246 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



and removable break, from the Volta on the westward 

 to the Niger on the eastward ; to the westward of the 

 Volta and behind Appolonia like water advantages 

 offer. I also hope for the revival of the Sierra Leone 

 and Gambia timber-trade. 



There again suggests itself the consideration of the 

 substitution of the shingle for the thatch roof, and the 

 consequent additional security to lives and property- 

 such a change would bring about in Lagos, as elsewhere. 

 In Sierra Leone and Gambia it is much used. The 

 industry of shingle-making has been now for some 

 years introduced on the Aquapim Hills of the Gold 

 Coast, and has resulted in a growing use of this 

 roofing. 



For this result the credit is due to the members of 

 the Basel Mission, who introduced the industry in 

 1846, first in substitution of the shingle for grass as 

 roofing for their own houses, next for the extension 

 of such an improvement to the people among whom 

 they lived. 



The Afram tree is the one used for shingles, as it is 

 easily split, stands well the weather, and is compara- 

 tively proof against the white ant {termes arboruni). 

 Present rate for shingles at sites of manufacture in 

 Aquapim \s £1 for 1,000, each being 21" X 3". The 

 " odoom " is also used similarly. 



An enterprising native gentleman at Lagos, Captain 

 J. P. L. Davies, also introduced there the art, but it 

 never got far, in consequence of want of proper 



