FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 153 



X. 



West African Indigo.— In certain parts — to my 

 own knowledge up the Gambia River and in the 

 Yoruba country behind Lagos — of West Africa, 

 native indigo-dyeing as an industry is of consider- 

 able extent. The manufacture of indigo might be 

 developed into a profitable export trade. In 1883 

 I took to England a sample of Yoruba indigo, which 

 was submitted by Mr. Thisselton Dyer, now Director 

 of the Royal Gardens, Kew, to Dr. Hugo Miiller, 

 F.R.S., Foreign Secretary of the Chemical Society, 

 who reported that it was worth from 4s. to 4s. 6d. 

 per pound as compared with fine Bengal, which was 

 worth from ys. to ys. 6d. per pound. 



My specimen contained a good deal "of earthy 

 matter," and according to Dr. Miiller, if this could be 

 eliminated in the local manufacture, the return would 

 be worth more. 



There is a great similarity along West Africa in the 

 modes of the manufacture of indigo. Here I do not 

 allude to the heap of decomposed or fermented 

 leaves of indigo-bearing plants mixed with cow-dung, 



