Abstract
THE report on the general survey of British Somaliland, 1945 (Burao : General Survey. 3s. 6d.), prepared following the approved scheme under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act, indicates that considerable areas of the country are almost completely unknown. 1945 was a good average year as regards rainfall and grazing, and in the geological exploration of the Onkhar area an oil seepage was found, of which 800 square miles were mapped. This area is well watered and there are valuable belts of Damas trees in the coastal lowlands. A potential motor track from Dur Elan to Onkhar was discovered. The original purpose of the survey was the collection, co-ordination and distribution of data from existing knowledge, and also the continued collection of further data, especially as regards topography, meteorology, geology, botany, zoology and tribes and their stock, so as to fill in the gaps in the structure of a composite research scheme and eventually to compile a full account of the general geography of British Somaliland on which wise development could be based. Detail is included in this report as an example of the sort of information which general survey officers are expected to collect, and some notes on the methods of work are also included for the use of colleagues in Somaliland, including native assistant surveyors.
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British Somaliland and its Development. Nature 161, 195 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161195b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161195b0