Sl2 KEl'LACEMENT UF THE ANCIENT E. AFRICAN FOREST 



yards. The forest proper is slowly bringing up the rear, as the 

 shade advances, with a small but quite definite advance of from 

 three to five yards, the out-leaning- trunks of Calpiiniia and other 

 outskirts species that used to be on its outside being now that dis- 

 tance inside it, and in a more or less decaying condition. Only 

 in one place, a broad indentation of Chipete, has the forest ad- 

 vanced as yet in a really sensational manner — yo yards at the 

 deepest spot. It has been enabled to do this under cover of the 

 shade of thorn-trees — also BridcUa, Catha and Erythrina — that 

 had come in with the invading grass-veld and grown u]), and 

 with the liana Toddalh aciiiiiiiiala as its advance guard and shade- 

 connecter. It is curious to see the al:)ove trees — old trees, and, 

 some of them, as the Bridelias and Erythrina hiimcaiia, marking 

 former limits during the process of (forest-destruction — standing 

 far inside the forest, the thorn trees mostly already dead. But 

 an occasional Iforest seedhng is to be seen beyond even the general 

 slower advance of Chirinda, pushing up amongst the outskirts 

 ])lants ; and Tcclea in s])ecial numbers, but a few other s]jecies 

 too, are coming up under the shade of the Albizzia clumps and 

 even — aided, doubtless, by the layer of humus that has already 

 formed in such positions — that of isolated thorn-trees growing in 

 the unburnt grass-veld. This suggests that far greater ])rogress 

 on the i)art of the forest itself will be visil)le at the end O'f a 

 second fifteen years than is to be seen now, and it seems likely 

 that a final cessation of grass-fires would, other thin.us remaining 

 as favourable as at present, result in the course of ages in the re- 

 taking by the forest of its lost ground, just as Belt claimed would 

 happen in Nicaragua were the felling there for cultivation to 

 be abandoned. The process would be slow, but less slow, 1 

 believe, than the destruction has been, for Hypoesfcs and 

 Albiccia are energetic and far-])ushing pioneers. Also the shade 

 and liumus of the forest's rivals, the trees of the veld, would l)e 

 freely used by it for their supplanting. 



Not merely along the general advance, either ; for new forest 

 centres would be created under them by fruit-eating birds and 

 would accelerate the closing-up ])rocess as they came into bearing. 

 This has begun to happen already, for Haroiuja inadagascari- 

 ciisis, a tree of the dense-wooded kloofs, is, over a certain area 

 of ground near Chirinda. coming up thickly under Eii(jeiiia 

 Jaiifoha and small Pariiiariuiiis in the unbtirnt grass-veld, and, 

 growing rapidly and overtopping them, is killing its nurse-trees 

 and itself coming into bearing and being visited by numbers of 

 bulbuls. The kloofs generallv would helj) greatlv in the re- 

 aOoresting of the mountains. Those of a portion of the northern 

 slope of Chirinda that is covered with Uapaca and Brachystegia 

 wooding, but has been little burnt oi late had ])reviously had their 

 Dvrojiiiobe trees reduced by the fires to a mere thin line along their 

 bottoms. Yet now they are climbing out again, and — Eckcbcrgiii' 

 iVIcycri, J'yf/ciiiii africaiitiiii . Teclca Szvynnertonii, Sapiitin 

 Maiiiiiaiiinii and Eugenia inxirirnsis. but esi^ecially. and in nmn- 

 bers, the ]jioneers Haroaga, Albizzia, and, to a less extent, 



