CHAPTER XVI 
FORESTS 
In her forests, and more especially in her Highland 
forests, British East Africa possesses an asset of the 
very utmost value. An authority, and perhaps the 
authority best calculated to judge, has said that the 
timber of the Protectorate is worth twice as much as 
the whole of the rest of the country put together. Of 
this asset no reasonable man can say that we have as 
yet made the best use. There are, as I shall show, at 
the present day at least two million acres of valuable 
timber in the Highlands. Of that amount, during 
the whole period of our administration, less than 
200,000 acres have come into private ownership for 
purposes of development, or have been leased for the 
same purpose ; and of this 200,000 acres about 20,000 
escaped the talons of the Government by pure 
inadvertence on their part, while no stone has been 
left unturned and no process of law or bluff omitted to 
re-obtain possession of another and much larger 
portion. During this same period the entire destruc¬ 
tion of at least 200,000 acres of good forest at the 
hands of natives has occurred in the Government area. 
The reason of this ghastly hoarding, not to say waste, 
of our most valuable possession lies in the fear lest 
private individuals or companies, or, worse still, a 
