GOLD COAST REPORT ON FORESTS. 95 



country and the species is quite common in the vicinity of the 

 Afrain, which is a navigable river. The collection and transport 

 to the Volta River of the nuts should, therefore, present no 

 difficulty. The country is, of course, very sparsely populated, 

 and any labour employed for this purpose would have to be pro- 

 cured elsewhere. 



Early in the year, when the young grass has just sprung up, 

 after the annual fires have swept over the country, these plains 

 are said to literally teem with game of every sort. With the 

 exception of two herds of buffalo, one hartebeest, one elephant, 

 a few duikers and kob and wart hogs, we saw but little at the 

 time of our visit. The grass had grown high, water was plentiful 

 everywhere, and the game had dispersed in all directions instead 

 of being concentrated in the vicinity of the few pools that con- 

 tain water in the dry season. Judging from the game tracks met 

 \\ith, elephants and buffalo must be very plentiful. Large 

 numbers of them are slaughtered every year and the flesh taken 

 up to Abetifi for sale. We met numbers of people almost every 

 day who were employed in carrying the smoked flesh to that 

 town. The slaughter of elephants must be great, as one of our 

 guides told me that he had shot ten in one month. Several had 

 been killed just before we arrived at Abetifi. Elephant meat 

 can be purchased almost any day at Abetifi. 



Some steps should, I think, be taken to limit the number of 

 hunters who shoot on the plains. The small villages scattered 

 about them are inhabited solely by professional hunters, outlaws, 

 and the riff-raff of the country, who earn their living by shooting 

 game and selling the flesh in the larger towns. The quantity 

 consumed for their own use is insignificant compared with what 

 they sell. 



Abetifi is the great centre to which the bulk of the smoked 

 flesh is brought. It is the worst offender in this respect. Some 

 of the more well-to-do inhabitants own small hunters' villages 

 down on the plain, and a portion of everything shot in the 

 vicinity has to be sent up to them for disposal. 



Whilst Europeans are obliged to take out licences and are 

 (very properly) restricted as regards the shooting of certain 

 species, no steps whatever have been taken to in any way limit 

 the incessant slaughter carried on by the natives. What the few 

 Europeans out here who care for big game shooting kill is a 

 mere drop in the ocean compared with the annual bag of the 

 native hunters, yet the only restrictions existing are placed on 

 the former. Surely, if the reason for enforcing game licences 

 at all in the case of Europeans is the preservation of the game 

 in the country, some action might be taken to restrict the 

 immense amount of damage done by the natives. As matters 

 stand, game preservation out here is an utter failure. The real 

 offenders have not been touched by the legislation regulating this 

 matter. The killing of cow elephants and their yoiing by the 

 natives has not even been prohibited, and, in fact, the game laws 

 contain a clause that specifically exempts the natives from their 

 application. The argument is often put forward that the 

 slaughter of wild animals has been going on for generations and 



