INTRODUCTION 
Tux following notes on the general character and vegetation of 
the Oban district have been kindly supplied by Mr. Talbot. 
The Oban district of South Nigeria * lies within the bend of 
the Cross River at a distance of 40 to 100 miles from the Gulf 
of Guinea. It is bounded on the East by the German Cameroons, 
of which it is, botanically speaking, an offshoot, though apparently 
exceeding its neighbour in the luxuriance of its vegetation. 
Throughout the length and breadth of the land hardly a level 
spot is to be found. The average height above the sea-line varies 
from about 300 to 900 feet, with masses of hills rising towards 
the centre into a clearly marked watershed, nearly 4000 feet 
high. The greater number of these hills have been climbed by 
us, but haighé seemed hardly to influence the luxuriance, or even 
type, of vegetation. 
The rocks of the district are very ancient and consist 
mostly of gneiss or granite, pierced by veins of iron ore- 
and other minerals. The weathering of these has produced a 
soil very favourable to growth. This, mixed with the deep 
accumulation of rich vegetable humus and mould in the dense 
shade of these tropical forests, forms, in the warm damp climate, 
a kind of vast natural forcing bed, from which spring an almost 
inexhaustible variety of flowering plants and trees. These grow 
up with such incredible rapidity that I have found it difficult to 
recognise sites, which were under cultivation five years before. 
The land is drained by a close network of rivers, which meander 
through the deep green of the “bush,” like the veins of some 
giant leaf, or leap down the hill-sides in a series of cancigies and 
waterfalls. 
The forests of Oban are usually described as within the ever- 
green belt, but, though evergreens predominate, more careful 
study discloses the presence of a very large proportion of 
deciduous trees, many of which burst into leaf and flower twice 
* A map of the district will be found with Mr. Talbot's communication 
to the Geographical J enge en 637). 
