like period they were represented as follows :-— Article. Year. Quantities. Value. Cwts. L 1878 137 595 1879 72 195 ‘Cotton, raw 5 + 1880 25 69 1881 143 420 1882 90 247 But for the later years no separate mention has been given in view of insignificance of supply. 148 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. IX. Cacao, ETC.—Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and Cacao (Theobroma cacao) grow well along this coast—especially is this proved in the neighbourhood of the Gaboon, where the Roman Catholic Mission is doing much good in industrial education in this line. The British Possessions in West Africa, in the matter of the export of this article therefrom to the United Kingdom, are noticeable by their absence from the ‘Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom, &c.;’ whereas particulars of the imports into the mother-country, undér ‘Cacao from West Africa, Foreign, are included in the following table :— Year. Articles. Countries whence imported. Quantities. | Value. ‘Tbs. £ 1885 Cacao From West Africa, Foreign | 202,369 | 5,027 1884 » >» » d» 231,987 | 5,818 1883 29 29 9 39 294,040 6,165 1882 a2 a2 23 a9 188,628 4,173 1881 3) 2 a 39 213,719 4,744 1880 +2) De ae 2s 180,500 4,779 1879 3D we +? ae 146,378 4,999 1878 a 2? 29 29 185,197 55553 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 149 For this supply we are mainly indebted to the Spanish island of Fernando Po, from which the export of cacao for the like period has been as follows :— Year. Article. Whence. Quantities. Value. Ibs. b 1878 | Cacao . . | Fernando Po sie aed 1879 as ee se a si ous 1880 2» 3 29 103,557 2,742 1881 >» “3 so 72,473 1,683 1882 7? = = ez 98, 105 2,453 1883 o> to 39 2555254 5,407 1884 a x. |Z ie 202,925 5,206 1885 99 oo es 183,423 4,696 For 1878 and 1879 there has been no special mention of this article among its exports. Attempts have been and are being made, but on no great scale, to promote the growth in other parts of West Africa. The energetic and enterprising Herr Vohsen is doing so at Sierra Leone, and Mr. J. P. L. Davies at Lagos. May all success attend their efforts! I have myself grown healthy-looking but seemingly barren shrubs in the grounds of Government House, Lagos. The success in Fernando Po should be an en- couragement to stimulate general effort in the direc- tion of spreading in our West African Possessions the growth of this article. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and pepper (Hadbzelia aromatica, a native of West Africa) appear under 150 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Spices in the Imports from the West Africa Settle- ments into the United Kingdom, and represent industries of importance to the Native as well as European, and capable of considerable expansion. The local growth of the trade, without considering home consumption, in these articles will be observed from the following table of their export to the United Kingdom, where they are admitted free of duty :-— Articles. Year. Quantities. Value. cwts. b (| 1879 11,951 11,098 | 1880 3,142 3,000 1881 645 742 Ginger . 4 1382 4,067 5,004 | 1883 4,600 7,847 1884 6,053 11,971 1885 8,355 13,351 Ibs. 1879 is oes 1880 25,726 643 1881 67,501 1,124 Pepper. « « .4 1882 82,357 2,065, 1883 163,376 4,401 | 1884 140,769 3,097 | 1885 42,944 712 Although the foregoing statistics appear as to locality under the West African Settlements, yet as neither ginger nor pepper come within the exports from the Gambia, these figures must be deemed to apply exclusively to Sierra Leone, where ginger has been grown for some years, and where pepper has developed into an article of export since 1880. So far pepper plantations do not exist. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. I5r In the preparation of ginger, every attention should be extended by the growers to its maturity, cleansing, scraping, and drying. The better and cleaner it is exported, the less must be the cost for freight, and the greater the profit from European markets. I may remark that the form this pepper takes for export is, after being boiled, dried and ground, similar to what we know as “cayenne”: this industry is performed by women and girls, To show the general demand in and through the United Kingdom for these articles, I give hereunder their quantities and values as imports for the past five years :— Article. | Year. Quantities. Value. cwts. 4 1881 27,310 ss 1882 25,485 64,409 Ginger. oS 1883 38,112 100,314 1884 50,358 123, 100 1885 Be TTS 156,172 bs. 1881 20,795,087 i 1882 24,777,174 582,674 Pepper. . = . 1883 31,375,589 839,003 1884 27,876,761 824,374 1885 31,018, 450* 967,781 * Ginger from Foreign countries, 2,052 cwts. ; British Possessions, 80,723 cwts. Pepper from Foreign countries, 63,370 lbs.; from British Possessions, 30,955,080 lbs. It will be seen from the above that a considerable demand exists for these commodities: let West Africa 152 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. endeavour to compete on a larger scale in the matter of supply. Doubtless many capsicums to which India is largely indebted for her exports of pepper could be intro- duced with advantage into West Africa, which can also boast, however, of many species. In these as in other articles of import into the United Kingdom, there is a considerable transit and re-export trade. Again, there is and might be supplied in any quantity the Czdeba Clusii as a substitute for pepper, when the latter is not sufficient in supply to meet European and other wants. In the matter of the competition in ginger trade, I would support the foregoing by remarking that while West African ginger from its inferiority realises but, say, 30s. per cwt., India gets nearly 4os.; while the West Indian ginger, which is the favourite, fetches 60s. and more. There is room, however, for improvement in the growth of this plant, and in its subsequent prepara- tion for the market. Why not introduce West Indian plants? For instructions on the growth of cacao I must refer my readers to the pamphlet of Mr. D. Morris, entitled “Cacao: how to grow and how to cure it.” FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 153 xX. WEST AFRICAN INDIGO.—In certain parts—to my own knowledge up the Gambia River and in the Yoruba country behind Lagos—of West Africa, native indigo-dyeing as an industry is of consider- able extent. The manufacture of indigo might be developed into a profitable export trade. In 1883 I took to England a sample of Yoruba indigo, which was submitted by Mr. Thisselton Dyer, now Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, to Dr. Hugo Miller, F.R.S., Foreign Secretary of the Chemical Society, who reported that it was worth from 4s. to 4s. 6d. per pound as compared with fine Bengal, which was worth from 7s. to 7s. 6d. per pound, My specimen contained a good deal “of earthy matter,” and according to Dr. Miiller, if this could be eliminated in the local manufacture, the return would be worth more. There is a great similarity along West Africa in the modes of the manufacture of indigo. Here I do not allude to the heap of decomposed or fermented leaves of indigo-bearing plants mixed with cow-dung, 154 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. used extensively everywhere for dyeing, but to the extracted dye material, which so far has had as an industry but little growth in West Africa, and is used mostly for mixture with butter from cow’s milk or “Shea” (Butyrospermum Parkii) as a pomatum for colouring grey hair. The world’s vanity, how general it is! The process of extracting the dye material is as follows. In a large country pot, earthenware, of some fifteen gallons, a strong extract of the leaves is made, the water covering them until fermentation sets in. The liquid is then strained off and submitted to a mode of aerating by rapid agitation promoted by taking calabashes full of it in quick succession, and allowing contents to flow back from a height of two or three feet into the pot. After a short time preci- pitation to the bottom of the dye matter in small grains sets in, and when it is concluded that separa- tion has been completed, the water is poured off, and the sediment—indigo—is allowed to set, after which it is mixed with a little gum, when it is made into small shapes, balls, cones, &c. Specimens in this form are obtained from Gambia, Lagos, the Niger, and the Yoruba and Houssa kingdoms. For purposes of dyeing articles—cotton usually, of country manufacture—the cloth is dipped into the extract unaerated, then freely exposed to the air: repeated dippings and drying fix the colour and make it lasting. Where striped or other designs FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 155 are desired, such patterns are secured by hemming up portions on which it is wished that the colour will have less effect: the dye colour is thereby on those parts less deep, and the pattern aimed at secured, These industries, conducted almost entirely by women, are what they have been for centuries, and have remained, as others, undeveloped by contact with civilizing influences: in fact colonization, civilization, europeanization, or whatever name we may apply to the situation, has resulted in contracting the industrial area of this as of other purely native industries, and consequently has done in this direction also more harm than good. We have not allowed ourselves to descend to the situations as we found them, nor endeavoured to make the best of them, nor with all honesty turned to their improvement on lines consistent with the conditions and requirements of the People. Why has foreign competition been such a success- ful rival generally in our own Colonies ? In indigo-yielding plants our knowledge is indeed very contracted, yet a reference to the list appended of economic plants of West Africa will result in an encouraging show of known specimens in the direc- tion of the commercial development of this important industry. In imports from our West African Possessions into the United Kingdom, dye-stuffs are included, but 156 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. classed as unenumerated. ticulars for the last five years :— I hereunder afford par- Whence. | Quantity. Year. Article. Value. Cwts. b : Gold Coast, 1881 | Dye-stuffs, &c. |; inclusive of 18 216 Lagos 1882 a9 £3 1883 es a és ste 1884. oe 55 230 1150 1885 i as =e From Sierra Leone and Gambia there seems to have been no export. In 1885 from the Portuguese Possessions, 1923 cwts. at a value of £4885, were exported. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA, 157 XI, WEST AFRICAN VINE.—I have not touched upon the large imports into West Africa of harmful spirits, wines, liqueurs, &c.; yet West Africa is not without its promise of a development of the grape industry. The grape vine is found wild in various parts. In a letter at Kew Gardens, which I was allowed to use, from Cape Town, 7th December, 1880, it was conveyed that “a French explorer, M. Lecart, at present on the banks of the Niger, writes that he has discovered a new vine, Vztzs macropus, which promises to be of great economical value. The fruit is ex- cellent and abundant ; the cultivation of the plant very easy ; its roots tuberose and perennial. It can be cultivated as easy as the dahlia. He himself had been eating the large grapes of the vine for eight days, and found them excellent; and he suggests that their culture ought to be attempted in all vine- growing countries as a possible remedy against the phylloxera.” Under the Order Ampelideae in the appended list of economic plants will be found several species of Vitis of an edible nature, and doubtless capable of culture with advantage. 158 ‘FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. XII, As regards the Settlements on the Gambia, and of Sierra Leone, the cola nut (seed of the Cola acuminata, Order Sterculiace@) plays a very important part and an increasing game, as the following statistics of Imports into former and Exports from latter Settle- ment will show (pp. 158 and 160) :— CoLa IMPORT TO THE GAMBIA. Year. Articles. a en tae Quantities. Value. . Wind iC packages. Ibs. indward.Coast 375 2 1879 | Cola: Nuts \eewecd Coast 742,580 | 26,520 1880 Nena Coast 9 79 on Leeward Coast 130 & 578,365 | 27,3901 1881 by Leeward Coast 117. & 607,047 | 29,122 1882 ay Leeward Coast 94 & 429,196 | 19,781 1883 iss Sierra Leone IZ & 690,906 | 33,108 88 Sierra Leone & 1504, 9 Goree 591,073 30, 366 Sierra Leone & 1885 o { Leeward Coast! 5265773 | 23,434 The cola nut has not been grown in the Gambia, so that the foregoing statistics represent, it may be said, the entire trade in this seed within and beyond those Settlements. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 159 Although, according to Messrs Heckel and Schlag- denhauffen, this tree is to be found in all the West Coast of Africa comprised between 10° N. L. and 5° S. L.,, yet I was much amused, in making myself conversant with the traditions of the Peoples of the Gambia, 13° N. L., and their views, to find a Mandingo account to me for the absence, in his knowledge, of the cola-tree among their Flora, that his countrymen and their neighbours lied too much to admit of its growth there: a country rich in lies proved, accord- ing to his lights, barren for the cola) Among the Mandingoes, the credit for the introduction into the world of the cola and calabash (Lagenaria vulgaris) is given to one Awesoo Dekarananee of tradition ; they are supposed to have come into existence together : hence when the natives give a present of cola-seeds, they are invariably enclosed in a calabash. With reference to Sierra Leone, however, with a considerable Mohammedan population, connected with a wide-spread Interior also largely Mohammedan, there must be a considerable home consumption and Interior trade which do not affect the above statistical return, so that the figures given may be viewed as representing merely the export trade from that Settle- ment. The cola-nut tree is to be found all along this coast, viz., at Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gold Coast Colony, Niger, Fernando Po, St. Thomas, Prince’s Island, Gaboon, Congo, and the Portuguese Possessions. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 160 0 0 691'fze '-— —— ghhiz | 0 oO OL _ "SP yseq I ‘5 8 4svos prvaioary oo Sz z ‘8 4svod PIV PUTA © 0 o96'S LES SIS EN le OTOL. 4g ee 0 oO SLi‘iz Z9Q‘I BOS Pe Se BIG UB A) 1831 0 0 69€ cf eae at cas» qeaauaS 0 O of £ sot os * ureyg yearn |J “sjoyseq 0 0 zzb‘be 1£E‘z 0 oO OL ssadeyoed | ¢ ‘6 8 4seog premoarT oo If € ‘+ 8 4svog ploy ayy 0 oO ZSb‘t QeI sf 8 es “g9t0%x) |) * ae Oggl 0 oO of £ sf 8 8 8 PeBauag 0 0 66g‘zz vole sh os se eeiquier ssadeyord © 0 o9g'tz Lbb‘z 0 o OF ‘sadvyoed I ‘ + + 4svog pavaoay 0 o For Il "4 48BOD PIVALPUT AA oo gfz Lz ‘+ 8 4svog pron ayy |) * oe 6Lg1 oo gil‘ 6L1 Se we 8 98704) 0 0 O6L‘Iz bee's SP oe se epTgurer) ssadeyoud 0 0 tgh'Se 9gz‘z Bes F oo 6h “syoyseq, vr "of 8 4svod pIvasa’yT oo Lb QI s sof 8 gaiog |} + tsynyy vpog | ger 0 o ggofSz giz‘z : sf 5 eIquies “[eI0y, pes ee “[eIOT, “says ‘one A *satqquengd) *paytodxe yorya 07 sarzyun0d ‘sopqyay “Tea “ANOUT VaddIg WOUd LYOdXY VWIOD 161 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. £ 11 oob cE 0 oO zoo‘ob 0 oO 199'1f 0 o LbSSe eam ooo0000v 0 _* Or Ig! £1 ob Ir €b9 S€ Iz Szz Bog et gt ‘gt mnnoodod eooo00 611 Ler o1 1£$ *6z 19 bb 00000 eoo0o°0 Zz 66h ‘vb go‘ Lz zk zz oo000 ooo0oo0°o oo0o0o0°0 Ss oF oo bez'e *sodeyord ogb sf “syayseq zlite ‘saSuyoud get ‘ze ‘sadeyord ssadeyord ie L6L 9gS‘z be ZI *sqoysugq 9 ese Log ‘z v Z ‘sodeyoed I € 4 £1 199 ‘1 £1 ‘sodexord . ysvod prvMoo'yT of 8 goueiyy * UleIG Jva1y Jsvod pavampul Ar + onbsynyy ‘+ + reyeq [edauag * aar0n : viqurer JStOd PAVMPUT AA ‘8 gart0n 7 “ re BIC Uv) 8) gouayy * ureyag, yor) JSvOD PAVAPUT AA, "+ gator) 8s Bigs) ‘+ TeSouag * uleqgE jue ysvod premooryT JSvOD PAvM PUTA, "6 © gator “ * Biquitey ‘ [edauas Sggu bggt £ggr ZQQI 162 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Sufficient interest is not directed to development of this important article of commerce on the Gold Coast, where it abounds in the inland countries, such as Akim, Croboe, in which it isto be found wild. Insome parts of that Colony cultivation proceeds to a very limited extent. There is a small local trade in the seed, and an export trade mainly with the Colony of Lagos. Attention to its development is indeed small com- pared with what may prove to be the importance and demand for the seed in the future, whether as “ Cola- chocolate,” “Pick-me-ups,’ &c., or, in view of the steady spread of Mohammedanism from N. and E. Africa towards the West, to meet the pro- portionately increasing want by its followers of a stimulant, other than that resulting from the de- grading and degenerating use—more frequently than not in excess—of imported spirit, appropriately called the FIRE-WATER of the white man. It may be well to mention that a considerable export trade in cola is done from Lagos with Brazil, to the extent in value of 42,949 in 1878, and £3,560 in 1882. In 1884, £872; in 1883, 4535. As the transport is effected by sailing vessels, which occupy some time in the run across the Atlantic, although, I understand, with varying loss, it gives hope that the more direct trade with Europe in this article, which it is said is likely to develop to an extent for the adulteration of beer in an unintoxicating direction, and other uses can be prosecuted. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 163 The main difficulty is in keeping the cola fresh, which is locally done for the purposes of trade and interior transport by means of large green leaves of particular species of Sterculiaceze or Ficus, which are used to line and cover the bly (native basket) in which colas are kept. They are also preserved to some small extent in cold water by travellers; but areas likely as not toferment. By retailers, who incur considerable risk in having to open many times their bly—thus exposing somewhat each time to the atmo- sphere the seeds—the practice is resorted to of freshen- ing up the withered seeds by packing them in wet chaff. They are thus at times enabled to deceive the buyers. The cola is used much by the natives in the Portuguese Possessions, where it is eaten with a small piece of ginger in the morning, and according to Monteiro— “A considerable quantity of cola was formerly exported to Rio de Janeiro from Loanda, packed in moist clay or earth to keep it fresh.” This nut was recognised in Niam Niam by Schwein- furth, whose surprise was aroused in seeing it in the Monbuttoo country, where it grows wild and is called by the natives “Nangweh,” who are accustomed to chew it in the intervals of their smoking. In Bornou, as a spice it was worth its weight in silver. On it then Schweinfurth remarked: “I went on to say that it confirmed my impression that the Welle was identical with the river Baghirmy, called the 2 164 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Shary; and that this nut accordingly came to me like a key to a problem that I was seeking to solve.” * West Africa must therefore not expect a continuance of the enjoyment of a local monopoly in the trade of this much-prized seed; for it must be prepared to expect and receive, as regards home consumption, all invasions from Central and Central-East Africa ; and, in the matter of the development of an export trade to European countries or elsewhere, Jamaica would seem to promise to rank among fields of supply and to combat for a place among countries competing, as in Kew Report 1882 will be found from Mr. Morris on that island as follows :— “This (the cola nut) is very plentifully distributed throughout Jamaica; having, probably like the AKEE (Blighia sapida) and other West African plants, been introduced by slave ships. If necessary, several tons of the nuts could be shipped every year.” Besides, we must bear in mind the result of the very general distribution of the seed for planting purposes that has proceeded and does proceed from the Royal Gardens, Kew, in the direction of Calcutta, Singapore, Ceylon, West Indies, Java, United States of America, Canada, Labuan, &c. In the Lancet of the 8th April, 1882, there will be found an interesting article on Cola, Gourou or Ombémé nut, embodying the result of an analysis of * «Heart of Africa,’ FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 165 the seed by MM. Ed. Heckel and Fr. Schlagden- hauffen, “who have found that they do actually contain more caffein than the best samples of coffee that could be procured, and that this base is altogether free and uncombined—not therefore, as in the coffee- berry, united with an organic base; secondly, that they contain a very appreciable quantity of theo- bromine,* which assists the action. of caffein and possesses similar properties to that base; thirdly, which is an important fact, that they contain a con- siderable quantity of glycose,t of which cacao presents no trace ; fourthly, that the quantity of starch present is three times greater than that contained in theo- broma, which explains its nutritive value; fifthly, that there is but little fat, in which respect it differs notably from cacao; and lastly, that they contain a special form of tannin, which approximates caffeo-tannic acid in its composition, and a red colouring matter, very similar to that named Payen cacao-red.” “The physiological examination of this substance has shown that its properties are essentially due to the caffein and theobromine it contains.” “The seeds, it appears, have long been used in Soudan and Western Africa for the relief or cure of diseases of intestine and liver, and especially in cases of atony of the digestive tract ; also as a masticatory * Theobromine—alkaloid of Theobroma cacao—a plant of same order as cola nut. { Grape sugar. 166 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. or tonic, like the Areca nuts, which are held in such high esteem by the natives of India. Medically they may come to occupy a prominent place by the side of coca and other antimetabolic remedies, to which they would probably prove superior in consequence of the tannin they contain.” From the interesting pamphlet by Messrs. Edward Heckel and Fr. Schlagdenhauffen, under the title ‘Des kolas africains au point de vue botanique, chimique et thérapeutique, published in 1884, for a copy of which I am indebted to Herr Ernst Vohsen, Consul for the German Empire at Sierra Leone, the conclusions arrived at by those gentlemen I give in extenso: I. La noix de kola contient 2,348 de cafeine. La proportion des autres principes constitutifs se trouve inscrite dans le tableau qui résume nos dosages (p. 39). L’alcaloide existe dans la graine a l’état libre et peut étre enlevé en totalité 4 ’aide du chloroforme. II. On peut, au moyen de l’addition successive de chlore et d’ammoniaque, reconnaitre 000006 de caféine en solution aqueuse. En laissant macérer la graine dans l’eau froide, on ne parvient 4 extraire que le +, du poids de I’alcaloide qui y est contenu. III, La macération de la poudre de noix de kola ne la prive pas de la totalité de son tannin, de sorte que l’on ne peut pas se servir de ce procédé opéra- toire pour enlever a la substance son Apreté ct la transformer en un produit alimentaire agréable, FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 167 IV. Les préparations pharmaceutiques de la noix de kola telles que extrait de vin, teinture, n’enlévent pas ala matiére la totalité de son principe actif, en raison de la faible solubilité de la caféine dans les divers véhicules employés a cet effet. V. La noix de kola torréfiée perd, comme le café, une certaine proportion de son alcaloide. VI. Il est facile de déceler la caféine dans les noix fratches, mais il ne nous a pas été possible de démontrer sa présence dans les feuilles, l’écorce et le bois en raison de la faible quantité de matitre (5 gr.) dont nous pouvions disposer pour faire ces essais, VII. La teneur en caféine de la noix de kola est supérieure a celle des thés de provenances diverses et des cafés commerciaux. La proportion d’alcaloide est supérieure a celle de la théobromine contenue dans le cacao, VIII. En comparant la noix de kola avec le café, le thé et le cacao au point de vue de leur richesse en principe azoté, chimiquement défini et cristallisable, cest a la noix de kola que revient le premier rang. IX. Les effets physiologiques de la noix de kola sont les mémes que ceux de la caféine pure. X. Le kola male, ou faux kola, ne contient pas de caféine. XI. La basicité de la caféine est difficile 4 démon- trer. Les oxydants constituent les meilleurs réactifs de cet alcaloide ; nous en avons indiqué quelques-uns 168 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. qui, jusqu’a present, avaient échappé a l’attention des chimistes, Malegré les formules rationnelles admises par les chimistes pour la fixation de la constitution de Valcaloide, on ne peut, jusqu’a présent, se rendre compte de la maniére dont s’effectue sa transforma- tion sous l’influence des divers réactifs. XII. Le kola vrai est un antidéperditif au plus haut degré et un reconstituant énergique par son amertume et son astringence dans les cas de trouble profonds des organes digestifs. Il prend place en thérapeutique bien au-dessus du mateé, de la cocca et du paullinia. I would add that a translation of part of the above quoted Pamphlet, taken from the ‘Pharmaceutical Journal,’ and some further interesting data appear in Mr. T. Christy’s No.8: ‘New Commercial Plants and Drugs ’—a series to which I would invite the special attention of planters and consumers. To him I must record my indebtedness for the help he has from time to time afforded me in the consideration of my subject. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 169 XIII. ‘TOBACCO (according to Humboldt derived from the Haytian name for the pipe in which it is smoked), as per the following table (p. 170), which affords statistics between the United Kingdom and West Africa, exclusive of the direct trade in this commodity from United States of America, Brazil, Germany, as also from the Canaries, is only remarkable by its import into West Africa, where, if the plant be not indigenous, it has certainly become a naturalised African product, and in consequence deserves every attention locally. These statistics only embrace particulars of Euro- pean trade, both foreign and British. There is, however, a large direct trade done in this article regularly between Germany, Brazil and the United States of America, and West Africa. It must not be overlooked that for’ the steady supply in the direction of our Colonies of unmanu- factured tobacco, the United Kingdom is mainly dependent on foreign countries, represented chiefly by the United States of America (from which is obtained WVicotiana tabacunt, &c.), Japan, Holland, and FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 170 {pL ‘zor ; 26S 'obg‘E 10) °QI z9S ‘or . *ysng ee 26 “c i a brg‘tg 066'6z6%z| * ustiaog ‘* ce “ ' Sgr E28 ‘Sg eae zOL‘SLO‘E I rfl sScS . . ysqug ce ce eé 3 ay o61 ‘zh 1ghoSS‘z| + us10oq << ce “ : bggi goo‘zz1 ee 6eb zlib ‘CI Lo€‘ooS ° +ysnug « « ce : . $19‘601 zz1‘zlo‘e| * usieiog ‘< a ‘e i Eger 110601 F o$g'109‘£ 59 ‘Er 1S‘see | * cysnug ‘¢ coe : - PSE ‘G6 6z¢ “agz‘€ * uB1I0g “se 66 6c ; ZQSt Loo‘€g eae | gir‘Lgz‘¢ OOF goriece | * “usnug ff ee ‘ « d19‘h zS6‘Fgo'€] * usteiog =‘ f a tet i 18gt zg ‘og ; $66 ‘gf b‘¢ : zzg‘ € §z0 . . ysnig ee ee ce P an fz ‘64 oe ‘g|- uBrei0qg ff ee “6 : Oggt 983‘9g |——-———| £g9‘6SE‘E S148 oge‘see | * ‘usm =‘ ab. ath i : i 6Lg1 TAr‘gh Ezb'bzo'z| * useioqg ‘‘ “ “ 8 £b9‘L6 oSz‘oz€‘€ gt ‘or poz‘ofg | * “usnug * te SE VES. FO paaMSE Lgt 69z°18 gho'bgg'z| * usdta10,g ‘eoryY Jo JsvoD JsaQy | U-nuvutUN ‘oodeqGoL 848 ‘T2I0T, ¥ ‘e107, “sql “OTE *saqqqUEN?d *payiodxa yotyar 07 sarayuno0d “sajna “189K ‘WOGONIY GALINQ FHL NOT FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 171 Java (outcome of Negro work again), Turkey, China and Germany. In most of our Possessions tobacco will thrive, develop and refine in course of culture. India and the West Indies have put forth endeavours of rich promise: West Africa is ready to do likewise: why should we not further extend the development of this industry, and reduce thus our dependence on foreign countries ? Since 1878 there has been in the United Kingdom an import duty of 3s. 6d. per lb. on every 100 lbs. of manufactured tobacco containing 10 lbs. or more of moisture: and on a like quantity, containing less moisture, 3s. 10d. per Ib. There will be found at the end of this chapter (pp. 178, 179), the imports for four years of the above article as regards each British Settlement on the West Coast, and the main directions of supply. I have seen species of this plant in an uncultivated and uncared-for state in the interior districts of the Gold Coast, and Lagos Colonies, as also in the West African Settlements, where the natives prefer for smoking the imported cured tobacco. Mention of a like nature is made in an interesting paper, ‘On the District of Akém in West Africa,’ read in 1876 before the Royal Geographical Society of England by Captain J. Shaw Hay, at present Administrator of the Gambia, who says, “The tobacco plant grows wild in rank luxuriance untended 172 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. and unused, the natives purchasing from the Coast for their own consumption supplies of the prepared leaf sent from America.” It is the experience of the Rev. F. Ch. Dieterle of the Basel Mission, which prosecuted on the Aquapim Hills of the Gold Coast for a certain time a tobacco industry, that “if any one would try to grow tobacco in great quantity he must take care not to plant it too soon in the year, for if the leaves get ripe for gathering during the first or second rainy season, many will get rotten on the stalk, as the ribs of the leaves are too watery, so it is advisable to sow the seed not before June, so that the tobacco may be ripe for plucking at the end of the second rainy season and at the begin- ning of the harmattan, that is, in November and December.” On the growth of tobacco in the vicinity of the Upper Gambia and Upper Niger, the late Winwood Reade addressed the Director of Kew Gardens as follows in December 1869 :— “I enclose in this letter a flower of the native tobacco (icotzana rustica), It is grown only in the interior—never, that I am aware of, near the coast. This may be owing to either of two reasons— “1, Difference of soil. Wherever I have seen this tobacco, the vegetation has points of difference and contrast with that near the coast. For instance, the palm-oil tree does not grow on the same soil with this tobacco. It is a higher and drier locality. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 173 “2, But it must be remarked that American tobacco is preferred to this country tobacco (called ‘tankera’), and that may account for its not being grown near the coast. This ‘tankera’ is cultivated. It is grown in Fonta Djallon, Wassalow, in fact along the Upper Niger from its source, or very near it, to Sego. This to my knowledge. But its area is probably immense. Mixed with potash it is used as snuff, sometimes smoked. “Tshould mention that snuff of alien manufacture is not cared for nor much used by the natives, although they make their own from imported leaf tobacco, In the Gambia, the ground dried leaf is mixed with ashes (alkali) called Kata, made from the BANANA or PLAN- TAIN. Snuff appears to be extensively used both by males and females, but it is used in the mouth instead of in the nose; it is not, however, swallowed. “‘In view of the many small available cultivators among the natives who could ill afford and not well, at present, understand waiting for a return, and who might be encouraged in tobacco growth and culti- vation, it would seem to be more advisable for the general trade and for themselves if the crop could be disposed of in its green state to any speculating Company or Firm, on whom might devolve with pecuniary advantage the preparation of the raw material for the local and other markets.” In the Canary Islands, where the tobacco industry had to be resorted to after the cochineal pined, it was 174 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. encouraged in its infancy by the Spanish Government by the promise of the purchase of the tobacco grown in those islands. Prospects held out do not seem to have been realised to the extent anticipated, and hopes are now entertained of the increase and im- ‘provement of the industry by the purchase locally in green state of the crops. On the subject Vice-Consul Miller wrote on the Trade and Commerce in 1881 of Los Palmas :— “Tobacco is another product which is progressing ‘by slow degrees, and the quality is gradually im- proving.” The best way to increase the culture of this article, observes Mr. Miller, is to buy it in its green ‘state from the growers, so that the small producers who cannot afford to wait the time required for its preparedness may thus have an opportunity of con- ‘verting it into cash as soon as they cut the leaf, for which purpose a drying-house is being constructed. A tobacco industry, in an unmanufactured and a manufactured sense, proceeds somewhat in Fernando Po, where seed has been imported from the Canaries, and has been found to answer. Twisted tobacco is there prepared by those who have been transported from Cuba. The want of proper drying-houses seems there also to be felt. In Bentley and Trimen, ‘Medicinal Plants,’ p. 191, vol. iii, it will be found stated of the habitat of the Nicotiana tabacum :—“ There is no doubt that the tobacco is a native of some part of South or Central FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 175 America, but the precise country of its origin cannot now be determined. Martius considered it introduced in Brazil, and it is nowhere known in a truly wild state.” These views are supported by the experience in the tropical part of the continent of Dr. Schweinfurth, who in his ‘Heart of Africa’ states: “It is a great indi- cation of the foreign origin of this plant* that there is not a tribe from the Niger to the Nile which has a native word of their own to denote it.” He further has stated : “Its introduction and growth found its way into the Old World since the discovery of America.” Virginia tobacco, he found, in Niam-niam, “ called Eh Tobboo, its name betraying its American origin.” In his conclusions I find Dr. Schweinfurth is also, so far as I have been able to gather, supported along the West Coast. The following information on the names in different West African languages and dialects by which tobacco is known may be here inserted with interest. In Mandingo, éabak ; in Bambara, a dialect of Mandingo, smoking tobacco is called tambudakha or didakha, while that used for snuff, s¢va or dolz ; in Sérére or Kasink, fabaka ; in Sarakholé or Soninke, tankoror ; in Jola, abaka; in Manjago, tobako; in Laobé, tankoro ; in Foulah (Peul or Phoul, &c.) its people * Two kinds, the Virginian tobacco (Wécotiana tabacum) and the common (.V. 7zs¢ica). 176 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. and the Toucoleurs plant it and call it zazkoror, while imported (or white man’s) tobacco they designate seemay ; in the Asante and Fante language, Zada ; in Houssa it is called zada; in Yoruba, tada—in which African tobacco is styled akzra, and that from Brazil, dzuku. We may fairly conclude that the introduction into West Africa of the tobacco, as of other plants, such as corn (Zea mays), ground-nut (Arachis hypogea, &c.), was a sequence of the past slavery, carried along the return stream of that horrid traffic, from the New into the Old World—a small return indeed for the cruelties and deprivations perpetrated on Africa. A return direct import from Brazil and the United States now proceeds in an article which slave-hunting introduced into the African Continent, where it is perhaps instinctively treated with contempt, for its cultivation has been generally ignored, with few ex- ceptions; and the growth from the hands of the descendants of the Negroes who were robbed from Africa and condemned to promote the future of the two Americas in the room of their aborigines, who also were so basely treated by Southern Europe, is to this day preferred. The imports from the United Kingdom of unmanu- factured tobacco into our West African Colonies may be known from the following :— FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 177 Colonies. Year. Quantities. Value. Ibs. 4 ne 479474 079 1882 | 151,811 3,601 “te ne and 1883 | 236,802 5,855 1884 | 96,849 2,375 1885 | 18,465 459 1881 174,786 4,281 882 83,710 10,056 d f I 39357 205) eee (to end o 1883 | 263,505 6.479 BEOS 1884 | 428,482 10,958 1885 | 698,097 18,442 According to their Blue Books for the years given, the imports of unmanufactured Colonies mentioned will be afforded respectively in the following tabular statement (pp. 178-9) :— tobacco into the FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. ‘eLI9qryT ptiv ‘eouswy 0 O O@'r | oo&'I9 - [ * * ‘ox— “HaQrTy, ‘Sig § ‘hueumey = woy 0 oO IS€‘L1} 6Lo‘1vo‘1 * worauy *S*Q}| Sof‘6gz‘1] * Sf SS & fggr paup ‘juso red 06 Ativan | 0 0 LEZ giz‘bb ‘8 kuvua woy es ae oa es © 0 SoF‘gI] gok*69E‘I] + + vouoUry ‘sip | Egg‘ogh‘1| ‘aucey vars es zggi ‘[r2eig, ‘Aueur 0 0 g6r‘gt} ozr‘9fg | * ‘ox ‘voLIOUTY ‘S'q sax) ‘RoLIOWy “S'Q Woy 0 oO £99'I1| 9Zg‘6LS ‘8 8 paeig?) bro’ggL‘1| * se ss Pggr orp "yuoo sod gf Ativan | 0 oO gE | p69‘S1r | + + + suemay 2 "eOLIIWy 0 0 698g | Sdi‘ofz | + + vonoury ‘sq ‘S'f) pur Auewiag wo ih a ‘ot + praeig} 616%ozh | * ee ‘ Eggr pomp ‘yuso wd 1g 1AQ 10 0 £16'1 | of1‘99 sof 8 fueusay ‘Auvwiay pe 0 0 96121] LL6‘SoE * wouoUy a 7 a ad pue voloUly “S'Q, Woy é 4 ahaa 611 ‘bs * ysvog ploy ZQBI yoamp ‘yuaa sad og asQ}/° ° TIb‘T | ggd‘ot ee ‘eOLIIWY ‘S'AQ) pur 0 0 gzg‘t | 6bz% 191 * 929 ‘voreULy ‘S'. ‘(avig ‘Auvuuen woy Oo PLSSE |) gcbsSdt | + + + + qeigs) gzgitbL | + + et ee $ggr pamp ‘juao sad o$ 1349 | 0 0 bzg‘t | Pgz‘gq so Kew ‘eOLIOULY ‘*S'Q) pur 0 0 g6o%z | ¥S6%101 | + ‘oxy ‘vomaUYy ‘S'h “izerg ‘Auvwsexn woy 0 0 gghih | ogg’gSt | + + + + qaergs} LEg‘ELS | * + es oe fggt p~aip ‘juss sod Of AQ | 0 O ggg‘t | zOS‘zg sh 8 Kuewrasy ‘woLUY *S'() pu 0 0 6bg*€ | c6g'zgt | + + vonoWYy ‘sq *pamjovy ‘eig ‘Auvuiien woy O 0 126°€ | foe‘vor | + + + + qerg}} Ezd'ceL | + + sodey |)-nuewun Hzger yorp ‘yueo rod of AfwaN | 0 O Ife‘) gor'rSr fs + + kuews1y ooorqoy Pps F 2G] “sq *syTBWIOYL anqeA ‘santjuend *Ayureur suey Ay “110, “panied xa epHyrTy 6 [rea yoryar 07 Auojod, 179 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. fqp aod ‘ps ‘fuojoy sosvy fC +qy rd srg ‘Kup: ysvo;) plog—! syroduat yons uo saroyfoy sv saxey adivyo satucjoy asayy, 4 *ODILGO) URIPIZVIG SSajIqNod » ‘qp aod ‘pe ferquiesy ¢-qy rad ‘yg ‘auoary vrsats wo ‘yuaa rad ob Apivapt *eoLIOWy } ‘SQ woy ye Apron woy ‘jua9 aod Sg Apivan (‘sorsteys "VIMIWY 'S'—) S9aI0F) VIA [Izeig ‘soutI,T Woy pap *yusa aad $g 19AQ ‘eOMIWIY ‘Sy pue ‘fueurag ‘aa105 VIA [Izeig ‘aourIg woly yop ‘yusa rad og 39AQ ‘WOLIaULY ‘S'Q, WOIy paimp ‘yuaa rad og aA CIMOWY ‘S'Q woy ye Apvay oo000 oo £oL‘t 0 o £€€'bz II 61 Szg‘ry b or go9‘t or € ze‘ Auojo9 1svod oO oO oO oo oO oO oO 0000 oOo Ziz‘z zSb'1 zh brg't 6S1‘1 Tees 6£0'1 16 ‘z OSh‘e 608 ‘gz of SzS ‘ok bot ‘€L6 zSh6L2S S£0‘gor gbz ‘gob POD ul £gq‘zer gf 1 ‘Lg 10€ ‘€P Sog ‘oll rLL°re ogz ‘ff1 S62 ‘zg zbo‘zg g6g ‘zt 665 *go09 ‘I 1L‘1P? popnpouy) . * vouawy 'S'n rom ‘vouaWy ol Ox 6 * (youat gq) aa10F 880d PIEMpUT A vouowy ‘S'n, gIh‘igt 903 ‘9gz0 ‘I oS eg * Auer) vououry *S*() bg ‘SEL ‘1 Log ‘60€ * gasory sours yy * Auvurasy bLg‘zo$ ROUOWy = aouv. yy woe "SLY Gor ‘org ta voLoWy aa oe * kwewss + viquien4 ‘auoaT vari} * ysvog plont sosvy 4 viquivy Sggt 5981 Sggi Sgg1 regi €ger ZQQt bor co 180 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. XIV. NEXT, turning to the subject of Fibres, West Africa presents, even from our very limited knowledge of its economic botany, a rich field for development. Take the Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata), or Monkey-bread, so plentiful along Western Tropical Africa. The banks of the River Gambia are studded with it: its weird-like headless form is to be seen there by thousands. The natives use its bark as fibre, its pounded fresh green leaves as /a/o, and its fruit they eat, while the seeds thereof are used medicinally. In the Kew Report, 1876, the Director of the Royal Gardens records that “paper manufacturers speak with one consent of the magnificent qualities of the bark of this tree. The only drawback to its use is the apparent impossibility of introducing it into the English market in sufficiently large quantities to make it commercially important. Notwithstanding what is stated of the slowness of its growth, I am still of opinion that more might be done in pro- moting its cultivation in India and other tropical countries.” Its cultivation need not for some years have to be FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 181 resorted to in Gambia and other parts of West Africa; the baobab grows in wild and weird luxuriance ; and the few shipments of its fibre that have been effected from the former satisfactorily rewarded, in a monetary sense, the exporters. There are also the so-called Aloes of West Africa, of the order Amarylledacee, among which are mentioned as recorded, according to the ‘Flora Nigritiana, “the Hemanthus multiforus, Mart. and Nodd, from Sierra Leone; AH cruentatus, Schum and Thonn, from Guinea, very probably the same species; Crinum purpurascens, Herb, from Fernando Po; C. Broussoneti, Herb, and C. distichum, Herb, from Sierra Leone; C. petiolatum spectabile, Herb, from St. Thomas; Amaryllis nivea and A. trigona, Schum and Thonn, from Guinea, both evidently Crina, and possibly the same as some of Herbert’s species; and lastly, Gethyllis pilosa, Schum and Thonn, which from the description must be a Cur- culigo, or some allied plant.” Then in the fibre-yielding Dracenas and Aloes (Liliaceze) there is a grand field for development. According to the ‘Flora Nigritiana, the published West Tropical African species are—Urginea Sene- galensis, Kunth, Senegal; Chlorophytum tnornatum, Ker, and C. orchidastrum, Lindl., Sierra Leone; Allium Guineense, Schum and Thonn, Oruithogatum ensifolium, Schum and Thonn, Aloe picta, Thunb. and Sanseviera Guineensis, Willd., all from Guinea. 182 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Dracena fragrans, Ker, from Sierra Leone and Guinea; D. ovata, Ker, from Sierra Leone, and Dianella triandra, Afz., from Sierra Leone. I must briefly allude to the Screwpine family (Pandanacee), which is extensive in West Africa, but of which seemingly little is known. The epidermis from the leaves is much used, as is the case with many palms, for mats and like work. Of this family I may mention the Fanjahnee (Mandingo) of the Gambia, or the self-fire-consuming tree, as the natives consider it, and as its vernacular name implies. This tree favours much the Pandanus tilts, and is to be found in the neighbourhood of fresh water. I have seen it in quantities in the Upper Gambia. The natives assert that the fruit when matured bursts, spontaneous combustion follows, and the result is fire desolation to the site. No Mandingo would have such a tree in his compound, viewing it as more treacherous than a fire-stick. It is open for consideration whether jute cultiva- tion might not also, with monetary advantage, be undertaken successfully in our Possessions. The low-lying lands that are to be found bordering the vast inland waterways along the West Coast offer suitable and rich sites. In Kew Report for 1881 will be found the following from a commercial report, by Mr. Victor Drummond to the Foreign Office, April 7, 1881 :— “Tt is now about ten years since the American FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 183 Department of Agriculture became at all interested in the subject of growing Indian jute upon American soil. Seed was distributed in 1870, and experiments conducted in the Southern States. The result has shown that the plant can be profitably grown ‘ where- ever in the Southern States there is a hot, damp climate, and a moist soil of sandy clay or alluvial mould,’”—conditions to be found at all the low-lying sites bordering or adjacent to inland waterways in West Africa. Tiliacee is represented by Professor Oliver as an extensive Order, especially abundant in the Tropics. “The bark in many of these plants is very fibrous ; even in the herbaceous species the fibre is important, as in the case of ‘jute,’ the product of some species of Corchorus. The same fibrous character is present to a notable extent in the fruit of some species. Many of them abound in mucilaginous juice.”—Oliver’s ‘Flora of Tropical Africa,’ vol. i, p. 240. And on the Corchorus olitorius of this Order he says: ‘Wild or cultivated as a pot herb in every part of Tropical Africa, and also widely diffused throughout the Tropics, extending even into Australia. It varies considerably in stature, form of leaf, hairi- ness, &c. The valuable fibre known as jute is derived from this and allied species.” In the consideration of the question of the develop- ment of a more extended fibre export, I have been enlightened much by the Report of the Commercial 184 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Conferences held in the Imperial Court of the Indian Section of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition (1886), and endeavour here to apply to West Africa the experience gained therefrom, in the hope of bringing about there such developments as have been deemed worthy of attention in India and elsewhere. In the Conferences referred to, special notice (extracts follow, lettered A, B,C, D) was directed to the fibres suitable for textile purposes of the following :— A. Sida rhombifolia, (Found from Senegambia to the Congo. “A very variable plant, widely diffused throughout the Tropics.”—Oliver’s ‘Tropical Africa.’) B. Hibiscus cannabinus. (“Cultivated for the sake of its fibre in most parts of Africa.”—Oliver.) B. Hibiscus esculentus. (Okra West Africa as an article of food ; might be developed to any extent.) C. Bauhinia Vahlit. (According to Oliver, the Bauhinia is a large Tropical genus; and of the ZB. articulata: “the bark yields a tough fibre.’”’) D. Eriodendron anfractuosum. (Found from Sene- gambia to the Congo: the silk cotton tree: large imports into Holland, Belgium, Germany, from the Dutch Indies, proceed in this article, called Aapok, for filling beds, mattresses, upholstery generally—uses which have prevailed from time immemorial among the natives of West Africa.) D. Cochlospermum Gossypium. (A genus found generally along West Africa.) commonly grown in FORESTRY OF IVEST AFRICA. 185 D. Calotropis gigantea. (The Order is said to widely inhabit the Tropics.) a. “A very strong opinion was pronounced in favour of its substitution for many of the finer purposes to which ¥ute has been applied in recent years. The samples shown were only three or four feet long, while jute may often be found as much as fifteen feet. It was thought that if under cultivation Sida could be made to approximate nearer to jute in this respect, a very great future would open for it immediately. The fibre could be produced on the same field and by the same cultivators as jute, and for the same, or nearly the same, price.” &. “ Were pronounced superior to sunn-hemp (C7o- talaria juncea”—a large genus spread throughout the Tropical Regions of both hemispheres, with its head-quarters in Tropical Africa——Oliver’s ‘ Tropical A frica.’) c. “ When bleached it is found to be a bright silky and woolly character, highly adaptable for admixture with wool. The length of the fibre would seem to render it valuable and economical for many purposes for which cotton is at present employed. In point of chemical features, it stands amongst vegetable fibres almost by itself, since, unlike cotton, it may be bleached and dyed by the same processes as are applied to wool. It is therefore eminently suitable for admixture with wool, but it loses in weight very considerably if treated with alkalis like cotton.” 186 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. “Mr. Routledge said he had seen this fibre bleached and spun in the usual manner with admirable result, and expressed a strong opinion in favour of this extensive climber coming into European Commerce. d. “For the purposes of upholstery, the £apok or the floss or hairs from the seeds of Lyriodendron anfractuosum, and from the floss of Caochlospermum Gossypium, were viewed as hopeful, the latter par- ticularly so, provided the supply could be uniform and large, and the article cheap. It was, however, the floss of Calotropis gigantea which seemed to be of most interest.” In the advocacy of the experimental cultivation of the last-mentioned it was said: “The supply from the wild plant is too irregular to be depended upon, and hence it was thought that, if it could be cultivated on semi-waste lands at a moderate rate, by this process, a uniform supply could be maintained. Should this anticipation be realised, the fibre would be largely employed in place of cotton and for new purposes.” And for Paper-making, “the only Indian fibres that seemed hopeful were bamboo (Bamébusa) (grown extensively on the Gambia), plantain (usa para- disiaca) (groves by the mile may be seen on the Gold Coast), jute,* and saz waste,* and the long stems of the Bauhinia creeper.* “The practical result of the Conference may be briefly stated to be, that fibres that are good enough * Vide my remarks on fibres suitable for textile purposes. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 187 for textiles are too good for paper-making. Bamboo has been tried, and may be viewed in as forward a position as it is possible to press a new material: the gentlemen who attended the Conference argued that the Government had not concentrated its energies in developing the fplaintain and Bauhinia fibres.” It was argued that it was “essential that information should be afforded respecting the quantity available, and the probable cost of any proposed new fibre.” And it was stated “to be indispensably necessary in a fibre intended for paper to reduce the bulk to a minimum, so as to lessen the cost of freight to Europe, provided that this reduction did not entail any elaborate or costly process. Simple methods for doing so are known, such, for example, as beating to remove dirt, and: hydraulic baling of the fibre into conveniently-sized packages.” On the fibres of the West African Colonies in the late Exhibition Messrs. Cross and Bevan, Con- sulting Chemists—whose analysing capabilities are now well known—4, New Court, Lincoln’s Inn, London, W.C., to whom I stand much indebted for their courtesy and ready and generous help, say — “Tn these sections we found specimens of very in- teresting nature. The textiles of native production are extremely ingenious and tasteful in their com- binations of colour. From amongst the raw fibrous 188 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. materials the following were selected for special investigation :— “(A) Bast. Exhibited in the Gambia Section, but not further described. Used by the natives for a number of purposes. The fibre itself, when isolated, closely resembled jute in appearance; while from specimens showing the bast i situ (a stick stripped, the fibre remaining attached so as to form a species. of whip), it appeared to be closely allied to the West Indian Mahoe. The following determinations were. made :— Moisture . . . 2 . : I1‘O per cent. Hydrolysis (a) . - ‘ $ - 8+4 per cent. Cellulose . : : ‘i i ‘ PAYS 55 Nitration . i i fi ‘ ‘ I2I'o gy, Length . . . I-3°5 mm. Ultimate fibres. <——. Diameter zi . Coe mm, This fibre is very similar in composition, chemical: and structural, to jute, and is capable of similar applications. From the specimens, it was to be concluded that they were obtained from a perennial, from the main stem, or more probably the branches. In regard to a probable commercial future for this. fibre, the most favourable conditions of growth of the plant should be first determined. Questions of this nature are outside our province, but it scarcely needs. to be mentioned that the authorities at Kew are always ready to advise and assist in the necessary investigations. fORESTRY OF WEST AFRIC-1. 189 “(B) A fibrous Bark, in the Gold Coast Section. A bale of this was exhibited by Dr. J. F. Easmon, of Accra, with a request that it should be put through a paper-making trial. “In external appearance it was not unlike the Adansonia, except in being comparatively free from medullary matter. The following determinations were made :— Moisture . - ‘ : : 2 II‘O per cent. Ash. . ‘ 7 . . 3 TO 35 Cellulose . ; 7 7 r ‘ 6675. os Ultimate fibres. Length . i a 10-15 mm. Not only in the relatively high yield of cellulose, but in the exceptionally great length of the ultimate fibres, this material is such as to command the attention of paper-makers. It only remains to add that the substance is easily treated, and that the resulting pulp bleaches under the ordinary treatment to a high colour. (C) “‘Grass, epidermal strips of the leaves of Raphia vinifera. Exhibited by Mr. A. Sibthorpe in the Sierra Leone Section, with specimens of straw plait illustrating its more usual application by the natives.* * A further examination of this substance comparatively with the Raffia, imported from Madagascar, which still commands a high price amongst gardeners and nurserymen, showed that it was so closely similar as to be applicable to precisely the same uses, and such an application would of course take precedence of that above indicated. This fibrous material is well worthy of further attention. 190 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. This specimen also proved itself on analysis to be worth the attention of paper-makers. The following determinations were made :— Moisture . F . . : . 9°8 per cent. Ash. 4 7 . “ : 2°7 per cent. Cellulose . : i 60°38 g, Ultimate fibres. Length . . + I°5-2°5 mm. “Tt is needless to say that the raw material is particularly clean; in length of fibre, but more especially in yield of cellulose, it is superior to Esparto ; it only remains, therefore, to determine the cost of production, and if within the limit, to in- troduce this raw material into European commerce. “Notwithstanding that, as is to be judged from appearances, but little attention has been bestowed upon the fibre exhibits in this section, results have been obtained which should stimulate inquiry into the undeveloped resources of these Colonies, in the department of miscellaneous fibres. “In extension, we may say, the supply of good clean basts, such as the Adansonia, and more especially the one investigated, should be much increased: the demand would rise in proportion. Higher prices will be realised in proportion to free- dom from Cellular (medullary) matter. The strips in the fresh state, if beaten, especially after a preliminary steep, could be greatly improved in this respect, and the yield of Cellulose (bleached fibre) to our paper- FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 19t makers rendered sufficiently high as to come into competition with the highest class of paper-making materials. We believe that it is only the low yield which prevents an extended use of Adansonia. We should estimate the value of such products between 46 and #12 a ton; but careful preparation might secure even higher prices.” Reporting on the Sida rhombifolia exhibited in the Queensland Section of the Colonial and Indian Ex- hibition, Messrs. Cross and Bevan remark :— “This contains some very fine specimens of Jute, and also of the fibre of Sida rhombifolia, the latter being especially noteworthy. These fibres are similar in their main characteristics ; but while they may be classed together, the Szda is unquestionably superior. This is shown, first, by comparison of chemical composition, the results of analyses of the raw fibres being as follows :— Jute. Sida. Moisture . . : * To"3 . : + 10°7 Ash . s 5 ao | ae 06 Hydrolysis (a) . F ~ I5*0 6°6 Hydrolysis (4) . 7 - 8'0 12°2 Cellulose . 5 : ~ 75°0 83°90 Mercerising =. : 1620 6°6 Nitration . 3 , + 1250 137°0 Acid purification 1‘o or Carbon percentage 46°5 45°0 “The Cellulose in either case is obtained in the form of ultimate fibres of the normal type, the average length being 2 mm. in both, the diameter 0,015 mm. 192 “FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. “Secondly: Sida shows superiority in point of uniformity, fineness and divisibility of the fibre bundles, and further in softness and in the colour of the raw fibre, and also in capacity for bleaching : the dyeing capacity of the fibres is about equal. It is interesting to note that the distinctions in favour of Sida are closely correlated with the above results of analysis. “The net result of the comparison is, that while belonging with ¥ute to the lower grade of textile fibres, Szda is much to be preferred, and should certainly displace Fuze, more especially in the higher uses to which this fibre is put. “The Fute class of fibres includes this, as well as the Hibiscus order. More care is requisite in preparing these as all other textiles, and probably also the growth in the wild state may be found to produce a low quality of fibre; at least we may safely assert that cultivation would raise the quality. The pro- cesses of extraction are simple, requiring only manual labour. A preliminary steep of two to three days’ duration will be necessary. Information on these points will be found in any of the standard works on fibres. We should recommend Spon’s ‘Encyclo- pedia,’ Article ‘Fibrous Plants,’ as especially good. “Prices in this group vary from £12 to £22 for textile fibres. To command a good price they must be clean—free from bark and cellular tissue—of good colour and length (three to eight fect). FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 193 “The root-ends should be cut off and supplied for paper-making.” So as to guard against rash adventure in the way of thoughtless speculation, I cannot do better than conclude this chapter with some general remarks by Messrs. Cross and Bevan, in case that ill-considered attention should be turned to Monocotyledonous fibres :— “Tn recommending any of the following fibres (Pen- quin, Bromelia P.; Sanseviera 2, Agave K., Gri- Gri, Acrocomia sclerocarpa) to the attention of West Indian cultivators, this question (the superiority in yield of Phormium) must be taken next in order; after which there comes the question of the process of obtaining the fibre, together with those of supply and transport. Assuming a satisfactory decision on these latter points, attention should be confined in each locality to one, or at most two, of those which have been shown to be superior. Much time has been wasted by diffuse investigations in the province of fibres, and the cause lies in the absence of re- cognition of the precise criteria of value. It is quite certain that the conditions of European markets and tmanufactures are not such as to encourage any large increase in the zzmber of vegetable fibres, more especially of the Monocotyledons. The struggle is severe, and only the fittest survive. There is no necessity for the future that the question of fitness should be left to work itself out. The application of oO 194 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. criteria now well established enables us to make definite selections on the basis of superiority. The authorities in the several islands should decide generally that the growth and preparation of a fibre is desirable, then a particular fibre—the best for each locality—should be selected, and the trade in that fibre thoroughly organised. The importance of an organisation cannot be overestimated, and in support of this we may cite the case of the trade in jute. There are, as we know from the results of investiga- tions, not a few fibres capable of replacing this particular bast, some in fact of the same class being superior in all essentials. Nevertheless the trade in jute holds its own unassailed, and the cause, in so far as it does not reside in intrinsic superiority and commercial fitness, must be sought in the concentra- tion of attention upon this fibre, and the resulting organisation of the trade. These facts deserve to be borne in mind by all who are contemplating the founding of any such enterprise. “There is a good market for Monocotyledonous paper- making fibres. The preparation involves machinery, but this may be of the simplest kind, as in the preparation of Manila (usa T.) in the Philippines. “We recommend Mr. Motris’s brochure on West Indian fibre-making plants (Jamaica, 1884). “The fibre from JZusa Paradisiaca is generally inferior. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 195 “We have generally found the Sanseviera fibres of high quality. Bamboo, which may be taken in this group, we do not think worth attention. “ Crotalaria juncea gives a very valuable fibre, which ought to be more extensively used. In this case cultivation and very careful preparation would be necessary. “Generally speaking, we think the West African Colonies specially adapted to the supply of paper- making basts—a regular supply of which would command extensive application.” In conferring with Messrs. Cross and Bevan, I remarked that in West Africa fibres and grasses, as indeed its general economic botany, must be viewed as comparatively unknown ; and I laid stress on the fact that little could in such direction be done except by the visit or establishment of analytical chemists as a branch of the medical departments—more particularly qualified natives conversant with the languages. Their views may be gathered from the following :-— “We are entirely of your opinion that investigation on the spot by a competent man would lead to immediate practical results. So much depends upon a right selection, and this in turn upon local circum- stances, that such a course is the only one to be recommended. A great point is the organisation of the industry : the supply must be certain and regular. “The matter may also require attention on this 02 196 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. side, in the early days at least ; as the manufacturers may need convincing as to the merits of new things. : “We need scarcely say that it is better to err on the side of scepticism than of promises not to be realised, and in selecting a man for the task we should advise one who has had a full share of ‘negative’ experience.” FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 197 XV. OF the Exports from and Imports into Western Africa of wood and timber I have drawn up from official sources the following tables (A and B), for eight years. For those on the spot they would prove of more interest and use had they contained the Colonies such data are not offered, and could therefore not be taken advantage of by the writer. and Countries in each case: A.—Woop AND TIMBER EXPORTS FROM WESTERN AFRICA, 1878 To 1885. Year. Articles. Countries whence imported. |Quantities.| Value. Tons. 4 Wood and tim-}|(From the West Coast 1878 ber unenume- of Africa, not particu-}} Nil. Nil. rated. larly designated 1879 22 ae 39 . 29 ae 1880 ooo » a 1,733 | 14,892 1881 29 9 23 2? No | mention. 1882 29 29 29 29 1,458 10,754 1883 29 29 29 29 1,441 11,102 1884 29 29 9 9 1,395 9,980 1885 oo a” 2 1,181 | 9,565 198 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. B.—Woop AnD TimBer IMPORTS, THE PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, INTO WESTERN AFRICA, 1878-1885. Countries to which Year. Articles. exported. Quantities.) Value. Loads. S Wood and Timber : Rough, split, &c.. . | West Africa, Foreign| 784 3,932 Wood manufactured : 1378 Staves and empty casks] ,, »» Foreign 81,338 2 .? 29 99 >» British 21,002 9 9 2 2 >» Foreign vee 68, 405 1879 5 55 55 35 >» British 2 16,814 2 2? ”? a” >, Foreign 67,220 [ British 16,506 1880 { Unenumerated a ; : : ; ; ; Foreign 5,748 Wood manufactured : 1881 Staves and emptycasks} ,, »» Foreign 75,381 29 ” ” 99 >, British 135442 Unenumerated . . 59 >», Foreign 5,214 Wood manufactured : 1882 Staves and empty casks] ,, >> Foreign a 86,077 x 33 3 a », British ae 18,159 Wood.and Timber : cee sawn\! 4, Foreign} 662 | 2,838 1883 4] Wood manufactured : Staves andempty casks} ,, >> Foreign 66,730 29 2° 29 2° >» British 13,320 (| Wood and Timber : Rough, hewn, sawn Fore 6 orsplit. . . . ae a Oren 34 T,514 1884 4] Wood manufactured : Staves andemptycasks] ,, >» Foreign ge 545245 ey 2 29 29 2» British oe 14,761 Unenumerated . . o >> Foreign Pe 10,127 Wood and Timber : Manufactured : 1885 4| Staves and empty casks] ,, >, Foreign 62,300 2 29 29 29 >» British 15,966 Unenumerated . . 23 >> Foreign 13,545 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 199 Now, on the subject of West Africa timber Export trade, I have made many enquiries, but learn that so far as the United Kingdom is concerned, although considerable business was done some thirty or forty years ago from the Gambia and Sierra Leone, it may be said to have altogether ceased, or to have sunk into the export done in dye-woods and ebony, most of which has been carried to Liverpool by the lines of steamers known as the “ British and African” and “African Steamship” Companies, by the Imperial German Mail Steamer line, started in 1882 ; and by French, Belgian and Dutch steamers that ply now as rivals in that trade, also with certain success. This allusion to the past will be found supported by a reference to a useful publication.in 1852 of a descriptive catalogue of the woods then commonly employed in the United Kingdom for mechanical and ornamental purposes, entitled ‘Turning and Mechanical Manipulation, etc, by Mr. Charles Holtzapffel , The same field of vast extent that was found to offer material. for a profitable export trade in years past still exists, but conditions of demand and supply have altered, which, with the high West African freight tariff, and a comparative absence (at least in past years) of sea transport competition, have mili- tated so far against its revival. Of the French Possessions of Senegambia, Gaboon, etc. useful particulars of the specimens of woods 200 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. already brought to notice as fit and useful for timber industries and other wood-work will be found re- spectively at pages 126 and 148 of the ‘Catalogue des Produits des Colonies Frangaises, Exposition Universelle de 1878 The principal of such woods, as regards Senegal and Gaboon, have been :— SENEGAL. Vernacular name. 1. Palmacee . | Borassus flabelliformis, L. . Ronier. (athiopum 2) Run. . Anacardiacese | Stondias Birrea, A. Rich. . . | M’Birr. . Combretaceze | Combretum glutinosum, Periot.. | Ratl. Io. Leguminosze . | Pterocarpa senegalensis, Stend. . | Meon. IL <5 . | Sterminiera elaphroxylon . . | M’Bilor. 12. 55 . | Lterocarpus Adansontz, DC. . | Kino, Vene (erinaceus ?) | or Wenn. /2. Rubiacee . | Vauclea Africana, Willd . .« | Koos 3. Anonacezee . | Uvaria parviflora, Rich. . . | Diar. 4. Sterculiacece . | Lviodendron caribeum, Don . | Binters. 5. Olacaceee . | Balanites agyptiaca, Del. . . | Loump. 6. Meliacece . | Xylocarpus toulocouna, Stend. . | Toulocouna. 7. Cedrelaceze , | Khaya senegalensis . . . .» | Cailcedra, 8 9 13. ua ; Poe melanoxylon, Guill. “t Dialambam. 14. 5 - | Zamarindus indica, L. . « « | Diakar. 15. aa . | Bauhinia frutesceus, Lam. . 16. 55 : #5 reticulata, DC. « . | M’Guiguis. 17. ue : as rufescens, Lam. . . | Bei. 18. 55 « | Acacia Adansoni, Guill. et Perr. | Gonakie. 19. a : >, albicans, H.B.K, « .» | Kodde. BO. ack z >> @ealbata, Links. . . 21. 5 ° >, ulea . - | Remde. 22. on é 39 microph hylla, Willd. - | M’debargua. 23. eS z vera (Verek ?), Willd. - | Neb. neb. 24. sf ‘ Mimosa polyacantha, Willd. . | Souné. 25- 29 . | Detarum senegalensis . . . | Detarr. 26. Sterculiacece . | Sterculia cordy ifoia . . « «| N’dimb, 27. Leguminosze , | Dialium nitidum. . . Solum. 28. Ebenaceze Ebéne. f Diospyros ebenum (mespiliformis, { Oliv.) FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 201 GaBoon. Vernacular Name. I. Verbenacee . | Vitex cuneata. . . . » « | Evino. 2. 55 . | Avicennia africana, P. Beauv. . | Garigari. 3. Bignoniacee . | Spathodea campanulata . . . | Thiogo. 4. Sapotaceze . | Mimusops. . .« « » « « | M’Bimo. 5- Anonacee . | Xylopia ethiopica. . . . | Ogana. 6. Hypericacese. | Haronga madagariensis . . . | Ogina-gina. 7. Amyridacese. | Bursera . . . « « « «© | Ocoumé. 8. Simarubacere. | /rvingia Barteri. . . « «| Oba. g. Chrysobalaneze | Chrysobalanus Icaco,L.. . «» | M’Pondo. Io. Leguminose . | Prerocarpus angolensis + . | Santalrouge. Ir. . | Pentaclethra macrophylla, Benth. | Owala. »”? As regards West African economic botany much. interest will be afforded from a perusal in Martin’s ‘British Colonies, compiled from the official records of the Colonial Office, and published in 1843, of the particulars of the past trade of our Possessions in West Africa. The, native names according to that work of the different species of timber exported then from Sierra Leone for ship-building and carpenter’s work were— 1. Co Tarlosar, or African 12. Mooll (the tree produces vegetable butter.) oak. 2. Tolongah, or brimstone. 13. Sop. 3. Bumia, rather scarce, 14. Kelill. 4. Cooper 15. Cong. 5. Kow. 16. African almond. 6. Couta. 17. Bombay. 7. Roth. 18. Dyewood. 8. Wossomah. 19. Pissaman. 9. Jumo. 20. Pissaman Io. Backam. 11. Toper-canico (no marine animal of any kind attacks it). 202 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 21. Black oak. 22. Wismore. 23. African cedar. 28. Arwoora. 29. African mammee apple. 30. Cale. 31. Lowland boxwodd. 32. Singa-singa marah. Some of these’ timbers 33. 34. 35- 36. 37- 38. 39- 40. African pine. Highland boxwood. Singuoora. Cabooco. Brimstone. Bessey. ° African mulberry. Mangrove. have been botanically named ; and as to the remainder, the vulgar names should help the enthusiast to follow up and supply, later, material on which completion of classification can be effected. There follows a list, obtained from Kew, of speci- mens of woods collected in the River Bagroo in 1861 by Mr. Mann :—- Name in Circum- Botanical Names. Timineh Satine ans Ex | ference of Language. ent Stem. feet. : ‘ Abundant. 2k ’ 1. Oldjeldia africana* , { timber goo ad 15 2. Malortiea?. . » » | Kawattia . | Abundant . 10 3. Euphorbiacee . . » | Fibarroh . | Often seen 12 4. Omphalocarpum pro- 8 cerum, P. de Beauv.. | Fidroh. . 3/2) 8. Zygia fastigiata, E.Mey. | Apoon. . ae } 12 6. Albiesia? . . Apina. . 55 10 97. Cicca? . . » « | Sagga. . 35, 7 8. Larinarium excelsum .|Bisp . . 6S Io 9. Erythroxylon? Coca . | Wismore . 59 8 lo, Vitex . . . » . | Cantong . | Oftenseen . 8 11. Holarrhena Africana, Sen ary 5 ‘ Kgs vi * Sierra Leone ‘* African oak.” FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 203 It is stated of Sierra Leone woods in Martin’s “British Colonies’ that “the grain of several of these woods is very rich, and the furniture made therefrom not only durable but extremely beautiful. In Mr. Forster's elegant mansion at Hampstead there are several articles of furniture made from African maho- gany which would vie with the wood of any country in the world ; and for ship-building the African teak is now generally and deservedly esteemed.” By way of comparative interest I here give an extract from a return of principal Exports from Sierra Leone between 1827-1835, which I have taken from Martin’s Work :— Articles. 1827. 1828. |1829./1830.] 1831. 1832. | 1833. 1834. 1835- Timber, loads | 10,742 | 1,114 18,983 | 24,048] 1,771 | 16,951 | 9,302 Camepog sons 550 363 592 644 975 gir 802 ‘gallolis of °} 27,0rr | 75,676 4.364 | ¢-397| ¢- 480] ¢.592 928 Rice, pons . 392 107 200 783 875 785 558 {asks ma a 18 96] 133 87| 197 inger and { arrowroot } 60 290 139 447 Coffee, hghds. 3 5 6 #, stands for tons, :. for casks. The following is an extract from a letter addressed on the oth January, 1832, by Mr. M. Foster (of the then firm of Foster and Smith, New City Chambers) to the Secretary of State for the Colonies :— “Within the last twenty years the increase in the trade in palm oil, timber, and beeswax has been very great. Attempts are making in Gambia and else- 204 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. where on the Coast to introduce the cultivation of some articles of produce new to the trade of Africa ; but these endeavours require time, on account of the unenlightened state of the natives, the very recent abolition of the slave-trade, and its partial continuance by other nations. “In several cases, however, the natives have proved themselves capable of entertaining new ideas of trade and cultivation more readily than might have been expected. The trade in teak timber for ship-building was unknown in Africa twenty years ago; the annual importation of that article from Sierra Leone at present is from 15,000 to 20,000 tons of British shipping annually. “ Fifteen years ago it was not known that mahogany grew in the Gambia. Since that period several thou- sand loads of mahogany have been shipped to England from our Settlements on that river; and although the natives would not at first cut and prepare it for shipping, they are now willing to supply any quantity of it which this market may require.” The following information* is afforded on prices of articles mentioned in the markets of the Gambia, 1833. African teak, £3 Ios. per load; camwood, £12 per ton; mahogany of various kinds at 44 currency or 439s. 4d. sterling. Ebony of very good quality grows abundantly in Saloum River, and partially in Gambia. Dittach,a very hard anddurable wood, stands well under * Martin’s ‘ British Colonies.’ FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 205 water, and is used in the construction of vessels, &c. In support of past facts as regards the export trade that was carried on from the Gambia, and of my assertion that the same field of supply now presents itself, I will only refer to the list (pp. 206-7) of the representative exhibits that were sent from those Settlements to the Forestry Exhibition, 1884. Detailed particulars are afforded of some thirty- two different specimens of woods, some of which are very fine indeed, and should commend themselves to ‘the nursing and protecting care of wood dealers and cabinet-makers. The prices given may seem high, but I can advance that the finest of the woods, such as mahogany, rosewood, &c., could be, with inducement and encouragement, purchased at the Gambia at 2d. per foot. Dye-woods will be found touched upon briefly in a separate chapter of this work. : Although I give separately, for locality sake, the foregoing, the Gambia Flora may be viewed as iden- tical with that of Senegambia, on which Messrs, Guillemin, Perrottet and Richard wrote, in 1830-1833, their ‘ Flore Senegambiz Tentamen.’ Of course steam may have interfered somewhat with the development, or rather thrown back the immediate necessity for the export development, in an extended‘ sense, of the Gambia timber-floating industry ; yet, so as to remove any wrong impression my remarks might without further explanation give FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 206 sdniXs oyu apeut ‘ydryy yout *d010E) yinyy f 90uvd pue jeoq f sroquIN [Tes ata ae ‘yooy "bs rad “pr umo]vg “puryuy Oz 0} Bt s £ Bae *soateu “yonut “syuvq duoje “IOALI Teal Aq Wt wor apeur ouIM {pat st jing ss one jou poop, arayMAroag | pue ‘purjpuy or € ¢ 919M ET *oin} : W ye1ood “TuIny Io} pue roquyy sdiys 10; pass aes i § ate oe 0% 04 SI £ f equi, “aang TUN Joy puw Joquirz sdiys. 103 peasy. ons ate ee ate nee Sb 0} oF ¥ JW ereAnquny, *saouo adie] puv soquiy drys { 410m sstsuajve “yoy? Your *IQALI Ivou pue W aoey yourqea 10; pase: “AueSoyeu viquieyg | -avas vévyy IVIL yooy “bs sod "v9 ee pepunoqy oF 0] 0€ 9 if al *sjsod-asnoy mungoryyo “yoTyy yout Ww yoqts S slayer Ssaareya 0} sayid s0y pes—) | sussvsog ewyeg ‘qooj ‘bs sod ‘pr ait HE og o}or | Fr L soe TOM Jourqed “SN2IVULLI “ory your WwW oudkeey pus stoquiyy diyg -poomasos viquiey | sugevo0¢azg | esourumSeyy | 400} “bs rad “v9 ae 0S oyoh | Sarr | aueM oquire Paste f Ov.LIv07) ‘suowpoeds jam pue Arq ses: ete se ate ana SE 0} Sz v f ary, W nqnt *saTpuvy 100} osye { sroquiny dtys pus “pSozUauog “yyy your ie 20uvd Joj posn ‘suamtoads jam pue Arq™ | wzeensozap | waroydoztyy | Joos ‘bs 10d ‘yr nae: oF 0} 0% fr uesnqaasuvyy “sIaquiy drys pue *yoryy your 90ue9 10j pasn ‘suouttoads yam pue Arq, oy eee ‘yooy ‘bs rod “p79 y *IOALL IvONT sz . W BOTTOM. “poomoig “eIqUIvr) TOART W OoUe IT pue sioyerse peasy) ‘aaoiZueut pay | viepnounseyq | wjovjo1quiod es ere aeau [nyqualg | OF 07 oz fr if; sasuey ‘deos fy MYPN OJUL pauIny asnjar [auIex { [10 pood “yoIq] yout W yeq Suaqeve yiny faaquiny drys 103 pasy) ee a8 yooy ‘bs sad ‘yr ey aay or 4r -UI009 equL y, “Morya your =| 'wiquies z9ary] ‘1eArt Ivau Ww O1OAA sxaquiy drys pue jeog : ans oo} ‘bs aad “yg | jo stapiog | pue ‘[njnualg 0% v { aqoraqoy ; 223 qoay *poysvar “ous are ‘oqer “punoy 0} se sayoueiq | ‘9013 JO ‘osenZary ‘syIeWayy ssnuas) “1apslo cas ataya Ayyeooy ar0jaq, J9}9UL yey Ur pue Teeed satyunos pue ‘uraqs “eI ‘gureu SAUNT Aynuend jo WysIY aSeIaAy | yoo “dopa O yeotroutn NT 207 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. ‘yoo xad ‘ye yw Ay[vooy parfddns aq pynos spooat [NyuNvog puv pavy poor ‘s4sodxd sowltoy 07 pouadods aq yi viqtued jo sper rdqwy ‘puewop Fiq v o19M oDYT JT “punoqe oaoqe yey) ples 9q Avur 1] ‘osuipuryy = We Jofof = *uoaTT VALIIG JO Wnjd pouUrys-ysnoy “Buronposd-saqqna sag “Buyuury Joy pasn xreq pue sin. *Auoge 4 Aran?) *9aq}-unyd oaneN *9Y9eYI003 IOJ saavay] JO uor209ap pur ‘syuatiade 10 pasn yreg ‘Ayjeurotpaur pasn y1eq pur 300y “19419303 sserZ daayx 03 SOAIY9OQ JO DANJOBJNULU UI pasn ye *Wex]e Suryeur roy pasn poom aAp Mo[aA se pasn yreq pue soatay “sasodaind [eurorpaur 10y pasn »reg “sopeyoojs Zuryeur ur pasojdury = ‘aqqeinp pue prepy *sd9quily sdiys 10j pasn saoduipuvy pur syojof Aq :sasod -and [Bapso 103 pasn ‘913 snouostod y *sooejd Adureas ut smoxd { ados A0y posn yAeq { sjaypeur pue saTpuLy-[00} 10J pasn poom poy sdumd 303 pas¢, tasuagpsauas UNIADIICT “mLNsaIxa UNLOAD gvrydjopuey sesourumnda"y wWIIVsSOY. sevovuhoody “yory) yout *yo0} ‘bs aad "y9 “EE UTet) 20a Buoye Ty Haugen “erqures) Opts urayynog ‘eiquiey yuEq usdY1I0 NT "eIquied I9A1y 0} Jusoelpy ‘eIquivg JOAN jo sioprog *eIquied JOAN Jo SapIs y90q uo purjuy se oures “apIsioyeM uo [rynual PHey *AOALL AvOU pue puryuy 01 07g Or 07g S¥ 01 oF o£ 01 92 oz or Sr of 03 Sz soyour Fore PIES @ Ze nw ron f pend eyed, Asjoyg “ ney-29qqny ourey wn [CH oyoo 0057 a) oya03UIS aus fua Buefdur ofuocoy eae BTS AMES 11949191919 yf o[n300] 004 ot TULO[OOLOOY youned oxeq A OPT W ngueivqiey, pur f qeuqe N AvuBWaTeyUes a oe Ss ft aso Avpivyy { Aoyyeyy ve of ce ge Lz Sz bz tz a 0% Tt I gr br 208 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. rise to, and to do justice to local talent, I would mention that although West Africa has ceased—let us hope only temporarily—to form one of the timber Centres as regards export trade in this commodity, a quiet, unnoticed and unpretentious but extensive and important local timber industry proceeds in many directions. I will specially give two. First, let us ask ourselves—or, rather, let commercial agents and merchants in West Africa ask themselves—how produce is brought to them, or how they can send for it, and how their goods get to the native markets. Is and has not the transport been effected by means of the canoes and cutters that have been built and floated by the Negro mechanics, and that are and have been manned by native paddles and sailors? The tonnage of the Gambia carrying power, represented by the local cutter industry alone, is returned at 2,500. Next, look at the general and extensive improve- ment in the style of house along the Coast—the marked and growing substitution—whether for comfort and coolness is another question—of frame for mud and wattle houses. Such a provision (as transport) so essential, and improvements so marked, offer, I contend, results on which the country is to be congratulated. It has been conveyed to me by Mr. G. S. Saunders that in the absence of any regularly organized system of timber supply such as exists in the teak, mahogany, and South America cedar districts, it would be FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 209 impossible to introduce the woods of West Africa into England at anything like a marketable price. This I am open to question: the assertion is not supported by the past trade—and maybe our prices and freights can be lowered to compete with tariffs of other markets. As a rule, timber for import purposes, it may be convenient to know, should, he conveys, be well-grown, clean, straight, free from knots, and well squared. There should also be given diameter—when squared—procurable, and the average length and quantity available of straight timber before getting to the fork or branches, Timber trade, as others, is very conservative, and it is a difficult thing to supplement or supersede what is already in use and demand. On West Africa as a field for the production of walking-sticks, I addressed Messrs. Howell & Co., the widely-known manufacturers of such articles, of Old Street, City Road. Those gentlemen were good enough to reply: “We have no doubt that many sticks from the West Coast have occasionally reached us, but they have been in such small quantities that we have not taken note of them, and at the present time we cannot speak positively as to any of our sticks being the product of this region. We should imagine, however, that there must be a large number of woods and shrubs which would be very useful for our manufacturers, and we should be glad of some opportunity of getting samples.” P 210 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. In the commercial transformation now proceeding along West Africa by the general substitution of com- panies for private enterprise—one of the outcomes, and a healthy one, of a more divided trade and of the gradual disappearance of monopolies—it should be more easy, in the sense of having more available capital, to establish plantations, either as a speculation or as model farms for the enlightenment of the natives —on whom business is built, and in a great measure depends—of the country, both in the direction of the extension of the knowledge and treatment of the products of their countries available for use and of demand. It has often occurred to me as surprising that efforts of the mercantile world in West Africa, represented in some instances by merchants having a vested and long- standing interest in the place, and by agents of mer- chants in other cases, should have resulted in so little comparatively towards the promotion of economic botany of that part. I have ventured to ask them individually what they have done in the many years they have been associated with West Africa, and I know of no instance in which any one was able to give what he considered a satisfactory answer. I am aware that there are exceptions in putting forth efforts and in setting noble examples, and to them be all praise and honour—if such should be extended for self-interest, or duty done. I would here refer to our Colonies, where the FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. QI mercantile houses are mainly dependent on imported labour, in the person of the fine Krooboy of the Liberian Republic. There one may see these men in thousands. They are attached by hundreds to cer- tain houses, and for a fixed time—usually two years— when they are sent back to their country and replaced on like terms, These men are fully employed in the busy trade season, which only lasts so many months : for the rest of the year they are comparatively idle, whereas local and absent merchants should satisfy themselves that they had the return they are entitled to for the outlay consequent on the employment of so many hands, and they can best do this by getting grants of land for agricultural purposes, to be worked, by their employees during slack seasons, in cereals and other products of economic value. View the maintenance alone of such numbers, which has to be provided for by the employers. Whether it be in yams, plantains, rice, or kouskous, the product should and can be the result of an exertion put forth and insisted upon, as I have brought to notice. Acknowledge also the value of such employment as additional lessons for the inculcating of increased energy and instruction. Natives are said to be idle and lazy: then teach them and rear them up as I have suggested. We too have had our idle and nomadic and untutored age. Next, economic plants of commercial value else- where should be introduced: fields would be thus P 2 212 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. also ready for the home, care, growth and subsequent distribution of seedlings, and young plants or trees might in the first instance issue from the imaginary (but let us hope it will prove a reality) botanic station, garden or allied institution I later advocate for West Africa. I cannot find a more fitting place for the insertion of the noble sentiments of Mr. Mathew Foster, ex- pressed some forty years ago :— “Tf I am blessed with health and life for a few years longer, I do not despair of increasing the number and value of our African imports. It is the surest method of improving Africa and benefiting the mother country, and it becomes a British merchant to carry his views sometimes beyond the boundary of sordid gain.” From the Gold Coast Colony no specimens of the wood of that part has reached commercially, to any purpose, England, if any other country. Let us hope there is a good time coming, for trees capable of affording good, useful and serviceable timber abound there, as on most parts of that coast line: there, how- ever, transport to the sea offers, with'‘one or two exceptions, a difficulty at present insurmountable. I may with convenience here insert the names of specimens contributed from behind Accra by me to Kew in 1882-83 :— Capparis erythrocarpa, Isert. Hibiscus microphyllus, L. FORESTRY OF IWEST AFRICA, 213 Grewia pilosa, Lam. Chailletia flexuosa, Oliv. Bandeirea simplicifolia, Benth. Schotia simplicifolia, Sch. and Thonn, Bryophyllum calycinum 2 Salisb. Luffa egyptiaca, M. Passiflora fetida, L. Scaevola Lobelia, L. Ipomoea palmata? F. Scoparia dulcis, L. Cleome ciliata, Sch. and Thonn. Lonidium enneaspermum, Vent. Sida carpinifolia, L. Aiibiscus micranthus, L. Indigofera tinctoria, L. Tephrosia purpurea, Pers.? Lonchocarpus Barter, Benth. Schrankia leptocarpa, DC. Oxyanthus brevifiorus, Benth. Oldenlandia caffra, E. and Z. Blumea aurita, DC. Demia angolensis, Dene. Strychnos 2? Lpomea filicaulis, Bl. Datura alba, Nees. Phyllanthus niruroides 2 I must not omit to make here special reference to the “Odoom” tree of the Gold Coast—where it is “ fetish »—known as “ Oroko” in Lagos (Chlorophora excelsa). "To those Colonies this wood is invaluable, as it can withstand for years not only the weather, but also the attacks of the “white ant.” It is used widely for building purposes, as beams, planks, window-framing, shutters, shingles ; also in furniture. 214 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. I am informed that a shingle roof of this wood lasts fifteen to twenty years. Then, again, the valley of the upper Volta river is handsomely studded with the graceful West African cycad—Encephalartos Barteri—a consignment of which to Europe for distribution as a speculation is worthy of consideration. On it, the Rev. C. Schénfelt, of the Basel Mission, wrote in 1875 to Sir Joseph Hooker as follows :— “The first time I saw this tree (in 1865) I was struck with its beauty. Imagine a rocky hill over- grown with newly-sprouting grass, shortly after the yearly burning of it, here and there a Shea-butter tree, but above all this beauty for a palm, not more than four to five feet high, with its erect, dark-green, shiny branches, shooting out of the crevices of the rocks, and you have the native home of my protégé. I heard that it is confined to very few places there- about. It is called by the natives the ghost palm, with the explanation for this term that the oil palm (Elais guineensis) was given by God to the living Negro, the ghost palm to the shades (because the living Negro finds nouse for it). After 1865, the way to those parts was shut up in consequence of the Ashantee raid, which Sir John Glover opened again by his successful campaign. This enabled me to revisit the upper Volta again as far as Drome, and to bring the tree with me.” Growing specimens can now be seen in the Palm FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 215 House, Kew, which I was fortunate to be able to supply from the Gold Coast. To allow of appreciation of the difficulty of securing information, I was amused by a description of a tree given to me by an influential native near Lagos. I saw suspended round his neck a piece of dark- coloured wood, shaped as a heart, representing a “fetish” symbol, he himself being a “ fetishman.” Thinking it ebony, I asked the wearer what he knew of it. He replied that it was from a very wonderful tree, which necessarily grew in an isolated position, its influence being so great as to prevent anything from growing near to it. He even added that if a man were to walk under it, and an ant fell from the tree on him, he would instantly become a eunuch—veritable upas tree!! Of the Colony of Lagos, among the chief com- ponent parts of its forests are to be found the following specimens, which were contributed there- from by me, ably assisted by Dr. Rowland, in 1883, to the Royal Gardens, Kew :— Tetracera obtusata, Pl. forma. Monodora tenutfolia, Benth. Cissampelos Pareira, L. Gynandropsis pentaphylla, DC. Ritchiea polypetala, Hook. f. Lonidium enneaspermum, Vent. Oncoba glauca, Hook. f. Carpolobia alba ? Don. Two detached flowers only—apparently of Allanblackia floribunda, O. 216 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Stda cordifolia, L. Abutilon indicum, Don? imperfect. fTibiscus surattensis, L. Impatiens Irvingii, Hook. f. Sterculia tragacantha, Lindl. Sterculia cordifolia, Cav. ( = Cola, as this specimen shows). Acridocarpus Smeathmanni, G. and P. Aubrya gabonensis, Baill. Aanthoxylum senegalense, DC. Irvingia Barteri, Hook. f. fleisteria parvifolia ? in fruit. Gomphia reticulata, P. de B. Trichilia Prieureana, A. Juss. Paullinia pinnata, L. Blighia sapida, Koen. : Ratonia untjugata, Baker, forma? Ratonia sp? & fl. Sorindeia? sp. & fl. only. Cnestis ferruginea, DC. Aglea obligua, P. de B. Byrsocarpus coccineus, S. and T. Crotalaria falcata, V. Tephrosia Vogelit, Hook. f. Abrus precatorius, L. Erythrina senegalensis, DC., forma. Riynchosia calycina, G. and P. Cajanus indicus, Spreng. Sophora tomentosa, L. Sophora oligophylla, Baker. Millettia Thonningit, Baker. Baphia nitida, Afz. Ornocarpum verrucosum, P. de B. LEcastaphyllum Browne, Pers. Stylosanthes erecta, P. de B. Macrolobium ? M. Palisoti, Benth.? (imperfect). Batkiea insignis, Benth. Cynometra? cf. C. Manniz. “ Apara tree,” leaves only : Pentaclethra macrophylla, Bth. Chrysobalanus Icaco, L. fORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 217 Kalanchoe crenata, Haw. Combretum racemosum, P. de B. Combretum mucronatunt, Thonn. (Laws.). Dactylopetalum Barteri, Hk. f. Eugenia aff. E. calophylloidi. Eugenia owariensis, P. de B. Tristemma hirtum, P. de B. In fruit only : Dicellandra 2 Lawsonia alba, Lam. Cucurbitacea dub, Mormordica cissoides, Pl, Telfairia occidentalis, Hook. f. Adcnopus longifiorus, Benth. Hydrocotyle bonariensis, Lam. Mussenda Isertiana, DC. Oldenlandia decumbens, Hiern. Oldentlandia lancifolia, Schf. Morinda longifiora, Don (frct.). Pavetta Baconia, Hiern. Sabicea calycitna? Benth. Cremaspora africana, Benth.? (Buje). Craterispermum cerinanthum, Hiern. Ixora radiata, Hiern. Psychotria nr. P, longivaginalis ? Schf. Rutidea sp.? Rutidea rufipilis, Hiern. Afitracarpum scabrum, Zucc: Vernonia ambigua, K. and P. Aspilia latifolia, O. and H.? Gynura crepidioides, Benth. Emilia sagittata, DC. Senecio gabonicus, O. and H, Plumbago zeylanica, L. Strophanthus sarmentosus, DC. Leafy spray : <{pocynacea ? Carpodinus ? Rubber vine. “Tho tree.” 2? Strophanthus: Leafy sprays. Demia aff. D. angolensi. Octopleura loeseliotdes, Benth. 218 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Hewittia bicolor, Wt. Breweria (Prevostea africana, Benth.). Solanum nigrum, L. Lankesteria elegans, T. And. Acanthus (Cheilopsis) montanus, T. And. Lrillantaisia Vogeliana, Benth. Rungia grandis, T. And. Sesantum indicum, L. var.? Spathodea ? (only leafy branch). Newbouldia levis, Seem. (Injured by mould) Kigeléa ? Lantana Camara, L. Clerodendron volubile 2? P. de B. Clerodendron splendens, Don. Ocymum viride, W. Ocymum (cf. O. menthefolium). Amarantus spinosus, L. Rivina levis, L. Celosia argentea, L. Cyathula geminata, Moq. Telanthera maritima, Moq. Aristolochia triactina, Hook. f. Loranthus, sp. Loranthus, sp. i Loranthus (cf. L. Belvisit, DC). Phyllanthus (Anisonema floribunda, Baill.). Uapaca guineensis 2 Muell. Arg. Croton lobatum, L. Alchornea cordata? Benth. Sponta affinis, Pl. Myrianthus arboreus, P. de B. Lissochilus macranthus ? Lindl. Amomum Grana-Paradisi ? L. Phryntum brachystachys, Koern. Trachyspermum sp. Dioscorea (cf. D. prehensilzs). Flagellaria indica, L. Aneilema beninense, Kth. Commelyna capitata, Benth. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 219 Palisota thyrsifiora, Benth. Mesanthemum radians, Koern. Haemanthus rupestris, Baker. Crinum giganteum ? Andr. Dracena, sp. nov. near D. Perrottetii, Baker. Cyperus polystachyus, Rottb. Strepiogyne crinita, P. de B. Nephrodium subguinguefidum, Hook. Pieris atrovirens, W. Pteris quadriaurita, Retz. Pteris Currori, Hook. Monstrous condition of Microdesmis. Tetracera alnifolia, W. (T. senegalensis, DC). Tetracera alnifolia, var. scabra. Uvaria Chama, P. de B. Chasmanthera dependens, Hochst. Ritchiea fragrans, Br. var. simplicifolia. Sauvagesia erecta, L. A lsodeia brachypetala, Turc. var. Carpolobia lutea, Don. Haronga paniculata, Spach, “ with red paint-like juice.” Symphonia globulifera, L. f., “ Gamboge tree.” Hibiscus Abelmoschus, L. Honchenya ficifolia, W. Two leaves of Bombax ? Acridocarpus Smeathmanni, G. and P. Ochna multifiora, DC. Chailletia pallida, Oliv. Paullinia pinnata, L. Leea guineensis, Don (L. sambucina of F1. Trop. Afr.). An Eriocelum cauliflorum ? (imperfect). Deinbollia insignis, Hook. f.? Agelea obliqua, P. de B. Indigofera Anil, L. Tephrosia Ansellit, Hook. f. Ecastophyllum Brownzt, Pers. Psophocarpus longipedunculatus, Hassk, Millettia Thonningiz, Baker? 220 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Dalbergia pubescens, Hook. f. Prerocarpus esculentus, S, and T. Neptunia oleracea, Lour. Leaves of Pentaclethra macrophylla? Benth. Albizzia (A. angolensis ?). Cynometra (Hymenostegia) Afzelii, Oliv. (ex descr.) ? Entada africana, G. and P. (or Tetrapleura Thonningi Benth.) no fruit. Griffonia Barteri, Hook. f. Eugenia nr. £. calophylloides. Dissotis (Heterotis) segregata (Benth.). Memecylon Bartert, Hook. f. Fussiea diffusa, Forsk. Fussiea pilosa? H.B.K. (?as to fruit). Homalium (nr. H. africanum, Benth.). Barteria nigritana, Hook. f. Modecca tamnifolia, Pl. (= M. lobata, Jacq.). Modecca ? or Triclisia 2 Barren shoots. Momordica Charantia, L. Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser.? 2? Luffa sp. & fl. Crossopteryx Kotschyana, F. Randia acuminata, Benth. Randia sp.? (no corolla). Morinda citrifolia, L.? Psychotria (Grumilea) articulata (Hn.) Mikania scandens, W. Vernonia amygdalina, Del, Microglossa petiolaris, DC. (M. volubilis, DC.) L£clipta alba, Hassk. LEthulia conyzoides, L. Sphenoclea zeylanica, Geertn. Cf. Chrysophylium albidum, Don (leaves). Holarrhena africana, A. DC. Orchipeda (Piptolena), sp. “ Ama Papa” (Ibo tree), probably Horton’s Accra Caoutchouc (in Carpodinus, Herb. Kew.). “ Aboutera” Apocynacea ; Landolphia ? Landolphia sp. nov. vel L. Welwitschiz, var. Dyer. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 221 Wrightia parvifiora, Benth. Demia angolensis, Dene. Lpomea reptans, Poir. Lpomea (Batatas) incurva (Benth.). lrtanema sesamoides, Benth. Polygonunt senegalensis, Meiss. var.? aff. P. darbato. Celosia laxa, S. and T. Vapaca Heudelotiz, Baill. Alchornea cordifolia, Muell. Arg. ? Mallotus oppositifolius ? & v. aff. Macaranga Heudeloti¢ (Baill.). Hymenocardia acida, Tul. &. Ficus aff. F. exasperate, V. “ Gutta-percha, juice in bottle,” no fl. nor| fruit. (This may be a plant of Barter’s, in F7czs.) Chlorophora (Morus excelsa, Welw. ?). Thalia geniculata, vel aff. Anchomanes, leaf only. Culcasia scandens, Beauv. Culcasia sp., fragm. Commelyna (fragm. of C. xudiflora ? L.). In 1861 Mr. Mann made collections of specimens of certain woods at different points on the Coast of West Africa, for the lists of which as follow (pp. 222, 223) I am again a debtor to the Kew Authorities. These contributions have the advantage of locality, and I am glad to be able to embody such infor- mation in this work. . 222 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. Circum- Botanical Name. Extent and Uses. ference Locality. of Stem. feet. From Niger 1. Lophira alata, Banks. | Abundant. . 15 to Came- roons. es ee altissima, Soft and spongy . 5 <3 3. Erythrophleum gui-\\{ Abundant iy . neense, Don. soft and spongy 7 | River Nun. 4. Chrysobalanus Icaco, Often seen, good. 5 a ; ; Abundant, fit for 5. Mimusops? i { bali:héads: } 7 as 6. Pentadesma butyracea | Not hs ae 7 Pn . Ab t, fit fe e 7. Rhizophora racemosa, teas for t for 6 {? ight of E. Mey. Heads: Biafra. 8. Avicennia cg Abundant, soft and 6 (white mangrove) spongy. oz) 9. Myristica*? . . . | Light, not fit. II si 10. Ficus ? é . | Often seen 6 Sy 11. Zabernemontana . Light, not fit . 5 | Ambas Bay. 12. Erythrinasp. . . | Scarce. . 7 or 13. Leptonychia . - | Oftenseen . 6 55 14. Dorstenia sp. . . | 33 - 13 5 15. Spondias dubia, Rich. | Scarce. . « . 7 56 ; Appears to be 16. Cynometrasp. . . good, specimen 8 se ; too small. 17. Hexalobus? . . .« | Oftenseen, not fit | 10 5 S t 18. Oncoba glauca, Hook. { beg. per °} 6 at : Oft 19. Guitifera 1... { aie | 7 a tbo Abundant, _ light, ; 20. Tvichelia? . . . { ace. > 18 ‘| 6 » at. Baphia?. ss 6 oe appears oy 7 = be good. * The wood is split and used by the civilised natives of Fernando Po for covering the sides of their houses, FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 223 Botanical Name. Extent and Uses. Circum- ference of Stem. Locality. I. OO HY DAY Ss II. 12. 13. 14. 15. 6. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. I Hypericum angusti- Solium. Lasiosiphon glaucus . Pittosporum Manni . Myrsine melanophleos Paratropia alata. . Paratropia Manni . Nuxia congesta . Lygeum africanum . flex capensis. . Omphalocarpum ‘pro- cerum, Beaum. Morinda Benth. Musanga Smithit,t Br. Caseavia. . Pterocarpus esculentus Monodora (near MM. ‘} myristica). Sterculia tha, Lindl. Cupania. . Symphonia globuly era? ae Cedar. . . Nauclea stipulata os X. stipulosa = Mitra- gyne macrophila, Hiern. lucida, } as | . Scarce, not fit . |. (Often seen, hard and good, substi- tute for African oak., \ Abundant, not fit. Often seen, not fit a9 %? Light, but good . oe feet. 12 . _ "NON N a Om 1 Cameroon Mountains. { a? oy 2? ed a2 »» a a» a3 >? Corisco Bay. 33 + Used for same purposes as cork, and called by Europeans on this Coast ‘‘ cork-wood.” {+ The wood is used by the Negroes for all kinds of carpentry work. The Kroomen use it for forming their canoes. 224 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. XVI. I HAVE alluded to the necessity of reforesting, in parts of West Africa, and I have mentioned the “ Casuarina” as a tree likely to answer. I would now add the growth of Eucalypts of Tropical Australia has met at Lagos and in Sierra Leone with a measure of success. They and Melaleucas might with proper care be most advantageously cultivated, under Government control and supervision, for their hygienic properties, as force pumps, to the many swamps at present existing along and within the West African Coast line. On the more general introduction and growth of Eucalypts and Melaleucas in West Africa, I will here repeat what I embodied in a Circular I issued from the Gambia in 1885 :— The timber denudation and consequent drought and barrenness in some parts of West Africa must engage the attention of any observant person. I ventured to call attention to the subject in a letter addressed to the Lagos Times in January, 1883. See what Parkes says in his ‘ Practical Hygiene’ FORESTRY OF IWEST AFRICA. 225 on the importance of the effect of vegetation on ground, and especially of the Eucalyptus globulus :-— “In hot countries vegetation shades the ground, and makes it cooler. The evaporation from the surface is lessened; but the evaporation from the vegetation is so great as to produce a perceptible lowering effect on the temperature of a place. “Pettenkofer has calculated that an oak tree, which had 711,592 leaves, had during the summer months (May—October) an evaporation equal to 539.1 centimetres (212 inches), while the rainfall was only 65 centimetres (25.6 inches) ; so that the evaporation was 81 times the rainfall: this shows how much water was abstracted from the soil, and how the air must have been moistened and cooled. Observations in Algeria (Gimbert) have shown that the Eucalyptus globulus absorbs and evaporates eleven times the rainfall ; extremely malarious places being rendered healthy in this way in four or five years. “ Alluvial soils—Many alluvial soils, especially, as lately pointed out by Wenzel, those most recently formed, give out Malaria, although they are not marshy. It is presumed that the newest alluvium contains more organic matter and salts than the older formations. Many alluvial soils have a flat surface, a bad outfall, and are in the vicinity of streams which may cause great variations in the level of the ground water. Mud Banks also, on the side of large streams, especially if only occasionally covered with Q 226 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. water, may be highly malarious ; and this is the case also with deltas and old estuaries.” Apart from the importance of vegetation in its relations and contact with the ground, and the questions of scarcity and consequent dearness of fire-wood in different places along the West Coast, the effect of timber denudation on water supply is making itself felt at Sierra Leone, Accra, and else- where ; as also on the climate generally. Again what as to fire-wood, if prohibition was imposed on the cutting of the Mangrove so univer- sally resorted to for so necessary an article ; it isa moot question whether in a sanitary sense its cutting and clearance should be allowed. In Lagos during 1879 I was successful in rearing some specimens of Eucalyptus the seeds of which had been kindly supplied by the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew. I endeavoured in 1881 to have ascertained the names of the Eucalypts I had reared, This could not then be done with any certainty, as in the case of juvenile plants the foliage is markedly different from that assumed by the adult plants. Steps should, however, be taken in this direction. Geologically it may be said that the Island of St. Mary, Gambia, resembles the Island of Lagos. It occurred to me as highly desirable to make an attempt to introduce also there so orna- mental, useful, and beneficial (in a health sense) trees as are the Eucalypts. FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 227 In my endeavours at Lagos, I was ably and success- fully followed up later by the zealous Dr. J. W. Roland. The result of his good work may be gathered from the following extract from Sir Ferdi- nand von Mueller’s ‘Eucalyptographia,’ for a copy of which I am indebted to the Government of Victoria :— ““EF. pruinosa might prove a good tree for fuel, and perhaps for technical purposes, in any tropical country: it would at all events be as adapted to an equinoctial clime as &. ¢ereticornis, E. resinifera, E. acmenoides, and E. Baileyana have shown them- selves suited to as well sandy and swampy grounds in Guinea, as observed by Dr. J. W. Roland.’ “Dr. Roland in July, 1881, wrote :— “ 3? ao " Dipterocarpeze Malvaceze ae 2% >? i 22 29 a3 >» a9 23 29 29 29 39 22 3-9) 29 29 29 . STERCULIACEA. 39 at ae 29 a9 =F Tiliacez . Sauvagesia erecta. . Cochlospermum tinctorium . C. angolense. , Bixa Orellana . .« Oncoba spinosa Securidaca longipedunculata Portulaca oleracea Tamarix gallica. . TL. articulatas . . flaronga madagascariensis . Symphonia globulifera . Pentadesma butyracea . Garcinia Kola . . . Ochrocarpus africanus . Lophiraalata . . . Sida carpinifolia, . . S. rhombifolia . . . Wissandula rostrata. Abutilon indicum . . Malachra capitata . . Urena lobata. . «. . favonia seylanica . Liibiscus tiliaceus . ZI. cannabinus I. furcatus . Ff. esculentus. 1. 6 4 HT, Abelmoschus . fT, quinguelobus. . Hi, suratiensis 1.5 . Thespesia populnea . Gossypium barbadense . G. herbaceum .« «© . G. arboreum. . «6 6 Adansonia digitata. . £ viodendron anfractuosum . Sterculia Tragacantha . Sterculia? cordifolia, . S. cimevlas 4 6 S. Barteri . « s Cola acuminata. . Waltheria indica. Theobroma cacao. . Grewia asiatica. . 515 Vulgar Name. Page se ian 276 Fayar. . . 1 ” Borotuto . ‘ .” Arnatto or Rocon < oy ‘4 ie 277 Buaze » ae ee ee a3 Purslane . . . oa Tamarisk. . . . . | 278 Guttier, Ogina-gina . HH Gamboge, hog or doctor’s\| , gum, karamani. . 79 Butter or tallow tree. es Bitterkola . . . 5 Mammee apple . . 280 Meni. . ... ae . 281 Indian mallow ee . . iss a a9 Indianhemp, bastard jute, > amibart sy a ee efi! “22 bee a 283 Okro, bendi-kai . . .] ,, ‘Tabaco’. . .. ; ah sae 284 Portia or tulip tree a6 American or sea islaud cotton . ft 2 256 ed 285 Cotton of commerce . 25 Baobab, monkey-bread . | ,, Benten, Bintaforo, ol 286 cotton orkapok . . Tragacanth . . . 2] yg, Ndimbs Ao oe ke | gy Kook omboyon . . 287 Colaorkola. . . 7 . Cacao. . . se 288 2? 2L2 516 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. Tiliacez . 4) Gemrlliss ee a set sis 288 oy - + « | G. populifolia . . . «|Gingo. . 2. . A ex oa | Res eo di ae 289 55 . | G. salvifolia. . ‘ wee ae 35 hs . | Grewia sp. . . . | Ovumbapoo. .. . 5 ae. S . | Lriumfetta semitriloba . si ae 4 Bat. We . | Corchorus oliturius . . | Jew’s mallow orjute. .| ,, ae a |p Cgsenederties ok oy : eat ee 290 36 » | C. trilocularis ; vidi sae 35 55 » | C. fascicularis . | Bhauphallee . . Bol sig Humiriacee. . | 4 ubrya gabonensis . . | Djonga. Si) we) Se e2OT Zygophyllee. . | Zrzbulus terrestris - | Chota gokhroo be, cee 284) 59 555 . « | Metraria Schoberi Nitrebush . . . «| 55 35 a rygophyllum simplex Alathi . z 3 55 . . | Fagonia arabica Dhamasa. . 292 GERANIACEE . | Oxalis corniculata * Amrulsak”. Paes ae Rutacez . . | Zanthoxylum senegalense 293 a » . « | Clausena inequalis . ss SIMARUBEA. . | Brucea antidysenterica . . Woodginoos eee AW sie 505 . | Lrvingia Barteri Dika, Udika, eee Iba » | 294 a5; . | Lrvingia Smithit 5 a5 . . | Balanites egyptiaca . : Soump. as “es eld ares 5 Burseracee . . | Balsamodendron africanum | Bdellium. . . 295 $5 . . | Canarium edule . - | Mpatu or Mubafo 7 =m a9 . «+ | C. macrophyllum . . . 35 : Persian lilac, ‘Eastard MELIACEH . Alelia Azedarach . . . { cedar, bead tree. _ 296 53 Trichilia emetica Motsakiri . 5 7 Carapa guyanensis . ae or tooluconah oil, } . aa Khaya senegalensis . i Se oe ee 207 Chailletiacese . | Chavlletia toxicaria. . ea break is ced » Olacinez. Ximenia americana . 298 +4 alpodytes dinudiata . a5 ‘3 . . . | Leacina macrocarpa. . . wae 5 CELASTRACEE . | Ceélastrus senegalensis Guenoudeck . me Rhamnez Zizyphus jujuba . . « | Jujube or ber. 299 or, ae Z. Spina-Christi . . eis aes 300 re ee Z. mucronata . | Buffalo-hon . . . . | ,, AMPELIDEE. Vitis cornifolia sie ais ‘is a) . V. palmatifida x 55 V. Schimperiana. i i V, Welwitschit 301 22 +99 V. Leonensis. V. bombycina ” INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 517 Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. AMPELIDEA. V. aralioides . ee fe 301 a , DCEO Ss Nhe 0 We SES Se Country grapes . . - ee : Leeatinetoria . . . ie aa * Sapindacee . . Caicenagatiate HMalicacabum ae 2 on segs 302 3 » « | Schmidelia africana fen is i ars . . | Blighia sapida . . Akee apple ae oa “8 SG 5 . . | Chytranthus Mannit tks 303 as » «| Sapindus senegalensis Kewer. .. fp ay ss . . | Dodonea viscosa. . | Switch sorrel, Apiria ell ca ANACARDIACEE | Sorindeia juglandi ifolia . . oon 304 pis Anacardium occidentale. . Cashew Be oS 3 5 Hematostaphis Barteri . Blood plum, Daingeregza 305 5 Odinaacida. . . « + 53 55 Spondias lutea . . « « Hog plum. a ae Se $9 a Sclerocarya Birrea . . .|M’Birr . . . « « | 306 sds Mangifera indica Mango. . .« +» «© «| yy Connaracez . Rourea santaloides so. aa aes 8 ; | ( (Papilionacee Crotalaria Leguminose . ‘i 2 om ) ce a } 307 iy . «| Ci verrucosa, « « s 3 ot eee CFLS Eo oe oe =d6 55 . . | Lupinus Termis. . ae ee 5 sis . . | Lrifolum subrotundum. Mayad. . . «© « + | 308 55 . . | Lndigofera tinctoria. . Indigo. . . ale 5 5 . . | L Anil. . . . « . | West India indigo + + | 309 es 6 ie WERE ose ojo as os 310 55 . . | Lairsuta . . “9 5 . . | Lendecaphylla . 55 24 . «| Z enneaphylla . : _ 35 ce IBM ca) oat as 35 . . | Lephrosia eae: . oes ee 311 55 . . | ZL Vogel . . Igongo . « sw - ah ¥5 11 | Sesbania punctate ees Sabral. 2 2. 5 . « | Si @gyptiaca, . . . oe “ia 312 = . «| Si aculeata ». 6 ss Dhunchee or Danchi A a . . | Leschynomene aspera Solah or Shola . . « | 313 is . « | Herminiera Elaphroxylon . . | Ambash or ae REC sh yy a5 . . | Zornia diphylla, . . 5 a . . | Arachis hypog@a. . . Groundnut... 314 au . . | Desmodium gangeticum 35 acy . | Di triflorum. « «© 6 6 jee 315 2 3 » 2 x r. Uraria picta. . . Vicia sativa... w Lathyrus sativus Dabra . ae 8 Tare or vetch ententeratt Jarosse or Gesse. Sob- beure, Ater, Schimbera 518 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. , Leguminose. . | Adrus precatorius . . + ee ~eyes,J eta: 316 45 . « | Chtoria Ternatea - | Cajlee. 2. . © « » | 317 os . . | 2rythrina senegalensis. . iiss ” 55 . « | Mucuna pruriens . ‘i oi a si 3% . » | Canavalia ensiformis . | Overlook. . . «© + | 318 6 - «= | C. obtustfolia. i fies sd ‘9 53 . . | Physostigma venenosum .|Esere. «© « «© » 319 x . . | Beylindrosperma . . . a me - os . + | Phaseolus linatus . | Sugar-bean . . » «| 45 Ey . « | Padenanthus . 1. « . as vaste 320 Sis . «| Pvulgaris . . . . «| Kidneybean. « . .] 55 55 . . | Vignacatiang . . . . | Chowlee, tow-cok . «| ,, os » + | Voandzeia subterranea . Bambarra ground-nut . | 321 3 . . | Lachyrhizus angulatus . gifs was ” ae . «| Dolichos Lablab. . . Walle te: os) eee e822 oa ea) DG OFHS 6. ee ei ae ey a0 . « | Cajanus indicus. . Pigeon pea, Dhal . «| 4, Ss . | Dalbergia melanoxylon . Cae: oy 323 is . « | Lcastaphyllum monetaria . ay ae . . | Lterocarpus esculentus . . 86 se ” 55 » | Beerinacens . «ee 4 | Kimo, Wenn. 2 « «| 324 a . « | Lonchocarpus sericeus « | Ossani 8) Be te Se AP BSS. i . « | Leeyanescens . « . OM As, oo St ae 3 a8 . . | Andivainermis., . . «| Cabbage. . ‘ 326 a8 . . | Baphianitida . . . | Bar or camwood . ” 53 . «| B. pubescens. . « .|M’Pano . 3 a8 . » | Baphiopsis parviflora . wed 327 i - « | Swartzia madagascariensis Si aa ” 3% . . | Cordyla africana - | Motunda. . . . ” is . «| Caesalpinia pulcherrima, . | Barbadoes pride . 55 is «© | C. Bonducella - | Bonduc seeds, &c. . 328 se » « | Larkinsonia aculeata « | Jerusalem thorn . . . | 329 955 « « | Cessna Adm. « ae (MOE mM: goes Gee cee, My 33 . «| C. occidentalis . . . «| Negrocoffee. . . . | 330 oa « «| Coobsvata ss ew ap Senna. 6. 6» % ” 5 ai Cela. a es ae ee oe ae 331 a 6 WCE ZOE sw ee we | Dore a ee mw ss ee - «| C. Sophera « . . 2 ce ats ” a8 . » | Cassia sp. + «| Sengeng . . . . «| 332 aya . . | Dialum guineense ie oe ae 3 Sy . . | Bauhinia tomentosa. . . | St. Thomastree. . . | ,, ae ee | Be reepescens nw we cae we | Bel gw es we | 5s iy . . | Bveticulata. . - «| Nguiguis. . 333 22 Daniellia thurifera. . [¥rankincense, "Thievi, Bungo, &. wwe INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 519 Order. Species. Vulgar Name. ‘Page. Leguminose. . | Danielliasp. .. . . «| Ogea. . . . » . | 334 a » «| Zamarindusindica.. . .| Tamarind. . . . «| 335 as . . | Brachystegia spicaformis . me 2 BS a . . | Detarium senegalense . .|-Dittack, manbode . 336 5s . « | Copaifera Guibourtiana. .| Kobotree. . . « «| a5 ae . .|C. Mopfane . . . «+ «| Mopame . ... « | 337 ae . « | Cynometra Mannit. . .. ae a4 3 af * ° | Erythrophleum guineense . Ye oe 338 z 2 9 eo ele . . ny . Pentaclethra macrophylla .. |. Owala, opochala. . . | 4, a3 . . | Zxtada scandens . . . | West Indian filberts. . | 339 a . .« | Larkia biglbosa. .. . » | NETE, Houlle, NITTA | ,, 5. . «| Bficoidea . 2. . . nee as 340 iv . . | Adenanthera pavonina. . ns ae 3 as . . | Letrapleura Thonninga . |Ogagouma. . . ‘o 8 . « | Desmanthus virgatus . . ass Bee 341 5 . . | Mimosa asperata . . | Soune. . «© « «© «© ] g5 - . . | Leucena glauca. . . «| BoisSophie. .-. «| ,, sy . «| Acacia mellifera, . . . eas ‘i 342 i . « | A. evubescens 1. 6 «6 + , 55 5's -- «| A. pemnata . . 2 = s , es 5 . . | A. Steberianad .. . 2 » os a so i . | 4, Adansonti . . . .|Gonakie . . . « » | 343 5 ee. vet eA nQQbida ose. See es ges 6 ee tes 55 Re ie, arama ag ee ge a Hak ep a » «| A. senegal . . . » «| Gumearabic . . . 344 ” . | A etbaica « 6 6 -e ‘ 345 3 . . | A. Farnesianad . 6 » sat es 53 3 . .| A. Seyal. . « » « . | Suakim, Talka . . «| yy Sy - «| 4.8p. . « es +s © © | Koh-Fay . a el | A: Ss . . | Albizzia anthelmintica . .| Besenna . . . » ss Pe . . | 4. Lebbeeh . . . . » | Siris, Laebach . . 3 . «| A. fastigiata.s .» . » » | Apaon. © . ms all | a 5b . « | A. Brownee. « 6 « wee 347 5% . « | Lithecolobium sp. « + Pe sine om 8 Rosacew. . . | Chrysobalanus Icaco . . fee ere eE a) ¥5 iy . « | Larinarium excelsum +. .|Mampata. .- + «| 5, $5 . . | B curatellefolium.... .« ge oe 348 £3 . . | Bmacrophyllum . . | Ginger Bread plum, Neou | ,, 3 . «| B polyandrum., 1. .« + aes a eS o . .| BMobola . . . . «| Mola or mobola pluma . | ,, 9 . .°| Parinarium sp... -. -» | Mpoga, Iku. . . « | 349 +8 ae | BE SPS ek ee eo poe ae Me Se eal 8 ‘ r 6 .- «| Rubus pinnatus. . » - { eee = ; oe 2 a i 520 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Crassulaceze . a> Pe e Rhizophorez Combretaceze 22 29 a? 29 >> a9 a9 Myrtaceze Lythrarieze 29 29 9 # Onagrarieze » 9 , Cucurbitaceze a9 »” a9 a9 a> a9 a9 2? 29 2? 29 ie baad a9 99 a9 ay v2 a” a9 a9 >» ? Cactez ., Ficoidez. ee ee ee K Bryophyllum calycinum Kalanchoe brasiliensis . Cotyledon orbiculata Rhizophora mucronata . Terminaha macroptera . T. avicennioides. . . T. Catappa. . | Conocarpus erecta . . Combretum glutinosum . CoBUPRIB ips par 88 C. truncatum . . Quisqualis indica Gyrocarpus Facquini Napoleona imperialis Ammania baccifera Lawsonia alba . Olkinia cymosa ... Punica Granatum Fussiga villosa « f. pilosa . . Telfairia occidentalis Trochomeria vitifolia .. Pa eS oe eee ae ee oe we ‘| Lagenaria vulgaris . Luffa egyptiaca, . L. acutangula . ’. .« Acanthosieyos horrida : Benincasa cerifera .. |. Cladosicyos edulis. . Momordica Charanjia . Md. Balsamina . « . Cucumis sativus. «. .« C. dipsaceus . a C. Prophetarum. . Co Melo ss 3 C. hirsutus : Citrullus vulgaris. C. Colocynthis . . Cucurbita Pepo . . C. maxima . . Bryonia laciniosa Zehneria scrobiculata Steyos MISS ah ss ee 6 © © © © oe 2 . ° ° Qpuntia . . Mesembryanthemum crystal. BRURE en ae ES Varkensooren. . . - Mangrove. . . + + ‘ Mien, os ese ’ Papengaye . . | Narras. 2. 4. Button mangrove. . . Lignum vite. ... . Rangoon creeper... . Henna, Foudenn. - ee Hlardpeets . @ a x Pomegranate. . . . eee ery Bottle or Club “gourd, Charrah. . . Loofah, Konyikon White gourd. . H. Cerasee, Condeamor. S. Cerasee . . . . Cucumber. . . . Chate: i. ¢ a a % ; Herbie see See Sa ae? bi Melon, Boange . . Water-melon, Béraf . Colocynth, .°. 1°. Pompion or pumpkin . Common gourd, &.. . Hafiafalu, Aregressa. . Eguse _ ee hes Yat — fy ee gues Wo Oe } 361 364 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Ficoidee. * 99 ee a Umbelliferse . 3° Rubiacez 29 a9 2% 2? 33. 74 2 i a9 ae F aa i Re. a? ace: a>? 2s Dipsaceze. Compositz a” 29 9 72 23 a? 99. a9 a9 aa a9 oF a9 a3 29 33 as aa , ee dae De pe Lee as See tu Goh 40d 40h te Sesuvium Portulacastrum Trianthema monogyna . Mollugo Cerviana . MM. Spergula. 1. « . MM. nudicaulis . . Gisekia pharnaceoides . Aydrocotyle asiatica Eryngium fetidum. . Sarcocephalus esculentus Mitragyne africana . Corynanthe paniculata, . Crossopteryx Kotschyana Urophylium rubens. .« Randia malleifera . . Gardenia Ti eee G. Vogelit ‘ Oxyanthus tuby pnts é Morelia senegalensis. Canthium Afzelianum . Vangueria edulis. . Craterispermum laurinum . Lxora sp. S % « Coffea arabica... Cy liberica sw oe C. stenophylla . . Morinda citrifolia . Galium Aparine. Scabiosa suctisa. . «+ Vernonia cinerea V. senegalensis... V.amygdalina . .. + V. Perrottetii «14 + Elephantopus scaber . Grangea mader aspatana Blumeaaurita . . B.lacera. « «1 + Pluchea lanceolata Sphevranthus indicus .« Helichrysum auriculatum Lclipta alba. . Aspilia latifolia, O. & a: Spilanthes Acmella, L. . Tagetes erecta, L. .» « Emilia sonchifolia,, DC. Senecio Tedlict, O. & HH. Centaurea Calcitrapa, L Carthamus lanatus, L, Khapra . . w Antananarivo. . , Doy, Amelliky Koos . . 2 6 « Bellenda or Bembee . Blippo. . . Voa-vanga . . Kattah. eo. Wes Coflee. . . - . Liberian coffee . . Tolmgah or brimstone Cleavers, Grip ae Devil’s bit Chew-stick é Ra-sana, Kowra-sana Hemorrhage plant African, Marigold : Yangkompno Aleit Star Thistle . . Blessed ‘lhistle. ae 322 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. Composite . . | Dicoma tomentosa, Cass. aus at 376 #5 « . | Cichorium Intybus,L. . «| Chicory . . 6 «© 6 | gy Goodenovieer . | Scevola Lobelia, L. . Taccada. eos ce ks | Ericacee . Agauria salicifola, Hook. £ Angavodiana . s. & | 377 Plumbaginee . Plumbago seylanica, L. . | Chitra. Sea eG eas Myrsinee . . | Mesa lanceolata, Forsk. SOaria.., se te a wf gy. 33 . . | WLyrsine melanophieos,R.Br.| Buekenhout . . . 378 Sinot Sideroxylon dulcificum, A. hss ae berry, Asser) BPOLAcer. 6 TC ek ek td Bees bah, Tahme, Adampa J] ” Butyrospermum Pas ria Galam, or sae a2 - Kotschy . . . bouk Butter 7 379 EBENACEE. . | Zuclea lanceolata, E. Mey. ees oh ae e Pr) + » | &. pseudebenus, E. Mey. ie oo } 380 5 . | Maba Mualala, Welw.MSS.| Mualala . . 5 a . «+ | IZ buxtfolia, Pers. Ss D ii ; ps , oe : re oh orm) Ajé, Monkey cee oe ees * . « | D. platyphylla, Welw. Musolveira . . 381 A . | D. Dendo, Welw. MSS. Dendo. . . . . ag sar - «| D. Loureiriana, G. Don — Nhamodéma . Ae aes Apocynacee . ea ease | Abo, white rubber vine . | 382 i . | LZ. Manniisp. . .« « se ate aaa 55 as . | Z. florida, Bth.. . . . | Mbungurubber plant . | ,, Carissa edulis, Schum, et #0 . Thon, abe 2 a ea 384 a . | Tabernemontana borasta, Bth.| Hpokpoka . . . «| 4; oo . | Zsp « « « | Sbogas .s eee wl ag st 0 Siok sp. - » « | Vegetable ilk «has ay . | S. Aespidus, DC. « . . | Umtsuti, or poison plant | 385 es . | S. sp. Inée orOnaye . . es Asclepiadee . Aysmatobium HeudsTotianum, Vahhop « 2 « # «| 4 3 . | Calotropis procera, R. Br. Mudar, Ashoor . . . | 386 : Lergularia sanguinolenta. ‘ Asclepiadee . { Lindl. oe ‘| se ‘3 Loganiacee . | Muxia congesta, Brus 3s ts 387 53 . | Anthocleista Vogelit, Planch. sae we i a5 . ee sp. . M’boundou, Casa, Icaja. | ,, S. spinosa, Lam. (Brehmia Voiva Vountaca, Voavo- 2 : spinosa, Harv.) . . . takase- 408% wef 2? Gentianee . . | Mavoasp. . » . . ate 388 Roweines Heliotropium undulatum, ORB Ne Vall sh ate ceo ; ae a » ” - « | Hindicum,L.. . Indian Turnsole . . . | ,, INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS, 523 Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. Boragineze . Trichodesma africana, Br. . tes 388 Convolvulaceze. | Jfomea digitata, L.. . Fee 4 389 Le hederacea, Jacq. (Phar. Kala-d a bitis Nil, Chois.) . eo ecande) “eee ae la re elle bona-nox, | Cee Moon flower .. . . 6 | yy. I. biloba, Forsk. (Convoluu.- »” 7 lus Pes-Capra, L.) + ri 39° {* aquatica, Forsk. xe 1b 22 . tans, Poir.) . pe a +3 . | £ Batatas, Lam. . Sweet potato.. .. . «| yy ot . | Lvoluulus "alsinoides, L i ag 391 Solanacee . . a iin Tomato or Love apple . | 391 +3 . » | Solanum nigrum, L. . sue Tes 9s Brinjal bergi ” » . | S. Melongena,L. . . . { late ps aie ey 392 Pa . . | Physalis minima,L. . . ‘5 s . . | & Alkekengi,L. . . Winter ‘cherry E i is . . | Capsicum annuum, L.. . ee oer “red 393 Shrubby capsicum spur an » «| C. frutescens, L. fone { pepper... 2 ; ‘ 5 Withania somnifera, Dunal a me (Physalis somnifera, 1.) . sa 394 x0 . . | Datura Stramonium,L. . | Thorn apple, stramonium | ,, Metel or hai thorn 38 ae | Be Mee Te. cb Se ee { apple . oe : ‘| 395 i . . | Micotiana Tabacum,L.. .| Tobacco . .« « « «| gy Scrophulatirieze cae en se . ce i 396 ey Vanabilia ai a oe Paraguay herb . . e | yy - Scoparia dulcis, L. . . «| Pipybras . . - + | 397 Bignoniacee . | Mewbouldiasp.. . Kindee seu brochee . 3 Spathodea cam panulate Tchiogo, Tulipier % a . Beauv. . Gabon. . . © oS] Kigelia pinnata, De. (K ‘} 9 . fi africana, Benth.). sf ABI eG ae. <8 ek PE BS ae Pedalinee . . | Fedalium Murex,L. . . on 398 56 « » | Sesanum indicum, DC. ‘ {Giogeliy ae ; iS | 399 calycul Acanthacee . ae Me . tenn ee 400 Verbenaceer . | Lippia nodi ‘flora, "Rich. . as Ratsiiys oe ail yp 569 . | LZ. adoensis, Hochst. . . | Bormbor, Gambia tea 401 a9 a9 Verbena officinalis, lL. . . Vitex cuneata, Schum. et Thon. 3 «© « ® & @ Vervain or vervein . . Evino . 52-4 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Verbenaceze . ory es Labiatze 2% 2 992 $e Plantaginese ”? Nyctaginee. . Amarantacez 2? 29 29 a9 ” Chenopodiaceze 29 29 m9: 9 Piperacee . . EE GOD BS ors Myristicee. . 5 Sane 3 Ds os Balanophoree . Euphorbiacez . ay * 8 93 a? ” ae ? VSD OG RO VSD GS Avicennia africana, Beauv. Ocimum viride, Willd... O.. canine, SiS, «4 % 4 O. Basilicum, L. ‘ FLyptis spicigera, Lamk, ‘ Salvia egyptiaca, L. a Leonotis nepetafolia, Br. Plantago major, Le. . . BP. -Psy llitinis, Nas ap 8. 8, 8 Boerhaavia repens, L. (B. { diffusa, L.) 6-6 4 8 Celosia argentea, Le. «5 « Amarantus spinosus, L. A. paniculatus, Le «6 A. viridis, Le. Cyathula prostrata, Blume { (Achyranthes prostrata, L. i} rua javanica, Juss. Ae { tomentosa, Forsk.) ~ ¥ Achyranthes aspera, ae ae Chenopodium album, L. C. ambrosioides, Le» se Arthrocnemum indicum, Mog. Sueda fruticosa, Forsk. S. maritima, Dum. .« + Piper Clusii, Cas. DC.. P. guineense, Thon, . . Myristica angolensis, Welw. lM. longifolia. AL Sps as Thonningia sanguinea, Vahl «. Euphorbia piluli ifera, L £. Ps Le. s Esp. Bo: cia’. Ge t EL Spe 6 ore £. sp. Phyllanthus re L. Eom Whiteman grove, garigari, aguirigul é Fever plant Common sweet basil. Tookmeria ‘ Matistil, Cordio do Frade Way bread, ohbako . . ‘ Sarwali, nogeito . Binsébo . . . TOOLE fa a. as a Karalsebo. . White goosefoot, ‘pathu . : Herba Santa Maria, Herva { tormiguera. . . Seablite . . .. . Black pepper, African. or Guinea cubebs, Benin pepper, Irrei, Ere, Eeré. . Ashantee pepper, "Dojvie Combo, mutago . Niowe. .« © 2. « Australian asthma herb . Oro, Agoomoo . . Oldfieldia africana, Bth. " ‘ African oak or’ teal: a ie INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 525 Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. Euphorbiacee . | Uapaca Heudelotii, Baill. . | Ile. « «© « 6 « « | 414 as . | Yatropha multifida,L. . .| Pinhoen . . . « 1] yg, x5 - | FCurcas, le « « » + ee ae Haren 5 ; oe M » Mandioc, Bi és © | Manihot utilissima, Pohl . A — andioe, iter) 415 35 . | WZ Aipi, Pohl . . . « | Sweet Cassava . . . | 416 53 Acalyphaindica,L. . ahs se 3% 33 Ricinus communis, L. . Castor oil. . 1. 6 « | yy 565 Pycnocoma macrophylla, Bth, | Bomah nut. . 417 Urticacee . Cannabis sativa, L . Maconia, deiamba, hemp 418 pe ae ee oer Bth. & _Roko, iroko, odum . « | 419 a5 . . | Facus asperifolia, Mig. . .| Ursasa. « « 6 « «© | gy aig : tae “Mig. oe es Voge Liberian rubber . . . | 4, >, . « + | Lreulia africana, Dec. . | African bread fruit, okwa | 420 os . . | Musanga Smithii, Br. . | Cork-wood . 2. . «yy Hydrocharidese | Vallisneria spiralis, L.. . vee 421 Orchidee . . | Vanilla planifolia, And. . | Vanilla . . 3 Scitaminez. Curcuma longa, L. . . « | Turmeric . 5 Grains of paradise, Guinea x Amomum Melegueta, Roscoe grains, vee pe 422 pera 6 a A, citratum, Perr » . - 423 Large or grape-seeded é amomum, grass-field os A. latifolum, Af... . obro, mabubu, egbubu, {| goguoi . . : Black amomum obro- is : A. escapum, Sims » « + { duddu, massa ee 424 Yellow amomum, massa- 55 A, Danielli, Hook.f... aba, obro-wawa, lon-}| 425 gouze . Swamporwateramomum, i . | A. palustre, Afze . . parlancunpon, massa-/| ,, egbané, kumbulu . ‘6 Zingiber officinale . .« Ginger. 426 5 Costus afer, Ker, . 427 nis Maranta arundinacea, L.. « Arrowroot 55 Thaumatococcus (Phrynium temo fruit, ivémfe) 8 9 Danielli, Bennett). . } katemphe . . . . id 34 Musa sapientum,L. . Banana . . « «+ « | 429 ike Msp. + 6 6 8 ee wate 430 Bromeliaceze Ananas sativa, L. . . .» | Pine apple a 7 es Heemodoraceee. | Sanseviera guineensis, Willd. aa Cee ne emp,} 431 526 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. Order. Trideze .. Taccacece Dioscoreaceze > Liliaceer. . yo” Flagellariese Juncacee . Palme . 29 ee + Pandaneze : Typhacee . “Aroidez a9) Cyperacee . 2 i gues Ee 29) a2 a Graminez .- . Tet es AE Aa a Species. Vulgar Name. Page. Lridee 7 Baréa: ss. ae gr ae we ee [4S Tacca involucrata, S. & T de 9 Dioscorea sativa, Le. « Yam . 433 D. alata . - . « | White bockra, winged yam x PPOSDer > ae Re ar cay? Ry | I ae Be ae ak oe, | S| ABA Smilax sp. Sie a e's 5 v9 Aloespp.. . a ” Gloriosa superba, A 9 Flagellaria indica, L. 435 Juncus acutus, L. . 55 Lodococcus Barteri, M. &W. 5 PWe osperma ae Wendl. ‘ » Phenix eae Thon. . ie dts 436 £. dactylifera, Le se Date Palm . ...],, Calamus sp. . 2 ais is Raphia Hookeri, M. "& W.. URKOt ay oy 8 35 R. Welwitschii, Wendl. ere Sb 437 . | &. vinifera, Beauv. . Bamboo palm. . . .1 ,, -|(Ancistrophyllum — secundi- Jiorum, M. & W. (Cala- ey mus secundifiorus, Beauv.) Borassus flabelliformis, L.\| Morintshi,kelingoos, Run, 8 { (B. ethiopum, Mart.) “} Sibboo . . 43 roe Thebaica, Mart. eee palm, gingerbread (A. guineensis, Thon.) \ tree. . . } 439 Lleis guineensis, Jacq. » African oil palm . : 3% Cocos nucifera, L. Cocoa-nut. . . 2. 2 | 44I fandanus sp . .« « « 442 Typha angustifolia, Le. « 35 Pistia stratiotes, Lin. « . Colocasia antiguorum, | | Schott (Caladium escu->| Taro. . . « 6 6 | 443 lentum, Vent.) . «. . { Cyperus rotundus, L. BT { Motha, Kallandooroo, hexastachyus, Rottb. ) : Hamasugi. . . } 2 C. articulatus, L. *,| Adour. 6 oe =) a [ag C. exaltatus, Retz.: oe <5 CG Papyrus, 1 Papyrus, zozoro . Aa Chefa, chufa, earth al- Cy esculentus, L, 6 we mond, tiger or | 445 ML ek: AS Yee ce Scirpus maritimus, Le. . 35 faspalum scrobiculatum, L. Kodon a> 4s $5 Fundi, fundungi, "hungry £, exile, Wippist. . 2. . rice, Sierra Leone mil- 446 INDEX TO LIST OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 527 Order. Species. Vulgar Name. Page. Graminee . . | P. distichum, Burm... sits oo 447 Panicum frumentaceum, Sate S ae a, 2 Roxb: awan or Sanwan . .|] ,, BP: sanguinale, L, (2. hori- ay 7 zontale, Mey.). . « a8 . . | Panicum maximum, L. . Setaria verticillata, Beauv. (Panicum verticillata, L.) ( Many-flowered tall millet, \ Guinea grass . . Cenchrus echinatus,L.. . | Burgrass. . « « « | 448 Pennisetum cenchroides,Rich. | Dhaman . ‘ {* typhoidium, Rich. eg) ae gero, African 1 mile ‘ 72 ; nicillaria spicata, Willd.) let, gussub, bajra . 2 53 . . | B dichotomum, Deli. . . | Kashela . . « «© «© | 449 7a . ». | Coix Lachryma,l.. . «| Job’stears. . . _ Maize, ebru, abblé, birrie, abirrie, agbahdo, beak- 5% ® « | Zea Mays, Vi ew % pa, eboeboat, m’bah, 450 massah . . . ”» . . | Onea sativa, Le. . Rice 2. 2. 2 «© « «| 451 Imperata arundinacea, $3 = os Cyill, - 2: ae asa eds 452 55 a os Saccharum officinarum, L.. | Sugar-cane . « . - | 55 Heteropogon contortus, R. & a9 = x3 S. (Andropogon contortus,>| Spear grass . . « « | 453 L. as & Ee ndropogon Schananthais. Ginger or lemon grass . | 454 ae eo hae Spr- ee . | Sangare-sangue . . 55 $3 . . | Sorghum vulgare, Pers. .« ee Cuineacom) 455 a5 . . | S. Aalepense, Pers. . + «| Johnson grass. . 3 eee s-tooth grass, doorba ordurva .. . \ . | Eragrostis fascicularis, Trin. | Sangala-la. . 2 6 6 | 55 ar ES) : L Cynodon Dactylon, Pers. . 29 Filices . Lichens. . . | Ramalina scopulorum, Ach. is dias 36 : : Orchella weed, dyer’s Roccella tinctoria, DC.. + { weed, rock moss « 7 Maiden-hair fern. . ~ | 457 3 . . INDE —_——- Advocacy of establishment of Botanic Stations, 249 Suggestions for guidance of Superintendents thereof, 259 Areas of our West African Possessions, 6 Baobab (Adansonia digitata), 180 Botanical division of West Africa, by Professor Oliver, and reference to basis therefor, 30 Cola :— Conclusions of Messrs. Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen on its analysis, 164 Condition of Gold Coast and Lagos Colonies as regards cola, 162 Export of cola from Sierra Leone for eight years, 160 General distribution of cola to be expected, 164 Import from Sierra Leone into Gambia for seven years, 158 Means for keeping the cola fresh, 163 Properties of the cola, 164 The nut in Niam-Niam and Bornou, 163 West African present trade monopoly in this article, 164 Why cola does not grow up the Gambia, 159 Cotton :— Causes of depression in trade in British West Africa, 140 Cotton industry on the Gambia and behind Sierra Leone, 143 Export from Gold Coast Colony for eight years, 142 45 Lagos Colony for five years, 143 Imports from the United Kingdom into West Africa of cotton manufactured, for four years, 146 Raw cotton from Portuguese Possessions for eight years, 147 And from.West Africa not particularly designated, for five years, 147 Superiority of raw cotton in Portuguese Possessions, 141 Crown land in West African Possessions, 6 2M 530 INDEX. Draczenas and aloes, 181 So-called West African aloes, 181 Dye-stuffs into United Kingdom, 156 Dye-woods :— Are camwood and barwood the same botanically ? 139 Circumstances to be considered in supply of dye-woods, 137 Gaboon trade, 137 Imports into United Kingdom from West Africa for eight years. 136 Whence obtained, 136 Fanjahnee, or self fire-consuming tree of the Gambia, 182 Fibres, West African Colonies, 1886 Exhibition, Report on, by Messrs. Cross and Bevan, 187 Visit of West Africa by, or establishment of, Analytical Chemists as branches of Medical Departments advocated, 195 = * Teleaceze :— Bambusa, 186 Bauhinia articulata, 184 Calotropis gigantea, 185 Cochlospermum gossypiunt, 184 Corchorus olitorius, 183 Eriodendron anfractuosum, 184 Libiscus cannabinus, 184 LFibiscus esculentus, 184 Musa paradisiaca, 186 Sida rhombifolia, 184 Foreign Possessions :— French, 18 German, 24 Portuguese, 19 Spanish, 23 General summary of result of late scramble for West Africa, 27 Ginger and Pepper industries, 150 Cubeba Klusii as a substitute for pepper, 152 General import into United Kingdom of ginger ard pepper for five years, I51 Preparation of ginger for market, 151 Superiority of West Indian ginger, 152 Their export from Sierra Leone for seven years, 150 INDEX. 531 Gums and Resins :— “Accra” copal, 123 Export for eight years, 124 ** Angola” and Benguela gums, 132 Five years’ imports into United Kingdom from West Africa, 118 Gold Coast gum trade, 122 How distinguishable, 118 How with most profit gum can be put on the market, 126 ** Ogea”’ copal of Yoruba, 129 ‘* Santang” and ‘* Verek” of the Gambia, 128 Senegal gums and uses to which put, 119 Sierra Leone export for five years, 127 West African gums and resins of trade, 118 Import into United Kingdom of Cacao from Foreign West Africa for eight years, 148 Attempts in British West Africa to develop industry, 149 Supply from Spanish island of Fernando Po for eight years, 149 Indebtedness of Author, 265 Jute cultivation might be considered, 182 Liberian Coffee :— Benta-maré of the Volofs (Cassia occidentalis), 115 its analysis, 115 Coffee disease, 106 Conditions of circumstances surrounding its cultivation, 96 Export from Portuguese Possessions into United Kingdom for four years, 113 Growth of coffee on Aquapim Hills, Gold Coast, 108 in Gold Coast Colony, 109 in Lagos, 109 og », on Sierra Leone hills, 109 Upper Gambia—coffee wild, 110 Rio Nunez and Rio Pongo coffee, 110 Industry in Portuguese Possessions, 111 West African trade with United Kingdom for four years, 112 ax ” 9 ” Nuts and Kernels :— Adulteration of produce, 72 Analysis of M’poga nut, 53 2 »> Niko nut, 54 Effect of its cultivation elsewhere on West African ground nut, 55 532 INDEX. Nuts and Kernels—continued. Beniseed, 66 Copra trade, 68 Export of ground nuts from Gambia, for seven years, 52 M’pafu tree, 71 Nuts and kernels detailed, 50 Palm kernel trade—Gold Coast Colony, 57 Exports thereof from West African Possessions for eight years, 59-64 Sites favourable to growth of cocoa-nut tree (Cocos nucifera), 65 Table of principal oil-yielding seeds that reach European and American markets, yield and value, 74, 75 Their import into United Kingdom for eight years, 51 Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus), 72 Palm oil :-— Analysis of palm oil, 47 Annual import since 1790. .33 Cultivation of Llais guineensis, 37 Current prices per ton, 47 “* Hard,” ‘‘soft,” and ‘‘medium ” oil, and whence obtained, 46 Import into Liverpool of palm oil for ten years, 47 Manufacture of palm oil of commerce, 38 35 for home consumption, 40 Palm bel oil—white, brown, or black, 41 “Regular” and “irregular” oils, 11 Return of exports of palm oil, and its direction for eight years, 44 Reforestation :— Importance of Eucalypts and Melaleucas of Tropical Australia, 224 Experience of Author in growth of former, 229 Rubber :— Birth of industry in Gold Coast Colony, 1882. .83 Growth as illustrated by exports, 1883-5. .89 Exports to Europe and America from Gambia for eight years, 79 Gambia rubber industry :— ‘Difficulties associated with collection, 82 Process of collection, 81 Imports generally into United Kingdom for eight years, 91 Imports into United Kingdom from West African Settlements for eight years, 22 INDEX. BR8 Rubber—continued. Industry in Portuguese Possessions :— Export therefrom into United Kingdom for eight years, 95 Sketch of what on the subject has been done previously, 1 Tobacco :-— Import for five years into West African Colonies from United Kingdom, 177 Import for four years into each West African Colony, 178-9 Industry on Aquapim Hills, Gold Coast Colony, 172 Canary Islands, 173 * Upper Gambia and Niger, 172 Names in various West African languages by which tobacco is known, 175 Naturalised African product, 169 Return of imports into West Africa of unmannfactured tobacco for eight years, 170 Tobacco in Niam-Niam, 175 2? West African Vines :— Vitis macropus, &c., 157 Wood and Timber :— Botanical specimens from Accra, 212 Botanical specimens from forests of Lagos, 215 Imports and exports for eight years, 197 “‘ Oroko”’ or ‘* Odoom” (Chlorophora exce!sa), 213 Principal woods of Senegal and Gaboon, 200 Timber denudation and its effects, 231 Trade dormant, 199 Vulgar names of woods used at Sierra Leone, 201 West Africa as a field for walking-sticks, 209 West African Cycad (Zcephalartos Bartert), 214 Woods collected in river Bagroo by Mr. Mann, 202 Woods of different points in West Africa collected by Mr. Mann, 222 Woods of the Gambia sent to Forestry Exhibition, 1884. .206 Yoruba indigo, 153 Condition generally of industry, 155 Process of extracting dye, 154 dyeing cloths, 154 2”? la Zz LONDON ! PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. SS CR . SS STAN Sh oo CN a . . eC -— Ss SO — S cc. a OO oS LINN oC AS WN . SS ~~