The most marked feature of the country is the low-lying belt of 

 land along the coast line, which consists of swamps with rank 

 vegetation made up almost entirely of mangroves on the outer 

 fringe ; behind this there is a belt of mixed vegetation growing 

 on the ground which has been built up to a large extent by 

 the mangroves in the course of ages. On the somewhat higher 

 ground extensive forests of mixed trees are found interset with 

 farms, open grass lands (not pastures), and jungle bush, which 

 consists generally of neglected or spent farm lands. The man- 

 grove swamps may extend 50 to 100 miles inland, along the 

 banks of all the rivers, as far as the tidal influence is felt. 



The geological features of the country have been described by 

 Parkinson.* There appears to be a mass of crystalline rocks 

 forming a rude semi-ellipse indented on the east by the complex 

 of the Oban hills and crossing the Niger in Lat. 7° 19' N. The 

 cretaceous rocks which have been found in the Cameroon have 

 been traced westwards round the base of the Oban hills up the 

 Cross river to Abakalliki, and probably extend further northward 

 and westward. To the westward from Asaba to Benin City and 

 Ifon and through the Ijebu country to Abeokuta, the country is 

 an undulating plain consisting entirely of rocks later than 

 cretaceous in age. 



There are four well marked types of country. The first is that 

 built up of complexes of crystalline rock, the second that formed 

 by the cretaceous strata, the third composed of tertiary beds, the 

 most conspicuous of which are the red sandy clays typical of 

 Ijebu and Benin, and the fourth, which is still in process of 

 formation, is the type of the delta and mangrove swamp. Each 

 of these four types exhibits physical features peculiar to itself and 

 not shared by any other member of the series. 



The salient characteristics are briefly as follows. The Oban 

 hills belonging to type (I) form an unorientated group of peaks 

 attaining an elevation of rather over 15,000 ft., and are charac- 

 terized by steep slopes, drained by a rejuvenated river system. 

 The best example of the second type of scenery is that between 

 Afikpo and Abakalliki, where the effects of erosion on a group 

 of strata of varying hardness folded by a north and south move- 

 ment are admirably seen. It is an open country of the 

 orchard type, most assiduously cultivated, but on the northern 

 and southern slopes of the Oban hills the cretaceous rocks are 

 covered with dense bush which masks the physical features. 

 The country formed by the softer red tertiary loams and sands, 

 characteristic of parts of the central and western provinces, is 

 exceedingly monotonous ; it is covered with heavy bush and 

 drained by a very mature river system. The water courses, 

 however, are greatly encumbered by sand banks. Near Asaba 

 low hills occur, but for the most part, e.g., between Ifon and Sapele, 

 the surface of the country is gently undulating. 



With regard to the delta region, it is probably in reality not so 

 flat as it appears from the sea, for not uncommonly inliers of the 

 red sands of Benin form low hills which are surrounded by 

 mangrove swamps. 



* Report. British Association, L906, p. 622. 



:;:5385 A 2 



