234 
Schweinfurth. Its distribution in Lagosis thus deseribed by Sir Alfred 
Mo pee y (p. 230) :— 
ka. ‘ Bamboo’ palm (Raphia ae at is hp a the commonest 
= in the swamps and low lands w the waterways of the 
colony. Dense thickets of these ae peruse: only by the palm- 
wine gatherer or the bamboo cutter, push their way into the lagoons, 
and extend over the flood grounds, and even to a distance of from 15 
a 
done, through uninterrupted Raphia groves, impresses one with the 
extent of the acreage which must 5 overrun by this graceful palm.” 
Raphia Hookeri, Mann and Wendl.—The Ukot of Old Calabar, 
where it is cultivated as a wine palm. The natives also manufacture 
cloth from the epidermis of the leaflets. On the Sherboro, in Sierra 
Leone, they make hammocks from it, as well as all sorts of basket work, 
mats, &c. This is one of the largest of the Raphias, the whole plant 
leaflets 4 to 5 feet long. If in other dite case ae this should yield 
Rafia fibre as long as the best from Mada 
Raphia Gertneri, M. and W. — Apparently saan nce to the Spanish 
Island of Fernando Po, in the Gulf of Guinea. It grows from the 
shore up to 500 feet above the level of the sea. 
Raphia longi flora, M. and W.—The only aaen given by Mann 
for this Lo is the island of Corisco, off the French Colony of 
Gaboon. This palm is 40 to 50 feet high, with Aiki 33 feet long. 
The leaiii are 5 to 54 feet long and 2 to 2} inches wide re, 
showing the natural habit, is given in Trans. Linn. Soc., xxiv., t. 39. 
aphia Welwitschii, fire —A new species, collected by Dr. Wel- 
witsch, in Angola. It grows in humid places on the rivers in the in- 
terior, and especially i in the district of Galungo. The epidermis of the 
leafle ts is by the natives in the manufacture of clot 
y ths, &c. 
R. textilis, Welw. Apont., 584, n. 2, yielding also textile filaments, is 
apparently a closely allied plant 
Epidermal strips, somewhat ‘similar to Rafia, are available from 
many species of palms, notably the Cocoa-nut palm and the Palmyra 
palm. poeroen of these are in the Kew Museum. A variety of the 
Palmyra palm wn in various districts under the native names of 
Morintshi, Kalingoce, Run, and Sibboo, is well known to be abundant 
in West Tro ropical Africa. The epidermal strips from the segments of its 
fan-shaped leaves could, no doubt, be produced quite as long as those of 
the Madagascar Rafia. 
While suggesting t these other sources, it would be well, however, to 
confine attention at first to the Rafia palms, and especia ally i in view of 
the fact that they form, as in the colony of Lagos, the prevailing 
vegetation over immense tracts of country. 
The commercial position with regard to Rafia fibre is given below by 
Messrs. Ide and Christie. It will be noticed that particular attention 
is drawn to the fact that previous shipments of West African Rafia have 
iled use the strips were too short, and not presented in the flat 
broad condition characteristic of the Madagascar fibre. Too much 
reliance should not be placed on the exceptionally high price of Rafia at 
