26 COLONIAL REPORTS -MISCELLANEOUS. 



foe crossed. Between Tarkwa and Huuisu most of the valleys 

 have either perennial streams running down them or are occupied 

 with fresh-water swamps which no doubt drain into the main 

 river during the flood season. The land is thus extreme!}' well 

 \\atered and it is quite the exception to come across dry beds of 

 watercourses. The rainfall also appears to be heavy judging 

 from the character of the vegetation, which belongs to the moist 

 Tropical Evergreen (" Tropical Rain Forest " of Schimper) and 

 Tropical Fresh- Water Swamp types of forest. Here the former 

 as a rule consists of irregular, secondary high forest that appears 

 to have sprung up on areas that were once cleared of vegetation 

 very many years ago, a period amounting on the average to 

 several generations. All stages, from land but recently re- 

 occupied by forests to that of older growth, are to be met with 

 and their comparative ages can, apart from the size of the 

 ordinary forest trees, be fairly well ascertained by the relative 

 abundance and extent of the patches of pure Musanya Smith ii 

 forest that they contain. Nevertheless in a few places here and 

 there forests of a really great age are to be met with, and these 

 approach closely to the primeval type. 



One day was devoted to making a rough analysis of the grow- 

 ing stock of the forests in the neighbourhood of Hunisu. 



The forests themselves are in all essentials similar to those 

 growing in the vicinity of the saw-mills and are, if anything, 

 rather moister in character, especially those passed through dur- 

 'ing the first two hours of the journey to Hunisu. The presence 

 of numerous tree ferns along this part of the journey confirms the 

 existence of great humidity in the locality. 



Of the most valuable timber trees such as the mahoganies 

 (species of Khaya) and cedars (species of Pseiidocedrela) but few 

 were seen, and the forests are distinctly poor so far as they are 

 concerned. Other useful timber trees, however, are much more 

 plentiful. Examples 'of the Nyankon (Heritiera utilis) 

 a new species that yields a very fine wood similar to 

 that of Khaya, the Kaku, the Odoum, the Baku, the KisJtia 

 (jSarcocephalus escidentus), the Kokoti, and the Dahomah were 

 si'en ; the last species as usual is the most dominant. Curious 

 to say the other markedly dominant trees such as the Waw-waw 

 and the Off ram, which are very characteristic of the evergreen 

 tropical forests, were comparatively scarce in this neighbourhood, 

 and I am inclined to think that those two species are not at their 

 optimum in excessively moist forests such as these are. 



The less valuable species, so far as timber alone is con- 

 cerned, were represented amongst a host of others by the 

 Saniaiiln (.\i/Ii<i Evansii), another new species ; the Uai/a ; 

 M(icrol<il>i ii ni Palixotii : Pentaclethra macrophylla, the seeds 

 of which, however, are rich in vegetable oil; the Asomali 

 (species of Parkia) which is rare; the .\'7\otan (an under- 

 mentioned species), from the wood of which the charcoal used 

 by the native goldsmiths is prepared. This small tree is partial 

 to swampy localities and is supported on long aerial roots (" Prop 

 roots" of Schiinper): the Abntnasi'bi (species of Garcinu:'}. also 

 fond of swampy soils, and the OJcisibiri (a species not yet identi- 



