Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-12-27
THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP.
Represented to be Charming Section of the
Country.

Represented to be Charming Section of the
Country.
| know of no trip more full of ex-
element and varied pleasure than q
visit to the great Dismal Swamp.
The strange, the beautiful, the weird
and SOLEMN in nature are all blended
together, forming a senic panorama
attractive and interesting in the
highest degree There is nobody
who has not actually been through
the "Great Dismal" that has the
slightest conception of what kind of
place it is. Judging from the name
the popular imagination makes it q
vast swamp, quagmire and unwhole-
some fen, dark, silent and damp.
where the light of the blessed sun
never enters-a spot that seems
cursed, cod from whose black, murky
surface noisome vapors arise that
breed disease and death. This is tho
popular belief, and il is q popular
fallacy. No notion can be more err
rone0us
The Dismal swamp is not vast
bog sunk low in the ground, into
which all the draining of the sur
rounding country flows, on the con-
trary, it is above the level ground
some Is or 20 feet as was demonstra-
ted by actual surveys. Instead of
beng a receptacle into which rivers
and streams enter and flow, it is in
reality an immense reservoir that in
les vast sponge-like bulk gathers the
waters which fall from the heavens,
and pours them into five different
rivers, which flow onward to the
sea. Any one would imagine that
the Dismal was a veritable char.
mel house that spreads its miasma
throughout the country, on the con-
tray, it is the healthiest place oh the
American continent. The swamp
is formed entirely of green tim Der
there is absolutely no decomposed
wood; one sees trees lying all around
in the forests and swamps. The
two principal woods that grow in the
place are the juniper and cypress,
which never rot. They fall prone
on the ground like other trees, but
instead of the wood decomposing. it
turns into peat and lies indssoluble
by air and water for ages perfectly
sound.
There is nothing in the swamp to
create Miasma, no rising of the
tides and decomposition of rank veg
tables, no marshes exposed to the
burning rays of the sun. All is fresh
and sweet, and the air is laden with
as sweet odors as the fragrant woods
in May, when the sweet perfume of
flowers mingles with the pungent
scent of the pine and dogwood. In
the apti.bellum days all the planters
were anxious to hire their slaves to
shingle makers in the swamp on &C.
count of it's health. Mr.. Riddick,
we'll known contractor, says he
worked a gang of so hands for Is
years, in the Dismal, getting shing
les, and in all that time there was
not a single case of ague and fever.
| have seen numerous affidavits of
overseers and agents who have lived
in the swamp their whole lifetime,
and they never knew death caused
by miasma or solitary instance of
ague and fever. The air is pure and
sweet and the water tinged to faint
wine hue by the juniper, is az potent
a medical drink as are the famous
watering places of the Virginia
"Mountain Spas" 1t is often used
by naval vessels going on long for
eign cruise on account of the health
full properties, and also because it
keeps fresh and clear for yeare. 1t is
a strong and invigorating tonic, with
a very pleasant taste,
The soil of the great Dismal is
composed entirely Of clay and vegit-
able peat. 1t is spongy and loose.
A pole 80 feet long was showed
steadily down by the guide, and did
not begin to touch bottom. The
swamp is alive with game and the
lake with fish. The animals are bear
deer, raccoons and squirrels, The
fish are the black bass, or club, as
they call them here, which rise read
lily to the fly, specified fish, beach
fish, gars, cat fish and pearcb. They
all bite freely at bait and make
game fight if hooked. Fishing is en-
entirely done with rod and reel.
Though the boar abound in the
swamp it is very hard to get a shot
at them. You can often hear them
crashing through the cane, but
rarely see them. A few months
ago one big BLACK bear deliberately
passed through the village in dog
trot. 1t raised the village. Old men
took their single barrels that hadn't
gone off for hundred years, and
that were for all the world like Rip
Van Wrinkles fowling piece, and in
stantly snapped them off. Every
body got their arms, but Mdle. Bruin
kept on regardless of the bird shot
that ratified against bis hide, and at
last. after traverslng the entire town
disappeared in the woods beyond.
where. no doubt in bear language,
he told his companions of his won
derful adventure.
There is no highway or road
through the swamp, only canal
runs some distance up it to bring
out the shingles, which being made
of juniper and cypress are the most
durable in the world. There is moth
ing else in the dismal swamp that
can be turned TO use. The lumber
business has fallen off lamentably
since the war, snd but few shingles
are made now.-Cor. Alerandri1,
{ Va) Gazette.