Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1880-07-03
Letter from North Carolina.
Tot written for Publication but Inter
estiHg.
HAnlL-ox. y. G. Juna 20. lsso.

pleasure Of writing to yen except on pos's,
and since you requested me 10 "wrlte 10 Us
when we parte,l in Baltimore, will try ana
accommodate you. though | am sure ny iet'er
can no. scss bu: little interest, however II may
serve 70 remiId you Of nc; and moreover II
seens 10 bring me into close communication
with vou aN. ] hal a very hot walk down to
the boat the day left you, bnt after we got
nnaer way the blesze helpel us wondeFiu',y
The sight OF the bright water, ireshened 10y
the wind, was very pretty, and as we s'eains''
ont among the many various kinds OF yesSeis'
and nast Fo.t McEienry, it was worth looking
NJ 10 a man to whom such scene was coniPa-
ratiyely new. We passed Fort Carroll 90 onr
way out-not : very formidable looking s'ruc-
,nre in these days Of Zig guns-a somofe,
seuarc-silet building, looking lonely aud Dc
serted cut there all by itself in the water, So
different f,om Fort McIleury with ITS lf'sn
looking buildings and groves Of trees and
qrecn sward sloplne down gradually to The
water. gave myself entirely up to ito en-
ioymont of everything around me, aud drank
in the fresh air from the ocean, and by the
time supper was announced tbs same AIR had
whct,cd my appetite until was quite ready
70 do ample Justice 20 the crabs, fish, and other
lclicocies down below anl every enc else
seemed 10 be Of lie same state OF minc-ior
We fingered long aud l0yingly over the 'aoie
and only Quit for want Of room When IL
became too dark to see anything except the
flashing lights. reluctantly went 10 bed, and
woke IN only when we had arrived in Norfolk
barbor and when landed thought oi all
the dizzy looking places had ever seen, tins
one bears the palm. | had bat few minutes
and did not get time 10 sec any OF The Ci'y
except lust around the wharf Let us hope
that up town" it Is not 50 bad. took pas
sage on the steamer (?) "llelcn Smith for
trip through TO Dismal Swamp Canal,-a
thing shall never 80 through again If tho.e
is any possible way TO gOaround IT, IDe noa'
was small aud narrow, and lillcd with chicken
coops. truck crates, potato barrels, negroes,
white men. women and children, and the DAY
as hot as you ever want % see IL, the mercury
registering abou, 90. got my breakfast al
ter awhile and went up on deck. Gnd by that
time we were stcaming across Elizabeth hiver
10 Portsmouth and Gosport navy yard, which
Is n drcafy looking place--nothing ont some
lurnberinq-looking old war ships with not
soul on them aud noihing 20 see on shoTo In!
ono solitary soldier pacing mp aud down hls
bcs. bat Just on oUs right vas an immense
iron steamship Of tho regular mail line from
New York. vish Norvai could have seen u,
With The animation and life on boa'd. II
would have sra,Iied nnd pleased him &C.
would a,so the var vessel that re passed CO.
inQ out With thc men dri,lirg on II and The
biz, ugly looking Gurs Tint wefo prot'udine
through the portfolios, the only Formidable
looking ship Of any hind In tho whole yard
We wen, on down the Elizabeth for abou! five
miles. and very pretty river II Is out here
When VIC came 10 a certain bend OF curve 10
tbe river and IL became much narrower. we
ran towards the shofc, and thought wo were
making Tor landing, but It was ihe entrance
10 the canal. or rather what they call "cnt"
from the river to Deep Creeh, where The Dis
nal Swamp Canal proper commences. The
Elizabeth river Is the feeder 10 this "cut,
which Is about fonr miles long aud then
Deep Creek is the feeder for The canal until we
Get down toward Lake Dfummond from which
another cut brings water 10 feed the lower end
was dissapointed that We did not 90 through
Lake Drummond ! bad always supposed
that this canal passed through II, and was
anxious TO see the Lake Of tic Dismal swamp
where Tie ahosily maiden saw how 10 paddle
her boat by tho aid Of the lightning bugs
This canal Is a dToary, lonely place. The
water is a very dark red, caused By tbc roots
Of the cypress aud juniper which border The
banks. Indeed, tic cypress, juniper and mjr-
lie arc about the only trees you can see close
10 The bauk, aud these, sometimes, hang over
and around yot SO thick as to keep out every
breath Of air-aud matc il almost suliycating
Think Of twenty miles Of such travel, with
ouly an occasional opening We suffered
through the good people Oh board could only
saw " It's as bot as fire, but the wicked ones
occasionally would use a much more express
sive ter,n-oae think they must have found
somewhere in the Bible. The trees, though.
certainly did look pretty and green, aud would
have made it pleasant if they only bad not
been so thick The underground was dense,
and along Tie banks were Thousands Of wild
roses IN full bloom, while the water for foot
or two was thick with wafer Lies. These
lilies crow very thick ,-soiDctimcs the leaves
are spread out Hat on the water, and The beau
,ml whi.e flower blooms 10 tue center. They
told no on tie boat that these flowers closed
up al y o'clock. lookcl at ny watch, it
wauted % minutes yet 70 10. / didn't ask
the captain 20 wait aad let Us sec the pheno-
mcnofi but it was purely out of consideration
Gr lady IN the cabin below whose baby was
yelling Ike a major locause II The heat, ana
ihc bites If the insects that @crc rs think o.
well. as thick as any Of % wanted them
:, be knew size wasn't Eail rs anxious tO
s,e lily closc up At , as she was t5 see her
baby close up before ~. ! vcnturcd - r.
mark H. q linp boxing passenger that Il felt
sorry for that woman" lie only said would
not yol Eel sorry lor its father If he was
along ?" said reckon the otber timc you
came through here you had your lamily -
l!c walled oG without any further remark
looked insul,cd. VOL after wc lad reached
tic verge Of desperation with heat and bad
crown tired with "cussiu" aud sloyiing at the
81 axes and terrapius, tic captain set, lor ns
al to jan lands around bucket u lemonade,
asd with ice IN ii-thoueh wLcFc aud how he
had kept that ice ail tiat tiine, 90 that boat.
i one # tie ".aystciics." Anylpw SIC p0gr-
ol il down, and felt Ike changing Oh 5ancho
Parza's Inc . "G0d Lics- tie man wh0 lrst
invcuted-!ce." Dy tie time SIC had g,tas
much Of it il Us a. we could bold we were
o,it of tho "narrows" aud Oh tie broad bosOp
Of tic Pssquoiauk, aud cngying tie fresh
wind Which z coming thguder cicad Wa
kicking CD behind az. This river IS about a.
wide as the Shenandoah al iiarpcTs Ferry FOR
4 mile or tgo from where we entered, and there
il suddenly uiIens u0liI il is about iouT miles
from shore q Shore Just IS we reached the
widest Of it. a bald eagle started from one
shore apl few in front Il us. aud away be
D.. 4 {. 4 Grand