Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1845-06-20

mote times, the purchase OF FIVE o'hei sepai''e
pieces OF land, which formed parts Oh lne "'ea
now embraced by the embankment, or lay incon-
venienlly in the proper line. These purchases
Of land were made at various rates OF price, anu
OF disadvantage increasing as his object ana plan
necessarily became developed 10 the proprieors'
The first and principal purchase was oil 9oo
acres OF swamp OF higher level and therefore
better than in general, which was obtained lot
four dollars the acre. Another piece OF as good
quality, bought since il was leA without The EN-
bankment, cost but $500 for $50 acres. inns
piece, if il could have been obtained oy Niajof
Poucher at first, might have been enclosed WIN
the Other land, by partial change ol COURSE a"u
a very little additional length OF emoanKn,en--
But now il is not worth being embarked sePa-
ratey and so will probably continue waste anu
useless; and Of course dear even al 2uu uoiiaia'
Another small lot of 10 acres, which lay III INC
way, had to be bought at the enormous price
$50 the acre. Even now, after the success o. 'n',
great experiment OF enhancing, if similar anu
neighborng swamp lands were in Market u.'
would sell very low-perhaps for less man D. ''e
acre.
All the swamp lands were not, as hau P'e-
viously inferred, incapable Of being tiiiea oe'o'e
being embarked When The river, formerly was
at more than ordinary height, the higher paris o.
the swamp lands were still high enough ABOVE
the water TO produce crops OF WHICH, however
The products were seldom large, and always e3-
uemely precarious, and being liable TO- anu onei
suffering, complete flooding and destruction. ia
zardous MS was the cultivation, from The frequent
and irregular occurrence Of high ireshes, sun
this land was annually cropped in indigo 'ha'
being then the general and great product Tor mar
ke; of Sou,h Carolina AMI, however often many
of the crops of indigo were either greatly Dam
aged or totally destroyed by The ireshes' sun he
wealth of the former proprietors oil Inc aolacen'
high lands was mostly acquired by making ihoi-
90 on these higher swamp lands. B'it, as iiihe
passed on, the height Of these treshes increased
and Of course. their destructive effects. This IN
crease of their volume and rapidly was owing
10 the extensions of clearing and cultivatinS iahu
on The far distant sources OF the Santee; which,
under The name OF Ca,awba, receives tributary
streams which rise almos, as far as the border OF
Southwestern Virginia. By such Increased ire
ouency and height Of freshes, Major Porcher
had lost crops in succession on his swamp iielu'
before he began 10 construct his emoahhiheh''
Il was commenced on a small scale as 10
breadth and height compared 10 Inc Size II I'D,
since attained. The work was progressive ano
necessarily slow but it was not necessary "
wait for its completion 10 derive much OF Tue eA-
pccted benefit. The frs, years operations sefV-
ed 10 defend the land from The fooding py He>nes
OF moderate height, TO which il would Otherwise
have been exposed. Each successive year : Ia
bors, by raising the hanks, increased the security;
except when breaches were made ny lreshes 100
high for the then height OF the work TO withstand.
The worst breach was made i'll or about Inc
year 1922 For portion otthe line, The SOIL anu
subsoil (bolh OF which are OF brownish yellow
stiff loan or clay, the alluvium ofthe muddy San
tee } rests upon quick-sand over which the en-
banknenl was necessarily raised. To furnish
earth for heghening it, subsequently and very
Improperly, pits were sunk on both sides, though
far from the base vi the embankmenl. The pres
sure Of the weight of water in the next high fresh
caused an oozing through The sand beneath the
foundation, which increased until The emoank-
ment there was blown up, as if By the force CT
punpowder. The breach thus formed was leu
feet long and "a deep. II being impossible TO re-
place the enormous quantity of earth thus lost, a
new line was adopted within the breach, which
,,h N
26O Yards Of new enbankment 10 unite the sepa-
rated parts Of the DID, though only 6O yards mad
been destroyed. II was after this terrible disas-
ler,'andlhe then apparent hoPeessness Of avoiding
The like in future, tina, Mr. Hawksworth sirenu-
ously advised the abandonment OF The attempt
Blu. the proprietor mol only did not abandon his
work in despair, but proceeded, as soon as Inc
flood had subsidized, TO repair The embankment-
The breach referred TO was made IN May, alter
the crop (of corn) was well advanced in growth
and all of which was totally destroyed. The
massage through The breach was soon closed,
though slightly; the land re-planied as soon as
i, was dry enough and that year, Notwithstanding
This destruction OF the first planting, and the OBJ
slacles thereby produced 10 The second, the crop
made was 20 bushels to the acre.
The cmbanHment does not exclude the water
OF freshes from the lower part Of the stamp with
in the area embraced, nor, according 10 the plan
DESIGNED. is such exclusion desired. The river
has a fall of IS inches in the mile, in The part OF
its course which stretches by the embarked land;
and. therefore, II the embankment shuts out, las
i, does completely the first approach OF The flood,
as il comes from above, and as passing along
down 10 the lower extremity The mere back-wateI
entering below is not regarded. or course, The
land thus subject 10 be covered by the back-water,
is more or less injured. and is not cultivated.
serves however TO receive the streams and sur
ulns rain water flowing from the upper and
higher living swamp, which is secured by the en-
bankmcn,. and which wafer continues 10 flow
there, even during the continuance OF the resheS.
And this surplus water could not be drawn OIL
lower than the height of The back-water II The
latter had been excluded from entering by the
closing and complete surrounding OF The embank-
ment. The swamp land, however variable in
level mus, have, on The general average, The
same degree OF fall in the course down the river,
as the river itself has. This fall, as has been
stated above is estimated at Is inches in the mile
Thus, if the length Of that part OF the embank-
mcn, which stretches downward be miles, there
would be in the land embraced, as we'll as in The
river descent Of G eet in ,ha, distance. Vi
course, the surface fthe flood being q feet lower
BY lowing on an inclined plane for the miles
could moi, as back and sill water, pass far within
the open par. Of the embarked land which land
rises in level feet as proceeding back 10 the up
per end And besides, surprising any certain
mark Of the flood when al lis greatest height for
that time, opposite the lower and open end OF The
embarked area, as for example, s feel height OF
water. even so much as this height could not en-
ter he area, as back water; because such is the