A red wood, called locally “Iroko” (Chlorophora excelsa), which is in good demand in the country for making furniture, etc., has been shipped to Europe, but at present there is little demand for it. A photograph of another timber tree (Terminalia superba) is given ([Fig. 24]).
Mahogany cannot be relied upon as a product capable of permanent exportation, as trees are only useful for felling in the vicinity of creeks and rivers, whence the logs may be inexpensively transported to the sea. The rate at which the available trees are becoming worked out is much greater than that at which they can be replaced by nature.
The export values for some recent years are as under:—
| 1910 | £60,191 | 1915 | £54,559 |
| 1911 | £55,575 | 1916 | £49,361 |
| 1912 | £78,007 | 1917 | £21,282 |
| 1913 | £105,440 | 1918 | £68,480 |
| 1914 | £86,522 | 1919 | £116,820 |
The ebony exported from the country is chiefly obtained in the Cross River District of the Eastern Province, but during recent years the trade in it has diminished, and it is said that immature trees are frequently felled. The sources of ebony are two species of trees belonging to the genus Diospyros. The value of ebony exported during the two years 1909 and 1910 is stated to have been £1,298 and £166 respectively.
Several other trees have recently been examined for export value, most of them coming into the mahogany or red-wood class. (See articles on “Timbers from Southern Nigeria,” Bull. Imp. Inst., vol. vi. [1908], p. 144, vol. xviii. [1920], p. 199, and note on next page.)
CATTLE.—The greater part of the moist zone is almost devoid of cattle, partly owing to the prevalence of “tsetse” fly, although mainly, perhaps, to the less advanced condition of the inhabitants. As soon as the intermediate and dry-zone country is entered, small herds are frequently seen. That the presence of tsetse fly is not entirely accountable for the scarcity of cattle in the forested region is shown by the occurrence of the peculiar dwarfed variety with short legs, which is found in Ondo, Ilesha, Ifon, Ishan, and even in the Bassa Province in Northern Nigeria, in all of which districts “tsetse” flies of at least two species are met with. (Glossina palpalis and G. pallidipes.) It is stated by the natives that the dwarf cattle are immune from fly disease, but that introduced animals succumb to it. The appearance of these animals, an illustration of one of which is given, reproduced from a photograph taken at Illara ([Fig. 25]), is remarkable. The prevailing colours are black and white, black, and more rarely fawn-coloured. There is no dorsal hump, and the forequarters are generally lower than the hind. A second illustration, from a photograph taken at Owo ([Fig. 26]), gives an idea of the relative size of a full-grown animal compared with that of a boy. Another peculiarity of the above-mentioned districts is that the goats occurring there are similarly short-legged and diminutive; there is also said to be a stunted variety of horse, which is bred for use at Ondo. When the open country is reached, two varieties of cattle are seen, one of the Indian zebu type, with a large dorsal hump, the prevailing colour of which is white, and another with a straight back. The latter kind is seen as far south as Onitsha, on the east bank of the Niger.
DWARF CATTLE, ILLARA.
Fig. 25, [p. 119.]