964 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
Before leaving this hill and hurrying toward Monrovia, a word should be 
said concerning its peculiar shape. It is about twice as long as wide and sloping 
on all but the north side, and that, although well forested, drops off almost 
vertically for about two hundred feet as though a big slice were cut from the 
hill. A similar hill was seen near Paiata, but not on such a large scale. If these 
hills occurred in a more northern country, it might be suggested that glacia- 
tion is responsible for this formation, but here only seven and one-half degrees 
north of the Equator it might be explained as the result of some freak of ero- 
sion brought about by subsoil water or a spring. 
Banca TO MONROVIA 
The trip from Banga to Suehn and Monrovia, because of brevity of time, 
was made in a series of long marches. As a result, only a small percentage of 
the flora could be collected. 
From Banga to Moylakwelli, the government automobile road in process 
of construction loeally leads through rolling country partly second growth, but 
mostly primary forest. On the side of the road Combretum comosum a liane 
climbs over tall trees and there produces large numbers of pink flowers. In 
the town of Moylakwelli, there is a tree of Ficus in which are many nests of 
weaver birds. This tree has a special significance to the townspeople who hold 
it, and the birds nesting therein, sacred, for it is their belief that as long as 
the tree flourishes and the birds continue to inhabit it, the town will prosper. 
Just outside of the town on the way to Totokwelli, Afrobrunnichia erecta, 
a pink-flowered vine was collected. 
With but few short gaps the automobile road continues as far as Belipanimu, 
where it stops just short of a native suspension bridge made of the stems of 
the rattan palm. From a hill near Belipanimu there is a fine view to the north 
over swamps of the raphia and oil palms, to distant hills. Just beyond the 
hill the road ends and the path goes uphill and down through truly beautiful 
virgin forests in which the Diana and red Colobus monkeys were seen. At 
the tops of some of the higher hills there seems to be, as on the summit of the 
hill at Banga, a definite dominance of certain species of trees. The following 
were collected in the forests on the ridges: Salacia senegalensis a liane which 
bears caulicolously, panicles of honey-yellow flowers that are three feet long; 
Smilax sp.; Acacia atoxantha a prickly-stemmed liane, with finely pinnate leaves, 
and spikes of white flowers; Memecylon polyanthemos, a bush eight to twelve 
feet high and of which the flowers, in cymes, are white with blue anthers: 
and two species of Rinorea, R. prasina and R. Elliotii. In addition to these 
there are two species of orchids: Polystachya ensifolia, and Listrostachys pel- 
lucida, the last a beautiful species with white pellucid flowers arranged on a 
long, drooping spike. It is especially striking when seen in the sunlight against 
the dark background provided by the forest trees, then the inflorescences are 
chains of living silver. At frequent intervals, and a hundred yards at a time, 
the air is filled with the delightful fragrance of a tree which unfortunately is 
not yet classified. Too much cannot be said of the beauty of the forests on 
