240 



FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



proof," with a generous and limited interpretation, be 

 extended to some spots — to wit, the island of Lagos — 

 as regards vegetation, for it in a great measure often 

 serves as nature's fire-screens and extinguishers on 

 occasions of the occurrence of fires there. The fore- 

 sight in the past of the planter, the late Sir John 

 Glover, who did so much for Lagos, is to be acknow- 

 ledged with gratitude in the matter of the laying 

 out and planting the streets of that island. How 

 different otherwise would have been the climate, how 

 precarious perhaps the water supply, and how help- 

 less its people would be in times of fire ! 



The following Return and report thereon by the 

 late Dr. Hart, of the effect of forest denudation at 

 Sierra Leone, which appeared in the West African 

 Reporter of the 22nd July, 1882, may be here inserted 

 with telling significance : — 



" It is desirable that the attention of the community 

 be drawn to the facts stated in the above Return, 



