ABSTRACT
The central and most important feature of the country, and its most valuable asset, is the Gambia river, which forms a most magnificent waterway. Rising in the hinterland some seven hundred miles from the coast, its western and shorter half constitutes the main artery of the country and principal means of communication and transport. The entrance to the Gambia river between Barra Point and the town of Bathurst is about two miles wide. The Gambia is a clear flowing river with well defined banks, and there is a remarkable absence of the aquatic plants which are so obstructive to navigation in many African rivers. The Gambia is a country of extremes. During the wet season, June to October, the land usually suffers from an excess of moisture; and during November to May, or from the middle to the end of the dry season, from a deficiency.
