Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-05-26
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society


London reports of oil pools and
gushers in the Gold Coast Colony
Of West Africa sustain the opinion
of many geographers that this is the
richest area in the world for its size.
according TO a bulletin from the
Washington, d. c., headquarters of
the National Geographic Society.
columbus is believed to have
done some OF his apprentice explor-
ing along the Gold Coast shores be-
fore he set sail for America and
many ar emancipated slave of our
southland could find his family tree
among the natives of this British
colony. The golden age of the Gold
Coast, commercially considered, was
in the days of fiourishing slave trade.
and the oil fields promise again To
outbuy the entire product of the
gold grains winnowed from the
sands of the many rivers of this
region.
A Forest Fairyland
when you read that three
fourths of the colony is covered with
thick forests you get a very made
quate idea OF what you would see
could you look upon the amazing
Businesses of Bombax trees, piercing
the skyline at. a. hundred feet, wi-l
columnar trunks. free from branch
es below the top quarter-length. The
trees you know best are like ice
bergs in that their bases, or root
systems. are under the surface.
These foreign giants remind you OF
your children's Christmas tree, but
tressed by what look to be huge tri-
angular supports. Should you dig
beneath one of these buttresses you
would nnd tiny tendrils, such as
those which might nourish a sap
ling. In the spaces between these
buttresses natives sometimes pitch
primitive tents.
THE impression Of a forest of
telephone poles is further conveyed
by great cables sagging from tree
to tree. These 'creepers' are popu-
larly known al m~onkey-rope. appro-
priately enough, since many varie-
ties of monkeys are to be found I'm
these forests.
With the exception Of the hori-
zontal network of 'monkey-rope'
these thickets are vertical forests as
truly as New York has been callel
a Vertical City, They furnish a
mute example OF inanimate objects
valorously striving for their places
in the sunlight. Not only are the
trees overgrown. but IT. would seem
that they had pulled aloft. to a SIM
liar scale. the bushes which often
are twice as high as a man, and the
weeds which Craze your shoulder
instead of entangling your feet.
Parasitic Plants Abound
Finally, SO fertile is the equa-
torial soil, that nature is far from
satisfied with the plant life which
cutters the soil and cranes its fol-
iage aloft to get a speck of sunshine,
but nourishment is afforded a second
crop of parasitic plants. such as the
orchids which grow from the
branches of the Bombax trees.
The Gold Coast Colony stretches
along some 270 miles of a harbor-
less coast, and extends back for
about half that distance to the bor-
der of Ashanti. Its government seat.
Accra, which escapes by only a few
degrees of having both a latitude
and longitude of zero, is reputed to
be especially unhealthful. The en-
tire region is hot and damp. has two
rainy seasons, and is swept by that
peculiarly dust-laden Sahara wind,
the harmattan.
along this coast lies Kormantine,
famous as the place where slaves
first were exported, which gave the
name, Cormantynes, to the West In
dies slaves which came from this
region.
A Primitive Soviet System
"Of the estimated population OF a
million, fewer than 1000 are Euro
peans. The most noted of the native
peoples are the Fanti, whose women
of light brown skin are pretty. Their
favorite perfume is distilled from
the excrement of snakes. Shark
flesh, sun dried, is a favorite edible.
Among them, as among many prim-
tive fighting peoples. mothers are
held in high esteem. Property Is in
herited by the Oldest son of the old
est sister. Land Is held in a COM
munal fashion, the possession Of a
gold stool being the badge Of a
chiefs authority to the lands over
which he holds sway. Areas are as
signed to families but they revert to
the community upon the holders
death.
"Trees, plants, animals, snakes
and insects are found in amazing va.
riety. Here, as in many other ver-
dant tropical regions. flowers are not
nearly so abundant. The animate
curiosity of the Gold Coast IL the
driver-ant, which also constitutes its
worst pest. The d~river-ants consti-
tute the standing army of the insect
world. They have a system Of caste
and rank, and the naturalist gravely
tells that the workers are a quarter
OF an inch. long. the soldiers about
half an inch, while the stately off,
GERS reach seven-eighths of an inch.
"A crack regiment of ~driver-ants.
solemnly says the Oxford Survey of
the British Empire, marches 'in
close formation, perhaps twelve
abreast, forming a line some two
inches wide, the soldiers being dis
tributed along the tanks and at reg
ular intervals amongst the workers,
on much the same plan as that laid
down for a British column in thick
country. The force travels at the
double, and generally at night, TAX.
ing as straight a line IS possible and
selecting all available cover, an ad-