The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-04-12
DISMAL SWAMP,

UIOMAL OW AMI.
BRIEF HISTORY OF ITS EARLY
DAYS.
Lake Drummond and the Locality
Made Famous by Tom Moore's g
Beautiful Poem---An interest
ing Description Of This Weird,
and Picturesque Region of
Which Little is Known to the
Outside World.
The Presidents recent hunting ex-
pedtion along the coast OF North
Carolina has awakened new interest in
that region, the most notable feature
of which is the great Dismal Swamp.
This vast morass is called paradise
for huntsmen. In the Library Of
Congress is copy Of a unique report
of partial survey made Of this swamp
in 1925, by Col. William Byrd of
Westover, Virginia. The original of
this report was sent to George III with
a petition signed by number of Vir-
ginia planters, asking the King to give
| them permission to drain the swamp
and to give them the reclaimed land
which was to be free from taxes for
ten years.
Col. Byrd gives a terrible descrip-
ton of the place to the King. He
wrote that all sorts of wild beasts
roamed at will through it and that
members Of his exploring party often
sank to their waists and necks in the
hoggy soil. He said "the unwhole-
some damps'' made it necessary to
take along plenty Of that "best con-
soler in life, rum," which they did.
He wrote that when he got to the
North Carolina line he found the
"laziest lot of men" he ever saw,
" that they made their wives get up
and make the fire tor them every
morning and they snored in the bed
until the sun was one third of the way
across the Heavens" etc., all of which
prompts me to write that l hope he
had too much of his " best consoler"
abroad. Later, the eminent geologis,,
Sir Charles Lyell Of England, came
over and gave a very different ac-
count. He measured the swamp. He
found it to be forty-five miles in extent.
He visited Lake Drummond which he
found was seven by five miles in
extent and one of the most beautiful
lakes he had ever seen. He describes
the tall forests of expresses and juniper
with their fairy like draperies Of silver
grey moss, most charmingly. Lord
Lyell also found out the most peculiar
thing about the Great Dismal, viz it
is twelve feet higher than the firm
outlying country. The altitude is
most at the centre. There are many
romantic Indian legends connected
within this swamp.
When the poet, Thomas Moore, was
in this country he visited this mysterious
and beautiful marsh, heard the story of
the Indian girl and her crazy lover,
and wrote the popular poem which
embodied the legend. Many people
who live near believe Lake Drummond
is rendezvous for the ghosts which
are supposed to haunt the swamp.
This superstition arose from the
number Of tgues tatu0s which are really
seen every night in almost every part
of the Dismal Swamp.
The negroes are especially afraid of
this extensive bog, and partly for this
reason, the place abounds with
opossums, coons, rabbits, squirrels,
and all sorts of small game, with an
occasional deer or bear. 1t is useless
to tell them the fitting mysterious
lights they see at night are burning
gases which rise from the fens and
marshes. They would not believe it.
have tried to convince them of this
and the result was plying reproof
for my scepticism. They have all
heard the story of the Indian hunter
and his lady love who are supposed to
cross Lake Drummond at midnight in
"white canoe and the myriads of
the will O the wisps who escort them.
The "white canoe they claim to
have seen at midnight on the bosom
of the dark lake was perhaps flock of
white swan, birds which with wild
ducks and turkeys and marsh hens are
found in great numbers in this locality.
| recall a picture eof the Dismal
Swamp l once enjoyed. 1t was in
August and l was riding through part
of it skirting Lake Drummond. A
glowing sunset was fading into hot
moonless twilight; no breeze stirred
the gossamer tendrils of the graceful
moss or dark glistening leaves of the
cypress trees.
The black water was as silent and
motionless as if a magician's spell
rested where the crested ripples should
have been. Its surface reflected few
stars which shone out of the murky
liquid with as sinister and uncertain a
gleam as II every one was Oaneful
and i'll omened Algol. And air was
heavy with the odors Of the yellow
J jessamine, the mimosa, the magnolia
and aroma of countless shrubs which
grow in profusion in the dark rich
soil. 1t seemed like vast cathedral
in which restless spirits Of evil might
worship. The incense from "censers
swuns by unseen hands, bore per-
fumes too heavy for the nostrils oi
healthy mortals.
The twilight deepened. Through
the aisles of the forest and massive
trunks of the cypress and juniper tree:
looked like columns of duncolored
marble, arched with dome Of DARK
foliage, frescoed with delicate tracer,
u