GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. I 



Tarquah and Abosso Mines ; Mr. McTear, General Manager of 

 the Aslianti Goldfields Corporation ; the Manager of the Bibiani 

 Mines ; and from Messrs. Nicholas and Brett ; to all of whom 

 I now offer my sincerest thanks. I wish also to express my 

 indebtedness to Dr. Otto Stapf and other officials of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew, for their assistance in identifying and 

 naming specimens collected during my tours. 



I cannot conclude without expressing my great obligations to 

 the Governor, Sir John Pickersgill Rodger, K.C.M.G., and 

 Acting Governor Major H. Bryan, C.M.G., to whose initiative 

 and constant interest is due any success that may have attended 

 my visit to the Colony and Ashanti. 



H. N. THOMPSON, 



Conservator of Forests, 



Southern Nigeria. 

 December, 1908. 



PART I. 



Accra. The small cocoanut plantation situated to the north- 

 east of Christianborg Castle is not a success. The young plants 

 have suffered much from the annual fires, and their growth has 

 been considerably checked in consequence. 



Those which have grown high enough to escape damage from 

 the fires are doing better, but the whole plantation is too much 

 exposed to the strong sea breezes for the young palms to escape 

 distortion ; the stems of the majority of them are bent over 

 towards the north-east at an acute angle. 



The country about here is very arid, and this, coupled with 

 the fact that the salt spray is blown inland a good distance bacK 

 from the beach, accounts for the xerophitic habit of the vegeta- 

 tion occupying it ; most of the indigenous plants along the shore, 

 and for a mile back, possess thick succulent leaves, and even 

 some of the grasses have become modified in this respect. 



The vegetation is scrubby, consisting mainly of dwarfed 

 acacias, a species of Capparis (caper), a Bridelia (E^(,phorb^acecE) ) 

 and a Convolvulus. Amongst introduced plants the prickly pear 

 (Opuntia), aloes, and euphorbias are most conspicuous, and have 

 done best because their xerophilous structure is suited to the 

 environment. 



In the gardens belonging to Government House, I noticed thai 

 some casuarinas planted there were, considering the soil and 

 climate, doing very well indeed, and that Pithecolobium saman 

 was also flourishing. In these two plants we possess a ready 

 means of reclaiming the land along the seashore, and making 

 it suitable for cultivation. The two great dangers to guard 

 against are : first, the strong prevalent winds impregnated with 



