CHAPTER VIII. Nigeria

NIGERIA

I. THE RIVERS, PORTS AND FORESTS OF NIGERIA.

Starting from Lagos, the first port of call, the coast is flat, sandy, and low-lying as compared with the typical seaboard of Europe with its cliffs. Long sandy beaches with scattered coconut palms in the background are more prevalent in this part of Nigeria than the water- covered mangrove swamps, showing rather a stunted growth. Westwards from Lagos there are the scattered mangrove formations in the estuary of the Yewa River, near which is the trading station of Badagri. Following the line of the coast, somewhat better mangrove areas are found towards the mouth of the Benin, Escravos and Forcados Rivers. The estuary of the Niger, extending from the last-named river as far as the Sombreiro, shows varied development of the mangrove type of vegetation, as well as the first admixture of other hardwood trees at the edge of the mangrove zone. On the way one passes the Ramos, the Brass, Nun, St. Bartholomew and St. Barbara, each forming outlets for the forests further north. Beyond the Sombreiro the estuaries of the New Calabar, Cawthorne and Bonny Rivers contain further mangrove areas, usually in the form of large islands. Eastwards of the Bonny River the mangrove to some extent gives way to comparatively large areas known as rain forests, owing to the comparatively heavy rainfall in those localities. The Andoni, Opobo, Kwaiebo form the outlets for these forests.

The Cross, Calabar, Kwa and Akwayefe are the most easterly rivers in Nigeria. In the estuary of each, more especially of the Cross River, the finest mangrove forests are to be seen. Next to these in point of height and straightness of bole are the forests on the banks of the St. Barbara and Forcados Rivers.

The Lagos River, with its present bar-draught of 19 feet, is followed eastwards by the port of Forcados, showing 19 feet. As subsidiaries, and northwards from Forcados, are the inland ports of Warri and Koko, both, and especially the latter, being timber-shipping centres. Sapeli, another 40 miles up the Benin River beyond Koko, was and still remains a timber port of some importance, and from it the trade name of one kind of mahogany, namely Sapeli wood, is derived. Brass, considerably further eastward, is practically a seaside port, to which some produce of the Niger Delta is brought. Degema, Bugama, Bakana, Okrika and Port Harcourt are inland ports all reached from Bonny, situated at the mouth of the river of the same name. Opobo, on the Imo, is yet another inland port with a 14-foot bar at the river mouth. Eket is the small port for the Kwaiebo River, whence small steamers run to Calabar. Oron, on the western side of the estuary, is also a port worthy of mention. Though Calabar is some 15 miles above the junction of the Akwayefe, Kwa and Cross Rivers, it is the chief port of Eastern Nigeria. It is situated on the side of a hill some 200 feet high on the bank of the Calabar River, which is half a mile wide at this point.

Turning now to the next type of forest met with after leaving the mangrove zone, the thick, heavy, evergreen rain forest is seen. On the western side in the province of Abeokuta it has very largely been destroyed, only comparatively small isolated areas remaining. In the Ondo province, however, some of the most extensive and heaviest timber areas of this type are found. A good network of rivers, such as the Ogun, Ona, Oshun, Oni, Shasha and Owenna, when flooded, form the outlets for timber worked in these localities. In the northern part of the Warri province and the southern part of the Benin province large representative areas of the evergreen type are found, though there they tend to mingle with the tall, mixed deciduous forests. To a small extent in the Owerri, but to the largest extent in the Calabar province, the rain forests find their finest development, culminating in the Oban Hills on the eastern side of the latter provinces. The rainfall there is 175 inches per annum.

The Sasswood is one of the first trees to appear when the mangrove swamp gives way to the evergreen forest. Other large trees are the mahoganies, found chiefly on the old banks; red ironwood, with its brilliant red fresh leaves in the late autumn. In fact, these leaves are often taken for flowers, owing to their very bright colour. They gradually, however, assume a dark green colour as the season advances. An unidentified species of gum-copal which grows to colossal dimensions is found scattered rather diffusely and curiously in these areas. Different kinds of ebony, with wood varying from brown to green black, are seen throughout the zone, though, as with other trees, a different species is found in the different provinces; on the whole, the blackest wood is found where the rainfall is heaviest.

The mixed deciduous zone, which consists both of deciduous and evergreen trees, mingles and gradually develops at the northern edge of the evergreen rain forest; in many cases the one goes over into the other almost imperceptibly, and it is only perhaps after half a day’s march that one realizes that one has left the evergreen type behind and reached the forests where half the trees lose their leaves every year. A very large development of these forests is found in the Abeokuta, Oyo, Jebu-ode and Ondo provinces. Very heavy inroads have been made in these forests, and it remains to be seen whether sufficient will be preserved to ensure the future fertility of the soil and the requisite rainfall. One of the most prominent species is the cotton-tree, with its great root buttresses and muscle-like protuberances from the stem. The Obechi, or Arere, is another magnificent timber tree, with soft white wood and maple-like leaves, which grows to huge dimensions. The African greenheart, which may grow 12 feet in diameter, is hard enough to break the blade of an axe. The Iroko, taking the place of oak in African economy, is another tree frequently met with, and it extends its area of distribution as the forests are opened up with clearings. East of the Niger this formation is only found to a small extent in the Onitsha province; a little larger in the northern part of the Owerri province, and still largest in the northern part of the Calabar and the southern part of the Ogoja province. In fact, the finest development of the mixed deciduous forests is found in the last-named province, just north of the Cross River, where it is really at the edge of the true deciduous forest. In this zone some three kinds of mahogany are found, in some places very diffusely scattered, in others up to a thousand mature trees in eight square miles, or in a third nearly every tree a mahogany on both sides of the road for over half a mile. The four species in this zone vary less from province to province than they do in the case of the evergreen forest zone, though the total number may be greater.

Beginning again on the western side, the open deciduous forest or dry- zone formation shows itself over a very wide extent in Oyo, Northern Jebu-ode, and in the Northern Benin provinces. East of the Niger it is of wide extent in the Northern Onitsha and Northern Ogoja provinces, but it also occurs in the northern part of the Owerri province as an artificial product of man’s destruction of the original forest. In some places this formation, owing to the trees being close together, more nearly approaches the deciduous forest. In others, owing to the poor and stunted nature of the arboreal growth, it more nearly approaches the open grass savannah formation. Only north of the Oyo province near Shaki, or north of Ogoja in that province, could it be said that this kind of formation is seen.

One of the most prominent kinds of trees found is the Shea Butter, the nut of which is used in the making of chocolate cream and margarine. This tree, varying in size from a large oak to a short, stunted, gnarled and burnt relic of better forest conditions, is found over very wide areas in the Oyo and northern part of the Abeokuta province. Strangely enough, this tree does not appear in the northern part of the Benin or Onitsha province, and only occurs again in the north-eastern corner of the Ogoja province. The locust-trees, with their open crown and feathery leaves and long pods similar to French beans, are conspicuous all through the zone, and near the villages are specially preserved. Mahogany is represented in this zone as another species which does not attain a greater girth than 10 feet and which is often gnarled and crooked owing to the annual grass fires. A medium sized Cedrela, or hard cigar-box wood, is found in isolated patches in the northern part of the Abeokuta and southern part of the Oyo province. The balsam-copaiba-tree is also very common in this zone in the North Benin, Onitsha and Ogoja provinces.

The forests of this zone are perhaps the least valuable from the financial point of view, chiefly owing to their geographical position and defective means of transport, but economically they are of great value to the agricultural community, both for their forest produce as well as their soil-preserving and rainfall-conserving properties. The chief timber areas are situated in the heavy rain forest and mixed deciduous forest areas, though a few have recently been taken up in the mangrove swamps.

As a minor, though important, development to the main forests are the evergreen hill forests, which find wide development in the northern part of the Jebu-ode, Ondo, Benin, Ogoja and Calabar provinces. On the whole, the species do not vary so much as might be expected, and in many cases it simply means a further distribution of certain evergreen trees beyond their zone of natural development, owing to suitable climatic conditions in these hills. For instance, the red ironwood appears next the mangrove swamp on the bank of the St. Barbara River, again in the evergreen forests near Calabar, and reappears in the hill forests of Oban, much further north. Probably the most typical trees of the hill forests are an unidentified species of gum-copal, as well as several species of Guttiferæ.

The fringing forests are found chiefly on the banks of the rivers in an area which is otherwise covered with the open deciduous or dry-zone formation. Two leguminous trees are most typical of this zone. Stray deciduous or evergreen trees from the other zones are also seen. Such forest is thick with a fair amount of undergrowth, and the trees form a close canopy. The fringes vary from a few yards to half a mile in width.

A further subsidiary form is found on the summits of the highest mountains, such as the Boji Hills, with their stunted satinwood trees, shrubs and grass. In some places there is yet another minor formation, that of the freshwater swamps. Some typical examples of these are found on the banks of the Calabar, Osse and Owenna Rivers. In most cases only one, or any how only a few species of trees are found, whereas in the major formations several hundred different species appear. The growth in these swamp formations, both mangrove and freshwater, is on the whole not so large as that of the evergreen forest. Again, the evergreen forest does not show such fine development or such height of tree as the mixed deciduous forests, though occasionally the greatest girth of bole is found in the evergreen forests.

II. THE MAHOGANY AND TIMBER INDUSTRIES.

According to Nigerian law, timber includes planks sawn for logs and trees hollowed out or shaped for any purpose whatever. The timber- working industry, then, is a wide one, covering really three distinct fields of activity, though one or more may be combined. First, there is the felling of mahogany chiefly, and other furniture-wood trees for export. In the second place, the native, and to a slight extent the European firms, cut timber for local use, mainly in the forest, such as planks, canoes and posts. Thirdly, there is the Government, which under the auspices of the Forestry Department chiefly, and to some extent under the Public Works Department, cuts timber of various kinds, chiefly Iroko, for railway buildings and road bridges.

Turning now first of all to the export industry, which is most important at the present time, though the local demand for timber will soon dwarf that of the former, there is a definite sequence of action necessary in embarking on this form of economic development.

As soon as a firm decides on timber-getting, an application (made out in triplicate) has to be sent in with good maps or plans of the area, which is applied for, to the Conservator of Forests of that circle. It is understood that the area in question has been thoroughly examined by the firm before the application is made. A fee of £3 in stamps as well as a banker’s guarantee of £400 for each area of 100 square miles is also necessary before the application can be considered. The species of tree to be cut should also be stated, as well as the names of the villages and chiefs occupying or living in or adjacent to the area. Owing to the time taken in making the fullest inquiries into the occupancy and other rights, as well as ascertaining the financial standing of the firm in question, it is usually several months before the applicant hears that the area has been granted.

Before this the applicant should also forward a confidential statement, stating exactly what capital there is available to develop the timber areas. An additional banker’s reference to the Crown Agents will save unnecessary delay in the granting of the area.

Before the notification of the grant of the area, the licence is made out in the Conservator’s office, for which a £5 stamp as well as three good maps are necessary. Roughly, an additional £2 10s. is required to satisfy the legal fees upon registration, which follows immediately after the execution of the licence by the licensee of the grantees. It should be especially noted that anyone acting on behalf of a firm should be in the possession of a registered power of attorney, enabling him to act in the fullest possible way for the applicant or company acquiring land rights. This power of attorney should be registered beforehand, otherwise another delay will ensue whilst this is being done.

As soon as the area is granted, the applicant should mark all boundaries with the necessary marks, which also appear in the licence. Within six months after the granting of the area, work has to be begun. The first proceeding is to send in a list of trees, numbered serially from one upwards, stating the species, size (girth at 10 feet above ground), where situated, name of nearest village and chief occupying land in the vicinity, together with the amount of fees and royalties payable on the trees. The trees have been marked and numbered previous to the duplicate lists being sent in. It is usual to pay a cheque or bill for the fees and cash for the royalties, then one of the two lists sent in is returned to the sender marked “Permission granted.” Felling can now begin. On the whole, the general practice is to cut the trees down in the earlier months of the year and have nearly all completed by March or April. Logging, with a cross-cut saw or axe, and squaring with an axe and adze, follows as soon as the trees are felled, and, as it takes longer, continues afterwards right into May or June. Hauling begins as soon as sufficient logs are ready to be drawn and the hauling roads have been cleared. Usually different gangs haul to those employed on the tree-felling and squaring. Eighty or a hundred boys are lined up and haul on two ropes attached to the end of the log. The log, having been shaped at the end to allow easy hauling over the rollers or ground, is “snaked” along to the nearest waterside, river bank or creek. Here two timber-dogs are driven in the end for attaching the cane or rope to hold several together. In the smaller streams or creeks, single logs, or two joined together, float down to another station, where a bigger raft of 40 to 100 logs is made up. In a good many rivers the rise of the water takes place in July, and it is then that the largest number of logs float out. Another lesser rise for the most part, except in the largest, such as the Cross or Niger Rivers, occurs in October, when all logs possible are got out for that season.

Logs left by this last flood usually have to stay until the following year, when the river will rise again. Sometimes as many as three seasons elapse before it is possible to get out some logs. The higher reaches of the Owenna have an unenviable reputation in this respect. Several short rainy seasons following each other successively cause the same result. The Ijors are the chief “waterboys,” who contract to take logs down the creeks at 5s., 10s. or 15s. a log, according to distance and nature of the creek. The Ossiomo has also a bad name, owing to its swift current and the liability of losing the logs.

Most labour is engaged direct, though handed over to a contractor who is paid 1½d. to 1¾d. per foot of timber squared or logged brought to the nearest waterside. The labour, however, is paid by the European firm, which is entirely responsible for the payment.

The shipment of the logs is made at Koko, Warri or Forcados from Lagos and at Lagos itself, the first-named port taking the majority. Many firms have a branch store and office at this port, or another firm ships logs for others not represented at a fixed charge per log. Export entries showing numbers of logs, size and value are presented to the Customs Department before shipment. Koko, which used to be quite free from the Teredo borer, is now unsafe for logs after a fortnight’s floating in the water there.

The shipping companies do not particularly desire logs as freight, owing to their weight and unwieldiness in handling. Space is left between them to some extent in the hold. The hatches have to be especially long to take the biggest logs. From Lagos, Forcados, Calabar, etc., a freight rate varying from 35s., 40s., to 45s. per ton for 2¾, 3 and over 5-ton logs. Koko, on the other hand, is only 25s., with 10s. extra for primage. This is the same with the other freight rates.

During the voyage the logs gradually dry, and often by the time they are put into the timber yard of the brokers they are split or cracked. Only the best logs, 30 feet long and quite sound at the start, stand all the rough handling they get. Auction sales take place about once a fortnight in the busy season, though sales by private treaty take place occasionally. Logs can sometimes be sold ex quay too, though by far the most of the wood is sold by public auction. The inclusive charge of landing, stacking and selling at the dock is roughly 10 per cent. of the value of the log. In fact, it is quite a considerable item of expense, and often makes the difference between profit and loss on the smaller and lower-grade logs. All logs are sold by the superficial foot, i.e. one foot square, one inch thick “sale measure.” Sale measure obtains only in the mahogany trade for square logs, and is roughly 20 per cent. less than the actual cubical contents of the log. Round logs are measured and sold by extreme (full) measure. A wane of six inches or less is left on the squared logs, because it makes them less liable to crack and split at the corners, and also it saves a good deal of timber which would otherwise be wasted.

Liverpool is the best mahogany market, though fair prices are obtainable for good logs in London. Hamburg used to be the market for Gaboon wood, and on the whole new woods were better received than in the English market. As a rule, figured mahogany always commands a good price, whereas plain wood, with the exception of roey or counter-top timber, only fetches a moderate or low price, unless the market is understocked at the time. The best wood is obtained from the Ivory Coast, and the next best is Benin or Lagos wood. Sapeli wood is very heavy, and found a market chiefly in Germany. Cross River wood has yet to be shipped and proved, though samples there looked very good and even showed some figure. So far, only the leased areas have been spoken of. Now we return to the Reserves, where, however, permits to cut trees can only be obtained. Here leases are usually not granted. The rules with regard to replanting do not apply in the same way, as all planting is in the hands of the Department. On the whole, stricter supervision may be exercised in the Reserves than on leased areas. Although a firm has no lease, the security of tenure for cutting the trees would be at least as good as under a lease. No other firm would be in the same position to fell and extract timber as the first one to whom permission was granted. The Government would not allow any other amounts of trees to be felled that would injure the working of the forest by the first applicant.

Local felling is conducted by one or two firms in their areas, which were in the first instance obtained for export timber. For the most part, however, the natives or native foreigners fell various kinds of trees such as Iroko, Chlorophora excelsa, Owussu, Sarcocephalus esculentus, Ume, Pterocarpus soyauxii and Pterocarpus Osun, Edat, Saccoglottis Gabunensis. Nearly half the permits issued are for Iroko, the main building timber of the Yoruba and Benin and Ibo countries. The Camwoods or Barwoods are felled next to obtain the brilliant red heartwood, chiefly from the roots, but also from the stem. A dyewood which produces a fast colour is obtained by rubbing a small pointed section on a flattish piece of the same wood. A yellow dyewood is obtained from Anyeran Afrormosia laxiflora.

The canoe-making industry absorbs a large number of trees. The native, chiefly Ijor, chooses the tree with great care as to straightness of stem and length of bole. It is felled near a river bank or otherwise reasonably accessible place. First of all two sides are flattened parallel to each other; at the same time the length of the canoe is chosen and the tree bole cut off at the required length. A narrow groove about half the depth of the diameter of the log is now made with small axes and an adzelike instrument. The log is then shaped externally like a canoe, especially both bow and stern. Next, more wood is cut away on the inside and some pieces of wood stuck across to keep the canoe open. A shelter is put over it during a hot day. As soon as the requisite amount has been cut out, dry palm branches are placed all round the canoe outside on the ground; longer cross pieces are fixed over the canoe of the required length for thwarts when the canoe is finished. Long stakes are driven into the ground opposite each of these on each side of the canoe, so that the natives can obtain a strong leverage over the canoe. Fire is now put to the palms, beginning with the bow of the canoe. The heat makes the wood expand and thus opens the canoe; at the same time the natives pull down the stakes at the side of the canoe and press the cross pieces into their places. This extends gradually the whole length of the canoe in the course of the day, which is the most strenuous of all, as upon the energy and care exercised on this day in making the canoe open out evenly in its entire length and the same amount each side depends its future success in the water. It may turn out lopsided, or, as is often the case, a hole may appear in the middle of the stern end, owing to the centre of the tree having been rather old and rotten. This can be covered over, and is often above the waterline.

Canoes vary in size from the Oguta canoe, in which the paddler has to keep one foot in the water to balance the canoe, to the twelve-puncheon canoe of the big traders. This last will have a great hollow dug out fully 6 feet deep at the stern end and over 60 feet long.

The sawyers cut the tree all round, fell it, and then cut it into 12-feet length logs, as far as the bole allows. The huge branches are left untouched. A large pit is dug quite close to the logs, and one by one they are placed over and sawn, first two sides and then into three large planks; finally these are cut into 12-inch planks one inch thick. Most of the work is done within four miles of the railway line or within twenty miles of a large town, such as Jebu-ode, Ife, Ibadan, Abeokuta. Truck loads of this timber may be seen at Ilugun or Ogunshileh, on the Nigerian Railway.

Permits are also issued for the making of smaller articles, such as verandah posts, culled out of a guttiferous tree; sleepers, sawn from Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa); sword-sheaths, made from Ogohen (Musanga Smithii); mortars, cut from Apa (Afzelia Africana); pestles, fashioned out of Eba (Lophira procera).

The dyewood industry in itself is chiefly developed on the banks of the Cross River. The trees are felled in the Oban forests, allowed to lie a year or two, then cut up into long 3- to 4-inch irregular-shaped scantling or poles. These are sold chiefly in the Oban market, after which they are cut into small sections. Women take these up and make lozenge-shaped bricks about a foot long in the greatest length. These are sold at 6d. each.

Under Government auspices, one of the first enterprises was the sawmill at Etehetem. A very hard redwood, termed Apassa by the Efiks (Mimusops lacera), and also mahogany (Ochrocarpus Africanus) were cut. Owing to the difficulty of expansion and the increasing cost of the logs, the plant is to be moved elsewhere. The railway had a small plant at Han, where timber and sleepers were cut for the Baro Kano line. At Ebuttemetta the railway also have a small mill for cutting chiefly Iroko, Apa, and a little redwood.

Of the various firms, Messrs. McIver had a small mill in Lagos, chiefly for sawing up mahogany logs not worth shipping to England. Later, in 1909, Messrs. Miller Brothers built a mill at Koko town; Agba (Copaifera sp.?) as well as mahogany logs have been cut; Ebbe and Obiache, and Obechi (Triplochiton Nigericum), the last-named being a good whitewood.

The Anglo-French Company have started a plant near Oron Eastern Circle to cut sleepers out of mangrove wood, Lagenaria and Rhizophora.

Lastly, the Government have started a new mill at Apapa, near Lagos, for cutting logs obtained near Akilla, on the Oni River, in the Abeokuta province, and the planing, grooving and recutting is done in connection with the Public Works yards and furniture-making establishment in Lagos.

The Akilla work is run entirely by the Forestry Department. Trees are felled, cut into logs and brought to the waterside; then, rafted with others, floated in kerosine tins on lighter wood to Apapa. A regular rate is charged per cubic foot. Work was started in August 1914, and already several thousand logs have been delivered at Apapa.

III. THE PERMANENT FORESTS OR FOREST RESERVES.

In the main, all Forest Reserves become the permanent forests of a country. So far as Nigeria, for instance, is concerned, certain definite and well-defined portions of the original forests have been set aside, by agreement with the natives, as Forest Reserves. If these areas had not been set aside, they would have been liable to destruction under the form of shifting cultivation which the local people practise. For instance, at Olokemeji there are several thousand acres in the middle of the Reserve which were cleared some years ago and have not yet grown up. This would have been the fate of the rest of the forest if it had not definitely been placed under the care and protection of the Forest Department. The same applies to other areas scattered over the country.

It is somewhat hard to define the meaning of a Reserve. Essentially it is an area permanently set aside for the production of timber or other forest produce. In many cases, however, the trees or the forests have to be preserved in the interests of the climatic conditions of the locality. If it is found that by cutting down a forest the rainfall decreases every year, the springs dry up, and the land becomes covered with grass, where actual grass fires kill all young vegetation and even hinder farming operations, then the forest must be reserved. To take some examples: In the colony of Sierra Leone there is a Peninsular Mountain Forest, a large and valuable Reserve, 80 per cent. of which is covered with red ironwood, Lophira procera. Then in the Protectorate there are the Kambui Hills, Kennema, then Nimmini, and the Loma Mountain Reserve. In the colony and Protectorate of the Gold Coast there is the Dunkwah Reserve. Some of the most improved reserves in the southern province of Nigeria are in the Western Circle. There are Olokemeji, Mamu, Ilaro, Oshun, Owenna and Ondo Reserves. Again, in the Central Circle there are the Okumu, Obagie, Gilli-gilli, the Uhi, and the Ogba Forests.

In the Eastern Circle there are the Oban, Ikrigon and Ajasso Reserves, in all aggregating about 2,000 square miles.

Contrary to the usual idea, we have seen that a Forest Reserve is in reality only a permanent forest, which is primarily maintained for the definite production of some forest or other product. It cannot be too much emphasized that it is definitely set aside to be used wisely; and for all the trees taken, suitable replanting operations are undertaken by the Forest Department. The name “Reserve” is in fact rather a misnomer. In the early stages of a forest administration it is convenient to talk about Forest Reserves as distinct from the rest of the country, which is usually covered with forest and termed “unreserved” forest. It may, later on, become agricultural land; it may also be reserved, in which case it becomes a Forest Reserve or one of the permanent forests of the country. The main point to be observed with a Reserve is that it is primarily for use, and not that the timber is to be reserved and not to be utilized by the general public. Even in those cases where the local demands of the people are great and have to be satisfied first, before any outside timber exporter is allowed to work the forest, it is utilized to the greatest extent compatible with its maintaining a yearly permanent output of timber or other forest product. Permanency of output is the watchword, and strict utilization of the increment-bearing capacity of the forest each year. The increment is of course the amount which each tree grows each year. This amount, added together over the whole area, makes up the quantity which may be felled, on the proportional area during the rotation, in any one year. Thus, to give a concrete example: If an area is 100 square miles in extent, and the rotation is 100 years, then one-hundredth of that area, or one square mile, may be cut over in one year; also, if the sum of the growth amounts to 40 cubic feet per acre per year, this means to say that an annual cut of 25,600 cubic feet can be made each year over one square mile of the area, in the case of a clear felling of all the trees, or spread over an area of 10 square miles in the form of a slight thinning of the trees. In the Temperate Zone, on moderate soil, 40 cubic feet of timber per annum is a good yield, so that in the Tropics we may expect a yield of quite double this amount; therefore it will be seen how readily the forest can grow and how much timber can be obtained permanently from the Permanent Forests or Reserves.

Another great advantage of the Permanent Forest or Forest Reserve, compared with the ordinary leased areas, is the fact that the planting is done by the Forest Department and not by the leaseholder. In an ordinary leased area this planting is a considerable source of expenditure and worry to the leaseholder, and even then satisfactory results are hard to be obtained. He is continually being reminded of his planting duties by the Forest Department, and he is continually striving to keep up the proportionate amount of planting, i.e. 24 trees for every tree felled, and this is by no means easy to attain. Although the annual leaseholder working in a Forest Reserve may be under greater supervision and more stringent forest regulations than in the ordinary leased areas, on the whole his prospects of getting out greater quantities of timber more expeditiously and cheaply are much greater than in the ordinary areas.

Particularizing some of the great concrete objects for which reserve is made:

Firstly, the permanent supplies of timber of all kinds, with a view to turning out approximately the same quantity year after year in perpetuity—in fact, if anything, gradually increasing the output year after year. This means to say that, although the forest is cut down, it is replaced at the same rate at which it is cut down. Putting it in another way, there must be as many blocks, or portions or actual “stands” in the forest as represent the number of years which elapse between the time a tree is planted and the time it is cut down. This period is known to foresters as “the rotation,” and in northern temperate countries, for Coniferous trees the time is usually reckoned at about 80 years. In the tropics, with mahogany, Iroko and other timbers, it may be only necessary to allow 60 years, or perhaps on very poor ground 100 years. In the case of teak in Burma, a rotation between 80 and 100 years is perhaps about sufficient to enable merchantable timber to be produced. Putting it in another way, in the forest, in order to have the permanent yield, there must be sufficient trees of each girth class, so that when the largest, say those over 12 feet in girth, are cut down, there must be sufficient of those between 10 and 12 feet, which will grow during a 10-year period (in which they are cut) from 10 feet to 12 feet in girth. At the present time it has been found convenient to classify each class as “under 2 feet, 2 to 4 feet, 4 to 6 feet, 6 to 8 feet, 8 to 10 feet, 10 to 12 feet, and over 12 feet.” The object of this is to clear away, or have cut, all those trees over 12 feet in girth. This makes room for younger, quicker-growing timber. Although, under the Nigerian Forest Law, the girth of mahogany has been reduced to 11 feet, and in some districts to 10 feet, eventually, as the older and more unremunerative slower-growing trees are cut down, it will be possible to reduce the girth still further. To put this question of the permanent yield in yet another way: All the trees from one year old, or from the smallest size to those over 12 feet in girth, represent what we may call the forest capital. Now, the object of the rotation is only to take the interest on this capital; that is to say, the amount which grows on all the trees over the whole area for one year. It would, however, not do to clip off little pieces from each tree over the whole area, as they would be quite useless as timber. Therefore this amount is calculated out as so many cubic feet per annum, or so many trees above a girth of 12 feet or 11 feet, or whatever the girth limit may be, and this amount, either in cubic feet or in the number of trees, is allowed to be cut down each year. Then we know that year after year this amount can be cut down again, and as the soil and other conditions improve and the rate of reproduction is hastened by proper cultural methods in improving the soil, by draining and other methods of amelioration, still larger results may be obtained.

To face p. 162.

Secondly, the object of these Reserves is to produce firewood, more especially in the neighbourhood of large towns; in fact, already in several cases, firewood plantations or Reserves have been made, such as those at Ibadan and on the sandy flats near Lagos. In these cases, trees five, seven or ten years old are large enough for that purpose, more especially of the following species, Cassia Siamia, or Albizzia Brownii.

Thirdly, to provide grazing land, more especially in the more northern part of Nigeria, where the object is to divide up the area, so that so many cattle may graze on each area in different years, or for different periods of the year, so as to give the pasture and small trees which may be growing a chance to revive and grow again. By this means the pasture is improved and made of permanent value. It is also possible under this system to undertake permanent improvements in these large pastures by a certain amount of drainage in the lower parts, and fire protection in the upper and higher parts. In this way the cattle obtain a better pasturage and reach maturity all the quicker. In times of bad season, too, some of the closed areas may be opened for pasturage, thus ensuring that the head of cattle may not be allowed to go down owing to death due to drought or lack of pasture. In this way the grazing reserve acts as a kind of insurance against loss of stock in bad seasons of no rainfall.

Fourthly, the production of oil seeds and nuts, such as the Oil Bean, Pentaclethra macrophylla, or the African Wood Oil-nut, Ricinodendron Africanus. It may also be the production of Cola nuts, which thrive in the forests in the shade, or in the partial shade, of other forest trees, and the Cacao Bean, which also, in certain localities, should stand in the partial shade of forest trees, more especially in the dry season.

Fifthly, the production of fibres, such as that from the tree known as Eso, Firmiana Barteri, the bark of which is used for making rope. Then there are the various creepers, such as Kakoba, Entada scandens, which is also used for making rope by the Hausa and Yoruba, more especially fly-switches by the Benin natives. Then there are the canes, such as Egbe, used for roofing amongst the Yorubas and Okakan, Eremospatha sp. (large Benin rattan), and Ikan, Eremospatha macrocarpa (small Benin rattan), also used for making rope, and a kind of string which both the Benin and Jekii natives use for tying lath pieces together in house- building and in making coverings for their canoes.

Sixthly, the production of domestic articles, such as sponges, Luffa Soudanica, or wrapping-leaves for food, termed Ewayon by the Yorubas, or thatching laths, Ebe by the Benin natives, and the roofing canes termed Itebe by the Yorubas.

Seventhly, the production of medicinal plants, such as those for native Ju-ju; and some, such as Cassia occidentalis, Cassia fistula, also useful to Europeans.

The main difference between the beautiful, untouched existing forests and a Forest Reserve is chiefly in the matter of management. In the unreserved forests a lease may be granted for five or seven years, and the leaseholder may fell a great number of trees, such as mahogany, Iroko, etc. At the same time there is nothing to hinder the natives or original occupier or user of the land from clearing the greater part of the forest, except the protected trees, and making farms throughout the area; thus, in fact, gradually hindering, or at least reducing, the possible output of timber from that area. No new seedlings come up in these areas which are farmed, and, in fact, the fires which are made in the course of clearing the land for farming operations kill the young growth of all kinds. In reality, in a Forest Reserve there is more permanency with regard to the output of timber than in the original forest; there is, in fact, absolute permanency. Although no actual lease may be granted for a period of several years in a Forest Reserve, yet, as a matter of fact and usual experience, after a year’s working it would be quite unlikely for a Forest Department to stop the timber merchant from working the forest again, or rather from allowing him much the same number of trees as he had in the former year, because not only would the revenue from the forest suffer, but timber experience would have to be gained with another firm, which means a loss of time as well as revenue. Thus, in the ordinary way it is more satisfactory to have the same firm working in that locality year after year, provided they pay an adequate price for all the timber trees which they have. They can then invest the proper amount of capital in plant and hauling appliances, and thus make a greater profit and exploit the forest to better advantage than if a fresh firm came in year after year.

To give a more concrete idea of what these areas mean, we will take it that on the average there are only 50 trees per acre which are of some value or another, either for timber for local use or for export, and taking the average rate of fee at only 4s. per tree (it should be noted that mahogany and so on are rated at £2 16s. per tree), it will be seen that the value of these forests is in all £12,800,000. This sounds a great deal, but when it is considered what a very large number of trees can now be utilized, either locally, in the form of planks and scantlings, and joists for posts, not to speak of all the various kinds of mahogany, Iroko, walnut, ebony and other substitutes which can be used for export, it will be seen that this value is none too great; in fact, to the timber leaseholder they would be worth at least ten times as much. Of course, in this calculation all sizes of trees above a girth of 4 feet are considered, for the sake of making the valuation as complete as possible. Naturally, the smaller girth trees would not immediately be utilized, but when we are totalling up the amount of forest or wood capital involved in the valuation, it is necessary to include them and put a value on them. If the necessity arose, even they could also be utilized and would at least bring in the amount of the lowest valuation per tree.

The Forest Reserves stand also in a special position to the local people, for, after all, these Reserves formed originally part of the forest from which were supplied all the major wants of the native, such as timber, firewood, oil nuts and seeds, fibres, domestic articles and medicinal plants; therefore, whatever the main lines of protection of a good forest, the needs of the people of that locality must have the first consideration. After these wants have been fully supplied, then any surplus in the way of timber or other commercial products can be sold or exported elsewhere. This leads us to consider the fact that a Permanent Forest or Forest Reserve leads to a permanent source of revenue from that particular forest. Owing to the fact that there is the permanent yield of timber established in that area, it means that permanent money is being obtained from those trees and being brought into the Treasury as part of the permanent revenue of the country. If there is any increase, owing to the increased value of the timber trees thus gained—and the more stability there is, the better for the country—better arrangements can be made with regard to the reproduction of the forests. If there is a greater revenue being obtained from the forests, even more money can be justly expended by the Forest Department for the buying of better implements for planting and the Forest Station generally, for the making of permanent improvements in the forests, such as draining, road-making and fire protection. If these forests are not protected and unreserved, then in the course of time they must completely disappear, owing to the fact that man is so constituted that if he sees land, which may or may not be suitable for agriculture, covered with trees, he naturally thinks it would be better to cut these down and see what agricultural crop will grow there, regardless of the fact that there may already exist, or he may have cleared, fifteen times as much land as he requires for farming operations each year.

In addition to all the above, there are the indirect effects of forests, which have been considered in the section dealing with the relation between Agriculture and Forestry. On the whole, it is better for the Central Government or Federal Government to manage the Forest Reserves, as by that means there is greater impartiality in their management and more stability and continuity in the Forest policy adopted towards them. In each case, however, it is essential to have either co-opted or elected representatives of the locality, either by the chiefs or by representatives of the people, so that the wishes and needs of the locality may be thoroughly considered.

Lastly, and by no means the least important feature of the Forest Reserve, is the æsthetic view. In the regions of Permanent Forests, healthier localities are afforded for the people, and they are also prettier and more pleasant. This applies not only to temperate-zone forests, but also to tropical forests. It is a well-known fact also that where there are permanent forests the value of the other land in that locality is always rated higher, and is worth more for leasing if adequately covered with a sufficient proportion of forest.

IV. AFFORESTATION IN NIGERIA.

The Forest Department, not being content with obtaining a revenue out of the forests from the trees cut down for export or for local use, have spent and are spending several thousands of pounds each year in planting valuable forest trees. Going back historically before the time when the Forest Department had a sub-head in the estimates for “Labour for Plantations” or “Teak Plantations” or “Upkeep and Improvement of Forest Reserves,” we had the annual planting of many tens of thousands of mahogany-trees by the timber leaseholder. The whole of this was chiefly done in the Benin district of the Benin province. Although this transplanting of self-sown mahogany-trees into better situations near timber camps, or at the side of falling roads and into the spaces left by the fallen mahogany-trees, was by no means carried out very systematically or under very expert planters, the results are all the more creditable to those who so early started to reproduce the forests. It is most interesting to see in different parts on the banks of the Osse River young thrifty plantations now nearly twenty years old and nearly 30 feet high. In a similar way in the forest there are to be seen large numbers of somewhat smaller sized mahoganies growing singly or in groups, only needing a certain amount of clearing and tending to prevent their being overgrown by other forest trees. Scattered though they are throughout the forest, it is not too much to say that the prospective younger aged forest will be more valuable than that which originally stood in its place.

Easier to find, though in some way less attractive to look at, are the regularly made mahogany plantations of the Forest Department. In addition to isolated specimen trees which are found in the forest Arboretums at Calabar, Degema, Benin City and Olokemeji, several thriving plantations are found near Benin City in the Ogba and Obagie Reserves, in the Ilaro, Mamu and Olokemeji Reserves. In the last-named are the most extensive areas of all, and also, despite many failures owing to experiments on bad soil and seasons of extreme drought, the growth of the trees gives the greatest promise of mature trees, or at any rate merchantable trees, being grown in a comparatively short period. Plantations have also been made at Awka, Udi, Okwoga and Ida.

Already on the old town site of Ijaiye, mahoganies have been seen over 6 feet in girth which have grown up from self-sown seedlings within a period of about sixty years. The soil in this locality is none too good, and the rainfall on the average certainly does not exceed 50 inches per annum. Near 47 Benin villages small communal plantations of mahogany have been made.

All the mahoganies apparently, especially when grown in “pure” plantations, are attacked by a leading-shoot borer, which so weakens the leading shoot as to make it fall off, and the tree subsequently grows with two leaders. Later on this forms a large fork in the tree, which, when the time comes for felling, is by no means to be despised, forming as it does usually a very good “curl.” In other respects it is disadvantageous in reducing the length of the single straight bole. In this manner it has the effect of reducing the number of logs of long length and even shape and large size that can be obtained in one tree. In many cases, a log can be cut above from each limb forming the fork; but of course these are both much smaller than those from the bole, and are usually not nearly so straight, and one or other of the limbs is liable to be broken when the tree is felled. In the original forest only isolated trees are attacked by this leading-shoot borer, whereas in a plantation nearly all the trees suffer by its depredations.

Various species are being tried for admixture with the mahogany in order to hinder the spread of the attacks. At Olokemeji there is a mahogany plantation largely interplanted with two species of Mimusops multinervis and Mimusops Elengi. So far this appears most suitable, as the soil is kept thoroughly covered by the dense shade cast by the Mimusops, and there is a very considerable space between each mahogany- tree. However, the mahogany grows faster than the Mimusops, so that after the first few years it does not have so much effect. Even so, it tends to keep the bole of the mahogany clean and the state of the soil in mechanical and physical condition such as to be most conducive to the growth of mahogany.

A mixture occasionally seen in nature has yet to be copied—that of mahogany and Chewstick (Anogeissus leiocarpus). To some extent it is seen at Olokemeji, where the self-sown seedlings have come up in a mahogany plantation, but of course they were rather too late to effect the result, i.e. protecting the mahogany from the leading-shoot borer. At Ilaro a most typical Mahogany Reserve, an isolated plantation made amongst secondary growth, has more than held its own with little or no tending after the first two years, and yet the trees overtop all the surrounding growth. In some cases, both at Olokemeji and Mamu, either self-sown or planted Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa) is found growing amongst the mahogany. Owing to the attacks of the coccus on the Iroko hindering its height growth, it has not had as beneficial an effect as might have been expected. Transplanting self-sown trees from an overshaded locality in the forest, where they usually first appear in a more open locality, has proved on the whole most successful. Again, transplanting self-sown seedlings scarcely one year old from an overshaded locality into one with more light has accelerated the growth of the seedlings, preventing them being killed by the excessive shade, and at much less cost has thus established a small plantation in the Benin forests.

With the collection and planting of the seeds from the teak-trees originally planted about 1889 in the Ebuttemetta garden, a new area opened in the afforestation of Nigeria. Seedlings developed rapidly, and were found to grow at least 10 if not 18 feet in the first year. Although not always keeping up this promise of exceedingly rapid growth, more especially in height, the teak bids fair to become, as in Burma so in Nigeria, the most valuable of all trees. On the whole it has been by far the most extensively planted tree of any in Nigeria, excepting that in the case of mahogany many more have been planted in the Central Circle. Teak plantations are now found as widely apart as on the banks of the Cross River near Ikom, Inkum, Ndeh and Ikrigon amongst the historic stones, and in the Arboretum at Calabar. Near Ndeh, for over a quarter of a mile the river bank is quite enlivened by the large and showy leaves as well as the tall, thin stem of the teak. To a lesser extent, though appearing more picturesque, is the riverside plantation on the opposite bank just below Abragba. In a district with a rainfall of about 60 inches and a deep sand alluvial soil, the teak so far has proved quite at home in the Cross River districts of the Eastern Circle. Even amongst the thickly growing grass at Ikrigon they have survived after coming up from seeds sown at stake, and bid fair to become an established tree of that locality.

Teak has also found a place in the plantation near Mpot and the Oban Reserve. Going over now to the Central Circle, we have Oria, situated near the right bank of the Niger in the Benin province, with its rapidly growing teak plantations. Again choosing a local climate similar to that where teak is found has so far proved it to be a most suitable tree for this locality. Many other trees do not thrive or attain much size near here, so that the teak is all the more valuable for that reason. Near Benin itself, with its heavier rainfall and comparatively approximate to the sea (about 45 miles), it is doubtful if teak will do so well. Even so, growing more slowly, it would prove an additional most valuable tree to those already found growing in the district from which timber has already been obtained.

Again, in the Western Circle the very largest teak plantations are found: even from the railway carriage window you get an impression of the extent of these just before reaching the Eruwa Road station, and again just after leaving Olokemeji station, between 85 and 90 miles from Lagos respectively. Despite one or two fires, trees at Eruwa Road show quite average growth for the Southern Provinces of Nigeria. In seven years the trees had reached a girth of over 12 inches and a height of over 25 feet. Happily, they were not fruiting so profusely as at Olokemeji. This plantation is all the more interesting in that it was made primarily for the use of the Railway Administration to supply teak timber for sleepers and constructional work.

On closer inspection it will be seen that the Olokemeji plantations nearest the railway comprise six “falls,” “stands,” or “compartments” of 25 acres each, adjoining each other. Although the trees everywhere have not grown as well as on the better soil, these are far and away the largest plantations of any in Nigeria. Each “stand” is separated from the next by a broad ride and top and bottom by a broad road. Near by these are another two compartments of 25 acres each, though neither of these is entirely filled with teak, as also the first one in the other series. Nearer the bungalows there are the first made plantations of 1908, thriving, yet growing on the poor laterite soil. These stretch away nearly half a mile into the open deciduous forests at the back. What a strange contrast is presented in the dense, close growth of the teak plantation, with its soil covering of decaying and large brown leaves of the teak, compared to the stunted growth of Red Ironwood, small Bauhinia, some Paradaniellas and a few gnarled oak-like Shea Butter Trees! Such teak plantations open up a long vista of future developments in the conversion of the poor dry-zone vegetation into forests of valuable trees, both with and without extensive permanent improvements of the soil and subsoil. Even the large raceme-like clusters of the flowers, almost covering the whole of the teak trees in April and May, are not to be despised for improving the looks of a grassy lawn near a bungalow. A glimpse through the tall Terminalias on both sides of the Ogun, just before the curve is reached at Olokemeji village, reveals yet another teak plantation on the lower slopes of the easternmost of the two hills. Olokemeji means the “man of, or owner of, two hills” (oke means a hill, and meji means two, in Yoruba). Again, still further along in the valley of the stream, near the station, are some other older teak plantations from the years 1910, 1911. Here there is yet a different contrast. The broad, wide masses of the teak plantation are still on one side rather overshadowed towards the hillside by the giants of the mixed deciduous forests, such as the cotton-tree (Eriodendron Orientale) and Sterculia cordifolia and ebony (Diospyros mespiliformis). However, later on the teak, growing on better soil than is found in many parts of the Olokemeji Reserve, will no doubt equal it, if not surpass it.

Further to the south, in the Ilaro Reserve, teak has not proved to be so much at home; although growing well the first year or so, the rate of growth since then has been distinctly disappointing. The soil may have been too damp, and the rainfall of the locality may be a little high, and perhaps later on it may be proved that it can be grown on the higher land at a profit.

Further eastward and further northward, in the Mamu Reserve, the teak has grown as well, if not better than up the Cross River. Trees five years old have reached a girth of 24 inches and a height of 35 feet; with its good soil and comparatively high rainfall, probably rather more than 60 inches, Mamu bids fair to be one of the homes of teak in Africa. The older plantations on the river bank, some three miles away from those on the side of the Ibadan-Jebu-ode Road, have done nearly as well as those standing on inferior soil. So far the only damage done to any of the trees anywhere is that caused by a mistletoe-like parasite termed Afoma by the Yorubas, and known botanically as Polystachys odorata. However, only isolated trees having been attacked both at Olokemeji and Mamu, it is not difficult to combat its presence by cutting the trees down and burning the parasite. Still further north, on the bank of the Ogun just above the bridge on the Oyo-Iseyin Road, is yet another teak plantation. This was mainly formed by many of the seedlings in the nursery not being transplanted in time and being allowed to grow up altogether unthinned. Teak, however, forms such very persistent side branches, and has such a tendency to flower and fruit early in its existence, that only helps it to form a clean straight bole and retards the period of flowering by being planted close together. Also, nearly 5 per cent. of all the stems have a tendency to bend over and form stronger side branches than a leader, and have, in fact, rather a more shrub-like habit than that of a tree. Again, quite 1 per cent. grow very slowly right from the beginning and thus sooner or later get suppressed. For these reasons, then, more are required right from the beginning in order to form a full crop of clean-boled timber.

In the Ondo Circle there are some teak at Awshun, where, owing to rather a high rainfall and somewhat low-lying ground, the trees have not grown so very fast after the first year.

In addition to isolated specimens over twelve years old in the Olokemeji Arboretum region, the oldest trees of all are found in the Ebuttemetta gardens near Lagos. These trees are nearly thirty years of age, and show a girth of about 6 feet. By no means growing on good soil, or in a suitable locality either with regard to elevation or the close proximity to the lagoon and the sea, useful for the best growth of teak, they do not at all show the possible limits of growth of this tree. Already sample sections have been cut from one or two of these trees and reported on most favourably by the Railway Administration. Similar samples have been sent to the Imperial Institute for exhibition purposes. In a short time the first thinnings of the plantations will take place, and it will be possible to see for what purpose they are most suitable. At any rate, it is a termite-proof wood, and despite the fact that the white ants often attack the growing tree, they usually eat only the outer bark, leaving the tree quite intact and alive.

In all, about 300 acres have been planted with teak, and even at the low valuation of the cost of making them they are worth at least £45,000. In this case a nominal value of only 3s. per cubic foot is assumed. As has proved the case in Burma, probably on the best soils only a period of eighty years will have to elapse before the final filling of the trees is made on the better classes of soil, and one of a hundred on the poorer soils. At approximately regular intervals of every ten years after the first ten or fifteen have elapsed from the date of the making of the plantation, thinnings are made. With each succeeding period the trees cut out are of larger size, and thus of increasing value with each decade. These returns soon more than cover the cost of planting, and assume greater and greater proportion towards the end of the rotation.

Another tree with which a considerable amount of work has been done is the Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa). Here, despite many disappointing results, care and attention show that this tree is capable of reproducing itself in a comparatively short period. Beyond many specimens in the Arboretum at Olokemeji, a whole plantation was made by the Railway between that place and Eruwa Road. Seedlings come up in large numbers from fresh seed sown in a nursery. In fact, sometimes, as at Olokemeji, they have appeared thicker than grass. Subsequently, when transplanted, many thousands died, the roots being apparently unable to quickly adjust themselves to new surroundings and grow again before the leaves have transpired nearly all the moisture from the plant, and thus quite withered and dried it up. However, those which have survived show fair growth, even on poor laterite soil. This soil, of course, is quite unsuited, and certainly one of the poorest mediums in which to plant Iroko.

Natural regeneration or the sowing of seeds at stake seems to be the best method, as we have in nearly all the Reserves large numbers of young Iroko seedlings of all ages and sizes coming up. In that connection one of the most instructive Forest Reserves is that of Ikrigon, where the Iroko (Chlorophora excelsa) is the most prevalent tree. Here, where most of the land has been farmed at one time or another and where the rainfall on the whole is sufficient to induce a good forest growth, the Iroko has tended to increase in numbers all through this part of the country. It may also be said, of course, that the natives have directly helped in this process, by leaving some of the less straight and more branched Iroko-trees standing. They have used the best for canoe-making. In this manner seed-bearing trees have been available, and with part of the ground having been cleared for farms, the conditions have been most suitable for the reproduction of the tree. Subsequently the farms have been abandoned and the young trees have grown up amongst the weeds, creepers, and other inferior tree species, such as Albizzia, just according sufficient shade and protection for the young Irokos, and yet not too dense or thick to prevent them from sooner or later emerging and overgrowing the rest of the trees. Although, of course, many trees growing up under these conditions branch somewhat low down, they do not suffer nearly to the same extent, and sometimes not at all, from the attacks of the leaf coccus. This has two effects: not only does it not hinder and retard the sapling’s growth, but also all the sooner it reaches the higher zone or greater distance from the ground (as far as its upper foliage is concerned), so that these attacks do not occur. Again, the competition of the various weeds, Albizzias, creepers, etc., has the effect of so stimulating the growth of the young Iroko that in such positions it reaches a much greater height in a quicker time than when planted in pure plantations. From numerous observations it appears that after the first year the height growth may exceed 6 feet in one season. Even later this is kept up, and if the rest of the forest growth remains comparatively thick, no side branches can be formed on the bole of the Iroko, so that clean-stemmed trees are the result. As it gets older the Iroko stands less shade, and thus any small branches which do form are soon killed by the surrounding trees. Thus it is seen how we find these very straight, long-boled Irokos in the forests. Again, too, it is not very expensive, and at least much cheaper, to undertake partial cleaning and pruning amongst the self-sown Iroko- trees, especially to eliminate forks low down in the stem. Various experiments undertaken in the Ikrigon, Olokemeji and Mamu Reserves showed how quickly the sapling Irokos respond to this treatment. In some cases, trees only 2 inches in diameter and forked have reached nearly 4 inches in diameter and nearly doubled in height in one year. Another advantageous feature of the Iroko is the rapid, satisfactory, and smooth way in which the occlusion of the wounds made by pruning takes place. Even in the case of a very crooked tree covered with several branches, in fact almost forming a crown, these may be marked but not all cut until the following year. Surfaces of less than 2 inches will be nearly occluded over, and a tendency of the tree towards a crown will be almost obliterated at that point and be forming much higher up the tree.

Apparently, the more northward the tree is found the less liable it is to attack by the leaf coccus. Whilst it is found in the Olokemeji, Ilaro and Mamu Reserve, it is less frequent in the Ikrigon Reserve. In the Sokode it was quite unknown. This last-named place is in Togo, and the plantation is situated in a latitude of over 9° North.

In the Ilaro and to a lesser extent in the Mamu Reserve it has been remarkable how rapidly the Iroko increases in girth when given plenty of space after being freed from the surrounding forest trees. In these trees, when showing a girth of from 4 to 8 feet, the diameter increment is most rapid. In most cases it averages over 6 inches in girth, and in one case at Ilaro it was as much as 11 inches in one year. This rapid growth in girth is all the more valuable as the trees of this size growing in the high forest have usually nearly completed their height growth. Thus the bole is comparatively long and clean, and the extra growth is put on evenly all the way up, tending to make it more cylindrical than before.

With the protection of the forests alone as Forest Reserve both in the evergreen and mixed deciduous forest zone, not only are many Iroko-trees preserved and allowed to grow to their full size, but also large numbers of self-sown seedlings come up in the abandoned ground and augment the value of the forests. This is an additional reason why the farming in a Reserve cannot be continued for any length of time. The old farms become more and more filled up with valuable young Iroko-trees, which would be at any rate damaged, if not killed, by the farming operations.

Even without taking into consideration the number of planted trees, the Forest Department has practically guaranteed certain future quantities of Iroko timber in the number of small trees which have been preserved and the potential value of the little ones grown up since the Reserves were made. Only in one part of the country is this anything like the case, and that is in the Ahoada district, where the natives use the Iroko-tree as a boundary mark between the different village lands and also between many farms. To a minor extent this can be seen in the Onitsha district, where the Iroko-trees have been preserved inside the villages, thus giving them the appearance of being the woods of the country while the rest of the land is bare. It is, however, just the reverse. They form the towns and villages amongst the trees, which are thus preserved from the axe and fire of the local farmer. Despite the fact that a fair number of large oversized Irokos have been cut each year in the Olokemeji Reserve, there are many more of the smaller size now coming on than were in existence when the first fellings took place.

Another tree which has received a considerable amount of attention is the Cigar-box Cedar (Cedrela odorata), and to a lesser extent the Toon (Cedrela Toona). Although both are exotic trees, the former especially shows very quick growth. Despite the unevenness with which it is liable to come up from seed, the rapid growth of the tree soon compensates for this disadvantage. In three or four years it may be from 18 to 24 feet high and 8 to 16 inches in girth. Both the largest individual specimens as well as plantations are found in the Olokemeji forest as well.

More in place in the firewood plantations near Lagos and Ibadan is the Casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia). At Olokemeji this tree has only done comparatively well. Also an exotic, it is most useful for planting near the sea-side on sandy soil, and in places with a smaller rainfall. It will also stand a comparatively dry atmosphere. The wood of this tree is very hard, almost like Ironwood. It is sometimes known as the Australian Beef Tree. Its numerous small branches on the stem make the wood rather knotty and of less value for general construction work. However, its heating power as a firewood is very great. Amongst all the forest trees it is one which yields the greatest amount of acetic acid, which forms the basis of an explosive.

Another Australian tree which has been used to a lesser extent for Afforestation purposes is the Blue Gum of various kinds. Eucalyptus citriodora and E. amygdalina have proved to grow the quickest of any planted in Nigeria. Many others have been tried, but most have not survived. Specimen trees and small groups are seen as far apart as Onitsha, on the banks of the Niger, Ikassa, near the mouth of the Nun branch of the Niger, the Botanical Gardens, Calabar, the Olokemeji Arboretum and Forest Plantations, not to forget the streets of Lagos. In a similar way Casuarinas are seen near Government House at Calabar and in Lagos, besides the forest Arboretums and plantations.

Another exotic from India, Lagerstrœmia (Lagerstrœmia flos Reginæ), has grown well both on the banks of the Ogun and on poor laterite soil of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. For the sake of the flowers alone it is worth planting to ornament a garden or the edge of a plantation. The masses of mauve flowers last a considerable time and blend most beautifully with the foliage and any green grass near by. Although of branching habit when planted 10 feet apart, if planted closer it will grow straighter and with cleaner bole. The timber is hard and very durable. So far this tree has proved a valuable introduction, especially for planting poor soils and river banks liable to inundation.

A later, though an exceedingly good introduction is that of the Satinwood (Swietenia chloroxylon), which gives promise in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve of making a valuable addition to the number of timber trees of indigenous and exotic origin. This tree yields the Ceylon satinwood, which is usually worth at least £12 per ton. The almost silvery-white tufted formation of the leaves is reminiscent almost of the Eucalyptus, though the leaf is rather smoother and not quite so narrow in proportion to its length as most of the Eucalyptus family.

To face p. 174.

Some years ago the seeds of Pinus Mercusii were planted in several places, including those of higher elevation. Although it many cases the seed germinated, the seedlings subsequently died.

Another exotic, the Swamp Cypress or Bald Cypress, or, as it is known in England, the Deciduous Cypress (Taxodium distichum), was tried near Benin City some years ago for swamp planting. Here, as in the other case, the seeds germinated and the small trees reached the height of about a foot and then subsequently died. The swampy ground where they were planted may, however, have been rather too acid or sour for them. The climate, of course, was no doubt considerably hotter than that of the Southern States of the United States, in which country this tree is indigenous.

The original Spanish Mahogany, or Swietenia mahagoni, was intended for Afforestation purposes with a view to its yielding on the average a more highly valued wood than that of the African Mahogany. However, in Africa generally, and in the Olokemeji Arboretum, it has proved a very slow growth and more liable to attack by the leading-shoot borer than even the indigenous mahogany-tree.

For the comparatively dry laterite soil of the Olokemeji Forest Reserve, Indian Rosewood or Blackwood (Dalbergia latifolia) has proved a valuable introduction. Growing comparatively fast and of somewhat branching habit, it soon covers the ground. It is, of course, better in mixture with others in order to produce clean stems. Latterly the larger trees have been attacked by a borer and considerable damage has been done. Still, in spite of it the trees have gone on growing, and apparently are capable of outgrowing the damage without an enormous loss of increment. In all, several acres have been planted with this tree.

Indian Walnut (Albizzia Lebbek) has found a foremost place in the firewood plantation at Ibadan and Ede, as well as in the forest plantations at Olokemeji. Its rapid growth and comparative indifference to soil make it a comparatively valuable tree for Afforestation purposes. Although it is usually only considered suitable for firewood, there is no doubt that its wood can be used as a substitute for walnut, as it is in India. Already, in fact, it is largely a forest escape in Africa, and is found in many of the old farms and cultivated places. Its greyer, almost silvery-grey, foliage easily distinguishes it from that of Albizzia Brownii, which has larger leaves.

A South American exotic, the Lignum Vitæ (Guaiacum officinale), is found in isolated specimens in the Olokemeji Arboretum and forest plantations. With such a very slow-growing tree, which may show half an inch growth in a year, it is difficult to be patient and wait for the many years before it will attain even a size large enough from which to cut the smallest bowl for a game of skittles or bowls. Its very yellow small foliage is most distinctive and not unlike box (Buxus sempervirens), but the leaf is flatter and does not curl like box.

One of the most valuable introductions in the forest plantations at Olokemeji and in the firewood plantations at Ibadan is the Siamese Cassia or Bombay Blackwood (Cassia Siamea). Almost indifferent as to soil and not requiring a heavy rainfall, and casting a heavy shade, it soon grows on the laterite, covers the ground, killing weeds, and rapidly attaining the size of a tree. In the plantations at Olokemeji, the trees reached a height of over 20 feet and a girth of about a foot in five years. It is one of the few trees that will thoroughly kill the Econ grass. The masses of yellow flowers which appear in the crown of the tree and also in the leader rather interrupt the height growth, but make a magnificent show at the end of the dry season. It continues to flower and fruit for the larger part of the year. Either as a firewood tree or as a timber tree, it should always be worthy of a place in all Afforestation areas where the rainfall is none too heavy. The hard, almost black wood is of value in India, so that it should prove of value in Nigeria when the trees are large enough for cutting into planks or boards. Amongst the exotic trees which have not yet found a place is the Trinkomali Wood (Berrya Ammomilla) and Indian Rose Chestnut or Ironwood (Mesua ferrua), seedlings which were obtained from seeds of the large trees in the Botanical Gardens at Victoria. If they grow well in Nigeria, the somewhat heavy and flexible Trinkomali Wood or Petwun and the Ironwood should both prove of value for local industrial work.

Although found as specimen trees in the Olokemeji Arboretum, Copaifera officinalis has not been formed in plantations, though small groups of the West African Gum Copal (Copaifera salikounda) are seen in the Ogba plantation of the Central Circle. Both these trees are doing very well, more especially the latter, which have reached a height of over 12 feet in six years. The former had produced some tears of gum three-quarters of an inch in diameter in the tenth year of its growth. In addition to these two, there is the Cameroon Gum Copal (Copaifera Demeusii), seedlings of which were obtained from the Botanical Gardens at Victoria. Considering that the last-named tree is indigenous in a territory so much closer to Nigeria than either of the first-named Gum Copals, it is highly probable that this one will grow better than either of the others. Up to the present it is not known, however, how the yield of the Gum Copal compares with either of the former. As far as West Africa is concerned, the Sierra Leone Gum Copal has proved to be the most prolific in this respect.

The Indian Almond (Terminalia catappa) is seen more as an avenue tree, mostly in towns such as Lagos, but also in the Mamu Forest Reserve. It is certainly one of the best shade trees for planting at the side of roads. Its rather formal habit, with the almost even whorls of branches, fits in with the straightness and even width of a road. By many it is not realized that the nuts can be comparatively easily cracked and the kernel inside is good to eat.

Michelia champaca is another most suitable tree for avenues. The chestnut-like leaf and the large, almost magnolia-like flowers are of a white colour, giving it a “distinguished” appearance such as is necessary for a roadside tree. The flowers, too, are used for making scent.

Both as a shade tree and for its gum the Balsam of Peru (Toluifera Pereiræ) is also worthy of a place both in avenues and in plantations. Some seedlings were obtained from the Botanical Gardens at Pretoria, where the tree has grown comparatively well. Not so suitable for plantations apparently at Olokemeji is the Sugar Palm (Arenga saccharifera). However, in isolated places small plantations have been made with the Sago Palm (Corypha elata), such as in the swamp opposite Calabar and the small grove of the Betel Nut Palm (Areca catechu) near Lagos. Both these give promise of being useful acquisitions to the palms of economic use in Africa.

Before leaving the exotic trees, mention must be made of the Thuya (Thuya occidentalis), which were obtained from the Canary Islands by Major Cockburn and planted on the hill at Obubra. Although somewhat slow growing, they have thrived in that climate and do not suffer from disease. This is the only example of a Conifer which has been successfully introduced into Nigeria.

Amongst the other indigenous trees of which plantations have been made there is the Cedar Mahogany (Pseudocedrela Kotschyi), Emi gbegiri, Yoruba, which apparently grows but slowly in Olokemeji. It is much the same with the self-sown seedlings and with root suckers, both of which have proved disappointingly slow in that locality.

Then also at Olokemeji we have the dry-zone Mahogany, Khaya Senegalensis, Oganwo of the Yorubas and Ogwangu of the Benis, growing in a small plantation and raised from seed brought by H. N. Thompson, Esq., from the Shaki district in 1910. So far the growth has been comparatively rapid, though the tree is occasionally attacked by the leading-shoot borer, which makes it fork comparatively low down.

Of the African Walnut and the Long-capsuled Mahogany, Lovoa Klaineana and Entandrophragma Candollei, most isolated specimens and groups appear to have been planted in the leased areas of Benin. In addition to these, some other specimens and small plantations are found in the Calabar, Degama, Benin and Olokemeji Arboretums, as well as in the plantations of the Ogba and Olokemeji. Thus far only the Long-capsuled Mahogany has been planted in these; the difficulty of obtaining seed of the African Walnut has precluded its wider distribution in the various plantations. Long-capsuled Mahogany grows very fast, usually with an undivided stem and a big tuft of long pinnate leaves near the top of the tree. Stump shoots form very readily and soon attain a large size, as is noticeable in the specimen in the Benin Arboretum.

The plantations of Ebony (Diospyros mespiliformis), Kanran of the Yorubas, have been made in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. Although, of course, very slow growing, it demands further attention, as it yields a good black ebony.

Amongst the soft woods there are plantations of Triplochiton Nigericum, Arere of the Yorubas and Obechi of the Benis, in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. At first growing rather slowly, they bid fair to prove one of the most rapid growing trees. A mixture where teak was introduced to fill up the blanks will be interesting to watch in its future development, as to whether the teak will eventually outgrow the forest maple.

Although the firewood plantations at Ibadan and certain parts of the plantations of Olokemeji have been filled up with West African Walnut (Albizzia Brownii), Ayinre Bonabona of the Yorubas, they will prove probably of greater value for the production of timber than for firewood. However, as a firewood tree it has yielded several cords of wood from one tree after only seven years of growth. So far it has certainly proved to be the tree which produces the greatest amount of firewood in the shortest period of time. It sprouts well from the stump, so that for a time its reproduction is very easy and assured.

The Oil Bean (Pentaclethra macrophylla), Apara of the Yorubas and Opaga of the Benis, is found chiefly reproduced artificially, either by being sown at stake or planted along the sides of the roads in the Owerri and Benin provinces. Considering the hardness of the wood, the tree grows not excessively slowly, though, of course, compared to a softwood it is slow.

Camwood (Pterocarpus Osun), Osun by the Yorubas, Ume by the Benis, has found a place in the Mamu Forest Reserve, its congener Pterocarpus Indicus having been planted in the Olokemeji Forest Reserve. However, as far as the size and habit of growth is concerned, the African Redwood or Barwood appears to be much superior to the Indian Paduak. The latter usually soon develops a triple stem with many small side-branches, whereas the African species always shows an undivided stem. In rate of growth “Osun” seems to be rather slow compared to many other trees. Self-sown seedlings come up readily in suitable localities, such as the Ikrigon Reserve, and on the whole develop more quickly. Anyhow, the continual demand in increasing amounts of this red dye-wood necessitates the careful preservation of the tree in the forest, as well as its continual reproduction by natural regeneration or plantations in the Forest Reserve.

Amongst the Mamu Forest Plantations there is that of African Oak (Afzelia Africana), Apa (Yoruba), Aligna (Benin), one of the few survivals of the efforts made to reproduce this tree artificially. The many insect and rodent enemies give isolated plantation seedlings very little chance to develop.

Although Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii), Emi Ori or Emigidi (Yoruba), has been tried as a plantation tree, the germination of the nuts is very poor, and the rodents attack them unmercifully. Apparently root-suckers form the chief means of reproduction for this tree. They are very prevalent and very persistent once they have sprouted. The forest fires destroy a great deal of the flower in the early part of the year, preventing formation of the fruit, and thus the means of reproduction by seed is very much reduced. The improvement in trees protected from fire at Olokemeji is most marked.

At Degema there is a plantation of Mimusops Djave (?), or Aganokwi of the Benis, which shows comparatively fast growth; in eleven years the trees had reached a height of about 25 feet and a girth of 2 feet 6 inches. Although it sprouts well from the stump, it is easier to raise from seed, but the seedlings require great care in transplanting.

At Olokemeji, Shinglewood (Terminalia Superba), Afara, by the Yorubas and Egoyn Nufwa by the Benis, is being tried in a mixed plantation. The growth has been rapid, and would probably surpass that of teak after the first five years.

Over considerable areas of the Olokemeji and the Ibadan plantations the Yoruba Chewstick, or Ayin of the Yorubas (Anogeissus leiocarpus), has been planted. Its growth has been moderately rapid, reaching a height of about 8 feet in four years. In addition to the value of its wood both as a chewstick and from the fact that a mordant for dyes can be made from its ashes, the young plant kills all the Econ grass growing round it with its leaf fall. This makes the tree one of the most advantageous for Afforestation purposes. Its light-green foliage and delicate, graceful build, and slender bole and branches, make it also valuable as an avenue tree in the dryer parts of the country. In its similarity to the European birch it might almost be called the birch of Africa.

With the Dika Nut (Irvingia Barteri), Oro by the Yorubas and Okherli by the Benis, small sample plots have been made in the Mamu Reserve and isolated specimens planted near the Calabar Arboretum.

Although not for Afforestation purposes but for the production of Palm Wine, Raffia vinifera, Ako by the Yoruba, Augor by the Benis, has been planted and seeds distributed amongst the villagers of the upper parts of the Cross River districts. When these are grown there will not be such a demand for cutting down the oil-palm-tree for making palm wine as there is at the present time.

Allowing only a value of 3d. per tree on all the trees planted during the last fifteen years, all the mahoganies and plantations are worth £240,000.

In two circles and parts of a third a great deal of work of an Afforestation nature was undertaken years before any actual forest plantation could be made. These are the communal rubber plantations of the Ireh Rubber (Funtumia elastica). In the Central Circle, near over 700 villages and towns, plantations varying from a hundred plants to ones covering several acres and containing many thousands, were made, aggregating in all the setting out of over a million trees in a period of about five years. In the Eastern Circle, in over a hundred villages, and in the Ondo and Western Circles over two hundred village plantations were made. Subsequently Para Rubber (Hevea Braziliensis) was added and substituted for the Funtumia wherever the climate was suitable for it. Now the communities concerned have a very valuable asset, which they can tap from year to year and augment at their leisure. Whatever happens to the forest or the immediate neighbourhood of the village, there will at any rate remain the rubber plantation, giving grateful shade to the roadsides and the ground near the villages. In one case a village planted over 1,200 Para rubber-trees, which even as a commercial asset are by no means to be despised.

In addition to these efforts on the part of the natives, acting under the advice and guidance of the Forest Department, there are the numerous rubber plantations in all the Forest Reserves. In the earlier days these were planted with Funtumia, where, for instance, in the Mamu Forest Reserve nearly one square mile of land is planted with this tree.

Then, again, there are the district plantations, more especially in the Eastern Circle, where in many cases Para Rubber was planted instead of Funtumia. These areas are for the most part smaller than those of the Forest Reserve or Communal Plantations. They served more as demonstration areas to show how rubber would grow in that locality.

Furthermore, near almost each native court in the Eastern Circle rubber plantations, in many cases of Para and in others of Funtumia, were made.

The general cost of the Communal District and Native Court Plantation was practically limited to the amount involved in payment of the native Forest staff. These men, however, had other duties to perform, and on the average certainly not more than one-third of their time was occupied in the making of these plantations. For the making of the other plantations of the Forest Reserve about £2,500, or sometimes £3,000, has been spent annually in making them and in the cost of their upkeep once they have been made. Owing to the long dry season in Nigeria the number of plants failing to survive it is somewhat high, and this very considerably increases the cost of the final establishment of the plantation. For some years the cost in many cases amounted to £10 per acre for the first year and £1 or £2 for subsequent years, for the cost of “beating up” and keeping the plantations clean. With the greater experience gained both in regard to the habits of the different trees and in the methods of reproduction most suitable to various parts of Nigeria, the cost has been somewhat lessened. However, even so, the cost compared to European or English plantations is not abnormally high. In Africa there is no land to buy, and no wire-netting is needed for the plantations, and the land usually planted has not a “letting” or “sporting” value, as it has in England. The buying out or compensating of the native rights of the usufruct of the soil is not so very expensive, especially when it is spread over comparatively large areas, as it usually is in West Africa. Then, again, even with the cost of £10 per acre, the total value of a crop after fifty or sixty years would certainly not be less than 3s. per cubic foot of the timber, which thus allows ample margin for 5 per cent. compound interest on the original outlay, and a profit besides. In many cases the timber would be worth a great deal more, and also the value of the intermediate thinnings is not inconsiderable. Both these factors have been left out of the account, in order not to in any way exaggerate or make too optimistic estimates of the value of a forest plantation. But beyond the financial side of the value of forest plantations, more especially in a tropical country like Nigeria, is the very valuable indirect effect they have on the whole welfare of the country.

First of all, plantations in forest groves improve and beautify a locality, whether on the level or amongst hills.

In the second place, the forest induces a greater rainfall in itself and its immediate vicinity.

Then the rainfall which actually falls in the forest is partly re- evaporated to fall again, thus making extra rainfall, and also the rain which actually reaches the ground in the forest is only gradually absorbed, thus making the flow of springs and rivers regular.

Both on the level and especially on slopes, a covering of trees, such as a forest, hinders the washing away of the surface soil or tilth of the land.

Forest trees only require one-twelth of the mineral matter out of the soil that an agricultural crop does, covering the same area.

In a forest plantation there is always greater humidity in the air, and thus many plants of economic value, such as cocoa, can grow in its vicinity, which would otherwise not be possible to be grown in that locality.

A forest acts as a moderating influence on the temperature of the air, being lower inside the forest than outside, when the sun is very hot. Conversely, when it is cold outside in the “harmattan” season it is warmer in the forest.

Nearer the interior of the forest certain better grasses and pasture are found, which are of incalculable value, in a drought, to the cattle in that locality.

During the long period of the rotation, usually at least 60 or 80 years, in most forests there are large accumulations of leaf mould or litter, which on occasion can be used in reasonable quantities for manuring neighbouring agricultural lands. This is of incalculable benefit where the ground outside the forest is comparatively poor and dry.

It has been proved also that in these long forest rotations the mineral rock and subsoil have time to weather, and add further mineral matter to the enrichment of the soil.

The forest, too, provides grateful shelter and sanctuary for game animals and birds of all kinds, thus providing, especially in Africa, the largest source of meat which the native has.

When all these indirect advantages and good effects of the forest are added together and a definite value put on them, and then considered in addition to all the timber and firewood the forest produces, it will be seen how wonderfully and providentially beneficial the forests really are, and also how absolutely essential they are in a country like Africa.

Just as effective, and cheaper, except perhaps as regards time, than the artificially made forest plantation, are the protected forests; even in the worst case, starting with a poor country growth and small dry-zone shrubs and trees, after ten years there is a compact, close-growth, medium-sized tree with straightened stem and less branching habit, and the ground comparatively free from grass. During a further period this forest can be thinned out by removing the poorer shrubs and trees and allowing seedlings of more valuable species to come up. They will often do this in the shade of poorer and more hardy trees. Still later, as the soil-moisture conditions improve, the humidity increases as well as the rainfall; still other species come in or can be introduced artificially. Eventually, by the end of the first rotation there is probably quite a different forest to that in existence at the time of the annual grass- fires, and one which is more akin to the original forests before the advent of Man with his firestick.

Quite apart from any money which has been spent on direct forest plantations, the indirect effect of the protection afforded to the trees in the various forest reserves is of almost incalculable value. If the figure should be calculated out even at a low rate of only £1 per acre, then the total value is £768,000 for the Reserves already made. Again, considering this result has only been attained after about fifteen years’ work, it will only go to show the vast potentialities and resources that may be eventually created, or preserved from destruction, in Nigeria.

MEASUREMENTS OF PLANTED TREES IN THE OLOKEMEJI RESERVE

----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----------- |Orig.|1911.|1912.|1913.|1911.|1912.|1913.|Av. Growth Species. | Age +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- |1911 |H.ft.|H.ft.|H.ft.|G.in.|G.in.|G.in.|H.ft.|G.in. ----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- 1. Tectona | 3½ |27 |30·5 |34 |15·25|18·25|21 | — | — grandis | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2. „ „ | 5½ |32·5 |37·25|38 |24·25|28 |32·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 3. „ „ | 3½ |26·5 |32·75|34·5 |14·75|19·5 |23·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 4. „ „ | 3½ |25·5 |28·75| — |12·25|16·0 |18·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 5. „ „ | 3½ |25·5 |29 | — |13 |15·5 |18·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 6. „ „ | 3½ |27 |32·35| — |15·25|18·5 |21·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 7. „ „ | 3½ |11 |17 | — |8 |10 |12 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 8. „ „ | 3½ |24 |24·75| — |10·5 |13 |15·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 9. „ „ | 3½ |21 |21·5 | — |12·25|15 |19 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 10. „ „ | 3½ |24·5 |26·25| — |13 |16 |18 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 11. „ „ | 3½ |21 |26·5 | — |14·75|19 |22 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 12. „ „ | 3½ |22 |28·25| — |12·75|15·5 |27 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 13. „ „ | 3½ |23 |29·25| — |13·5 |15·5 |18 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 14. „ „ | 3½ |32 |37·25| — |15 |19 |22·5 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 15. „ „ | 3½ |21 | — | — |10 | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | 16. „ „ | 3½ |12 | — | — | 4·5 | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | 17. „ „ | 3½ |32·5 | — | — |12·25| — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | 18. „ „ | 3½ |22 |56 | — |10·5 |45 | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | 19. „ „ | 8½ |51 | — | — |42·75| — |48 | — | — | | | | | | | | | 20. „ „ | 8½ |47·5 |51·5 | — |37 |39 |42 |7·62*|4·83* | | | | | | | | | 21. Cedrela | 6½ |40 |43·75|49 |36·5 |41 |45 |6·8 |6·28 odorata | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 22. „ „ | 6½ |35·5 |40·50|44 |27·25|30·50|34·5 |6·15 |4·74 | | | | | | | | | 23. Chlorophora | 4½ |13 |19·75|23·5 |15 |21 |27·75|4·16 |4·72 excelsa | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24. Triplochiton| 2½ |25 |31·75|35·5 |12 |16 |19·5 |12·3 |19·0 Nigericum | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 25. Terminalia | 8½ |65 |73·0 |74 |48 |51 |53 |8·31 |6·0 superba | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 26. Eucalyptus | 8½ |95·5 |90·75|94 |34·75|37 |37 |10·98|4·26 sp. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 27. Khaya sp. | 3½ |22 |33·5 |39 |10 |15·5 |19 |9·0 |4·23 | | | | | | | | | 28. „ „ | 3½ |15 |23·5 |28 |9·75 |13 |15 |6·34 |3·59 | | | | | | | | | 29. Casuarina | — | — |22·5 |30 | — | — |11 | — | — sp. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 30. „ „ | — | — |22·5 |30 | — | — |10·5 | — | — ----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

* Average for twenty teak-trees.

V. THE FOREST DEPARTMENT.

European Forest Officers are of two ranks, the scientifically trained Conservators of Forests and the executively trained Foresters.

The scope of this paper will only cover the former, as very few of the latter are Europeans, and most of them Nigerians.

From Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh, graduates in Forestry can usually be procured. The training at these centres covers roughly a year or a year and a half’s work on the elementary subjects, such as Botany, Mathematics, Geology, Mensuration, Surveying, and Political Economy. In addition, a year or two years’ work on the professional subjects, Silviculture or the growing of Forests, Forest Protection, Forest Utilization, Forest Botany, Forest Entomology, Forest History and Forest Policy is required. At the end of the course, six months’ practical work in Scottish or English forests follows, during which period working plans and market conditions are especially studied.

After being accepted for appointment in Nigeria, a further three months’ course is taken at the Royal Gardens, Kew; and six months’ practical work on the Continent was (before the war) usually required. At Kew, the object is to acquire a working knowledge of the most important Botanical Orders which contain the African trees. The continental course shows the student forests which have been under a definite scheme of management for over a hundred years. It takes one, in fact, right through the life- history of a tree from a seedling in the nursery-bed to the well-grown financially mature tree, marked ready for the axe, a period of about eighty years.

The initial appointment is for three years on probation, after which it may be confirmed. The initial salary of an Assistant Conservator of Forests is £300 per annum, rising by increments of £15 to £400 per annum. The first appointment dates from the day of sailing, the passage being paid by the Nigerian Government, and salary on half-pay begins from the date of departure until the arrival in Nigeria, when full salary begins to accrue. Intending candidates should bear in mind that an early selection for appointment entitles them to seniority over other candidates who, owing to their being fully qualified, are appointed immediately, and thus reach the Colony before them. Locally, a commuted travelling allowance of £42 per annum is drawn to compensate for the extra cost entailed in inspecting the forests. A limited number of carriers, or other means of transport, are provided by the Government. For the purpose of more rapidly getting about, a bicycle, motor, or horse may be kept, and an allowance is given for maintenance. The cost of living is high, even when furnished quarters or a bungalow are provided.

To face p. 184.

Lagos is the first port of call in Nigeria, and there is a railway journey of 123 miles before reaching Ibadan, the temporary headquarters of the Forest Department. Olokomeji, 90 miles from Lagos, is the old headquarters, and from here the forestry work of the Southern Provinces is directed. Zaria, situated some 450 miles from Lagos, is the headquarters of the Forestry Department in the Northern Provinces.

A newly appointed officer would be liable to be sent to either of these last-named places; but owing to the larger number of men being stationed in the Southern Provinces, the majority are sent to that centre. Olokomeji is in the middle of a Forest Reserve 26 square miles in extent, and is also the headquarters both of the Western Circle and of its northern division. In each circle there is a Conservator of Forests in charge, and he has an assistant to manage each division. In the event of a shortage of staff it may happen that a new man is put in charge of a division and thus has an opportunity of learning all about the work much more quickly than would otherwise be the case. In the ordinary way he only corresponds with his Conservator and the timber interests of his division on purely local matters.

Since 1901, a moderately large Arboretum has been planted at Olokomeji, containing quite a number of indigenous trees growing under natural conditions, according to the type of climate found in that locality, and also some exotic trees which grow in similar climates in Asia or South America. In a comparatively short time the new Forest Officer can get a very fair idea of the most important timber trees found locally, as well as elsewhere. In connection with the work of renewing the labels on specimen trees, ocular demonstration of all these trees is obtainable. The local Ranger can usually supply the vernacular names, and here is a wide field for linguistic qualifications. Yoruba is the local language, Benin is spoken by a large number of people in the Central Circle, and Hausa by nearly all itinerant traders throughout the country. Ibo, another language, is spoken by nearly 3,000,000 inhabitants, while many of the Cross River people (Eastern Circle) speak Efik; some, however, speak New Calabar or Ibibio, while again, in a large part of the Niger Delta, Brass or Ijor is spoken. Sooner or later the language of the locality should be acquired, and in fact this is prescribed by Government order as a necessary preliminary to the granting of the first increment.

The routine office work includes simple book-keeping, analysis of records, appointments of staff, the engagement of native labour and all payments. The executive work outside is carried out by the Forest Guards, Foresters, and Rangers, who require constant supervision. Owing to the distance, only some of them can report at Forest Headquarters each month, and the rest must be seen when the Forest Executive Officer makes his tour of inspection. If possible, travelling should take the place of indoor work for at least ten days a month.

At first sight, on examining the tropical forest, it appears like a very mixed collection of different kinds of trees; on closer inspection, however, similarities and contrasts are apparent, such as Ebony, Diospyros mespiliformis, with its thin, black scaly bark, and that of the somewhat regularly, deeply fissured bullet-wood tree, Mimusops multinervis, and its white latex, which the former does not exude.

In walking through a forest, it is normally best to make the carriers precede. Owing to their tendency to lag, and their desire to sit down at inconvenient times, it is an advantage to have them in front. Frequently one may have to stop and examine a flower or leaf, and it only adds to the carriers’ labour if the whole column has to stop whilst seeds and specimens are being collected. A march of about 15 miles is sufficient, and takes up the better part of the day, if an examination of the forests is being made on the way. In most parts villages are eight to ten miles apart, sometimes nearer; so the carriers can stop and purchase food. In the larger forests, however, a distance of over 20 miles is sometimes covered without sight of a house; in that case the people of the last village are asked to bring food for the carriers, and the carriers themselves are given a day’s food as well, which has to be cooked on reaching camp. In some places the chiefs provide food (yams, etc.), which is distributed to the carriers, or in some places 3d. a day per head is allowed them for purchasing food. So long as the carrier gets food and his load is not excessively heavy, he is quite cheerful and walks well. He will pick his way in mud, over roots, and up the steepest rocks in the hill forests.

Current wages vary from 9d. to 1s. a day, the head-man getting from 1s. to 2s. a day. Local felling-permits being issued both by the District and Forest Officers to natives for felling timber for local use, at District Stations a call is paid the District Officer to discuss current forest questions and examine the permit books. At the same time there is an opportunity of seeing what further development of forest work is possible in the district. The local Forest Guards, Foresters, or Forest Rangers report themselves, usually giving a very good account of the local forest conditions. Since the demand for local timber has been growing, a stop may have to be made to supervise the marking or girdling of suitable trees for bridge-building under the auspices of the Public Works Department. On a journey through the mahogany forest, the different camps of the timber firms have to be visited. These firms have hundreds of square miles for the purpose of exploiting mahogany and furniture woods. At the same time the checking and inspecting of the stumps of all the trees felled has to be gone through. The young mahogany seedlings are also seen, and from the number of these it is known whether sufficient have been planted to take the place of those cut down. The very rapid growth of these trees can here be studied to advantage; trees now 40 feet high have only been planted a few years. The relative value of the direct planting of seedling trees as compared with the natural regeneration of the forest by self-sown seedlings can be observed with ocular clearness. In one part of the forest one sees natives standing on a platform hacking away with an axe into a huge 50-feet mahogany; in another place a similar tree, fallen, its 90-feet bole already sawn into three round logs: while in a third locality may be seen a native, axe or adze in hand, squaring mahogany logs with a 4-feet side. Later in the season eighty or more natives are engaged in dragging one of these logs on round billets of wood (for rollers) along a track, roughly cleared to the height of a man, to the nearest natural water-way; still later (that is, in July or August), when the rivers rise, the logs may be seen floating singly down to the rafting-place on the main creek, where rafts are made with logs four or eight abreast, each fastened to the next, from a timber-dog at either end, with cane. From here, riverine natives such as the Ijors take the logs to the nearest river or ocean-going steamer port.

The administrative work of the Department is in the hands of the Senior Conservators of Forests, under whom the Conservators manage their circles. The Chief Conservator of Forests, the head of the Department, initiates and controls the whole policy of the Department, being relieved of all details of administration. In order to ensure continuity of policy and action, a Working-plans Division has been formed. A working plan for the forests is a scheme of management laid down for a number of years; no change can be made in such a plan without special reference both to the head of that division and to the head of the Department. With only one year’s service, followed by leave of absence, continuity of action would be broken if it were not for a definitely approved plan.

The Forest Department has supplied the Railway, Marine, and Public Works Department with timber of various kinds. In some cases the timber is obtained by departmental working, and in others is cut by native contractors under the supervision of the Department. In the first instance, the conditions under which timber is to be supplied to other departments are put before the Secretariat, and when once the work has been begun, the local Forest Officer deals direct with the department concerned.

Forestry progress in Nigeria has been less tardy than in several other Colonies, though many forests have been destroyed owing to lapse of time before the formation of a department. In 1904 there were eight, and there are now twenty-four administrative appointments. The amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria into one administration should accelerate the development of Forestry. It is as yet only in its initial stages, and scarcely more than a thousand square miles of forests, out of nearly a hundred thousand which exist in some form or another, have been permanently set aside for further timber production. The revenue- earning capacity of the Forest Department has been somewhat diminished by the war; but with recent legislation more local revenue should be obtained, which should more than off-set any loss already sustained. Provided the financial position of Nigeria remains strong, the prospects of the Forest Department are quite bright.

Although Nigeria has by far the largest Forest Department, very similar conditions of service obtain in the other West African Colonies of the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone; but there are no Forest Officers in the Gambia.

VI. A REVIEW OF THE BOTANICAL FEATURES OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.

BY DR. J. M. DALZIEL.

The Northern Provinces of Nigeria exhibit in an interesting manner the transition, now familiar in West Africa, of physical characteristics from the tropical forest to the border region “that just divides the desert from the sown.”

So far as the progressive stages may be stated in terms of geographical latitude, we may place the northern limit of the forest belt at about 8° North latitude. A convenient natural boundary in a portion of the area under consideration may be accepted in the lower course of the Benué River from its tributary, the Katsina River, or even as far up as Ibi, to the Niger at Lokoja. On the other hand, the southern limit of the desert is taken at about 17° North latitude, or higher, and thus falls some three or more degrees beyond the northern boundary.

Between these arbitrary limits lies the greater part of Northern Nigeria and practically the whole of Hausaland, presenting physical features which vary through grassy plains and rolling downs, orchard-bush and thin-crowned forest, laterite plateaux and hilly woodlands, to the mountains of the Bauchi Highlands. The vegetative covering over a very large area can be classed as one or other type of savannah, tree and bush savannah, or open orchard and treeless savannah, with intermediate grades. Local topography alters the type here and there, galleries of evergreen vegetation occupying the intersecting belts of permanent streams or fringing a marsh, wide meadows bordered by low forest, but occupied entirely by grasses of few species, with scattered islets of foliage, or, again, outcrops of bare laterite and isolated domes and turtle-backs of crystalline rock, “inselbergs” and “kopjes,” introducing features of their own.

The Niger Delta displays admirably the high evergreen or moist tropical forest. This probably connects itself through the Kameruns with the great Central African forest of French and Belgian Congo, which is again said to be continuous through the gap between Ruwenzori and Lake Albert with that of British East Africa.

West of the Niger Delta the coast, including Lagos, Dahomey and Togo, is sandy, and bush rather than high forest commences almost on the shore. Ascending the Niger, one finds that the true “rain forest” ends, but not abruptly, in the neighbourhood of Asaba; a gradual transition occurs, first to an intermediate type, partly evergreen with many large trees, but mingled with those that lose their leaves in the months of little rainfall. This change is apparent even on the river-bank, and below Lokoja a more open but still semi-evergreen forest clothes the valleys, but shows already more of the deciduous element on the hills. Farther north the voyage from the mouth of the Kaduna River to the Zungeru light railway terminus at Barijuko, as often experienced in previous years, reveals again the progressively deciduous character of the foliage, resulting in a still more open forest.

The river-bank, however, possessing permanent moisture and its own local climate, is an inadequate index of the general features over the country at large. To travel by land from Baro to Zungeru, and thence either through Kontagora to Sokoto, or by Zaria to Kano and Gummel, is to have the complete vision of the West African savannah in its various degrees, and, except for local interruptions associated with considerations of altitude or geological outcrop, etc., or with the lines of perennial streams, to have it in its regular sequence.

Leaving out of account for the present the region south of Lokoja and of the south bank of the Benué, which in part represents the “Zone Guinéenne” of Chevalier, we find that the two routes suggested above will take one through country almost entirely of the types included by the same writer within the “Zone Soudanienne,” with an approach at places along the Anglo-French boundary to the conditions occurring in his “Zone Sahélienne.” It would be difficult and misleading to express these zones definitely in terms of latitude, but one might hazard the statement that the Guinea Zone passes to the Soudan Zone somewhere between 8° and 10° North, and the latter extends either to the northern boundary or verges on a drier belt beyond the latitude of 12° or 13° North. If a complete botanical survey were possible, one could then subdivide each belt into its different areas and provinces, with their special floral characteristics, but at present one must be content to indicate broadly the general composition.

The Soudan Zone, indeed, includes the greater part of Hausaland and is representative of the typical West African savannah and savannah forest. It merges into the drier sandy “steppe” conditions in the north and into the mixed deciduous and semi-evergreen forests farther south. The only giants in height are the silk-cotton-trees (Eriodendron orientale), but baobabs of enormous girth are common, and the largest timber trees are probably the Maje (Paradaniellia Oliveri) and the Kawo (Afzelia Africana), fair specimens of the dry-zone mahogany, Madachi (Khaya Senegalensis), occurring also in favourable situations.

Across the central part of Northern Nigeria, let us say from Kontagora and South Sokoto through the whole of Zaria and South Kano to South Bornu (but excluding the Bauchi plateau, of which I cannot speak from personal knowledge), the plants named in the list here given might be regarded as the average association of species, trees, shrubs and herbaceous, the chief Natural Orders being represented as follows:

ANONACEÆ by the common wild custard apple, Gwandar daji, Anona Senegalensis, a shrub.

CAPPARIDACEÆ by the Ingidido, Cratæva Adansonii, by shrubs or woody undershrubs of genera Boscia and Mærua, some thorny scramblers of the genus Capparis, and the familiar weed Gasaya, Gynandropsis pentaphylla.

BIXINEÆ by the Rawaya, Cochlospermum tinctorium, a shrub.

HYPERICINEÆ by the shrub Kaskawami, Psorospermum Senegalense.

OCHNACEÆ by the Namijin kade, Lophira alata, a tree very typical of the region, two or three species of Gomphia, and a new species of Ochna, a small shrub with crenulate leaves.

MALVACEÆ by numerous species of Hibiscus, including the cultivated Rama (chiefly K. cannabinus) and Cotton, with the Ramaniya, Urena lobata, and various undershrubs and suffrutescent weeds, mostly of the genus Sida. The Kuka or baobab, Adansonia digitata, and the Rimi or Silk-cotton Tree, Eriodendron orientale, marking the sites of human habitations, past or present, are typical species of this area, as is also the red-flowered Gurjiya, Bombax buonopozense (Bombacaceæ).

STERCULIACEÆ by the Kukuki, Sterculia tomentosa, a tree, with which we may place the common undershrub Hankufa, Waltheria Americana.

TILIACEÆ by several species of Grewia, the most familiar being the Dargaza, G. mollis, by two or three species of Corchorus, edible herbs allied to jute, and by shrubby weeds of the genus Triumfetta.

SIMARUBACEÆ by Hannoa undulata, a small-sized tree characteristic of the region, and by Irvingia Smithii, a tree more abundant in the South.

BURSERACEÆ by two species of frankincense-tree—Boswellia Dalzielii and B. odorata—and by Commiphora Kerstingii, a green-barked tree familiar as an enclosure fence in towns.

MELIACEÆ by Khaya Senegalensis, the mahogany of the Soudan Zone, by Trichilia emetica, and by Pseudocedrela Kotschyii; also by the naturalized Kurnan nasara, Melia Azedarach.

OLACACEÆ by the Tsada, Ximenia Americana, a shrub with small yellow, acid plums, and by the evergreen climbing shrub, Opilia celtidifolia.

CELASTRACEÆ typically by the shrub Gymnosporia Senegalensis, and less by two or more species of woody twining Hippocrates.

SAPINDACEÆ by the woody twiner Paullinia pinnata, the 3-foliate shrub Schmidelia Africana, and the world-wide twining weed Cardiospermum Halicacabum.

ANACARDIACEÆ by the tree Odina Barteri, by other species of Odina of more local distribution, and by two species of Anaphrenium.

CONNARACEÆ by the abundant little shrub Byrsocarpus coccineus.

PROTEACEÆ by a single species of Protea, a shrub with large capitate flowers, of local distribution in the Central areas.

POLYGALACEÆ by Securidaca longipedunculata and the field weed Polygala arenaria.

LEGUMINOSÆ by—

Larger trees: the Maji or Kadaura, Paradaniellia Oliveri, and the Kawo, Afzelia Africana.

Medium-sized and smaller trees: Parkia filicoidea, Prosopis oblonga, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Isoberlinia doka, Berlinia acuminata in ravines, Tamarindus Indica; several Acacias, e.g. A. Sieberiana, A. campylacantha, A. Arabica; Albizzia Chevalieri, Entada Sudanica; Afrormosia laxiflora and Burkea Africana.

Small trees and shrubs: Detarium Senegalense, Bauhinia reticulata and B. rufescens, Erythrina Senegalensis, Lonchocarpus laxiflorus, Dichrostachys nutans, Mimosa asperata on stream-banks, Cassia Sieberiana, C. Kotschyana and others, along with several shrubby species of Cassia and the dwarf C. mimosoides, Swartzia Madagascariensis, Ormocarpum bibracteatum.

To these must be added the Zamarke, Sesbania punctata, and other spp., and a host of herbaceous plants or half woody undershrubs, chiefly belonging to the genera Crotalaria, Indigofera, and Tephrosia, others of Desmodium, Eriosema, etc., and twiners of Vigna and Rhynchosia.

The chief cultivated Leguminosæ of the region are: Indigo, Indigofera arrecta and other spp., Arachis hypogæa, Vigna sinensis in numerous varieties, and Voandzeia subterranea.

ROSACEÆ mainly by Parinarium curatellæfolium, to which may be added P. polyandrum in the South and P. macrophyllum in the North.

COMBRETACEÆ by several species of Terminalia, of which the commonest are the Baushe (of more than one species) and the Kandari, T. macroptera; more fully by a number of species of Combretum, which are trees often gum-yielding, and very typically by the Marike, Anogeissus leiocarpus.

MYRTACEÆ by Eugenia Owariensis, a tree, and E. coronata, a shrub.

LYTHRACEÆ by the “henna” shrub, Lawsonia alba, and the weed of damp places, Ammannia Senegalensis.

ARALIACEÆ by an interesting species, Cussonia Nigerica, a small tree of peculiar habit.

RUBIACEÆ by Adina microcephala, a fair-sized tree by bush streams; by very numerous small trees and shrubs, e.g. Crossopteryx Kotschyana, Sarcocephalus Russegeri, Pavetta Barteri, Feretia canthioides, the Gardenia erubescens and the Gauden kura, G. ternifolia, the Giyaiya, Mitragyne Africana, typical of the islets of foliage clothing the grassy swamps, Morelia Senegalensis on stream-banks, and by more humble but abundant species of Oldenlandia, Spermacoce, Octodon, etc.

SAPOTACEÆ by the Shea Butter Tree, Butyrospermum Parkii, probably the most characteristic member of the association.

EBENACEÆ by the African Ebony, Diospyros mespiliformis.

APOCYNACEÆ typically by the arrow-poison woody climber Strophanthus sarmentosus, which is always wild, and S. hispidus, which is generally planted near villages—both species called Kwankwanni; also by the more common and inferior rubber vine, Landolphia florida, and shrubs Carissa edulis and Cryptolepis Nigritiana, the woody twiners Tacazzea Barteri and other spp., with numerous others.

ASCLEPIADACEÆ by the very typical giant milkweed Tumfafiya, Calotropis procera, probably always in association with man, the smaller undershrub Asclepias lineolata, and several suffrutescent herbs with tuberous and sometimes edible rootstocks of the genera Xysmalobium and Schizoglossum.

LOGANIACEÆ by Strychnos spinosa, S. alnifolia, and S. triclisioides, all shrubs or small trees.

BORAGINACEÆ by Cordia Abyssinica, a small tree, the undershrub Trichodesma Africanum, three or four weeds of the genus Heliotropium, etc.

BIGNONIACEÆ by Stereospermum Kunthianum, a small tree, and the Aduruku, Newbouldia lævis, confined to towns and rarely more than a tall, slender shrub; the Rahaina or Rawuya, Kigelia Æthiopica, occurs, but in an interrupted distribution.

VERBENACEÆ by Vitex Cienkowskii, a fair-sized tree, V. diversifolia, a small tree or shrub, and undershrubs such as Lantana salvifolia, Lippia Ukambensis, and a few species of Clerodendron, etc.

EUPHORBIACEÆ by Uapaca Guineense, usually only a rather small tree in the deciduous forest, Bridelia ferruginea and B. scleroneura, both shrubs, Phyllanthus floribundus, forming sometimes thicket-like clumps, P. reticulatus, a shrub, Flueggea microcarpa, a white- berried shrub, Antidesma venosum, and very typically by the Jan yaro, Hymenocardia acida, a shrub which in these open regions has nearly always an ochre-red bark. Numerous herbs and half-woody weeds are common, belonging to the genus Euphorbia (E. pilulifera, E. Ægyptiaca, and congeners), Acalypha, Phyllanthus, etc., the Castor Oil shrub (Ricinus communis) and the Physic Nut (Jatropha curcas) are cultivated, while thoroughly representative through the whole area are the familiar cactus-like Tinya, Euphorbia unispina and E. Poissoni, and the Kerana, E. Barteri, the latter at least never away from habitations.

MORACEÆ by a host of species of the genus Ficus (or Urostigma) not yet fully elaborated botanically, e.g. Baure, Chediya, Durumi, Kauriri, Wa, etc.

ULMACEÆ. A representative variety is Celtis integrifolia, a fairly large tree.

SALICACEÆ by one species of Salix.

LORANTHACEÆ by seven or eight species of the parasite Loranthus, called Kauchi, clothing deciduous trees with epiphytic foliage.

Orders represented mainly by flowering herbs, undershrubs, etc., are:

MENISPERMACEÆ by the popular medicinal twiner Jibda kassa, Cissampelos Pareira.

NYMPHEACEÆ by at least four species of Bada or water-lily, Nymphæa.

PAPAVERACEÆ by the Yellow Poppy, Argemone Mexicana.

CARYOPHYLLACEÆ by species of Polycarpæa characteristic of the dry zone.

GERANIACEÆ by the familiar weed Biophytum sensitivum.

DROSERACEÆ by the widely distributed Sun-dew, Drosera indica.

AMPELIDEÆ by numerous vines of the genera Vitis, Cissus, and Ampelocissus, of which perhaps the most striking are Dodoriya, Vitis quadrangularis, and Dafara, Vitis pallida, while wild vines with edible berries called Tsiberi kinkini are generally of one or other species of Ampelocissus.

CUCURBITACEÆ by the familiar cultivated Kabeova or pumpkin, Cucurbita Pepo, and Duma, the bottle-gourd, Lagenaria vulgaris, with its endless varieties, the Guna or water-melon, Citrullus vulgaris, and by many wild and half-wild species, e.g. the Balsam Apple, Momordica balsamina, the Loofah gourd, Luffa Ægyptiaca and L. acutangula, Cucumis prophetarum, and one or more species of tuberous-rooted Trochomeria.

FICOIDEÆ by common succulent weeds, e.g. Trianthema monogyna, T. pentandra, and Gisekia pharnaceoides, and by species of Mollugo in river-beds, etc.

COMPOSITÆ by some weeds of cosmopolitan distribution, e.g. Ageratum conyzoides, Eclipta alba, etc., and by very numerous herbs and suffrutescent plants, amongst which the genus Vernonia is the most abundantly represented, including one typical of the region, viz. V. nigritiana, with several species of Aspillia, Coreopsis, etc., and the chewstick shrub, Vernonia amygdalina.

MELASTOMACEÆ by a few species of Dissotis and Osbeckia.

CAMPANULACEÆ by a common little blue-flowered weed, Cephalostigma Perrottetii, and a water herb, Sphenoclea Zeylanica.

HYDROPHYLLACEÆ by three or more species of Hydrolea, e.g. H. Guineensis, etc.

LENTIBULACEÆ by ten or more species of Utricularia.

CONVOLVULACEÆ, a conspicuous order, well represented by numerous species of Ipomæa, a few of Merremia, and a few erect undershrubs of the genus Astrochlæna, to which one may add the little blue-flowered weed Evolvulus alsinoides, of wide distribution in the world.

SOLANACEÆ by the “Thorn Apple,” Datura Metel, by numerous species of Solanum, some edible, e.g. the several cultivated varieties of the native bitter tomato, Gauta, varieties of S. Melongena; others poisonous, e.g. Gautan kura, Solanum incanum, and others; also by two common weeds of the genus Physalis, and the popular herb simple, Dandana, Schwenkia Americana.

SCROPHULARIACEÆ by Scoparia dulcis, of world-wide distribution, and by several parasitic species of Striga, of which the most familiar is the Makasar adwa, S. Senegalensis. Besides numerous humble weeds of cosmopolitan genera, e.g. Moniera, Ilysanthes, etc., mostly occurring in damp places, two or three species of Sopubia may be taken as characteristic of the bush-lands.

ACANTHACEÆ by a variety of weeds, etc., of the genera Blepharis, Monechma, Justicia, etc., to which the following may be added as characteristic of the Order in Hausaland: Nelsonia campestris, a soft herb of slightly acid taste, Peristrophe bicalyculata, an occasional fodder plant, and Dyschoriste Perrottetii, the mucilaginous seeds of which are used to remove spicules from the eye.

PEDALIACEÆ by the locally cultivated Ridi, Sesamum Indicum, and other wild species of Sesamum, by the weed Ceratotheca sesamoides, and by the half-shrubby Rogeria adenophylla.

LABIATÆ by several cultivated tubers, such as the Tumuku and Risga, by odorous species of Ocimum and Æolanthus, e.g. the Dodoya, Ocimum Americanum, the weed Acrocephalus polytrichus, and by many common herbs of various other genera.

AMARANTHACEÆ by the native spinage, Alayafu, Amaranthus caudatus, the Zaki banza, A. viridis, a wild species sometimes cultivated, and by several of the common weeds found in other countries—Celosia argentea, Pupalia lappacea, etc.

THYMELÆACEÆ by the poisonous Tururibi, Lasiosyphon Kraussii, a yellow- flowered, low, suffruticose plant with a woody rootstock, and by two of three species of Gnidia.

ARISTOLOCHIACEÆ by the twiner Aristolochia albida.

LAURACEÆ by the leafless twiner Cassytha Guineensis.

The Monocotyledonous Orders may be said to be represented as follows:

HYDROCHARITACEÆ by the yellow-flowered aquatic herbs Ottelia lancifolia and Boottia Abyssinica.

ORCHIDACEÆ by a fair number of tuberous terrestrial orchids, of which Lissochilus arenarius is the most typical, several Habenarias and Eulophias, and a very few epiphytes, e.g. Ansellia Congoensis.

SCITAMINEÆ abundantly by Kœmpferia Æthiopica in open woods, Costus afer in shady ravines, and Fitta, the food-wrapper leaf, Clinogyne filipes, in streams, etc.

IRIDACEÆ by several species of Gladiolus, e.g. G. quartinianus, and of Tritonia.

AMARYLLIDACEÆ by Crinum yuccæflorum, the red-flowered Hæmanthus rupestris, Pancratium trianthum, and Curculigo Gallabatensis.

TACCACEÆ by the tuberous Tacca involucrata.

DIOSCOREACEÆ by Dioscorea prehensilis and other cultivated yams, chiefly in the South or on pagan hills, and by some species which are either wild or escapes.

LILIACEÆ by several species of Urginea, e.g. U. Nigritiana, U. Indica, etc., by other bulbous species of the genera Anthericum, Dipcadi, etc., by the climbing lily, Gloriosa superba, several species of Chlorophytum, Aloe Barteri, and by prickly scramblers such as Asparagus Pauli-Guilelmi, Smilax Kraussiana, etc.

ALISMATACEÆ by some flowering water-plants, e.g. Burnatia enneandra, Lophotocarpus Guyanensis, etc.

COMMELINACEÆ by various species of Aneilema—A. lanceolatum, A. Sinicum, etc., of Commelyna—C. nudiflora, C. umbellata, etc., and of Floscopa and Cyanotis.

PALMÆ by the Giginya, Borassus flabellifer, var. Æthiopum, the Goriba, Hyphæne Thebaica, chiefly in the North, and the Tukuruwa or Bamboo Palm, Raphia vinifera, in ravines only.

AROIDEÆ by Culcasia scandens, by the Kinchia with yellow rhizome, Stylochiton Dalzielii, Amorphophallus Barteri and A. dracontioides, Anchomanes Dalzielii, and other species.

CYPERACEÆ by very numerous species of Cyperus, e.g. the edible Aya, C. esculentus, and the uncultivated Aya aya, C. rotundus, C. Fenzelianus, etc., and several of Pycreus, Fimbristylis, Kyllingia, Bulbostylis, etc.

GRAMINEÆ by the predominant tribe, Andropogoneæ, with numerous other genera—Eragrostis, Aristida, Digitaria, Pennisetum, Chloris, etc., and by a single locally distributed bamboo, Oxytenanthera Abyssinica. The chief cereal is Guinea Corn, Dawa, Sorghum vulgare; both species of sugar-cane, Rake, Saccharum officinarum, and Takanda, Sorghum vulgare, var. saccharatum, are cultivated.

The FILICES are poorly represented by the widely distributed Adder’s Tongue, Ophioglossum vulgatum, the water-fern, Cratopteris Thalictroides, by Adiantum lunulatum, A. Schweinfurthii, and a few species of Nephrodium asplenium, etc., by no means typical of the region.

Having thus given a bird’s-eye view of the floral composition in the central region of Hausaland, one may proceed to examine the variations revealed in passing south to the semi-evergreen forests and north to the drier open savannahs.

Southwards the transition is gradual, and nowhere abrupt, from forest savannah with annual bush-fires and consequent tendency to revert to grass, to forests in which the number of species is greater and the deciduous element is more mingled with evergreens, either by the persistence of species which in a drier region are deciduous, but retain their foliage where the increased rainfall allows of this variation, or by the appearance of species which always possess the evergreen habit. Bombax buonopozense is an example of the former and probably also Afzelia Africana and several others.

Some of the added constituents either absent from or more rare in the area of lesser rainfall are:

ANONACEÆ: Xylopia parviflora, Hexalobus Senegalensis, Popowia Mannii.

CAPPARIDACEÆ: Ritchiea sp., Capparis viminea, etc.

BIXINEÆ: Oncoba spinosa.

STERCULIACEÆ: Cola laurifolia.

RUTACEÆ: the Fasa kwari, Zanthoxylum Senegalense.

MELIACEÆ: Trichilia retusa.

ANACARDIACEÆ: Spondias lutea, Hæmatostaphis Barteri, and the cultivated mango.

SAPINDACEÆ: Blighia sapida.

CONNARACEÆ: scrambling shrubs, e.g. species of Agelæa and Cnestis.

To face p. 196.

LEGUMINOSÆ: Tetrapleura Thonningii, Piptadenia Africana, Erythrophlœum Guineense, Cynometra Vogelii, Pterocarpus esculentus, Dialium Guineense, Millettia sp. near M. Sanagana and other species of Millettia, Cordyla Africana, Berlinia Heudelotii, Cæsalpinia Bonducella, Lonchocarpus cyanescens, Baphia pubescens and B. nitida.

ROSACEÆ: Parinarium subcordatum.

COMBRETACEÆ: several species of scarlet-flowered Combretum of climbing habit—C. racemosum, C. constrictum, etc.

MYRTACEÆ: Napoleona Vogelii.

RUBIACEÆ: Morinda citrifolia, Cuviera acutiflora, Canthium Vanguerioides, Ixora radiata, Uncaria Africana, Oxyanthus unilocularis, some species of Mussænda, etc.

RHIZOPHORACEÆ: Weihea Africana.

SAPOTACEÆ: Mimusops sp.

APOCYNACEÆ: Voacanga obtusa and V. Africana, Landolphia Owariensis and other spp., Carpodinus hirsuta, Pleioceras Barteri, and the tree Wadda, Rauwolfia sp. near R. Welwitschii.

LOGANIACEÆ: Anthocleista Vogelii.

CONVOLVULACEÆ: Calonyction speciosum, Merremia umbellata, etc.

BIGNONIACEÆ: Spathodea campanulata.

ACANTHACEÆ: Acanthus montanus, Asystasia Coromandeliana, etc.

VERBENACEÆ: Vitex chrysocarpa and V. Angolensis.

PIPERACEÆ: Piper umbellatum and Piperomia pellucida.

GESNERACEÆ: Streptocarpus nobilis.

EUPHORBIACEÆ: Alchornea cordata, Mallotus oppositifolius.

MORACEÆ: Chlorophora excelsa, Ficus Vogelii and other spp., Myrianthus serratus.

ULMACEÆ: Trema Guineensis.

AMPELIDEÆ: Leea Guineensis.

POLYGALACEÆ: the cultivated Polygala butyracea and the dwarf species, P. Clarkeana.

BALANOPHORACEÆ: the root-parasite Thonningia sanguinea.

Amongst Monocotyledonous Orders the Scitamineæ are more in evidence, Palisota thyrsiflora (Commelinaceæ) appears (along with a Begonia on moist rocks—B. rostrata), and the water-loving Aroid, Cyrtosperma Senegalense.

The Oil Palm, Elæis Guineensis, becomes locally common, ferns become epiphytic, and the Elk’s-horn fern, Platycerium Æthiopicum, appears.

Northwards the savannah forests, with plenty of broad-leaved trees and shrubs, or the open park-like formations with surface well covered with grasses and herbs, give way in some places to still drier Acacia forests, and in others to open areas of scrub, nearly treeless, the soil possessed by grasses and low, scattered shrubs, often thorny. Nevertheless, good pastures are often to be found, frequented by the Fulani in the comparatively short rainy season, and only at some points towards the French boundary do the conditions approach those described by Barth in the latitude of Zinder and Timbuctoo. For example, part of North Bornu, with a rainfall sometimes not exceeding 10 inches, may exhibit features entitling it to rank with the upper region of Chevalier’s “Zone Sahélienne.” A typical association in these scrub regions is familiar to the Hausas in three of the plants mentioned below, viz. the Sabarra, Guiera Senegalensis, the Magariya, Zizyphus jujuba, and the Dashi, Balsamodendron Africanum. Sokoto, with an average rainfall of 25 or more inches, still possesses thinly treed savannahs and bush-lands, with a vegetation composed of grasses, small sedges, low shrubs and the commoner leguminous and other weeds.

Nor does the transition occur evenly across the whole region. In the eastern part between Kano and North Bornu the Acacia type prevails, and whole areas may occur occupied largely by Acacia Seyal, with yellow or rusty ochrey bark. On the western side Acacias, though present, do not appear to prevail, and between Kano and Sokoto there exists a stretch of broad-leaved forest in which most of the species found in Central Hausaland reappear, but after all these differences may be found to hold only over limited areas.

The wide and well populated circle around large northern towns, highly cultivated and more or less stripped of trees to supply fuel does not quite display the natural conditions of the bush, where uncontrolled fires prevent natural regeneration of forest on cleared land, and where open grassy formations with stunted vegetation tend to encroach on the higher types of tree savannah.

The species more characteristic of the northern drier belt within the Soudan Zone—if an arbitrary limit is allowed we may place it about 12° North latitude—may now be briefly indicated, though it will be understood that many of them are already present farther south.

CAPPARIDACEÆ: most of the species of Capparis, Boscia and Mærua existing farther south here prevail; the low shrub Boscia Senegalensis is common, while Cadaba farinosa is a characteristic shrub.

SIMARUBEÆ: the Aduwa, Balanites Ægyptiaca, is a typical species of this region.

BURSERACEÆ: the Dashi, Balsamodendron Africanum, a shrub yielding African Myrrh, is familiar, with its congener B. pedunculatum.

RHAMNACEÆ: the Kurna, Zizyphus Spina-Christi, usually planted in towns, the Magariya, Z. jujuba, and the Magariyar kura, Z. mucronata, the last two being very characteristic of the open savannah.

ANACARDIACEÆ: the Danya, Spondias sp., a fair-sized tree with yellow, plum-like fruit having a leathery rind, is abundant.

LEGUMINOSÆ: Acacias are the most typical, but are not as a rule markedly flat-topped, e.g. A. Seyal, A. Senegal, A. albida var. saccharata, Dichrostachys platycarpa, forming thorny thickets, while Entada Sudanica, Acacia Sieberiana, A. campylacantha, Albizzia Chevalieri and others are also evident. Parkinsonia aculeata is found in towns; the Tripoli or Senegal Senna, Filasko, Cassia obovata, is common, and the Tsamiya, Tamarindus Indica, becomes a predominant tree.

ROSACEÆ: the Ginger-bread Plum, Gawasa, Parinarium macrophyllum, is more familiar.

COMBRETACEÆ: the Geza, Combretum sp. near C. altum, a shrub or small tree, with several gum-yielding trees of the same genus; the low shrub Sabarra, Guiera Senegalensis, is perhaps the most typical plant of the nearly treeless savannah.

CUCURBITACEÆ: the half-wild Gurji, Cucumis Melo, var. agrestis, is common, and the Bambus, a variety of water-melon, is known in the North.

RUBIACEÆ: a characteristic species is Randia Nilotica, a thorny shrub; Gardenia Sokotensis is a new species found on low rocky hills.

APOCYNACEÆ: the Kariya, Adenium Honghel, an unarmed cactus-like shrub, deciduous, with rose-coloured flowers, planted in towns, is characteristic.

ASCLEPIADACEÆ: the small milk-weed, Glossonema Nubicum, and the twiners Oxystelma Bornuense, Pergularia tomentosa and Leptadenia lancifolia, are all abundant, while the Karan masallachi, Caralluma Dalzielii, generally planted farther south, is found wild on bare rocky places.

EUPHORBIACEÆ: very typical are the two milk hedge Euphorbias, Aguwa, E. sepium, and Fidda sartsi, E. lateriflora.

MORACEÆ: species of Ficus planted for shade grow to a large size, especially the Chediya, F. Thonningii, and the Durumi, F. syringifolia; other species generally start as epiphytes.

The GRAMINEÆ is the prevailing Natural Order of Monocotyledons, and includes all types—little annuals, perennial-rooted Andropogons, etc., and the Burugu, Panicum stagninum, which blocks the streams. The fragrant Nobe, Cymbopogon Sennariensis, is a characteristic tufted species, whilst the bur-grass Karangia, Cenchrus catharticus, has long since spread far southward.

Rice and wheat are cultivated; the Bulrush Millet, Gero, Pennisetum typhoideum, tends to displace Sorghum, and a wild rice, Oryza silvestris, is found. The cultivated sugar-cane is the Takanda, Sorghum vulgare, var. saccharatum.

Of LILIACEÆ the onion and garlic are features of cultivation. Several bulbous herbs not peculiar to the North are common, e.g. Dipcadi occidentale, Urginea spp., etc.

The Goriba or Dum Palm, Hyphæne Thebaica, is predominant, accompanied also by the Giginya or Deleb Palm, while the Date begins to appear.

Within the limits of the Soudan Zone of vegetation many different types of savannah may be found, besides the expected alterations in botanical groupings resulting from the presence of perennial moisture or due to elevation and rocky outcrop. Leaving the latter out of account, a few notes may be made of some of the varieties familiar to travellers in the Northern Provinces.

1. Tree Savannah or Savannah Forest.

Across a considerable area of Central Hausaland, e.g. occupying a large part of the Zaria plateau west of the Bauchi Highlands, the country, where not cleared for farming, is covered with an open deciduous forest of fair height. This is a fairly closely wooded type, and although it contains few truly evergreen elements apart from those lining the streams, there is, perhaps owing to differing vegetative periods for different species and to the double flowering season noted for many trees in West Africa, practically always a fair amount of foliage present. A proportion of the trees have well developed stems and fairly high crowns, with a leafy canopy which filters but never excludes direct sunlight, and the average height of the larger trees is from 30 to 40 feet. In the best developed portions of such forest the grasses do not predominate, but frequent clearings or patches of stony outcrop lead to the open conditions in which hardy perennial grasses take root, and annual burning results in the encroachment and multiplication of areas of the lower bush savannah referred to below.

This variety of forest is typically seen in Zaria province, e.g. between the village of Ruka and the Koriga stream, near which point a sudden drop in elevation occurs, and is familiar in parts of South Sokoto, Kontagora and Nassarawa, etc. Lophira alata has its chief habitat here, but perhaps the prevailing and most characteristic tree is one called Doka, which has been identified as Isoberlinia doka, Craib, et Stapf. It has broad, shining leaves, and large, flat 5-6 seeded pods which dehisce with curling valves. It seeds abundantly, and young seedlings spring up quickly in the forest or by wayside clearings, etc. Along with it will be found its congener, the Fara doka, Isoberlinia Dalzielii, Craib, et Stapf., less abundant, and differing as to its more obvious features in having leaves not shining, a paler grey bark and a general slight degree of pubescence of all parts. Both species exude a coarse red resin, which does not appear to be of value.

Most of the arborescent species mentioned in the list of the average association detailed above are to be found, sometimes harbouring epiphytic Ansellias and a few woody climbers but no typical lianes, and an undergrowth composed of Leguminous and Composite herbs and undershrubs with some grasses. This type of forest probably at one time covered a much wider area and had a greater extension northward than at present. As mentioned above, a large proportion of its constituents may again be found in the Duru forest between Sokoto and Kano, while within the memory of officials of the present administration areas of woodland previously visible from Sokoto have been denuded for firewood. It tends progressively to give place to the following more open variety of savannah.

2. Bush Savannah.

This is probably the form of “bush” with which travelling officials, hunters, and others are most familiar in every province, and is, when not overloaded with tall grass, deserving of the term “open orchard savannah.” It is composed of scattered shrubs and small trees of short growth and of a considerable sameness, the whole picture being practically filled in with grasses, which may grow to a height of 6 to 8 feet in the rains, but which are swept off by bush-fires in the dry period, leaving bare the intervening spaces, soon to be reoccupied by suffrutescent plants with persistent rootstocks, and later by weeds and the same grasses as before. This resurrection is not due to seeding, which is itself abundant, but mainly to the fact that the majority of bush grasses have perennial underground stems, which, once given occupation, are difficult to dislodge, and, assisted by the recurrent fires, which kill off the seeds and the seedlings of broad-leaved trees, have everything in favour of their natural progress to predominance.

The commoner bush grasses of this habit found here are: Andropogon Gayanus, Cymbopogon Ruprechtii, C. diplandrus, C. giganteum, C. hirtus, C. rufus, Andropogon tectorum, A. apricus, Rottbœllia exaltata, Pennisetum pedicellatum, etc. In clumps, generally found in special situations, e.g. near river banks, etc., are Vetiveria zizanoides, Saccharum spontaneum, Arundo donax, etc. It is possible that some of these species which now cumber the soil might be put to use in supplying the raw material for paper.

The prevailing shrubs and small trees of this formation are generally somewhat as follows: Bauhinia reticulata and B. rufescens, Detarium Senegalense, several species of Combretum with the dwarf C. herbaceum; also Afrormosia laxiflora and occasional Acacias, e.g. A. Sieberiana, Entada Sudanica, Dichrostachys nutans; bright flowering species, such as Cochlospermum tinctorium; several shrubby species of Hibiscus; Cassia Arereh, C. Goratensis and other species, Lonchocarpus laxiflorus, Securidaca longipedunculata, Grewia mollis, Feretia canthioides; the Gardenias—G. ternifolia, G. erubescens, etc.; Stereospermum Kunthianum, Sarcocephalus Russegeri, Parinarium curatellæfolium, Psorospermum Senegalense, Ximenia Americana, Anona Senegalensis, Pseudocedrela Kotschyi, Strychnos spinosa and other spp., Bridelia ferruginea, Hymenocardia acida, Gymnosporia Senegalensis. Occasional larger trees will often be species of Terminalia, Prosopis oblonga, Butyrospermum Parkii, Lophira alata, Vitex Cienkowskii, Sterculia tomentosa, Pterocarpus erinaceus, or even Afzelia Africana and Paradaniellia Oliveri.

In the above association remark must be made of the Taura, Detarium Senegalense, which is here rarely of dimensions meriting the designation of tree, and therefore very different from the large timber known in the southern forests and found also on the forested slopes of Patti at Lokoja; of the Makarfo, a tree of twisted habit, not often over 30 feet high, with flaking bark, apparently much inferior to the Afrormosia laxiflora, if it is this species, in the greater mixed deciduous forests farther south; and of the Tsada, Ximenia Americana, which is here unarmed, has rather thin, glabrous leaves, sometimes almost shining, and thus differs in habit from the coastal variety, if the identity is certain, which is spiny, has dull leaves sometimes half- succulent, and is appropriately called by the French “Citron de la mer.”

3. Park Savannah.

The open park-like formation is another which is typical of this region. It is, perhaps, best seen where the population is not quite sparse, as in the latter case the previous type tends to take possession. The Shea Butter Tree is the one which more than any other gives the tone to this type, but Parkia filicoidea and, especially in the North, the Tamarind are perhaps equally representative. The two first-named, though not necessarily indicating the proximity of a village, have probably in most cases owners, and the intervening spaces may or may not be more or less cultivated. Open park-like country may, however, occur apart from any contemporary interference by man, and wide stretches of it appear alternating with scattered orchard bush or with open grass-land. The grasses are of the previously mentioned types, with many species of Eragrostis, Aristida, small annual tufted grasses and sedges, along with Cassia mimosoides, Oldenlandia grandiflora, O. Senegalensis and other Leguminous and Rubiaceous weeds. Other trees which well maintain the park-like appearance are Terminalia macroptera, occasional species of Ficus, Vitex Cienkowskii, Acacia Arabica and A. Sieberiana.

In flat, wide-stretching meadows which are often marshy in the rains, this formation also maintains its character, single trees or island-like clusters of tree and shrub dotting the expanse of heavy grass which is burnt to desolation by the yearly fires. These islets are generally found to be composed of Giyaiya, Mitragyne Africana, with shrubs such as Feretia canthioides, Sarcocephalus Russegeri, and scrambling undershrubs added thereto, while the edge of such a meadow or “fadama” is in some cases fringed with deciduous high woods, in which occasionally timbers like Khaya Senegalensis and Paradaniellia Oliveri may appear along with the vegetation characteristic of Type 1.

4. Evergreen Fringing Belts.

Along the water-courses which intersect the savannah lands will be found dark evergreen strips of foliage, which, when extending beyond the stream-banks and forming a fairly dense canopy, whatever the nature of the underwood, are generally implied in the Hausa word “kurumi.” The streams may not be always truly perennial, but the verdure remains because the moisture in the soil persists long enough to maintain the non-deciduous type, although bush-fires may reach their very margins. Where a perennial stream of any magnitude occurs, species will be found whose distribution in the Soudan Zone is confined to such localities, but which are widely represented in the South.

Instead of enumerating the constituents of these strips of fringing forest, we may briefly refer to the vegetation of the River Benué, which has been already indicated as in some degree marking the boundary between the semi-evergreen or mixed deciduous forests and the drier tree savannah and open bush lands. The evergreen galleries along the streams or fringing the swampy glades may be taken as on the whole botanically similar to the bank foliage of the Benué and its backwaters, creeks and tributaries. One feature of this type is the abundance of woody climbers, often concealing the foliage of their supports, and conspicuous to the eye in the flowering season are the Combretaceæ, which are here scrambling and climbing shrubs instead of erect trees, e.g. the flame-flowered Combretum racemosum, C. constrictum, etc., Quisqualis Indica and others; also two or three species of Landolphia with other rubber vines, and of Mussænda, scarlet-fruited Connaraceæ, Uncaria Africana, climbing by its old flower-stalks becoming woody hooks, and Alchornea cordata, the most typical liane of these formations. Other twiners are the showy moon-convolvulus, Calonyction speciosum (Ipomæa bona-nox), the Cowhage, Mucuna pruriensis, Dioclea reflexa, Entada scandens and numerous Ampelideæ. These tend to form a dense and sometimes impenetrable tangle, but where trees of timber size occur the undergrowth is more scanty and a variety of forest weeds appear, in which the Scitamineæ may be prominent.

The Benué region is rich in trees, of which the following species may be mentioned: Goron ruwa, Irvingia Smithii, and Gedar kurumi, Pterocarpus esculentus, Trichilia retusa, the large timber tree called Kiriyar kurumi (undetermined), Erythrophlœum Guineense, Millettia sp., Sanagana and M. sericeus, Cynometra Vogelii, Anthocleista nobilis, Berlinia Heudelotii, Baphia nitida, Chlorophora excelsa, Cola laurifolia, Parinarium subcordatum, Kigelia Æthiopica, Uapaca Guineensis (here a large tree and sometimes prop-rooted), Ficus spp. Smaller trees and shrubs are: Spathodea campanulata, Voacanga obtusa and V. Africana, Morinda citrifolia, Xylopia parviflora, Zanthoxylum Senegalense, Oncoba spinosa, Vangueria euonymoides, Ixora radiata, Polysphæria macrostyla, Garcinia ovalifolia, Myrianthus serratus, Elæis Guineensis and Raphia vinifera. Not all of these extend far beyond the Benué, but the majority of them will be found in one or other fringing belt far into the deciduous region, and perhaps the two which best represent this extension of the semi-evergreen to the savannah are the woody climber Alchornea cordata and the tree Irvingia Smithii.

In a general view, Northern Nigeria, thus lying beyond the equatorial belt, possesses plant features which, apart from river and stream fringes, range between the mixed deciduous and xerophilous habit, and in the dry season the prevailing character of the open savannah forests is a monotonous drab or grey, intersected by the dark lines of greenery following the streams or encircling the swamps. The climate is largely of the continental type, with a temperature ranging from 120° F. to 40° or less (exclusive of thermometer readings on the Bauchi plateau), and a rainfall which throughout will usually fall between 30 and 50 or 60 inches, with diminution to 20 or even 10 inches in the most northerly provinces. Such a climate, with the concomitant regularity of two, not four, well marked seasons, the dry and the wet, is entirely that associated with the occurrence of savannah formations, scattered bush with prevailing grasses, suffrutescent herbs and small trees, much open grass or thinly timbered park-land, with stretches of thick woods which are generally not heavily grassed and never cumbered with impenetrable undergrowth.

Trees which are valuable timber species in the moist southern forests often scarcely attain reputable dimensions in the deciduous zone.

These conditions also, which are doubtless partly the result of ill- considered human operations, put certain definite restrictions on cultivated species and determine the character of the natural products of the wild. The staple cereal is Dawa or Sorghum, instead of maize, with Gero or Pennisetum typhoideum in the North. Possibly the limit of Guinea Corn as a staple of native cultivation is also the limit of the savannah forests, i.e. of the region of trees of secondary size, short of the region of Acacias, of Geza, Combretum altum, and of scrub, where Bulrush Millet is the commoner. Both species are generally cultivated along with beans, Vigna Sinensis. The sweet potato displaces the yam and cassava; industrial cultivation is represented by cotton and indigo. Of forest products, the most representative are Shea nuts and gum arabic, rather than rubber and large timber; and lastly, both cattle-grazing and horse-breeding are important industries proper to the region.

VII. SOME TREES OF HAUSALAND.

BY DR. J. M. DALZIEL.

A few notes on some of the better known trees of Northern Nigeria are here given, the Hausa name being appended in most cases.

Afrormosia laxiflora, Harms (Leguminosæ). Makarfo.

In the mixed deciduous forests towards the coast this appears as a large timber tree, in certain regions dominant both in abundance and size, and is also a constituent of the moist evergreen forests. In Northern Nigeria it never forms a straight stem, never attains the dimensions of a timber tree, and has generally a twisted stem and main branches. Its habit, therefore, rather than its mere presence, affords a striking instance of the changes accompanying the limited rainfall of the savannah forests, and its distribution probably does not extend beyond the northern boundary. The trunk has a somewhat pale piebald appearance, resulting from the flaking of large pieces of the bark exposing lighter portions below. The centre wood is so dark in colour as to have led European foremen of works to report it as lignum vitæ, and the wood is hard enough to earn for it in some districts, along with other trees, the designation “break axe.” It has shining leaves, whitish flowers and thin, flat pods.

Afzelia Africana, Sm. Kawo; “African” or “Rhodesian” Mahogany, “Mahogany Bean,” etc.

A large tree, common to nearly all types of forest in West Africa, tropical high forest, mixed deciduous and savannah. In Northern Nigeria large specimens may still be found, though these do not generally have tall, straight stems, but show the wide-spreading umbrella crown common in drier regions.

Paradaniellia Oliveri, Rolfe. Kadaura or Maje.

This has previously been classed with Daniellia thurifera, Bennett, the so-called West African Copaiba Balsam Tree.

In the Northern Provinces of Nigeria it is one of the largest trees, 50 to 80 feet, with strong, straight stems and affording good timber for local use. The chief native use of the oleo resin is to fumigate garments. Its distribution probably stops short of the northern boundary.

Isoberlinia doka, Craib, et Stapf. Doka.

A tree which is the prevailing type in the savannah forests of Central Hausaland, generally 30 to 40 feet high, with broad, shining leaves, rather small white flowers and large flat pods containing five or six discoid seeds. The valves of the pods curl up after dehiscence, and young seedlings spring up vigorously where not choked by grass, farm clearings in Zaria province being often quickly occupied by them.

A coarse red resin exudes from injuries or punctures of the bark.

Isoberlinia Dalzielii, Craib et Stapf. Fara doka.

Another new species of similar occurrence and habit, differing in having a more grey appearance associated with a slight pubescence, leaves not shining and pods less smooth. A species of the wild silkworm, Anaphe Moloneyi, and perhaps others, are found on them.

Pterocarpus erinaceus, Poir. Madobia; “Senegal Rosewood,” “African Kino,” etc.

A tree generally of 30 to 40 feet or more in open savannah forests, easily recognized by its bright yellow flowers, the regular venation of the leaves, and the bristly, flat, one-seeded pods. The blood-red resin is a variety of Kino, and in districts where the Camwood is not found, the bark of Madobia is sometimes sold as a substitute. The wood is hard and fine-grained.

Cassia Sieberiana, DC. and C.; Kotschyana, Oliv. Marga or Gamafada.

These are small trees with conspicuous yellow flower racemes, having a superficial resemblance to laburnum. They are abundant in the dry savannah regions as well as in savannah forest, and flower freely in the dry season. The pods are long and cylindrical and do not dehisce. Cassia Arereh, Del., is similar, but the leaves are more acuminated and the pods split up longitudinally.

Detarium Senegalense, Gmel. Taura.

A good timber tree in the mixed deciduous and higher savannah forests, as also in the mountainous peninsula of Sierra Leone. Fairly large specimens of timber dimensions occur in the rocky forest overlooking Lokoja, but the Hausa Taura, hitherto identified as botanically the same, is of a very different habit, abundantly represented in the open bush savannah as a shrub or small tree having somewhat flattened fruits, oval, less succulent than, and one-half or one-third the size of, those shed by the forest specimens.

Tamarindus Indica, Zinn. Tsamiya; “Tamarind Tree.”

A very familiar tree in the northern Hausa States and Bornu, as well as in French territory to the north, but much less common on parts of the border-line between Southern and Northern Nigeria, so that probably its actual distribution is local and interrupted. Barth places its limit at Tagalel, in Damerghu, or about 15° North latitude.

In Hausaland it is a conspicuous tree, less from its dimensions than from the beauty of its foliage, sometimes umbrella-spreading and at others compact, and giving a good deal of shade when in full leaf. The ground becomes littered with the small leaflets in the dry months, and as a rule little undergrowth is to be found beneath it.

In Sokoto and Kano provinces, and elsewhere in the North, specimens with a dense, compact and symmetrical crown are common, the branches often reaching to within 3 or 4 feet of the ground. The fruit has familiar medicinal and culinary uses, but rarely develops the soft rich pulp of the Indian specimens. One of the wild silkworms, Anaphe sp., feeds on the leaf, the silken nest being called “Tsamiyar Tsamiya.” A familiar association which did not escape the notice of Dr. Barth is that of tamarind and baobab, in which case the former is often without a proper bole and spreads itself half scandent amongst the stout branches of the baobab.

Parkia filicoidea, Welw. Dorowa; “West African Locust Bean.”

A characteristic tree of the savannah forests, and one of the most typical members of the open park-like formations. It appears to be scarce in Bornu, but abundant from Zaria to Katsina, and its northern limit is probably about 14° North latitude.

The pods afford both food and fodder, the fermented cakes called Daudawa, made from the seeds, being an article of local commerce. In the bush, far from villages, Dorowa trees are ownerless, but elsewhere they are generally private property.

Burkea Africana, Hook. Farin makarfo.

A tree of 30 to 40 feet, of irregular distribution in open savannah forests, fairly common between Yola and Bornu as well as in Southern Sokoto. It has light, silky foliage, flowers in pendulous, creamy spikes, and dark, almost black, bark. The hard wood is used for handles of axes and hoes.

Prosopis oblonga, Benth. Kiriya.

A common tree of the savannah region, extending beyond the Anglo-French boundary, but better developed in the Benué region, where fair timber specimens occur. The wood is hard, with red centre wood, and takes a beautiful polish. It is recognized by its acacia-like foliage, spikes of creamy flowers and stout brown pods, with seeds sometimes used like those of Dorowa.

Bauhinia reticulata, DC. Kargo.

A shrub or small tree, one of the commonest constituents of the bush savannahs; readily recognized by the cleft leaves, rusty bark and flat, twisted pods. The tough bark forms an emergency tie-tie, and its long vast fibres furnish strong cordage, which is its chief use in Northern Nigeria. The bark and leaves, containing tannin, have astringent uses.

Acacia Sieberiana, DC. Fara kaya, or “White Thorn Acacia.”

A very widely distributed species in the deciduous zone, not usually gregarious and occasionally flat-topped. It is easily recognized by its generally dark foliage and pale bark, the flowers not yellow, but in small, creamy-white balls, and by the long white thorns. It yields a soluble gum, which is perhaps not of the best quality.

Acacia Arabica, Willd. Bagaruwa; Indian “Babool.”

One of the commonest species, especially in the northern Hausa States and Bornu, and a source of gum arabic. The flowers are in bright yellow balls and the foliage is a good camel food. The jointed pods are “Sant” or “Gambia” pods, used all over the Soudan for tanning.

Acacia Senegalensis, Willd. Dakwora.

Usually only a shrub, not often over 10 feet, sometimes gregarious, and characteristic of the thin bush savannahs; it has grey bark, flowers in white spikes, and three sharp recurved stipular hooks at the base of each leaf.

This species yields probably the best gum from Senegal to Somali, and the root-bark affords a very tough fibre.

Acacia albida, Del., var. saccharata, Benth. Gawo.

A fair-sized tree, confined to the open dry country in the North, extending into French territory, and an important camel food, but not a gum yielder. The flowers are in creamy-white spikes and the pods are yellow and twisted. It is peculiarly deciduous in the wet season, and bursts into foliage just at the cessation of the rains.

Acacia Seyal, Del. Dussa; “Talh of the Soudan.”

A rather small tree, not often over 20 feet, but gregarious and very abundant in North-east Hausaland and Bornu, less common, but local, in Sokoto, etc. It has a yellow or ochrey bark, white thorns and brilliant yellow balls of flowers, and the pods are narrow, sickle-curved and constricted between the seeds. The gum is of good quality, but not equal to that of A. Senegal.

Acacia campylacantha, Hochst. “Farichin shafu” (= Falcon’s claw).

A fairly tall tree with white flower-spikes and strongly curved spines suggesting the native name. It is sometimes gregarious in limited forest patches, and the gum is said to be good in colour, cleanliness, etc.

To face p. 208.

Albizzia Chevalieri, G. et P. Katsari.

A tree of 30 to 40 feet, common in the more open savannah formations, especially in the northern districts. It has whitish flower-balls, with long, pinkish stamens and thin, flat pods. The bark is sometimes used for tanning.

Entada Sudanica, Schweinf. Tawatsa.

A small tree of the savannah forests and open plains, easily distinguished by the peculiar jointed pods, each embossed seed section falling out and leaving the empty marginal frame. The flowers are in yellowish axillary spikes, generally two or three together.

Mimosa asperata, Linn. Kaidaji.

Forms dense thorny thickets fringing the open bush streams. The flowers are in pinkish balls, and the leaves possess the sensitive quality in a mild degree.

Lophira alata, Banks (Ochnaceæ). Mijin kade.

An “African Oak” and one of the most familiar trees of the savannah forests and open country. It is apparently very similar to Lophira procera, the “Red Ironwood” timber tree of the southern forests; frequently stunted by forest fires. The seeds yield an oil and the bark is medicinal. The flowers are in handsome white panicles, appearing about November or December, and the leaf and habit often give it an appearance resembling the Shea Butter Tree, but the leaf is beautiful and finely veined. An extraordinary fact is the widespread belief of pagan tribes in the efficiency of the leaf as a charm.

Eriodendron orientale, Steud. (Malvaceæ). Rimi; “Silk-cotton Tree.”

A giant in the evergreen forests, and still a comparative giant in the dry zone. In Northern Hausa towns the only very tall trees are Rimi; the wood is light and the stems are sometimes hollowed out for canoes: the floss of the seeds is Kapok, and has the usual local uses. Barth says its distribution eastwards stops at 11° East longitude, and that it is therefore absent from Bornu proper.

Northwards it apparently scarcely extends beyond the Anglo-French boundary.

Bombax buonopozense, Beauv. Gurjiya; “Red-flowered Silk-cotton Tree.”

A member of the evergreen forests, but quite a common tree of the open country and savannah forests, sometimes more or less gregarious, and extending at least beyond the Anglo-French border. It reaches about 40 feet or more in height, with crowded spines on the bark and tulip-like red flowers appearing during the deciduous period, generally after the middle of December and in January.

Adansonia digitata, B. Juss. Kuka; “Baobab.”

A characteristic tree of the dry savannah regions, often grouped in inhabited areas, with enormously stout stems, but in height limited to 40 to 60 feet. Specimens of 30 to 40 feet girth are not quite uncommon, the swollen stem, with soft, spongy wood, being an adaptation to a dry climate, by storing water to meet excessive transpiration by the leaves.

The bark is smooth and often has a shiny purplish tinge. Apart from fibre from both bark and wood, the dry fruit pulp and the seeds are prepared in various ways as food and drink. Large specimens are still found at Maradi, north of the Sokoto boundary, but chiefly stunted trees are met with at Zinder.

Sterculia tomentosa, G. et P. (Sterculiaceæ). Kukuki.

A member of the semi-evergreen forests and common also in the dry zone as a medium-sized tree with soft, palmate-shaped leaves and pods four or five together, splitting to expose the black seeds with yellow arils. A watery juice from the bark refreshes thirsty travellers and a kind of gum tragacanth exudes from the trunk.

Hannoa undulata, Planch. (Simarubeæ). Namijin gwabsa or Takandar giwa. (One of two species called by the latter name, vide Cussonia.)

A common tree of no great size in the savannah forest. The leaves are pinnate, with five to seven leaflets on long stalks, the flowers, in creamy, fragrant panicles, appearing in October or November, and the fruit is a black plum with unpleasant taste.

Irvingia Smithii, Hook. fil.

A tree of evergreen and mixed deciduous forests which invades the ravines and fringing belts in the savannah region as far at least as Kontagora. In the Benué region it is a fairly large tree of 40 feet or more, often gregarious, as in a patch of moist forest opposite Katsina Allah, along with Pterocarpus esculentus. The scarlet fruits are known as Goron ruwa or Goron biri (i.e. Water or Monkey Kola), and are eaten by monkeys.

Balanites Ægyptiaca, Del. Aduwa; “Desert Date.”

Typical of the Soudan and of the northern drier provinces of Nigeria and extending into French territory; characterized by its bifoliate deciduous leaves, spiny habit in dry soil and evergreen bark. The yellow oval fruit has a thin layer of sugary, bitter-sweet pulp, and the kernel yields Betu oil.

Boswellia odorata, Hutch., and B. Dalzielii, Hutch. (Burseraceæ). Hano or Ararabi.

Two new species of “Frankincense Tree,” yielding a fragrant gum resin. They reach 30 feet or so in height, have white bark which peels off in thin sheets, racemes of white flowers and pinnate leaves with serrate leaflets.

Commiphora Kerstingii, Engl. Dali or Bazana.

A small tree, commonly used as a fence support around native compounds. The bark is smooth and green, and the soft wood can be hollowed out for quivers.

Balsamodendron Africanum, A. Rich. Dashi.

A shrub commoner in the northern regions, extending beyond the Anglo- French boundary. In arid regions it forms a good hedge, with some resemblance to the blackthorn. The leaves and bark are fragrant, and it yields a gum resin which is a variety of African myrrh.

Khaya Senegalensis, A. Juss. (Meliaceæ). Madachi; “West African Mahogany” of the dry zone.

A large tree for the dry savannah region, but one of the smaller of the mahoganies. In the North, where dry conditions prevail, it tends to favour the banks of streams or the edges of marshy meadows, and is never buttressed, but often acquires a good spreading crown. Good timber specimens have been found on the Gurara River, but apart from this, and perhaps some other favoured localities, it does not as a rule exceed about 4 feet to 4½ feet in girth. It occurs from Gambia to Nigeria and Kamerun, and is again found as a West African element in the flora of Uganda and Mozambique. Northwards it reaches North Sokoto, but apparently does not extend to Zinder. The bark is a reputed bitter tonic in native medicine.

Pseudocedrela Kotschyi, Harms. Toman or Tonas; “Dry-zone Cedar.”

In Northern Nigeria this is rarely more than a small to medium-sized tree of 20 to 30 feet, and not usually of good straight growth, probably from the effect of annual fires, but yielding a fine wood. The leaflets are undulate-margined, the flowers are in graceful panicles, appearing about February and March, and the dry, erect capsules, full of winged seeds, split from above downwards in five valves. Occasionally little copses of the species occur, as it seeds freely and numerous seedlings arise—most of them, however, doomed to perish in the next bush-fire. In protected localities it might be fostered into a useful timber tree. Natives find various medicinal uses for the bark.

Trichilia emetica, Vahl. Jan sayi.

A fairly common tree across Central Hausaland, not often much over 20 feet in height. It has medicinal properties; the white flowers are fragrant and used to rub the teeth, and the seeds yield a less important oil.

Trichilia retusa, Oliv.

A large timber tree with tall, straight stems, found in the Benué region. The flowers are white, appearing about January, in axillary racemes or below the leaves; the leaflets are generally five or three, with wide, shallow indentation at the tip.

Odina Barteri (Anacardiaceæ). Faru.

A fair-sized deciduous tree of the savannah forests, with pinnate pubescent leaves and inconspicuous flowers in pendulous, clustered racemes. It yields a sort of resin, and the small fruits, tipped with four sharp points, are eaten by birds.

? Spondias sp. Danya.

A very common tree of the drier savannah forests, very abundant in the North; it has light foliage of pinnate leaves with small leaflets and a yellow, very pleasantly flavoured fruit, with a tough rind like that of the mango. The fruits litter the ground in the months of May and June. The wood is very hard and used for making a heavy kind of basin known as akushi.

Anogeissus leiocarpus, G. et P. (Combretaceæ). Marike.

This is one of the “Chew-sticks” of Yoruba, and while occurring in fringing forests and evergreen patches, it is very common in the open savannah regions, but probably does not extend beyond the northern boundary. It may be 50 feet in height, and possesses light, graceful foliage, pale bark and small yellowish flowers in globose heads, forming tiny dry two-winged fruits. It affords an inferior gum and is much used medicinally.

Terminalia sp., near T. macroptera, G. et P. Baushe.

A fairly large tree, 40 feet or more in height, with the oval winged and embossed fruits of the genus, along with its congeners, e.g. T. Elliotii, Engl. and Diels, T. Baumanii, Engl. and Diels, etc., very abundant and typical of the savannahs of Northern Nigeria. Bows and sticks are made from the roots.

Terminalia macroptera, G. et P. Kandari.

A smaller tree with much broader leaves, typical of open park-like formations.

Combretum spp.

Several arborescent species of Combretum are truly characteristic of the open and bush savannahs, and are well represented even in the northern parts, where, however, in some districts, they are replaced by Acacias. They are practically all gum-bearing; the flowers are small and yellowish in axillary spikes, but the genus is generally easily recognized by the fruits having four papery wings and the usually whorled arrangement of the leaves. The Northern Nigerian species have not all been fully determined, and the native names are at present somewhat confused and may include more than one species. Most of them in this region are shrubs or small trees, occasionally reaching 30 feet or so, with smooth or hoary foliage. The Taramniya is generally C. leonense, Engl. and Diels; the Chiriri of Sogoto includes probably C. Hartmannianum, Schweinf., and other species; the Dalo is C. glutinosum, Perr., or near it.

Parinarium curatellæfolium, Planch (Rosaceæ). Rura.

A small tree, very common in the bush and forest savannah, usually only about 10 to 15 feet high, with pale leaves and a dry, pear-like fruit. Of its congeners, P. macrophyllum, Sabine, the Gawasa or Gingerbread Plum, is its representative in most northerly provinces, and P. polyandrum, Benth., with grape-like bunches of purple not edible fruit, is common in the southern parts of the deciduous region.

Eugenia Owariensis, Beauv. (Myrtaceæ). Malmo.

A small tree, generally about 20 to 30 feet in height and always found in moist places, by streams, etc. It has shining, odorous foliage, white, fragrant flower-clusters, and a small black-purple, succulent fruit.

Cussonia Nigerica, Hutch. (Araliaceæ). Gwabsa or Takandar giwa.

A new species, occurring in the open and bush savannahs as a small tree from 10 to 15 feet in height, with peculiar bare, raking branches, producing at their ends clusters of digitate leaves or of long catkin- like spikes of inconspicuous flowers. Incisions in the rough, fissured bark yield a clear gum. (For the native name compare Hannoa undulata.)

Cratæva Adansonii, G. et P. (Capparideæ). Ingidido.

A small tree, occasionally 20 feet high, fairly abundant in the North, of local distribution and common in towns. The leaves are trifoliate and can be used as a vegetable; the flowers are white and the fruit yellow, spherical, and about the size of a small orange.

Zizyphus spina-Christi, Willd. (Rhamnaceæ). Kurna.

A small tree characteristic of the dry open regions and commonly planted in northern towns. It is generally about 10 to 20 feet high, spiny, with leaves three-nerved, and a rather dry, edible berry of pleasant taste.

Z. jujuba, Lam., is the Magariya, and is similar, but in these regions generally has less of a stem and is more shrubby and thorny, and is not, as a rule, planted, though the fruit is even pleasanter.

Sarcocephalus Russegeri (Rubiaceæ). Tafashia.

A shrub, or occasionally a small tree, common in moist meadows, but found also in the open dry bush. The flowers are in rather large creamy balls, and the coarse red, succulent fruit is the analogue of the Sierra Leone peach, S. esculentus, Afzel, which grows to a large tree in the evergreen forests.

Mitragyne Africana, Korth. Giyaiya.

This is a characteristic tree of swampy areas in the deciduous regions, found by streams and marshes or forming island-clumps with a few lesser shrubs and weeds in the grassy meadows, which dry up in the rainless months. It is generally from 20 to 30 feet in height and has close, spherical heads of whitish flowers and smooth, but not shining, leaves with regular venation.

Crossopteryx Kotschyana, Fenzl. Kasfiya.

A small tree of 15 to 20 feet, with foliage resembling that of Giyaiya, bunches of whitish flowers, and abundant small black, pill-like fruits, which remain attached long after they are ripe.

Adina microcephala, Hiern. Kadanyar rafi.

A fairly tall tree of 30 to 40 feet, found in stream-banks in the savannah region. It has whitish balls of flowers and tapering smooth leaves.

Morelia Senegalensis, A. Rich. Innuwar bauna.

An evergreen shrub 10 to 20 feet high, common on stream-banks, and found both in the semi-evergreen forests and in the fringing belts of the deciduous region. The flowers are white and somewhat fragrant, and the fruit is spherical, tipped by the tubular remains of the calyx.

Butyrospermum Parkii, Kotschii. (Sapotaceæ). Kadanya; “Shea Butter Tree.”

A typical tree of the savannah hinterlands, and one which gives the park-like character to many parts of Northern Nigeria, it barely extends to the northern boundary, and is rarer on the Bornu side. It is generally 25 to 30 feet high or more, with a dense crown and a curiously corrugated bark. Flowers, in white, head-like clusters generally appear about December. The brown, chestnut-like kernels are ripe about July. The milky juice and the coarser venation of the leaves readily distinguish this tree from Lophira alata.

Diospyros mespiliformis, Hochst. (Ebenaceæ). Kanya or Kaiwa; “African Ebony.”

A fairly large tree, up to about 40 feet in height, in the savannah forests and open country, extending north to beyond the Anglo-French boundary, larger in the mixed deciduous forests farther south and in fringing evergreen belts. The foliage is dark and the bark blackish; the inconspicuous whitish flowers, of separate sexes on different trees, are attractive to bees. The wood is white, with a black heartwood, and the spherical yellow fruits (“Monkey Guava”) have a crisp rind and sweet edible pulp, with four or five seeds.

Strychnos spinosa, Lam. (Loganiaceæ). Kokiya.

A small thorny tree with opposite three- to five-nerved leaves, conspicuous by its round yellow fruit, which is orange-like, but has a hard rind and flat seeds embedded in a pleasant acid edible pulp.

Cordia Abyssinica, R. Br. (Boragineæ). Aliliba.

A shrub or small tree with broad leaves and white flowers, valued for the sweet yellow berries, which are used in making sweetmeats.

Kigelia Æthiopica, Decne.; var. Bornuensis, Sprague (Bignoniaceæ). Rahaina or Rawuya.

A species of “Sausage Tree,” of irregular distribution in Northern Nigeria, known in Sokoto, etc., but commoner in the Benué region and in Bornu (possibly more than one species occurring). It grows to a fairly large size, with dense foliage and pendulous racemes of lurid purple and spotted flowers and large, yam-like fruits.

Stereospermum Kunthianum, Cham. Jiri or Sansami.

A small tree of the savannah forests, with smooth pale bark, beautiful pink caducous blossoms and long slender pods.

Vitex Cienkowskii, Kotschii et Peyr. (Verbenaceæ). Dinya.

A fairly large tree, chiefly of open forest country and extending at least as far as the Anglo-French border. The bark is somewhat smooth, the crown of digitate leaves fairly dense, and the black, damson-like fruits are used in making molasses and sweetmeats. The natives value the wood as strong and suitable for local use.

Uapaca Guineensis, Muell. Arg. (Euphorbiaceæ). Ka Jafogo.

In the open country a rather small tree, with the habit of a Ficus, but becoming a large tree, sometimes prop-rooted, in the Benué region and in some ravines.

Chlorophora excelsa, Benth. and Hook. (Moraceæ). The “Iroko” or “Odum.”

Some of the splendid Nupé canoes are made of this, but the tree really belongs to the southern forests, though it occurs in the Benué region and perhaps in some northward extensions in river valleys.

Celtis integrifolia, Lam. Zuwo or Dukki.

This is a fairly large tree of the savannah forest region, found as far north at least as Sokoto. The leaves are edible and are used as fodder.

Ficus or Urostigma spp.

This genus has not yet been fully elaborated, and the native names cannot in all cases be definitely applied to distinct botanical species. The following appear tp be fairly established: Chediya, Ficus Thonningii, Bl., one of the commonest shade trees, planted in towns and abundant far North in French territory; Durumi, F. syringifolia, Warb., perhaps equally common, with shining heart-shaped and pointed leaves; Baure, F. gnaphalocarpa, A. Rich. (the rough-leaved species with soft figs which are sometimes considered edible); Uwar yara, F. Capensis, Thunb. (sensu lato), recognized by the wavy or indented- margined leaves, and especially by the figs being borne in dense clusters on the trunk; Gamji, F. platyphylla, Del. (the source of “Red Kano Rubber” and the host of one of the wild silkworms, Anaphe sp.). Kawuri probably includes F. kawuri, Hutch., and F. glumosa, Del. Wa is a species with broadly cordate leaves, strongly veined, and Shirinya is a narrow-leaved species. F. Vogelii, Mig., is a glossy-leaved rubber-tree, more abundant in ravines and in the moister forests farther South.

The Gamji and Shirinya, and perhaps some of the others, almost invariably begin life as epiphytes.

Most of the species have abundant aerial rootlets, and the latex of F. Vogelii, of Gamji, and perhaps of Kawuri and Shirinya, yields rubber of varying quality.

Raphia vinifera, P. Beauv. (Palmeæ). Tukuruwa; “Bamboo Palm,” “Wine Palm.”

This well-known palm is found in ravines in the savannah region as far as Zaria province, but is a proper member of swampy patches and moist forests of the South. Roofing poles and palm-wine are its products most used in the North.

Borassus flabellifer, var. Æthiopum, Warb. Giginya; “Deleb,” “Palmyra” or “Fan Palm.”

The most characteristic palm of Hausaland, with tall, straight and often beaded stems. The germinating shoots from the planted nuts are a vegetable called muruchi, and the wood and leaves have the familiar uses in house-building, mat and basket weaving, etc.

Hyphæne Thebaica, Mart. Goriba; “Dum” or “Gingerbread Palm.”

The typical palm of the more northerly Hausa provinces, characterized by its forked stems and obliquely fan-shaped leaves. The kernel and the rind of the nut are used in certain food preparations, and the fronds have the usual applications for plaited utensils, etc.

Phœnix dactylifera, Linn. Dabino; “Date Palm.”

Introduced by Arabs and confined (with a few exceptions, e.g. at Yola Mosque) to the Northern towns.

In Kano it may be possible to see the three palms, Deleb, Dum and Date, together, but the last is in no sense a tree of Hausaland.

J. M. DALZIEL.

To face p. 216.