Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-05-29

Flemipgton Station, will find himself on
the soil of Brunswick county, n. G. Flem-
lngton is 81 miles from Wilmington, en-
route for Columbia, and Brunswick is the
most sontherly county in North Carolina
and the most swampy.
LAKE wACCAMAw
A 81 ort walk of one-f fourth of mile will
bring the traveller to .he top of bluff,
some fifteen feet high, that Overlooks one
of the most beautiful sheets of water l have
ever beheld. It is Lake Waccamaw. This
singular sheet of water is seven miles long,
by five wide. It is oval shaped, and, from
the bluff, every part of the surface can be
seen at one glance small sail boat could
hardly hide itself, even in q cove, from the
observer.
TIMBER WALLS.
Lake Waccamaw is entirely surrounded
by the native trees, excepting a few little
openings made by the farmers axe !; and
right at your feet, below the bluff, stands
'shingle she'd" It contains steam en-
gine and machinery for saving and split
ting the cypress and juniper wood, and
shaving it into shingles for Northern mar
kets. 1t stands directly on the margin of
the lake.
The outline of this scene lacks variety
At no point does the height of the bluff ex-
ceed 20 feet, and at some points it falls to
level with the water. On the south side
it is swamp, and this is filled with fine
variety of timber-cypress, juniper, pine,
gum, ash, maple. live oak and white oak,
hickory, buckeye and other wood. These
are what the practical eye sees. The lover
of nature would complain, at first view, of
monotony. It is the opposite of mountain
lake scenery, and the Valley VirginiaD
would hardly admire it. He would make
the complaint once made by Shenandoah
Virginian of the prairie regions of the west.
A Western man, visiting the Valley, was
discanting upon the excellence of prairie
lands and pretty scenery, and was halted
by the Shenandoah farmer, who waved his
heavy hand along the line of the Blue
Ridge, on one side, and the North Noun
tains on the other, and his eye sparkled as
he said "Ah, your prairies may be rich,
but, sir, your region lacks the .t1'inges and
rasb5es."
SHE'LL MARL.
The bluff you occupy is underlaid with
hard rock, of shell mari, evidently salt
water formation. It seems to underlle a
large part of the lake. It is composed of
oyster and clam shells. 1t is plain that the
sea once extended over this lake and in
deed, the ocean is now only thirty or forty
miles distant.
When the ocean receded in past age,
it seems to have left this lake behind, and
but few if any important changes have Ia
ken place since, except that the water is
now fresh instead of salt Not a tree, not
even stump or root is to be found it it.
The depth of Lake Waccamaw varies as
you leave the shore. A man on horseback
can ride entirely around the lake, they say,
in the water near the shore. There it is a
sandy beach, but as you approach the CEN
tre the water deepens. For a quarter of q
mile, it hardly exceeds four feet, then
comes, say two feet fall, and for another
quarter it is six feet, then another step of
two more feet, then basin, say twenty or
thirty feet deep This basin has muddy
bottom-but this is natural, mud belongs
to lake of water. Did you ever think Of
the incongruity of a sentence that places
Ml1d3 in q Dry Tortugas. l wonder the
Z. S. Government does not see this blum
der, and send the package to wette1
place.
THE INMATES.
! Lake Waccamaw is famous for its fish,
both for variety and abundance. Trout,
goggle-eyes, several varieties of perch, and
J
ler-bellies.
Pic Mic parties visit this fishing place
from Wilmington, Columbia and all inter
mediate stations. They are about building
a dancing place on the shore of the lake
under big oak, for dry land fishing fol
the boys and girls.
The swamp on the south side is th'
home of the alligator. They como out mp
on the lake, at times, especially early II
the morning. Their music is q sort of bas'
to the bull-frog, louder, deeper, and ye
more full" They are coarse, ugly an(
clumsy. They vary from ten to twent,
feet in length. They are the lowest anc
meanest of all towards. For instance,
flock of ducks are floating gracefully OF
the lake, when suddenly, one disappears
an alligator has spied them at distance
and diving, he has slipped under the flock
and caught duck by the foot, and pulling
him under, has decamped, and so have tht
surviving ducks.
FEATHERED INHABITANTS.
This lake is the home of a good variety
of birds and fowls. Ducks abound, severa
kinds. The Scroggin is abundant, 1t II
a blue bird, long neck, and famous for 1t!
eggs. Bushels can be gathered from thu
surrounding swamps, the size of a young
pullets egg. They lay in the bushes, anC
small trees The bird itself is not eater
by man.
Cranes, herons, and many other fowl
and birds abound, but the prettiest is th
fork-tail hawk, called by the people Eagle
but it is a hawk, with a fish tail, and is We
ry handsome.
NAVIGATION.
Across the lake from your shell bluff, i
} a dent in the timber wall; it is the head O
Waccamaw river. Here it starts for tn
| ocean; distant by water one hundred miles
In it's route it passes Conway boro' an'
Georgetown, S. G. The lake and rive
: will accommodate a steamer eight fee
draught. On its route the Waccanaw ad
, mits to its company the w..ters of the 1ad
kin-the South Carolinians call 1t Pe
Dee; but the change is no Improvement
} you had as we'll call an eagle tom-tlt.
SQUALLS.
.. This lake is subject to very singula
peculiarly. The water may be as calm a
a good tempered girl of sixteen, but sud
denly a squall arises, within three minutes