82 BULLETIN DK 1,'hEKBIKK BOISSIER Cl^'"« SEK.). 1907 



The Crown Colony of the Gambia is a slrip of territory extending along 

 bolh banks of Ihe river Gambia, which, as nearly as possible, is in latitude 

 13° 14' N, from its mouth eastwards to the small village of Kouia, in Wuli 

 district, on the north bank of the river, a dislance in a straight Une of just 

 320 kilomètres, and within longilude 14—16° 40' VV. The chief export is 

 gr()y\nd-nuis, Arachis hyijogœa, thesalvation of the colony. forming nearly 

 nine-teiiths of the total exporls They are sentchiefly to Marseilles, where 

 the oil is extracted and used for tlie same purposes as olive oil, The ex- 

 port of rubber ended in 1901, on accoiint of the rapacity and avaricious 

 methods adopted by the collectors in its extraction. Rice, cotton, maize, 

 and a kind of millet salied kons, are produced in the districts bordering 

 on the Gambia, bul not in sufficient quanlities for export. In facl, rice is 

 also imported very largely. 



The few collections of Gambian planls, available for examinalion, are 

 here given in chronological order. Particulars of each set are given, so as 

 to save répétition of dates and of other détails, when citing the names of 

 the varions collectors under the headings of each species in the enumera- 

 ted lisl. Where numbers are quoted in the list of species, référence may 

 be made to these notes on the collections for gênerai détails of each col- 

 lecior's set of plants. 



The vernacular longue of Ihe natives of the colony is the Mandingo 

 language; and, wherever possible, the Mandingo names are added for 

 those plants which hâve them. The names bave been taken from the 

 labels of spécimens, from the notes in collectors' pocket-books. and in a 

 few instances (chiefly of economic plants) from Mr. F. B. Archer's Ofßcial 

 Handbook. In many cases, they hâve had to be sifted from corresponding 

 liâmes of the same plant in the Yoruba and Haussa languages, as used in 

 adjoining countries, — names found in travellers' word-books. 



Collectors of Gambiern Plants. 



1750. — Michel Adanson. Four sheets of spécimens from the Gambia 

 in bis Senegambian collection, preserved at Cette in the French depart- 

 menl of Hérault. Collected in this year. 



1805. — Mungo Park. His plants from this area are in Herb. Mus. Brit. 

 There ai-e no localities or dates to the spécimens, indicating where or 

 when they were collected ; but from one of his letters among the Bank- 

 sian correspondence, it is evident that they were collected along the 

 journey which terminaled in bis death. 



1822. — George Don the younger. A few Gambian plants among his 

 Sierra Leone collection, formerly in the herbarium of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society, afterwards transferred to Herb. Mus. Brit. Some duplicates 

 were, however, secured by Hooker for Herb. Kew. Chiefly from St. Mary's 

 Island; no other localities given. 701 species from W. Tropical Africa in 

 Herb. Mus. Brit. (purchased in 1856). See also Hooker's Niger Flora. 



1829. — S. Perrottet. A few Gambian examples (chiefly from Albreda) 

 from the 481 planls of his Senegambian collection in Herb. Mus. Brit. 



1839. — J. Heudelot. A few Gambian planls in bis extensive Senegam- 

 bian collection, and in that of Leprieur fwho collected round Albreda in 

 1827). No definite Gambian localities are given in Heudelot's collections; 



