294 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



"Dika," "Udika," " Oba " or "Iba" {Irvingia 

 Barteri, Hook, f.).— Tree, thirty to fifty feet high. The 

 fruit is eaten by the blacks, and the seeds, which 

 contain a quantity of oil, are pounded in a trough, 

 when a white tallow rises to the surface, and after 

 removal the residue is allowed to cool ; this constitutes 

 the Dika or Gabon Chocolat. Mr. Barter calls this 

 tree the " Wild Mango " of the Sierra Leone people. — 

 ' Catalogue des Produits des Colonies Frangaises, Ex- 

 position Universelle de 1867,' p. 47. (Kew Museum.) 

 Distribution : Upper Guinea. 



Irvingia Smithii, Hook. f. — A tree, forty feet high. 

 The fruits are said to be much sought after by 

 monkeys. — 'Flora of Tropical Africa,' D. Oliver, 

 vol. i., p. 314. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, Lower Guinea. 



" Soump " {Balanites cegyptiaca, Delile). — Shrub or 

 small tree. Wood hard and durable, used in building ; 

 bark used as a cattle medicine in India. The young 

 fruits are purgative ; but when ripe, edible, and formed 

 into an intoxicating drink by the negroes on the West 

 Coast of Africa. The seeds are usually mixed with 

 Gum Senegal, and afford an oil known as " Zachun." 

 The leaves are slightly acrid and anthelmintic. — 

 ' Treasury of Botany,' &c. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, North Central, Nile 

 Land, Lower Guinea. 



