The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-12-26
THE DISMAL SWAMP.
visit 20 Region OF Numerous Strange
Conditions.
Correspondence of The Chicago Inter
ocean,


Washington, ID. c., Dso. i.-For close
upon 200 years the vast water-soaked
forest known as this Dismal swamp has
been visited by the woodman In quest
OF Its treasures Of cypress and juniper.
10 facilitate his enterprise, small canals,
locally known as ditohes. have been cut
through TO Lake Drummond at it's center.
or these one was named for General
Wa, hipgton, who visited the swamp
when young man OF "a. ''encompassing
the WHOLE" tn use his own words.
Another bars the quantity Irrelevant
n ame Of Jericho ditch. At the end OF the
las century a lsrsr waterway, the Dis
NAL Swamp canal, which has been recent
ly widerei and deepsncd, was excavated
neas the eastern border. As q result of
It's construction much Of the land lying
to the eastward was drained and 10 now
In cultivation.
A wilderness the Dismal Swamp re-
mains. Even today Its deeper recesses are
hardly known, save to such untamed
denizens as deer aud bear, and peculiar
race OF cattle that have run wild and live
uron the reeds. Not few people In
quest OF game, or curious to know wha.
q place 80 weirdiy namsd may be like.
penetrate the swamp from Suffolk BY way
of the Jericho canal, or on the eastern,
through the Dismal Swamp canal. But
away from thsse recognized arteries Of
commerce stretch thousands upon thous-
ands of acres Of dense, tangled forest,
usually covered with water to depth OF
one or two feet, untraversei BY water
ways and untravers able afoot. In suoh
businesses the black bear Ia at home, and
can help 1t. But In ha:d winters he 10
sometimes driven from his haunts and
has been seen BY startled wayfarsrs even
in the outskirts OF Portsmouth.
1t was on q beautiful May day that
first saw the swamp. Our route that
day was the Jericho canal, which one
reaches, riding or driving. about two
miles from the sleepy old town of Suffolk.
Our craft was skin built Of Juniper
wood, and propelled BY pole and paddle.
At first the way lay through q compare
lively open tract, which has been burnt
over from time to time, and which. de-
spite the burzsoning green Of such vsgs-
alton as had survived the fires, has look
unutterably desolate and forlorn. The
trees here are small water oaks and COW
oaks, sweet bay, holly, cotton gums,
short-leaf pine, and some Juniper (white
cedar). Big game cane, which inhabi-
tants know as reeds, grows everywhere.
bending Its graceful sprays over the
water, or with stems standing stiffly crest,
in great dumps. 10 this bamboo, more
than to any other plant. the vegetation
OF the Dismal and other Southern swamps
owes Its psculiarity Of aspect. The cane
was in bloom when we oams{into the
swamp, and made one think Of the mar
wells travellers tell oonoering the rare
lowering of bamboo In Indta. ahe
young stalks. which are used for making
pipe-stems, are cut and tied In shsaves.
Many Towering shrubs were there.
mostly hsathworts, but heathworts with
large, shiny leaves, hardly to be recog-
nized by their humble cousins Of the
Northern noors and peat bogs. Most
delightful Of all to eye and nose was
paie pink azalea, much sought by coun-
try people for the curious green swelling
produced on its leaves by q certain fun
gus These they eat, knowing them as
honeysuokle apples.
WEIRDNESS OF LAKE DRUMMOND.
As We pursued our lazy way along the
canal the trees became always higher,
and the fringing canes more dense. The
woodland voices that had been lifted
high In the early morning sank to
whisper. The chorused chanting Of the
frogs spring song died away. Now and
then the sweet note of o wal bier reached
the ear. Once q great gray crane rose
into the air with discordant CRY. Ever
and anon We would beat up blue heron,
to see him disappear In fright down the
long arcade before us. Then We glided
into what is known as the Black Gum
swamp. where the straight columns of
the tree trunks lowered 100 feet or more
above Us. and the light was soft as In
a cath edral. Two miles or SO we wen t
between tho solemn, vine hung black
gums and then emerged upon the margin
Of Lake Drummond, having travelled four
teen miles In something less than four
hours. Naturally, every one who has
Dismal swamp" recalls 10 to min d
when he sights LAKE. Drummond for the
first time. Ana even when seen In the
full tide of MONDAY. there ia somsthing
Of weirdness In the look OF this forest
bordsred sheet OF water. 1nvoluntarily
ones eyes go searching for that mysteri-
GUS maid who has:
Conc to the lake OF the Dismal swamp,
Where all night long by a FREELY lamp
She paddles her white canoe.
That the Irish poet wrote OF the Dismal
swamp with all the authority OF actual
experience, witness the lines:
His path was rugged and sore,
Through tangled juniper, beds OF reads.
Through many o Zen where the serp emit
feeds.
Mans foot never trod before.
But to descend from the poets flight
of imagination to the details OF pro saic
description. Lake Drummond Is small
body OF water only three miles long and
two and n halt wide, so that the lake