GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 75 



sions, for the forests we passed through were about as good of 

 their kind as exist in the dry zone of the Hinterland. Here again 

 reservation of the best wooded areas is very desirable, especially 

 along the main lines of communication, so as to ensure a supply of 

 timber for the various district headquarters' stations and the more 

 important towns. The adoption of such measures would also be 

 attended with the happiest results so far as the preservation and 

 improvement of the water supply of the stations are concerned. 



Near the crossing at Bery the evergreen belt is much broader 

 and contains a fair quantity of either /\lmi/n anthotheca or 

 Khaya gnnuli*, as well as the Odoum (( 'lilorophom c.i-cehu^. From 

 there the ground gradually rises up again into the Northern 

 Ashanti plateau on which Kintampo, N'koranza, &c., are situated. 

 The final ascent is, in the neighbourhood of the former town, 

 rather steep, abrupt, and very rocky. From the edge of the 

 escarpment a splendid view is obtained of the Banda hills and the 

 country drained by the Tain River. As far as one could see the 

 vegetation appeared to be of the same character throughout the 

 country embraced by the panorama, and is that typical of the 

 savannah forests. The monotony of the colouring was relieved 

 here and there by the dark green lines of the evergreen belts fring- 

 ing the streams. 



In the vicinity of Kintampo itself some very excellent tracts 

 of forest belonging to a sub-type that is rather rare were met with. 

 They belong to the mixed deciduous forest formations, but are 

 eery open, and contain trees of lofty growth, amongst which 

 nearly all the more important timber-yielding species of Ashanti 

 are represented. They, of course, occur as broad fringing belts 

 along the water-courses, and are confined to the richer alluvial 



soils. 



In character they approach closely the better class of the mixed 

 deciduous forests of Burma. They extend, with frequent inter- 

 ruptions, due to belts of savannah forests intervening, right up to 

 N'koranza, and must altogether cover an extensive area. Con- 

 taining as they do well-grown examples of mahoganies, cedars, 

 Odoum*, Off ram*, /f/iliomahs, Wntr-iccur, &e., they are suf- 

 ficiently valuable, at least the best of them, to be protected by 

 reservation. One very important and excellent feature about 

 them is the satisfactory condition of the age gradations, which, 

 with proper treatment, would ensure a continuous yield of forest 

 produce. The undergrowth, apart from the seedlings of the over- 

 wood, consists mainly of plant associations belonging to the 

 natural order Scitamineae, \vhich is here represented by various 

 species of Ainonnnn, ( 'oxtns, and I'll rynium ; the latter furnish 

 the leaves so much in demand for thatching purposes by the 

 natives inhabiting the mixed deciduous zone of vegetation. 



As Kintampo is likely to become a very important base for the 

 stations in the western portions of the Northern Territories when 

 that country is more opened up, it is advisable to protect the best 

 local sources of timber from damage by farming and indiscri- 

 minate fellings as soon as possible. The forests in its neighbour- 

 hood are capable of supplying timber of the very first quality and 

 of large dimensions. 



