French Equatorial Africa is rich in big game. Elephants are especially sought after on account of the value of their ivory. The ex portation of the latter has remained stationary during recent years, varying between 130 and 150 tons, and eight-tenths of the ivory ex ported was sold before the war, on the Ant werp market. The exportation of whale oil represents a new and interesting factor, amounting to 10,603 tons in 1913, which, how ever, fell to 6,771 tons in 1914. Of all the French colonies, French Equatorial Africa is the richest from a forest point of view, possessing as it does a considerable choice of woods suit able for various uses. Mahogany is found in different grades, such as okoume which forms an excellent counter-veneer wood much used in Germany for the manufacture of cigar boxes; semi-hard wood such as kambala, walnut from Gaboon, billinga, hard woods like crail, moabi and mowingui, soft wood like fromager, gombo-gombo and tulip tree wood. The area of these compact forests is some 140,000 square kilometers (54,054 square miles). It should be noted, moreover, that three-quarters of the present forest production of Gaboon was con sumed in Germany and Holland. During the year 1916 it was proposed to use wood from Gaboon for the needs of the army and for reconstruction work in the devastated regions of North and East France. Wood exports which scarcely amounted in 1898 to 2,886 tons reached 10 years later nearly 70,000 tons and in 1913 amounted to 150,688 tons, representing a value of francs 8,319,239 ($1,663,847). This result, obtained in so short a time, is most encourag ing for the future of this industry.
Rubber is also found in French Equatorial Africa but the proper cultivation of this prod uct has not yet been undertaken in these colonies. The recent world wide rubber boom was felt in French Kongo as elsewhere but this was only of temporary duration and should not interfere permanently with the normal de velopment of this industry. The exportation for 1912 and 1913 was 1,901 tons and 1,600 tons respectively; in 1914 it dropped to 600 tons, increasing in 1915 to 1,413 tons. There is an abundance of palm oil in French Equatorial Africa but it is only exploited in a rudimentary way by the natives. Several large European establishments have been founded for the operation of this industry and its future would appear to be very promising. The exportation of palm oil only amounted to 76 tons in 1912 and 77 tons in 1913; there were 359 tons of palm almonds exported in 1912 as against 208 in 1896, 595 in 1913 and 971 in 1914, thus show ing an upward tendency which reached, in 1915, 1,135 tons. Gum copal of various quali ties is found in French Equatorial Africa but its exportation is insignificant (1,490 kg. [3,278
lbs.] in 1913). Raphia is also exported in small quantities, as well as fibres called sawap which are used in the brush trade and the exportation of which amounted in 1915 to the interesting figure of 490 tons which is promising for the future of this industry. Among the principal cultures, the foremost are coffee and cocoa. The coffee tree grows in a wild state in many parts of Equatorial Africa, especially in the Kongo islands, the Sangha and the Oubangui; the local coffee is much ap preciated by connoisseurs but no great traffic has yet been undertaken in this product. Its exportation merely amounted to 33,593 kg. (73, 904 lbs.) in 1913. The climate and the soil of Gaboon, similar to that of the San Thome Island, are suited to the cultivation of cocoa and many experiments have been made in this direction within the last 20 years. The ex portation of cocoa exceeded in 1913 158 tons; in 1914 it amounted to 142 tons and in 1915 actually reached 203 tons despite the difficul ties of transportation. Finally, food producing plants are found in French Equatorial Africa such as the banana, tapioca, rice, etc., as well as medicinal plants (castor oil, kola, etc.) ; pepper, spice, etc., are also grown.
From the foregoing it will be seen that French Equatorial Africa is characterized by the variety and abundance of its products. Its great ivory reserves, its rubber trees, superior and more abundant to those of West Africa, .the richness of its soil which is suited for all tropical cultures, its splendid palm forests and precious wood, the immense variety of its ordinary wood, its large herd of cattle in i the north, the minerals found in its soil, its copper mines situated at less than 300 kilo meters from the coast, all furnish a sure guar antee of the future prosperity of French Equa torial Africa which will quickly be on a par with French West Africa and Madagascar and from which France will derive great advantage. The colony must, however, be liberated from those impediments which at present hinder its full development. From a territorial point of view Equatorial Africa is the only one of the French colonies where the regime of granting large land concessions was put in practice in 1899 and which since 1910 has proved of much benefit to the colony. From a fiscal point of view the colony has suffered from a duality of the customs regime which is still further ag gravated by the fact that a large part of the colony is subject to the international stipulations laid down in the Berlin Agreement by which it is deprived of the liberty of its tariffs.