CHAPTER II 
THE GAMBIA 
In the early part of the nineteenth century a considerable quantity 
of African Mahogany, obtained from Khaya Senegalensis, a dry-zone 
mahogany-tree, was shipped to England ; in fact, this was the original 
source of African Mahogany, as also it was the first tree from which 
it was obtained. Even now this tree is one of the most prevalent 
in the strip of land on both banks of the Gambia, so far as British 
territory is concerned. 
At the present time no mahogany is being shipped from the Gambia, 
but recently an Ordinance was passed regulating the cutting of fire- 
wood and forest trees. 
Forests in the ordinary sense of the word cannot be said to exist 
in the Gambia, but no doubt a considerable amount of timber could 
be obtained from the dry-zone country. The total length of the 
colony is 300 miles, and approximately 5 miles wide, on either side 
of the Gambia River, which makes it in the aggregate a considerable 
tract of country, in all 4,500 square miles, of which the colony proper 
occupies 4 square miles. 
So far only Rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus), Mahogany (Khaya 
Senegalensis), and small pieces of Baywood, probably also a mahogany, 
have been reported from the Gambia. In 1908 a certain amount of 
wood was cut for the making of charcoal by a man from the Canary 
Islands. In 1909, 102 tons of charcoal were exported, and in 1910, 
176 tons, valued at £634. Since then no other returns are available, 
so apparently this industry has come to an end. There is no Forest 
Officer in the Gambia, and no proposals for Forest Reserves have been 
put forward by the Government. Part of the land near the mouth 
of the Gambia is swampy and covered with the usual Mangrove 
forests. 
In the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. viii, 1910, p. 244, it 
is stated that the specimens of rosewood and mahogany forwarded 
to the Imperial Institute were reported on as follows: 
Rosewood (Dalbergia sp.), reddish-yellow with darker lines and 
red pores, solid and compact, resembling rosewood except in colour. 
The timber would not pass as rosewood on the market. It has an 
20 
