Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1900-11-30

IN dey suhtinly do be born here. dar.
IN everywhere I'm de dlsmals. Only
"hen dey grow up en- git old dey don't
nave DC roomytiz like I does. OATS
wnar dey all Git de vantage OF Uncle
ooo' But he done git de vantage OF
lem bears en- de udder wild beas'es
many Times. ] bot you; en- ef dis
'oomtiE IL didn't twinge en- twnuRe me
o remonstratin'. feel des' like ran
sin through dis Big Juniper en- gittin'
vantage OF 'em some more time fore
line de angels. P'tickiy bear. des'
tote on teasin' dem bear. Dey so pep
perry"
The Dismal swamp.
The great Dismal Swamp OF Vir-
yinia and Lake Drummond, hidden In
rs cypress depths. are famed in song
md story. and yet the Dismal Swamp's
area OF mysterious tangle and jungle
g only little moro than n patch on
he land compared with the "dinmals"
that cover Ave eastern coast counties
Of North Carolina, and Lake Drum
mond IL only millpond I'm compari-
son with the curious Mattamuskeet
Lake lying In the fai solitudes OF ALI
gator Swamp. la HYDE county. The
Carolina peninsula. extending from
Pamlico Sound on the east TO the
mouth OF Roanoke river on the west
IL seventy mi!os. and from the Pamli-
~ river on the south TO Albemarle
sound on the north Is sixty miles. So
much OF the surface Of that immense
| peninsula Is uninhabitable dismal
swamp and area or water that tho
hve countiea colnprlaing it-Dare. Ty-
rell. Hyde. Washington and Beaufort
although within their confines the
first English settlements In America
were made. more than 200 years ago
have an aggregate population OF only
$4,000. nearly one-ha!f Of which ia col
ored. These swnmis are vast areas OF
cypress. juniper. gum and pine. much
OF Il made almost Inaccessible to man
owing 10 the matted and tangled un-
dergrowth OF gnaIlrd bushes. vines
and bria:s And yet within their
depths live hrHereds OF human be-
lngs. miles out or sight or sound OF
civilization. thoiI wretchcd habita-
tons porched on piles 20 keep them
from being flooded 10y the swamp wa
ters after h'avy Iniss and reached by
little bridges built from stump to
stump. These ,.o1p,c are negroes,
known locally as swampors" they
are In the employ of the lumber opera
tors who have conc into proprietor
ship OF vast tracts CT the dismals. cut
ting the Juniper AID other timber for
the mills. which are plentiful along
the swamp edges Wooden tramways
lead from the outer world into the
depths OF the swgrlps. passages being
cut for them by tedious labor through
the impeding jungles. Some OF The
lumber camps arc seven miles and
more from the mills. Small 1atcars,
each drawn by a mule. are run over
the tramways fetching out the logs
and taking In supplies TO the camps
The lnborers do not come out OF the
swamps oftoner than once a month,
and many do not come out from one
/ years ead tn another. Negro fugitiv"s
from Justice find the isolation and sol
ltude Of the camps safe refuge for. I'M
less their offense is serious. they are
seldom followed thither.
These swamps are alive with bears,
which fatten on the berries OF the
black gum. on wild grapes and nutn-
tious swamp roots. And they also
play havoc among the cattle OF those
farmers who have drained fertile
acres from the sWumps edges, the cat
tie finding rich pasturage among the
reedy borders OF the swamps and In
the green savannahs that vary the
character of the dismals here and
there. rhe bears. always fond OF pork
are favored IN that respect by the fact
that there are herds of wild hogs In
the 6ismais, although bruin does not
hesitate to vary his pork diet by &C.
casional raids on the farmers corn
fed shoats. The wild hogs are fierce
but shy. They are invariably OF a
browDish-red color. Their shouts are
Dne-third the length 6f their bodies and
tusks three inches long are not un.
usual on old boars. These wild hogs
forage chiefly on what the natives call
blood grass, growth Of the dryer
swamp bottoms that has a beet-like
root and bears small nut at the end
! of each stalk. II is this pasturage
| that is supposed to give the peculiar
| color TO the flesh OF these hoEs--a
bright pumpkin yellow. The natives
eat the meat and call 1t good. The
wild cattle that roam the savannahs
and retreat to the higher parts OF the
dismals when alarmed are believed