xvi FORESTS 157 



Thunbergii), Cedar (Juniperus procera), and I bean 

 Camphor (Ocotea usambarensis). Of the two latter, 

 cedar is the commonest in the drier portions of the 

 forest, while camphor is confined to those that are 

 more damp. Next to these four, comes olive (Olea 

 chrysophylla). Of the three great forests, the 

 Aberdare forest is considerably the least valu- 

 able, and has also suffered by far the most from 

 grass fires and native destruction. Mr. D. E. 

 Hutchins, late forest officer, computes in his most 

 excellent blue book that in this forest alone the 

 Kikuyu have within recent years destroyed no fewer 

 than 350 square miles of valuable timber. If a con- 

 siderable portion of the sums expended in preventing 

 a comparatively few acres from being utilised by 

 settlers had been used to conserve our timber from 

 destruction by natives, we should have been better 

 off to the extent of millions of pounds. 

 The total Aberdare forests consist of : — 



'Southern forest = 96,000 acres 

 Bamboo forest with 

 interspersed Yel- 

 low-wood = 124,800 acres 

 Northern forest = 228,480 acres 

 Western Aberdare = 28,160 acres 



Of this the Bamboo forest has no commercial value, 

 and of the rest the finest portion is what is known as 

 the Thomson forest, which represents an area of about 

 100 square miles of good timber. A considerable 

 proportion of the forest on Western Kenia has been 

 granted to the East African Syndicate. 



The Mau Forests, though in no solid continuous 

 block, like the Kenia forest, comprise the largest area 

 of timber in the Protectorate. Taken as a whole, it is 



Eastern Aberdare 



