60 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



classification to transfer these comparatively dry forests into 

 a sub-type of their own. 



The forest* between Impasatia and Bibiani. They are very 

 extensive, and for the greater part consist of the type noticed 

 above. For some distance on either side of the Offin River, 

 however, they become much moister and belong to the ordinary 

 evergreen type in which several tiers of vegetation are found. 



The first half of the journey, between Impasatia and Adieiura, 

 a mailer of some ten miles, was through dry forest of the mixed 

 deciduous kind. The overwood consists of trees of lofty growth 

 placed rather far apart, and beneath it comes practically only 

 one tier of undergrowth, the leaf canopy of which is complete. 

 The stems of the undergrowth are straight, and they are suffi- 

 ciently spaced to enable one to see some distance through the 

 forest. The latter is one of the richest in valuable species that 

 I have ever seen. Two species of mahogany, the ordinary one 

 and the white kind, as well as two species of cedars (the Tiama- 

 Tiama and the Punkwa) are extraordinarily abundant about 

 here. ;md for miles the path was literally strewn with mahogany 

 seeds. Another good timber tree, the Odoum (Chlorophora 

 eascelsd), is also plentiful, and considerably enhances the value of 

 the forest. The latter is continuous w T ith the dry forest north of 

 N'Kwanta, and contains the same dominant species. They 

 together form a most extensive and valuable forest, which the 

 Administration should make every effort to protect. Villages 

 fortunately are comparatively few and far between, and should 

 not seriously interfere with reservation. There is one drawback, 

 however, and that is the scarcity of streams sufficiently large to 

 float out the heavier class of logs. Those we saw may of course 

 be capable of doing so when in high flood, but they are certainly 

 not capable of being utilized for that purpose in the dry season. 



Good timber is plentiful enough, on the other hand, to make it 

 worth while to construct, a light railway for its extraction, and, 

 as forests quite as rich as "this one in every respect are met with 

 all along the road to Bibiani, an important gold mining centre 

 which is at present cut off from the railway or any navigable 

 rivers, there appears to be further inducement to undertake a 

 work of that kind. 



West of the Offin Eiver. as far ns Yenebin, the forests are 

 slightly moisUM 1 , but they are still very rich in mahoganies and 

 eodars. A. third very fine species of the latter, that reaches aij 

 immense size, made its appearance for the first time. It is very 

 plentiful and seeds freely, the path being frequently strewn with 

 its huge capsules and seeds. The species loses its leaves in the 

 dry season and appears to be new to science. It seems to be 

 closely related to Fscudoccdrcla utilis, from Uganda. It is 

 known to the Ashantis as the Effuo Konkonti. These forests 

 again are well worthy of reservation; they are drained by two 

 important feeders of the Offin that are sufficiently large to be 

 ul'lixed for extracting timber. 



Between Yenabin and Bibiani the forests continue to main- 

 tain their excellence, and in the more hilly parts species such as 



