The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1877-09-13
THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP.
a swamp Tint In not IL swamp, but Almost
Fairy Land.

A Fairy Land.
know Of no trip more fnll of ex
element and varied pleasure than a visit
to the Great Dismal Swamp The
strange, the beautiful, the weird and
solemn in nature are all blended together,
forming n scenic panorama attractive and
interesting to the highest degree, There
IL nobody who has not actually been
through the "Great Dismal" has the
slightest conception Of what kind Of a
place it it, Judging from its name the
popular imagination makes it vast
swamp, quagmire an unwholesome fen,
dark, silent and damp, where the light OF
the blessed sun never enters-a spot that
scanned cursed, and from whose black,
murky surface n0isome vapors arise that
breed disease and death. This is the
popular lief,and it is popular fallacy,
No idea can be more erroneous,
The Dismal swamp is not a vast bog
sunk low in the ground into which all
the draining of the surrounding country
flows; on the contrary, it is above the
level Of the ground some fifteen or TWEEN.
ty feet M was demonstrated by actual
surveys, Instead OF being a receptacle
into which rivers and streams enter and
flow, it il in reality an immense reservoir
that in its vast sponge.like bulk, gathers
the waters which fall from the heavens,
and pOurs them into five different rivers,
which flows onward to the sea Any one
would imagine that the "Dismal" was a
Yeritable charnel-house that spreads its
miasma throughout the country on the
contrary it is the healthiest place on the
American continent. The swamp is
formed entirely of green timber; there
il absolutely no decomposed wood one
sees trees lying all around in the forests
and swampS, The principal woods that
grow in the place are the juniper and the
cypress, which never rot They fall
prone on the ground like other. trees, but
instead of the wood decomposing, il
turns into peat, and lies indissouble by
air and water for ages perfectly sound.
There is nothing in the swamp to
create masma; no rising of the tides and
decomposition of rank vegetables; no
marshes exposed to the burning rays of
the sun. All is fresh and sweet, and the
air il laden with as sweet odors as the
fragrant woods in May, when the sweet
perfume of flowers mingles with the
scent of the pine and dogwOod.
In the ante bellum days all planters were
anxious to hire their slaves to shnkle.
makers in the swamp on account of its
health. Mr.. lteddick, well known CON
tractor, says he worked gang of fifty
hands for fifteen years in the Dismal,
getting shingles, and in all that time
there was not a single case of ague and
fever. have seen numerous aiiidavita
Of overseers and agents who have lived
in the swamp their whole lifetime, and
they never knew II death caused by
miasma, or n solitary instance of ague
and fever. The air is pure and sweet
and the water, tinged to faintwine hue
by the Juniper, is III potent a medicinal
drink az is the famous watering-places Of
the Virginia "Mountain Spas" 1t is
often used by naval vessels going on a
long foreign cruise, ON account of the
healthful properties, and also because it
keeps fresh and clear for years 1t is Il
strong and invigorating tonic, with n
very pleasant taste.
The soil OF the Great Dismal il com.
posed entirely of clay and vegetable peat.
1t is spongy and loose. A pole thirty
feet long was showed steadily down by
my guide, and did not begin to touch
bottom. The swamp is alive with game
and the lake with fish. The animals are
bear, deer, racoons and squirrels. The
ish are the black bass, or club, rs they
all them here which rise readily to The |
ly, speckled fish, beach fish, gars, catfish |
md perch. They all bite freely at bait,
md make game fight if hooked. Fish
ng is entirely done with rod and reel.
Though the bear abound in the swamp, |
t is very hard to get shot at them. |
lou can often hear them crashing |
through the cane-brakes, but rarely see |
hem. A few months ago one big black |
enr deliberately passed through the
ilage in a dOg-trot. 1t raised the vii
,ge. Old men took their single barrels
hat hadn't gone off for hundred years,
nd that were all the world like Rip Van
fowling-piece, and instantly
mapped them of. Everybody got their
rms, but Monsieur lie Bruiu kept on re.
nrdless, of the bird shot that rattelt
gainst his hide, and at last, after traver-
ng the entire town, disappeared in the
GODS beyond, where, no doubt, in bear
nguage, he told his companions of his
ondcriul adventure.
There is no highway, or road through
lie swamp, only canal runs some dis
lncc up it to bring out the shingles
hich, being made of juniper and cy.
ress, are the most durable in the world.
here is nothing else in the Dismal that
IN be turned to use. The lumber bust
PISS has fallen lamentably OFF since the u
ar, and but few shingles are made now, | {
IpUO,/ri1 ( IN \ I1-,JJ, ,yy,. |