Smyrna times., 1858-03-11
Sussex County.
IT'S PHYSICAL CONFORMATION.

Sussex County is irregularly quadrangula
in shape; embraces 636. 100 acres of land, 994
square miles, with a ratio of 2G persons to The
square mile.
1t is level county or table land, gently slo
ping east or west, towards the Delaware OIL
Chesapeake Bays from an elevated strip of lanC
several miles in breadth. This gentle eleva
tion, has been termed the "Dividing Ridge.
or " Watershed" and stretches from the nor
thern to the southern portion of the county
Upon this photographic axis-the most eleva-
ted part of Sussex, the altitude above the
Ocean, is found to be fifty-fve feet, and grndu-
ally dlminishes from thence to either side oi
the county. The existence of this position af-
lords excellent facilities for drainage. The
swamps give rise to the streams flowing east or
west from this ridge
In the southern portion of the county, is sit
uated that remarkable tract of country, known
as the Cypress Swamp" about seven miles
in length, and five in breadth, the southern
portion of which is known as Newfoundland
Formerly, this tract was covered by water the
entire year, but It's proximity TO the Pokomoke
has rendered it easily drained. The labor Of
man has felled many of the gigantic expresses
and many have been buried beneath the surface
ofthe earth, and the yearly tillage ofthe ground
brings to view, bodies Of trees, sound in every
respect, which have laid embedded there many
years.
The water obtained beneath the surface OF
this swamp. is said TO be singular in appear
ance and taste, bearing a tinge somewhat
similar to good port wine"
twenty-five years ago, we learn that this
swamp was entirely surrounded by water, with
only few acres of arabic land. Now there
are many dwellings. with roads passing through
IN various directions, and there is an area OF
twelve or fifteen hundred acres of arabic land,
well adapted to the production of the cereals.
The POkomoke, in that vicinity, is a very
sluggish stream, having channel about Invent,
feet wide, while the low, murky ground over
which it flows, in a wet season, extends on
either side of the channel, from two to three
hundred yards. This strip of land skirting the
banks is covered with heavy cypress and black
gum, through the dense foliage of which, the
sun rarely penetrates.
Our mill-streams, from their number and
area, are certainly deserving of notice. We
have about one hundred mill ponds. ma king one
tor about every ten square miles, and inter
spersed generally. Forming reasonable esti
mate that fifty acres of earth are submerged by
each pond, we would have FIVE thousand acres
covered by the waters of these ponds nearly the
entire year. These bodies of water are
subjected by dams thrown across them, and
are subservient TO milling purposes. During
the heat of the summer, when there has been
an lnsuficiency of rain, the bottoms of many OF
these ponds are left exposed, and vegetable
matter accumulates on the surface,-detritus
brought down by the stream, from the swamps
and bitches above. Many of these ponds are
almost entirely dry during July and August
They are fed by the bitches and swamps 10 their
respective vicinity, and whea these dry up, as
is usually the case in the summer, the ponds de.
pendent upon them for their supply of water,
must necessarily fail also.
When these ponds have become dry, the sur.
tace OF the earth formerly submerged, is observed
to be covered with vegetable matter the allu-
vial deposits from the banks, and with aquatic
plants That the bottoms of these bodies Of
water, are rich in vegetable mould, may b,
known from the fact that when drained, they
make excellent meadows.-MeSSenger