British Gambia — — 447 4,758 ” Sierra Leone 2,902 69,930 42,893 649,347 ” Gold Coast 6,441 128,916 13,254 175,891 ” Nigeria 77,180 1,696,875 176,390 2,574,405 German Cameroons 3,000 63,000 13,500 177,530 ” Togoland 3,050 61,600 8,100 101,700 Belgian Congo (approximately) 700 20,000 2,500 40,000 ------- ---------- ------- ---------- 113,652 £2,405,957 303,112 £4,227,631 TOTAL OUTPUT. Tons. Values. Oil 113,652 £2,405,957 Kernels 303,112 £4,227,631 ------- ---------- 416,764 £6,633,588 The proportionate output from the palm trees from the different colonies of West Africa is therefore— Square mileage of territories. Tons. Values. French 992,000 66,407 £869,636 Belgian 900,000 3,200 60,000 British 454,160 319,507 5,300,122 German 224,830 27,650 403,830 Production in figures sterling per square mile under the several colonizing Powers— £ _s._ _d._ Great Britain 11 13 3 per square mile Germany 1 16 0 ” ” France 0 17 8 ” ” Belgium 0 1 4 ” ” Whilst the palm provides one of the principal exports of West Africa for consumption in Europe, its domestic uses are inseparable from native life. The fruit is used by the natives in many sections of primitive culinary art. Pounded with manioca leaves, Indian corn and red peppers, a savoury pottage is manufactured which is a universal delight. One of the choicest vegetables in the African continent is the pearly white head of the palm, which, in small trees of two years’ growth, weighs about 1 pound, but in trees of many years’ growth, may turn the scale at 56 pounds. The substance of this vegetable differs in appearance and taste but little from the Brazil nut, but when cooked provides a succulent dish not unlike, though superior to, sea kale. The natives cook this in palm oil, but Europeans usually prefer it boiled and served with a white sauce, or baked in a custard. To obtain this vegetable is almost invariably to destroy the tree, consequently it seldom figures on the every-day menu. [Illustration: THE OIL PALM IN THE GRIP OF ITS PARASITIC ENEMY. The Creeper at an early stage. Root and Branch in deadly grip.] [Sidenote: OIL AND WINE]