The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1877-10-09

dark, silent and damp, where the light
OF the blessed sun never enters-a spot
that seems cursed, and from whose
black, murky surface noisome vapors
arise that breed disease and death. This
is the popular belief, and it Is a popular
fancy. No notion can be more errone-
Gus.
The Dismal Swamp is not vast bog
sunk low in the ground, into which all
| the draining OF the surrounding country
| flows; on the contrary, 1t is above the
level ground some fifteen or twenty feet,
as was demonstrated by actual surveys.
! Instead of being a receptacle into which
rivers aud streams enter aud flow, it is,
| in reality, an immense reservoir, that,
in its vast, sponge-like bulk, gathers the
waters that fall from the heavens, and
pours them into five different
rivers, which flow onward to
the sea. ANY one would i'm
agine that the "DlsmaW was verit'
able charnel. house that spreads It's NIL
asma throughout the country; on the
contrary it is the healthlest place on the
American continent. The swamp !s
formed entirely OF green timber; 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 decom-
posing, it turns into peat, and lies indls-
soluble by air and water for ages per-
fectly sound.
There is nothing in the swamp to create
miastna; no rising of the tides and de-
composition OF rank vegetables; no
marshes exposed to the burning rays OF
the sun. All is fresh aud sweet, and
the air is laden with as sweet odors as
the fragrant woods in May, when the
sweet ouor OF the flowers mingles with
the pungent scent Of the pine and dog
wood. In the antebellum days all
planters were anxious TO hire their
slaves to shingle-makers in the swamp
on account OF its health. MIR.
Reddick, well-known contractor,
says he worked a gang OF fifty
hands tor fifteen years In the Dismal get
ting shingles, and in all that time there
was not a single case of ague and fever.
I have seen numerous afidavits OF over
seers and agents who have lived in the
swamp their whole lifetime, and they
never knew death caused by miasma
or a solitary instance OF ague and fever.
The air is pure and sweet, and the
water, tinged to faint wine hue by the
4 10 db pObOht q nouioihoA NAAhh
as the famous Watering-places Of the
Virginia "Mountain Spas" II Is often
used by naval vessels going on long
foreign cruise, on account Of the health
full pro perties, and also because 1t keeps
fresh and clear for years. 1t Is q strong
and inylgorating tonic, with very
pleasant taste.
The soil Of the great Dismal is CON-
posed entirely OF clay and vegetable
peat. 1t is spongy and loose. A pole
thirty 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 ami
mails are bear, deer, raccoons aud squlr-
rels. The fish are the black bass, or
chub, as they call them here, which rise
readily to the fly, speckled fish, beach
tsh, gars, catfish and perch. They all
bite freely at bait, and make game
fight if hooked. Fishing Is entirely
done with rod and reel. Though the
bears abound in the swamp,
it is very hard to get shot at them.
You can often hear them crashing
through the cane-brakes, but rarely see
them. A few months ago, one big black
bear deliberately passed through the
village on a dOg-trot. 1t raised the VII.
lage. Old men took their sin gle-oarrels
| tlaL nauUb Souo ou loE uuuuA ~ eok
and that were fpr the world like Rip
Van Wrinkles fowliug-piece, and in'
stantly snapped them Of. Everybody
got their arms, but Mons. Bruln kept on
Tegardless Of the bird-shot that ratified
against his hide, and at last, after ira
versing the entire town, disappeared II
the woods beyond, where, no doubt, II
bear language, he told his companions
OF his wonderful adventure.
r There is no highway or road through
the swamp, only canal runs some dis
lance up 1t to bring out the shingles
: whlcb, being made Of juniper and cy
press, are the most durable In the world
There Is nothing else in the Disma
swamp that can be turned to use. In
K lumber business has fallen of lamenta
J. bly, since the war, and but few shingle
are made now.-[Correspondence o
Alexandria Va. Gazette.
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