Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-09-24
TRIP TO THE SWAMPS
WHAT MAY Be SEEN BETWEEN RICH
MOND AND THE CHiCKAHOaiNY.
A Gentleman at-r Walking Over the
Grounds Gives the Di,phtch HIS I'm
prcssions and Some "Reminiscences

Grounds Gives the Dispntch HIS In
prcssions and Some "Reminiscences
There are several roads leading out from
Richmond 10 the ChIckahominy, one OF
which may be traversed by u pedestrian
who IL bent on having n pleasant olung'
In order 20 break the fatigue 81 long
walk ono may ta.e car on Seventh oni
Main streets. and in less than half honr
bc whirled half the way to strawberry
Hi. famed for its fertile fields. weil-kept
grounds. and elegant mansion. or I" IL
quanocuav. still moro famous "a ono OK
tho ancient sites Of tho Chickahominics.
II you chance 20 flll upon bright, hreezy
morning. when there are ncitaer lahl's
nor gentlemen up be.imcs. you nav swing
n ,rnch- basket on your arm and don your
shabbicSt suif without n;trscilng attention
either in town or cOut,ry. Nor VII tho
polite conductor object 20 Yonr pipe. D. IL
ever so hOrelv. or 20 It's fumes. be tncy
ever go nauscOus.
After scanning with n critics eve tho
ncw-made streets. the quaint hulldlhgs'
and elegant grounds of Chestnut hrirhts
Won wilt have Your choice az tho noI'n-
Ntfft ll'N 81 Iii' fif' ItN i'ft ~
courses or routes that run closc together
on parallel lines il the direction you are
bent on going.
WALK OVER TIE TiFs.
You viii presently find. q. and an Oh
friend rocentlr found. the meadow
Bridge roai good enough for vehicles, but
not so good for pedestrians as the Che a
pcako aud Ono railway. Ihe latter j. s.n-
guarlv free from dust and tramps. WIN
soft. loamy sod on either SIDE Of ~ we'll
kept tracks. and clean, Lowell paths all tho
way out 10 ElleTsOn's, You Will also DE a1
liberty TO strike bee-line ov'r tho open
grounds where the Wild SIENNA clusters y
patches. or plunge adcwn seque''eIeu
vales where the primrose grows ny tho
rlvulets brJm and tho Wild Indian PINK
loves to dwell arars-rarest, rudulest' anu
statcliest OF swamp flowers.
II you have never travcrsed this route
before you viii feel as II YOU were enter
irganew world, 20 various ore the objects
encountered and 20 dissimilar from others
observed by you on the south side OF the
james aad towards the west SIDE OF the
city.
NV aforesaid friend. now verginG on
eighty years. md who can foot the course
as nImbly az youth Of twenty summers
but am anticipating sooner saw the
lOunu Hills. INC Ditdi Ih5t tH A'hl
line o. woods that fringe the borders az
the grea; swamp than lie exclaimed in
state If rapture: 1t is Eden. sr; II Is
Eden,p -,
II YOU make haste but slowly you Will
have leisure TO look back from some com
enineucc upon the city ana us
v,cinage. Casting your eve along the Hhc
of SAOckoe creek a. through an inverted
telescope. YOU may discern the James
stretching away towards Warwick IN long
drawn perspective, giving YOU an ldea OF
its being a smooth, placid lake rather thah
q turbld, flowing river.
Viewing this charming water and cape
one delightful summer afternoon, with
indy whose poetical attainmcnts cntltle her
10 respectable rank amongst Virginia
authors. ! asked her why our artists mover
ven,ured to sketch and paint such scenes :
She quickly and nnively replied: They
ore too indolent TO fall IN love even with
Nature"
pICKENs FELL IN LOVE.
Charles Dickens fell in love with Rich
mond when he first sighted IT.. He after
wards sad. II il true. many ugly things II
our best people III his celebrated Notes"
but mean while. declared that our city was
one of the most beautiful 10 DO seen Ill
either hemisphere.
But let us forget the city tor a moment,
let us trudge on through the clean cuts OF
the railway. let us bend our light foot
steps towards the ChickahomInv and listen.
ns well a. we my 10 the warnings Of the
birds once So familiar in the parks
and gardens of Richmond. Conspicuous
amongst choir OF these friends Of our bet
Ter DAYS is the litte Iellow-liammer. whose
cherry tirrG-hrrG, t,rrd-!,yrG Is really treat
10 hear again and again.
Here and there on either side OF the
track We observe untrodden ways over
grown with flowers of various hues and
species yellow gcntiaus, oX-eyes. golden
rods. FlOras paint-brushes. snap-draeons.
marsh marigOlds, passion flowers, love
lies bleeding. and many Others chiefly Of
the vast families of the comp Sl'0-;Lat
come TO flower N the late midsummer.
The country folks know al these by one
" another name. Love lies bleeding Is
known TO some As lady's finger and to
others as Saviour's rest. II one were to
,all its classical name out Of the booas he
would be stared at Us wonder.
POETRY IN SANFs.
This poetical way Of naming is applied |
% one Of the coinmonest weeds that grows. |
When II passes from o plebeian to patri-
,ian shape-that l., when II becomes cultl- |
rated In gardens and hot-houses-it IS then |
-edder and larger. with on air as foreign |
nd aristOcratic as the proudest exotics OF |
fr5nklin street.
cannot say that ever fully under |
stood the meaning of Juliet's remark |
= that which we call q rose by any other |
name would smell az sweet" till / dis |
covered a flower-hunter spending tho best |
part Of his time gathering wild flowers |
without knowing or caring to know their !
specific or POPULAR names. That Shakes |
oeake was O close observer of the IAe- !
lomeIa OF nature goes without saying. |
That lie was gucsser and an
.,terer of divine truth will appear |
It any page OF his works you
nav chance To open. What knew he Of |
botany. or geology. or archaeology when
le put such words as these III the mouth |
# the banished Duke?
And this our life exempt from public haunt,
'inds tongues In trees, books In the running |
brooks,
sermons in stones, and good in everything"
This was uttered before tho time of Sin |
laeus and Hugh Miller aud Boucher de |
'erthes, bu. not before the appearance OF |
he Testament, in which work the poet |
ound authority for the metaphysical |
lause Of the verse.
THE BE HELPER.
The bee Ia helper of the divine econo- |
ny. however humble thing it Is. II is |
Of the service II performs in |
he fertilization of flowers, though it |
Jnows which are and which are not necta-
ferrous. When mal il the pursuit of |
wealth opens the earth with pick and |
padc he, too. in another and a higher sort
s an unconscious helper. HIS poor
BROTHER. the gcologist. thanks him as he
inds the relics of prmeva seas and |
wasted continents in the mountain tun-
lei or long -e1tinguished civilizations III
he drift.
This rejection comes to me forcibly as |
PASS over the heights that lie between the
lanes and the ChickahOminy. The work
non excayating the railway have laid bare
lnder our very feet substantial evidences
II sea on which neither bark nor boat
'ver foated. and Of q river whose sands
md grayels were spread a. far north rs the
hither side of the great swamp. and as
ar south as the great upper plateau lying
)etweon tie james and the Appomattox
At Cedar Groye.' the residence of the
Of Nathaniel Bacon. the sub
oil is largely intermixcd with shells OF a
probably earlier period than that in which |
he infusorial earth was laid down under
he site of Richmond.
But for the briars which evergreen on ex-
AVIATION into the earth l should have in