15 



among those which adorn the banks of the Gambia and the 

 low grounds of the peninsular of Cape Verde. It is found 

 principally in the district of Bargny, and it is so abundant 

 that it forms the chief feature in the forests of the country. 

 It does not exist in Senegal property so-called. We would 

 on this account have willingly proposed a new specific 

 name in place of senegalensis, given it in l'Encyclopedie 

 Method ique (of Lamarck), if we had not seen a serious 

 inconvenience in changing the name of a plant, described so 

 fully and clearly in the work we have just cited. Since the 

 year 1820 the French have introduced it into their planta- 

 tions on the banks of the River Senegal, principally at 

 Richard-Tol and Senegalaise, where it has flourished in 

 avenues and in borders of gardens. Its trunk, which 

 attains a metre and more (three to four feet) in diameter, 

 is very straight, capable of beinj>- cut into fine planks with 

 no appearance of knots or shakes, thus affording a very 

 valuable wood for joinery and cabinet-making. It is 

 almost as r ed as the true mahogany furnished by Swietenia 

 mahogani, a tree which comes nearest to our species. It 

 is, however, rather' softer, with a less compact grain, and 

 rt has the inconvenience of splitting rather freely in dry- 

 ing. When the supply of gum (gum arabic) is not equal 

 to the demand French vessels have come up the Gambia 

 to seek cargoes of gum from this tree, which is imported 

 to Europe. The extent of trade in this gum has not been 

 considerable of late owing to the abundant supplies from 

 other sources. The natives make furniture from the 

 timber, and especially shore-boats of great solidity. The 

 bark is greyish- brown, deeply cracked, of great bitterness, 

 and it is said to possess febrifugal properties. It is 

 employed in this connection by the negroes, who take it in 

 the form of infusion and decoction. The tree is kuown to 

 the negroes (of Senegambia) as Cail, and to the French 

 residents as Cail-Cedra." 



The exact distribution of Khaya senegalensis is evidently 

 not well known. According to the Flora of Tropical Africa it 

 is abundant near Cape Verde and on the Gambia, but it is not 

 recorded as existing elsewhere on the West Coast. A form 

 " with sparse inflorescence, drying pale green," was found by 

 Speke and Grant on the banks of the White Nile, and it is 

 supposed to have been met with by Dr. Meller in the Mozam- 

 bique district. Professor Oliver, however, states that until 

 " fruiting <>r flowering specinrens shall have been matched 

 doubt must at taclr to the above stations in Eastern Africa." 

 Quite recently a sample of gum collected at Fauimah, Sierra 

 Leone, by Mr. Alldridge, Travelling Commissioner, has been 



