WEST AFRICAN COAST : GUINEA 227 



shore is interrupted by tidal swamps, which mark the 

 mouths of the rivers and inlets, and bear on their slimy 

 surface mangrove forests. Where the hills reach the 

 coast-line the rain- forest crowds down almost to the 

 shore. The Guinea selva is said to be the densest and 

 most luxuriant forest of Africa, and is now becoming 

 famous for its wealth in rubber plants. In respect of its 

 situation, physical conditions, and density, it is to be 

 compared to the Brazilian coast forest on the other side 

 of the Atlantic. This remark applies to the forests of 

 Lower Guinea and the Loango coast, which extend almost 

 continuously from Lagos to the vicinity of the lower 

 Congo, and beyond that river, on the seaward slopes of 

 the great southern plateau, to Benguella. Mangrove 

 swamps are particularly abundant along the Gulf of 

 Guinea, covering the low and broad tidal tracts at the 

 delta of the Niger, of the Old Calabar, and the mouths 

 of the Cameroon. 



The enormous mass of the Cameroon mountain displays 

 well-marked belts of vegetation : a lower belt of heavy 

 equatorial forests, followed by a zone of dense mountain 

 forests, reaches up to 6,000 feet; thence upwards the 

 forest gradually dwindles to the size of a high bush and 

 becomes increasingly mixed with grass-lands dotted with 

 low shrubs. At 8,000 feet the shrubs disappear fast 

 and open grass slopes lead to upper moorlands, above 

 which the ash-cone towers. Compared with mountains 

 in other parts of the inter-tropical world (Mexico, the 

 Andes, and even with the Himalayas), the Cameroon 

 thus shows an unexpectedly low tree-limit. 



The Gaboon forest appears to continue east of the 

 Oguwe and to join the great forests of the Sanga and 

 Ubanghi. 



West African Plateaus. In West Africa there occur 



Q 2 



