AMONG THE KIKUYUS AND THE NANDI had a chance to see what the British Government is doing to save the forests.

The wooded area of Kenya extends over three thousand two hundred square miles, of which the tropical forest covers about a hundred and eighty-three square miles, the remainder being upland or highland, containing valuable trees. Transportation facilities are so limited, however, and much of the country is so little known that the British have only made a good beginning in exploiting the timber resources and in scientific forestry work.

Lumber is high. Leaving the Kikuyu hills, one finds that there are woods all the way to the ridge known as the Escarpment and they extend for some distance down the sides of the Rift Valley. Here in the valley itself the country is mostly pasture and there is no timber of any account. In the forest region above referred to the woods are thin, and in many places the original growth has been cleared by the Kikuyus. The government is now prohibiting their practice of burning the wood, and doing all it can to save the trees remaining and to build up new wood lands. I met at Naivasha an Australian, one of the heads of the forestry department, who told me that the government had nurseries at Mombasa, Nairobi, Escarpment, and Landaivi. Near Mombasa they are setting out teak trees, while at Nairobi they have planted a large number of acacia and eucalyptus trees, imported from Australia. The eucalyptus grows well at Nairobi.

I saw trees there seventy-five feet high although they were only five years old.

The forest manager told me he was labouring under the greatest of disadvantages in his efforts to raise new trees.

He said he had to fight not only the natives, but also the 281