344 FORESTRY OF WEST AFRICA. 



and tanning. The pods are used for making ink, and 

 on the Nile are largely used in tanning ; when young, 

 they are given as fodder to cattle, sheep, and goats ; 

 the natives of Tette use them for dyeing black. This 

 tree affords the Morocco, Mogadore, Brown Barbary, 

 or East Indian gum-arabic of commerce. — 'Medicinal 

 Plants,' Bentley and Trimen, vol. ii.. No. 94 ; ' Manual 

 of Indian Timbers,' Gamble, p. 151, &c. 



Distribution : Upper Guinea, Nile Land, Lower 

 Guinea, Mozambique District. 



Gum Arabic (.^^«a« j^;2^^ a/, Willd. \A. Verei,Gui\\. 

 et Perr.]). — Small tree, about twenty feet high ; wood 

 said to be hard and heavy, to take a beautiful polish, 

 and to be used for weavers' shuttles and also to be 

 good for carpentry and cabinet work. The chief 

 supply and best quality gum-arabic is afforded by 

 this species, and is known in commerce under the 

 names of Kordofan, Picked Turkey, White Sennaar, 

 or Senegal Gum. As a general rule the gum exudes 

 spontaneously, but in some districts incisions are 

 made in the bark to facilitate the outflow. In 

 Senegal the collecting is carried on from November 

 to July, at which time the dry winds from the desert 

 prevail, which causes the bark to crack and the gum 

 to flow and harden in large masses. This gum is 

 mostly shipped to Bordeaux, where over 100,000 cwts. 

 are imported in some years. The best gum comes 

 from Kordofan, where 30,000 cwts. are collected 



