156 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 



speculator should make a profit, and also, no doubt, by 

 the feeling that every year the forests get an enhanced 

 value. One hears a lot about the iniquity of the holding 

 up of such possessions on the part of private individuals, 

 and a tax on unearned increment has very rightly been 

 invented in England to cope with the abuse. There 

 must surely come a period when even on the part of 

 Government this same clinging to possessions which 

 cry for development ceases to be commendable. 



The main extra-tropical forests in the Highlands 

 consist of : — 



The Mau Forests = 768,379 acres. 



The Aberdare Forests = 477,440 ,, 



The Kenia Forest = 400,000 „ 



Forests near Nairobi = 61,440 ,, 



Mount Elgon Forests = 32,000 „ 



Forests on the 



Anglo-German border = 32,000 „ 



Unexplored and small Forests 200 or 300 square miles. 



It is the three greater forests which form the most 

 valuable portion of our timber ; this is so not only 

 because of their superior size, but because, being on a 

 higher zone, they contain, as a whole, a more valuable 

 class of tree. There is one exception to this state- 

 ment ; the Ibean Sandal (M'hugu) which grows freely 

 in the forest round Nairobi, being one of the most 

 valuable trees in the Protectorate. Not only for sandal 

 work, but for sleepers, fencing posts, and firewood, it is 

 not to be surpassed. It does not grow freely on the 

 higher zone. The forests of the upper zone contain, 

 not only all the largest trees, but practically all the 

 conifers. The four chief timbers are two forms of 

 Yellow- wood {Podocarpus gracilior and Podocarpus 



