GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 51 



character, belong to the dry type passed through on our way 

 back from the Tano River. 



The Pseudocedrelas about here were practically bare at the 

 time of our visit, and were just breaking out into new leaf. 

 Most of the Dub-in is seen were covered with fruit, and the railway 

 line was strewn with their seeds. I noticed that several cedars, 

 mahoganies and the new species of Afzelia have been left as 

 standards on the areas cleared for farms. The inhabitants have 

 probably realised that these species are valuable products of the 

 land. 



The next forest examined is the one known as the Tsifufu 

 Forest ; it is situated further north and on the west side of the 

 railway. 



THE FORESTS OF SOUTHERN ASHANTI. 



From the 9th March to the end of that month the time was 

 occupied in examining the forests of Southern Ashanti. During 

 this period, the forests to the west of the railway and to the 

 north of Dunkwa were visited, as well as those between Oboase 

 and the Adra River, the Adra and the Offin Rivers, to the north 

 and south of Nkwanta, those along the Bibiani-Kurnasi Road, 

 and along the Bibiani-Mim Road. 



The most distinctive characteristic of these forests, as com- 

 pared with those south of the railway station of Imbrahim, is the 

 much larger proportion of deciduous leaved trees to be met with 

 in them ; this comparatively dry belt of mixed deciduous and 

 evergreen forest stretches across the country to the west and 

 south-west as far, at least, as the Tano-Bia water-parting in 

 Upper Denkira ; it is f p ar excellence the home of the cedars 

 (various species of Pseiidocedrda) and the indigenous rubber tree, 

 Funtumia elastica ; it is also very rich in mahogany (at least 

 two species of Khaya) and, taken all round, comprises, from an 

 economic point of view, the most valuable forests which the 

 country possesses. 



As far as the forests of cedar and Funtumia elastica alone are 

 concerned, I very much doubt whether tropical Africa can show 

 their equal in any other portion of the continent. Moreover, 

 they are rich in other valuable species of timber-trees, such as 

 the Khayas, the Odoum (Chlorophora excelsa) which is particu- 

 larly abundant, and the Baku (Mimusops Djave). Indeed, the 

 only important timber-trees absent from this type are the KaTcu 

 (Lophira procera) and the Yankom (Heritiera utilis), the distri- 

 butional ranges of which practically cease at the latitude of 

 Imbrahirn on the railway. Roughly speaking, this is the northern 

 limit for these two species, which are never found very far away 

 from the maritime zone of vegetation. 



The potential forest wealth of Southern and Western Ashanti 

 is enormous, and its value must increase rapidly from year to 

 ^ear as the supply of American mahogany and cedars diminishes. 

 The exhaustion of the American sources of supply is, from over- 

 exploitation, likely to be realised in the very near future, and 



12315 D 2 



