Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1892-03-03

lhey llved constantly in the swamp,
and though fever and disease abounded
they appeared unmindful of it. The
dismal place was never visit.
cd by persons other than the
laborers and overseers, and tho sur.
prise of the worlsmen was great
one day when they heard the voices OF
other men Ear in the middle of the
swamp. The wilds had not yet been
penetrated beyond the head OF the
canal and nobody could guess how the
men had entered the swamp ahead of
them.
Investigations followed, and pc
ouliar coincidence of the work was dis
covered. The landowners in North
Carolina, on the southern boundary of
the swamp, had also been nsing the
cypress and juniper trees, and they had
likewise adopted the method of digging
a ditch to float the logs to market
Shingles and lumber had been trans
ported for years down through the
North Carolina district, and the two
sections of the canal had now nearly
met Only a short piece of the UNI
cleared swamp interviewed. The result
was that n perfect canal running
through the center of the Dismal
swamp was completed, and in a short
time small boats were seen carrying
goods back and forth. The canal was
continued as water course for lumber
and shingles, but it was also found to
be of more value for other purposes.
In the course of time the state of Vir-
ginia took an interest in the canal, and
ditch was cut through the swamp to
Lake Drummond, not for the purpose
of boats, but simply to supply the canal
with sufficient water at all seasons of
the year to transport boats. The Dis
NAL Swamp Canal Company was
formed, and the stock of the company
reached very high figure. The swamp
was one great woods of cypress and
juniper and this timber in creased SO in
value that the canal became a fortune
to the men interested in it. Thousands
of loads of shingles and timber were
foated down every year and shipped to
all parts of the civilized world. This
trade is not so extensive to-day, for the
largest and best trees have been cut
away, while the younger growth is
not yet large enough to be of great
service All along the line of the
canal, howe ver the forests have been
sadly denuded of their timber. The
wet, DOGGY swamp makes the early
objection to timber gathering still
strong, and it is difficult task to haul
the timber from the interior of the
swamp to the canal. For this purpose,
however, wide, fat wheels are used,
and quite business is still being car
ried on. Many thousands of feet of cy-
press and juniper timber are annually
1loated down to Norfolk.
Just previous to the civil war the
Dismal swamp was the great refuge
for the runaway slaves. and its gloomy
wilds have sheltered more than one
. prosecuted black. The bloodhounds
were the only animals that could find
the victims in the swamp, and often
they returned to their masters weeks
> later torn and bleeding from their
journey in the swamp. The white men
never ventured to follow the blood
hounds through the swamp, and it be-
came common saying that when q
y slave escaped to the Dismal swamp he
+, was lost for good.
- At one time quito colony of run
:. away slaves lived in swamp neal
:, Lake Drumm ond, where they led {
= half-savage existence. The wild beasts
= and birds furnished them with all the
!. meat they needed, and by diling in 1
~ portion of the higher ground they sue
. . ceeded in making dry homes They
: raised considerable grain here ant
! lived an apparently contented life
= Long after the war this little colony
was visited accidentally by some hunt
= ers The negroes fled into the swamp
!. leaving the white hunters in possession
:, of their homes. 1t was only afte
considerable explanation that the,
= could make the negroes believe that ;
. war had been fought for their freedom
4 and that the hunters were not whit
= masters searching for their slaves TIL
= blacks had not been in communication
= with the outside world for years ant
= they were totally ignorant of the grea
" agitation which had shaken the coun
- try. Their rude homes have long sine
:, been deserted and small companies o
~ hunters occasionally camp out on tn
N little piece of dry ground which tn
IS negroes had erected and diked in.
v The easiest and, in fact, about tn
h only way of reaching Lake Drummon
is by the canal and the stream whic
IN connects the lake and the waterway
!. Long, narrow, fat bottom boats ar
10 pushed up the canal to the lake by tn
n hunters A small cabin is built on tn
m deck of each boat where the hunter
ID can sleep and eat After reaching tn
ID inland lake everything is wild and sol
h. tary Birds, deer and bear abound
n. and the sportsmen are in for goo
~ days sport. The shores of the LAKE
nc however, are soft and Doggy, and it
a. almost impossible to. land .anywher,
es The flat bottom boat, however, can /
A. pushed far into the glades of til
~ swamp, and from such vantage place
% the game can easily be covered. tn
an deer and bear como down to the watel
a- of the lake to drink, and they offt
4. good shots for expert rifiemen. II
st wild turkeys are quite plentiful in II
%. swamp, and whole flocks are ofte
20 % flushed and killed. The birds of plum
ia age are so sure of security in the den'
AZ swamp that they fly around in gre;
a numbers showing an amount of tam
: ness that is remarkable. Alligaso
~ bask in the warm sunlight, and b
NJ tween plume and alligator hunting Il
,a' native hunters can make.a pretty goo
ID living Baltimore. Cor. N. Y. Times.
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