18 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



rally under one or the other of the two comprehensive trade names 

 of "West African Mahogany" and "West African Cedar." A 

 few logs of the Odoum (Chlorophora excelsa), the Baku (Mimusops 

 Djarc), and some others have from time to time been sent to 

 Europe, but such shipments have met with scant encouragement 

 in the home markets. It is with a view to creating a demand 

 for these woods, the good properties of which are well recognised 

 and appreciated in West Africa, that efforts should be made to 

 start local markets for them. The markets would, of course, be 

 best fed by the establishment of saw-niills along the main lines 

 of export. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE FORESTS OF THE GAIYIN KROM CONCESSION. 



The country in the vicinity of the saw-mills is undulating in 

 character; towards the east some well-defined ridges form the 

 water-parting between the Win and Pra Rivers. The soil con- 

 sists mainly of clay sands with a good admixture of humus. 

 The soil of the lowest depressions is marshy, and contains a larger 

 percentage of clay. On the higher ridges to the east a few 

 outcrops of quartz occur. The average annual rainfall appears 

 to be about 80 inches, and it is fairly well distributed through 

 the year. The spells of extremely dry weather accompanying 

 the desiccating " Harmattan " winds are of short duration, and 

 do not last long enough to have any permanent effect on the 

 vegetation. The latter belongs to the type known to Indian 

 foresters as the moist, evergreen tropical forests, in which the 

 bulk of the plants are hygrophilous, and those with the deciduous 

 habit quite the exception. The forest consists mainly of 

 secondary growth of great age, and towards the east becomes 

 almost primeval in character. The trees there are of immense 

 size. The leaf canopy is almost complete, and the undergrowth 

 thinner than it is in the younger secondary growth close to thf 

 railway line. It has been fairly rich in valuable timber trees 

 but the majority of the latter, especially those of exploitable 

 size situated within easy hauling distance of the saw-mills, has 

 now been felled. Light tram lines have recently been con- 

 structed to tap the remoter portions of the Concession, and there 

 is no doubt that the lapse of a few more years will see the com- 

 plete exhaustion of the stock of timber of marketable dimensions. 

 The younger secondary forests are dominated by the following 

 trees, placed in descending order of frequency :- 



1. The Dahomah (Piptadenia africana). One of the commonest 

 lives of the tropical evergreen forests, in which it is universally 

 distributed. In habit it is partially deciduous during the dry 

 season, more especially where it has sprung up on lands that 

 have once been cleared for farms. Quite recently, specimens of 

 the wood exhibited at Liverpool have attracted the attention of 

 some of the timber brokers. If a demand for this timber should 

 ever arise in the home markets, the supply will be found to meet 



