GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 73 



Further detail of the vegetation met with in the savannah 

 country is given in the chapter dealing' with the Afram plains 

 (Volta drainage). Of all the dominant plants inhabiting the 

 fringe forests Carujxi i/uianensts has acquired, in comparison with 

 its growth in the moist coastal regions, the best development. It 

 is now quite a respectable-sized timber tree. Rubber-yielding 

 vines, such as Landolphia owariensis, and others giving a less 

 valuable product, such as L. Thompsonii, L. ftorida, and Carpo- 

 dinus hirsuta, are also met with in this type of vegetation. 



A very noticeable feature about the trees inhabiting the open 

 savannahs, more especially the drier parts, are the umbrella- 

 shaped crowns that they have developed, apparently with a view 

 to ottering as small a surface as possible to the action of desiccating' 

 winds. This habit is most pronounced in the case of species such 

 us Afzelia a frit-ana, Erythrophloeum guineense, Acacia Catechu, 

 Knt ml a soudanica, Khaya senegalensis, Daniella thurifera, Erio- 

 dendron anfractuosuiu, &c., amongst which the two first-men- 

 tioned species are far and away the best shade-givers in a region 

 that is mercilessly exposed to the fierce rays of a tropical sun. 



The Indian tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica) appears to be 

 truly wild about this part of the Yolta drainage, and occurs in 

 belts and groups at no great distance from the watercourses ; it 

 does not, however, invade the fringe forests. I have also seen 

 fairly extensive forests of it close to the banks of the Okpara 

 Kiver, S. Nigeria, along the Dahomeyau border. 



The baobab tree, on the other hand, is not really indigenous in 

 any part of West Africa that I have so far visited. It may be a 

 native of the countries north of the tenth parallel, but wherever I 

 have been it is always associated with human habitations, and its 

 existence in any locality is a certain indication that the site is or 

 was once occupied by villages. 



Between Sikassiko and the Volta River at Tonkornia one fre- 

 quently comes across the sites of deserted villages, the majority of 

 which were abandoned on account of Ashanti raids, that are now 

 occupied by dense thickets, in which Anogeissus leiocarpus, 

 Acacia Catechu, Entada soudanica, the silk-cotton tree, and 

 groups of baobabs (Adansonia digitata) are the most prominent 

 trees. One such thicket, close to the village of Braha, is periodi- 

 cally occupied by lions that make raids from there on the flocks 

 and herds of the surrounding villages. We were shown the skins 

 of some of these great cats that had been killed in the thicket by 

 the native hunters. 



The best type of open savannah forest containing trees of good, 

 straight growth, is to be found along the valleys on both sides of 

 the Braha-Oboase range of hills, where the soil is rich and com- 

 paratively moist. Some of the forests are well w r orth reserving, 

 as they contain useful timber trees, such as Khaya senegalensis, 

 Erythrophloeum guineense, Afzelia africana, Detarium senegal- 

 ense, Lophira alata, Daniella thurifera, and l'.*i ndocedrcla 

 Kotschyi in abundance, as well as the shea-butter tree (Butyro- 

 * per mum Parkii), which, however, is almost universally distri- 

 buted in the Hinterland. The hills themselves are occupied with 



