CHAPTER II. The Gambia

THE GAMBIA

In the early part of the nineteenth century a considerable quantity of African Mahogany, obtained from Khaya Senegalensis, a dry-zone mahogany-tree, was shipped to England; in fact, this was the original source of African Mahogany, as also it was the first tree from which it was obtained. Even now this tree is one of the most prevalent in the strip of land on both banks of the Gambia, so far as British territory is concerned.

At the present time no mahogany is being shipped from the Gambia, but recently an Ordinance was passed regulating the cutting of firewood and forest trees.

Forests in the ordinary sense of the word cannot be said to exist in the Gambia, but no doubt a considerable amount of timber could be obtained from the dry-zone country. The total length of the colony is 300 miles, and approximately 5 miles wide, on either side of the Gambia River, which makes it in the aggregate a considerable tract of country, in all 4,500 square miles, of which the colony proper occupies 4 square miles.

So far only Rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus), Mahogany (Khaya Senegalensis), and small pieces of Baywood, probably also a mahogany, have been reported from the Gambia. In 1908 a certain amount of wood was cut for the making of charcoal by a man from the Canary Islands. In 1909, 102 tons of charcoal were exported, and in 1910, 176 tons, valued at £634. Since then no other returns are available, so apparently this industry has come to an end. There is no Forest Officer in the Gambia, and no proposals for Forest Reserves have been put forward by the Government. Part of the land near the mouth of the Gambia is swampy and covered with the usual Mangrove forests.

In the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. viii, 1910, p. 244, it is stated that the specimens of rosewood and mahogany forwarded to the Imperial Institute were reported on as follows:

Rosewood (Dalbergia sp.), reddish-yellow with darker lines and red pores, solid and compact, resembling rosewood except in colour. The timber would not pass as rosewood on the market. It has an agreeable odour, is hard and heavy, weighing 45½ lb. per cubic foot. It turned and polished well, sawed very easily, but was difficult to plane; planing left a smooth, bright surface.

Mahogany (Khaya Senegalensis) may be looked upon as inferior baywood, the wood light in colour, of poor figure, hard to plane, but when planed leaves the surface bright and woolly in alternate bands; very cross grained, sawed and turned easily. Weight, 41½ lb. per cubic foot. Should be very useful locally, but probably not of sufficient value for much export trade.

Even in this comparatively small colony a certain amount of forest land should be preserved, more especially that which is unsuitable for agriculture. In every country there is always some poor or rocky land which is not favourable to the growing of agricultural crops.

The oil palm is another useful tree, which yields the well-known palm oil and kernels; however, here the oil is required locally for alimentary purposes, and therefore only the palm kernels are exported.

The following shows the exports for five years:

Year. Tons. £ s. d.

1910 467 5,640 0 0

1911 443 4,756 0 0

1912 445 6,518 0 0

1913 545 9,026 0 0

1914 494½ 7,814 17 11

It will be noticed that the very high prices ruling for part of 1913 and the beginning of 1914 had the effect of causing increased exports to be made.

Here, as in the case of other products, planting could be undertaken with advantage, as the yield of kernels and oil is good; even if the increased amount of oil produced was sold locally, the increased output of kernels would find a market in England, where they are needed.

It is a tree which allows cultivation of field crops to be made between the oil palms for several years before the palms become too big and shut out the light necessary for field crops. In the drier climate of the Gambia a planting distance of probably 16 feet would be sufficient to ensure a good yield, and yet give sufficient distance between the trees to allow room for them even when mature.

If an Agricultural or Forest Department, which at present does not exist in the Gambia, could not supply young seedlings or nuts for planting, one of the trading firms could secure them from one of the other West Coast Protectorates. Of course, in many cases, if the natives could be induced to believe that a good price would always be paid for kernels, they would no doubt make small plantations of oil palms themselves, as some fruit always falls to the ground in the picking, is thus not boiled, and so is suitable for furnishing seed for planting. It is, of course, inadvisable to plant boiled nuts, as many do not germinate, owing to the germ having been destroyed by the boiling of the fruit; others do, however, as can be seen in the young oil palms sprouting from heaps of uncracked nuts which the natives leave near the villages.