The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1877-10-14
Ihe Balletin
THE DISMAL SWAMP
Not ataIi Dismal but a Perfect Para

know of no trip more full OF excite.
ment and varied pleasure than visit to
the great Dismal Swamp The strange, the
beautiful, the weird and solemn in nature,
are oil blended together, forming scenic
panorama attractive and interesting to the
highest degree. There is nobody who has
not actually been through the "Great Dis.
NAL" that has the slightest conception Of
what kind Of q place il IL. Judging from
its name, the popular imagination makes ii
vast swa amp, quagmire and unwholesome
fen, dark, silent and damp, where the light
ofthe blessed sun never enters-R spot that
seems cursed and from whose black, muir
Ky surface nosome vapor arise that breed
-diseaseand death. This Ia the popular be-
lief, and it ia a popular iallacy. No no.
ton can be more erroneous,
The Dismal Swamp Is not q vast, bog sunk
low in the ground, into which all the drain.
ing OF the surrounding country flows; on
the contrary, 1t is above the level ground
some fifteen or twenty feet, as was de-
monstrated by actual surveys. Instead Of
being q receptacle into which rivers and
streams enter and flow, 1t il, in reality, an
immense reservoir, that, in its vast, spop ge.
like bulk, gather the waters that fall from
the heavens, and pours them into i've dit.
ferent rivers, which flows onward to the
sea. ANY one would imagine that the "Dis.
! mai was "a veritable charnel-house that
spreads its miasma throughout the coun-
try; on the contrary it is the healthiest
place on the American continent The
swampis formed entirely OF green timber;
there is absolutely no decomposed wood;
one sees trees living oil around in the for.
ests add 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, hut instead
OF the wood decomp osing. 1t turns into
peat, and lies indiasoluble by air ana water
for ages perfectly sound.
There Ia nothing in the swamp to create
miasma; no rising OF the tides and decOm.
position Of rank vegetable; no marshes
exposed to the burning rays Of the sun. All
are fresh and sweet, and the air laden with
as sweet odors as the fragrant woods 10 May,
when the sweet odor OF the towers min.
giles with the pungent scent Of the pine and
dogwo0d. In the ante.bellum days all
planters were anxious TO lire their slaves
to shingle-makers in the swamp on account
Of It's health. Mr.. Reddick, wel.known
contractor. says he worked gang OF fifty
hands for lift Gen. years in the Dismal get.
tDig shingles, and in all tina. time there was
not single case of ague aud fever. | have
seen humorous affidayits of oYerseers and
agents who have lived in the swamp their
whole lifetime, and they never knew q
death cause by miasms or solitary in.
stance of ague and fever. The air is
pure and sweet, and the water, tinged 10 a
faint wine hue by the juniper, is as potent
medicinal drink as the famous watering.
place the Virginia Mountain. Spas" IT
Is often used BY naval vessels going on q
long foreign cruise, on account OF the
heathful properties, and also be cause it
Keeps fresh and clear for years 1t is a
strong ahd invigorating tonic. with very
pleasant taste.
The soil Of the great Dismal is composed
entirely Of clay and vegetable peat. it is
spopgy and loose. A pole thirty feet long
was showed steadily down by the guide
and did not begin to touch bottom. The
swamp is live 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 are called here,
which rise readily to the fly, speckled fish,
beach fish, CARS, catfish and pearch' They
sll bite freely at bait and make game
fight il ooksd. Fishing Is entirely done
with rod and reel. Though the bears
abound in the swamp, 1t is very hard to
get O shot at them. You can often hear
them crashing though the cane.b' axes,
but rarely see them. A few months ago,
one big black bear deliberately passed
through the village On iog-trot. 1t rails.
ed the village. Old men took their single
barrels that hadn't gone OIL for hundred
years, and for all the world like Rip Van
Wrinkles fowling- piece, and instantly snap.
ped them of. Everybody got their arms,
but Mons. Bruin kept on regardless of the
bird-shot that ratified against his hide, and
at last, traversing the entire town, dissp.
peared in the woods beyond, where, no
doubt, in bear language, he told his com.
panions Of his wonderful adventure.
There is no highway or road through the
swamp, only canal runs some distance
up 1t to bring out the shingles, which, being
made ofjunip'r and cypress, are the most
durable In the world. There is nothing
else In the Dismal Swamp that can be turn.
ed to use. The lumber business has tal
OF lsmentably since the war, and but few
shingle, are made Correspondence Of
Alexandria (Vs.) Gazette.