THE NIGERIAN TIMBER TREES 387 



with two or three main limbs from the bole. It reaches a 

 girth of about 6 feet and a bole length of 12 feet. 



The sapwood is wide and white and the heartwood black. 

 The tree is occasionally attacked by a large borer, which makes 

 large holes nearly | inch in diameter. The timber is very hard, 

 but if the tree is killed by fire it becomes a little more brittle 

 than is usually the case. In old trees which may be left lying 

 in the forest, the middle of the heartwood often decays away 

 with ground-rot. It planes well and saws well. Nails often 

 split it. It splits moderately well, especially when free of 

 knots. 



It is a very slow-growing, shade-bearing, soil-protecting 

 and soil-improving tree. On the whole, it is more exacting as to 

 soil than most other trees, being usually found on a good loam 

 rich in humus, which is moist and with fair drainage. Natural 

 regeneration is none too good. Stump shoots are very weak, 

 and often do not occur. It has not yet been planted. It is very 

 susceptible to fire — in fact, more so than perhaps any other tree. 

 The timber has been exported for many years from Calabar, 

 but of late in decreasing quantities, owing to the exhaustion 

 of the nearer sources of supply, and to the fact that only small 

 billets under 3 feet in length, not square, and only 3 or 

 4 inches in cross-section were cut. The usual native method 

 of procedure is very curious. On making a clearing for a farm, 

 any ebony standing there gets killed with the fire, and having 

 comparatively few roots and being very heavy, the tree falls 

 down. Before abandoning the farm the native may put a mark 

 on this tree, or at any rate make a mental note of its existence. 

 After a year or two, if he is in need of money to buy clothes, or 

 wishes to purchase anything, he goes back to this old farm, finds 

 this tree, perhaps externallj' somewhat charred, and perhaps the 

 centre of the heartwood rotted away ; he proceeds to cut it 

 into lengths of about 10 or 12 feet. These he then splits length- 

 ways into segments with a rounded side of about 5 inches, 

 the two split sides about 4 inches, and the inner surface about 

 3 inches. In order to get these long pieces of suitable dimension 

 to carry to the nearest factory or trading station, he cuts them 

 into three or four billets ; two or three of these, according to 

 weight, are tied together and carried to the factory. It is sold by 

 weight, and sometimes 200 billets go to the ton, though a smaller 

 quantity of a larger size would be better and secure a better 

 price. This method should be compared with the superior 

 one adopted by the natives of the Cameroons. Compared 

 to the usual price of £6 or £7 per ton for Calabar ebony, 

 Cameroon wood usually fetches £10 to £12. 



