Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1895-03-01
THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP
THIS HUNTERS PARADISE A MYS-
Terry 70 SCIENTISTS.
1t Extends Forty Miles Along the
Coasts Of Virginia and North Car
olina-Weird Traditions.

1t Extends Forty Miles Along tn,
Coasts OF Virginia and North Car
olina-Weird Traditions.
|"YHE great unexplored swamp
Y which extends for forty miles
along the coast OF Virgins
and. North Carolina varies in
width from q few hundred yards To
twenty-five miles 1t is the paradise
OF hunters, mystery to the scien-
lists. an inspiration to the artists and
terror to the superstitious.
About five miles from the village of
Suffolk, where the Dismal Swamp be-
gins, Is Lake Drummond, named, some
say, for a hunter who was lost In the
swamp in the too ardent pursuit Of a
wounded stag, that led to the discov-
cry of this beautiful sheet of water.
Others say it is named for Sir Will
lam Drummond of North Carolina.
This lake is an almost perfect oval. 1t
is seven miles long and flve miles
wide. The water is dark, almost black,
but perfectly transparent, rejecting
every object with startling distinct
ness. When held in glass vessel it
looks like pure, strong coffee. This
color is caused by the exudations
from the cypress and juniper trees,
which form thick forest throughout
the swamp. Gorgeously colored wild
flowers grow in profusion in the rich,
dark soil. The trees are garlanded
with festoons Of gray moss from the
topmost boughs to the waters edge.
The yellow jesaamine, brilliant and
most fragrant, but poisonous, wild
flower, wreathes its perfumed bios
SONS over this drapery Of moss. The
scarlet trumpet shaped flower of the
poison oak vies with the yellow jessa.
mine in abundance of bloom and
wealth of coloring.
The approach to Lake Drummond
is by rude canal, three miles of
which is straight waterway into the
lake. This forms an avenue, bordered
by cypress trees, which rise erect out
OF the water 100 to $50 feet in height,
and as symmetrical in shape as the
masts Of ship. The boughs, densely
draped with moss, form an arch over
this canal, which in midsummer, is so
thick sunbeam can scarcely pierceit.
The lake is surrounded by the same
tall. erect cypress trees, interspersed
with monster jumpers ofwhite cedars.
The reflection of these straight, lofty,
sentinel like trees in the clear, black
water is peculiar. The most unac-
countable thing about the Dismal
Swamp Is it is higher than the firm
outlying country, and increases in al
titude towards the interior, where it
is twelve feet higher than the sur
rounding land. This elevation of this
morass has been accounted for on the
hypothesis that where Lake Drum
mond now Is was the crater of an ex-
tinct volcano, and was fathomless.
This theory has exploded; the lake is
fifteen feet in depth, and every char
acteristic of the soil dlsproves the idea
that its substratum is volcanic.
Sir Charles Lyell and other scien-
lists of the past and the present have
found layers of spongy decaying vege-
table matter over the better known
portions of the morass. Lord Lyell
made an especial study of the great
Dismal. His description of it and the
conjecture as to the future coal de-
posits are of great scientific value.
Five rivers find their sources in this
swamp. Two canals now penetrate parts
of it. The tow paths are logs of wood,
on which the man who pulls the canoe
walks. These logs of wood in warm
weather are literally covered with ter
rapin, water moccasin, copperhead
snakes, lizards and other reptiles,
which make walking over them some
times dangerous. Brawny men usu-
ally pull these canoes and lumber
RATS, and find good excuse to take
plenty Of whisky along as an antidote
for the inevitable snake bite. The
raison d'ete OF these canals is the value
of the cypress shingles which are sold
in immense quantities along the shores
of the swamp. Another singular fea-
ture of the great Dismal is the growth
known as cypress knees. These are cone
shaped excrescences from the roots
of the cypress tree. and look like min
iature pyramids rising up from the
slimy ooze.
In 1875 Colonel Byrd, of Westover,
Va, made survey of the Dismal
Swamp at the request of the proprie-
tary Governor, who was anxious to in
duce George III to have it drained.
Colonel Byrd's report was favorable,
and was forwarded to England with
strong petition from number of Vir-
ginia planters, who promised to bear
all the expenses of the drainage il his
Majesty would give them the land free
OF taxes. A copy of Colonel Byrd's
report is now in the library of Con-
gress. He left his party in the swamp;
what became Of them he never told.
Colonel Byrd got out, however. Ex-
tracts from his manuscript are inter
esting:
"March 13, 172s-Early this morn.
ing the chaplain repaired to us with
the men We had left at Mr.. Wilson's.
We had sent for them the evening be-
fore to return those who had the labor
oar from Coratuck Inlet. But. greatly
to our surprise, they petitioned us no
to be relieved. hoping to gain immor-
tai reputation by being the first OF
mankind that ventured through the
great Dismal. Our days work ended
within a quarter of mile Of the Dis
NAL Swamp when the around began TO