FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 131 



it abounds in the Yoruba country, and might be 

 cultivated to any extent. I have been assured by 

 Mr. Ingham Clark that he entertains in anticipation no 

 reason why " ogea " should not realize — if there be 

 brought about a steady, reliable and clean supply of 

 the commodity — from £^0 to ;^I20 a ton : let it 

 follow the example set by rubber on the Gold Coast. 



Here we have at hand a tree yielding resin procur- 

 able in such form, as also in the form of a fossilized 

 resin, from the ground ; the transformation being 

 doubtless attributable to some chemical action — 

 brought about by the contact of the droppings with its 

 surroundings — helped by age. 



The species to which Accra copal belongs has so 

 far not got beyond suspicion — some Copaifera. 



Writing on some specimens of Inhambane gum — 

 native name " Stakate," and " Staka," Zulu name 

 "Inthlaka"— received in 1882 from Mr. H. G. O'Neill, 

 H. M. Consul for Mozambique, the Director of Kew 

 described them as consisting in part of water-worn 

 pebbles, very much resembling the Accra copal. 



The species was fixed as Copaifera Gorskiana, 

 Benth. " The identification," says Mr. Dyer, " is the 

 more interesting on account of the resemblance of 

 Inhambane to Accra copal." The latter has long been 

 suspected to be produced by a species of Copaifera. 



"Sierra Leone copal is ascertained to be derived from 

 Copaifera Guibourtiana, Benth. Students of tropical 

 African botany are familiar with the occurrence of the 



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