IN THE ILORIN PROVINCE OP NORTHERN NIGERIA. 3 



only occasional patches of bush, and thin belts of trees along the banks of the 

 streams. Dense forest-belts occur, however, in the low-lying strips of swamp 

 near the edge of the Niger valley, in the neighbourhood of the Kampe River, in 

 the south-eastern corner of the province, and along the southern boundary as 

 far west as Offa. 



On the whole, the province is thickly populated, but there are in the eastern 

 division two districts which are almost entirely uninhabited, the one lying 

 between the rivers Oyi and Kampe, and the other across the Kampe towards 

 Kabba. These districts, which had been depleted of their inhabitants by slave- 

 raiders, are gradually being reoccupied. The north-western portion of the 

 province is also very sparsely populated. 



Game is scarce in the more densely populated districts. In the east and the 

 south-east, however, hartebeeste, roan, cob, bushbuck, and duiker occur in fair 

 numbers, and a few waterbuck, reedbuck, and buffalo. Game is also fairly 

 plentiful to the north-west of the River Weru, around Jebba, and in some parts 

 of Shari district. 



Climate and Rainfall. 



As the distribution of tsetse-flies is intimately associated with the meteorological 

 conditions, a few words must be said about the climate of Ilorin. For this 

 purpose I reproduce below the table of observations for the year 1909 as pub- 

 lished in the official Gazette. This year has been selected because it is the 

 latest in which continuous records have been returned for the whole twelve 

 months. 



Meteorological Record, Ilorin, 1909. 







Temperature. 



Rainfall. 



Wind. 



















Shade 



Shade 



Range. 



Mean. 



Amount 



Degree of 







Maximum. 



Minimum. 



in inches. 



Humidity. 



■ W. 



January ... 





97 



53 



44 



79.5 



.79 



65 



February... 





99 



71 



28 



84 



1.18 



69 



w. 



March ... 





98 



68 



30 



83.9 



5.30 



71 



S.W. 



April 





100 



67 



33 



82.3 



7.78 



76 



S.W. 



May 





98 



68 



30 



81.8 



7.12 



78 



S.W. 



June 





94 



66 



28 



80.2 



8.32 



81 



S.W. 



July 





92 



67 



25 



77.3 



9.49 



81 



S.W. 



August ... 





92 



68 



24 



77.7 



4.92 



82 



w. 



September 





90 



67 



23 



78.1 



14.12 



82 



S.W. 



October ... 





95 



65 



30 



80.3 



4.74 



82 



S.W. 



November 





99 



66 



33 



81.8 



.23 



70 



w. 



December 





102 



52 



50 



78.3 



1.19 



65 



w. 



Averages and 



96.3 



64.8 



31.5 



80.4 



65.18 



75 



S.W. 



Totals. 



























\ 





From an examination of this table it will be seen that the climate of Ilorin is 

 humid and equable. The extremes of temperature for the year quoted were 

 102° F. and 52° F., whilst the mean was 80° F. ; the average degree of humidity 



29262 A 2 



