Remarks on the topography and diseases of the Gold Coast / by R. Clarke.

  • Clarke, Robert.
Date:
[1860]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the topography and diseases of the Gold Coast / by R. Clarke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    15/62 (page 11)
    futiu-e iuvestigators. At present, palm oil is the staple article of export, and the trade in it is yearly increasing. Ivory, Giunea grains, and copal are also largely exported. Timber trees abound, well suited for ship building and for furniture. Beams of the cocoa-.nut tree are in common use, and are valu- able, as they resist the white ant. The soil is admirably adapted for cotton and coffee; and'I feel satisfied that hereafter both articles will be extensively cultivated, and iare destin^^:to'1^^^ come important exports from the Gold Coast. ^ : 'y Having travelled through several parts of thle cduntryjr^ beg to record my impressions; and, first, I would observe the remarkable difference which exists in the general features of the windward and leeward divisions of the Gold, Coast, in that by far the greater extent of the former is either clothed with wood or jungle, whereas tracts of the latter (which, how- ever, includes a part of the Winnebah or Agoonah district in the windward division) consists of vast plains, beautifully in- terspersed with trees and shrubs, and carpetted with grass, and adorned with a variety of flowers. Indeed, the country about Winnebah cannot be exceeded in beauty or variety, presenting the most perfect resemblance to a domain laid out with the utmost art, the elegant clumps of trees which adorn it giving a park-like appearance to the sui'rounding country. The coun- try about Accra, Christianborgh Castle, and especially ex- tending northward of Pram Pram, and Ningo, is pastoral' and luxuriant to a high degree. The air in this open and (Jiam- paign country is likewise cooler; and'more .ihvigoratihg^^ Europeans than in the windward division, which is extensively wooded. Game is also abundant—hares, deer, aj^teloges, quail, partridge, bustard, and guinea-fowr stocMng^it in grpjit'/nu^ bers. Tlie windward division, oh the contrary, is c^qyere'(|'.to a great extent with tracts of magnificent forest trees and copse, rendered impenetrable by masses of'underwood ,and plants with prickles which grow between the tre^s and;interlace^ il^em together. Lianas coil around and festoon maiiy of t^e trees, frequently crossing one another like hetwork, winding themselves in all directions. These fibrous' j»l£i,]?its varyIn ^thipkijiess^fi'om a thin cord to that of a cable; clilnHihg to tlie stimmits oi ihe trees, they stretch to those adjacent, or depending from them swing idly in the wind,the toi-tubti&,pathwq,y being alone trodden by the foot of man. Even the chai-niing glades which open u,p the forests at several points, relieving and delighting the eye,, tired of the wearisome sameness of ttie route, are uninhabited ; tut niany of the villages and hamlets in the rural districts are built in the midst of the forests, sufficient land being cultivated around them to meet the wants of the people. A great differ-