Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-03-03

| lusted so that the water dripping from
| them can nicely slip down the hacks nf
SUFFERING humanity. And the yellow flies.
speak OF yellow flies to him who has Wis
lted the Dismal swamp in mid-summer
| Siu Apu shail listen to real eloquence.
| something might also be said upon the
| subject Of mosquitoes
The uninitiated are likely to hear won
| derlul taIes OF the serpentne life of the
great DlSmai. and there is a certain
| amount OF foundation for them. although
| one must allow Tor the sad fact that in
| the presence Of snakes as of fish the most
| ardent lover of truth is likely 10 % Az
| tray. In spring one sees few snakes in
| the swamp. But in July, especially unan
sunny day. they crawl out upon the
| ends of the canes and bushes that over
| hang the canal. Then. as one polps alone
| there is series of quick splashes M
snahe after snake drops into the water.
| Ono well-"rovn water moccasin mad a
/ serious miScalcuation and landed in our
| ruere ne remained an hour or so
| unknown to us, when, growing bolder he
crawled out to meet his fate in the shape
| q, a paduie bIade. More pleasant to the
| eye are the small turtles or snappers 10
| larger than our common wood tortoise
| thar abound in the bitches. Their black
shells are besprinkled with spots of bril-
| liant orange.
The water of the swamp is one of its
most interesting features. The color OF
II Is a rich dark cotfce-broWn, as seen in
| tlt tdHdlS anu Ill Lake lDTuHmOnu. but
nearly that Of sherry when small
amount is taken up. This IS due to the
vast quantity OF finely divided vegetable
matter t contains. Notwithstanding. it
makes an excellent. healthful drinking
water. pleasant in flavor, and if one may
| believe the local sages, tonic in its prop
critics by reason of the particles Of juni-
| per wood suspended in it, 1t was former
~ much in request for supplying ships
about 20 depart on long voyages. The
antiseptic virtue Of this water is marvel
Gus Stumps and logs of cypress THAI
| have long been buried beneath the sur
| face Of the swamp remain in excellent
| preservation and. now that the best Of
the standing timber has been removed
| they are being sought by lumbcrmcn
| Berries keep their color ana plumpness
for months in the water Of the bitches
The Dismal swamp. contrary t. popular
| impression. is not an unhealthful place.
Malaria is said to be unknown there. and
We We're told that people visit the swamp
in order to get rid of it. In that distant
time which the South knows as before
the war. when yellow fever WAS a PERI
| odcal scourge in Norfolk. an cntcrprising
hotel keeper put up frame building on
the shore Of Lake Drummond and adver-
| tiScd health resort. The place was
soon crowded with refugees from the pes
thence, ana throVe for while. But mid
summer came ana with ii the yellow flies
and mosquitoes when straightway guests
ana employees LETT that hotel, never more
to return.
Autumn is 4 delightful season for 4
visit TO The Great Dismal. especially if
shotgun. Up to Thanksgiving, 1T least.
the air IS soft ana mild \ light haze
rests upon the lake ana forest. through
which slows the brilliant scarlet and the
red maple foliage. the bronze purple OF
the sweetsum, and the yellows ana
browns of other dying leaves The small
ponds scattered through the swamp are
visited then by many a flock of brant ana
geese ANA ducks on their way to the
sounds of North Carolina. Then the
'poSsums grow sleek ana fat upon per
simmons and papaws or 'possum pocket
apples. as they are called in the Dismal.
Then. too, the black fruits Of the cot
ton gum. or locally papaw. attract the
hungry eyes of Master Bruin. Uncle
Joshua, a kindly old colored man who
leads a hermit's life in Il shack on the
lake shore. delishtinS with this simple
humor ana good nature every visitor to
the Sw mp gave us 4 graphic description
Of the way bears climb trees and feed
upon these fruits, IAN you can hear dem
poppin EN- 'atween their teeth long
way Off
II he were intent with such honestly
cOme-by food. Bruins life would he hap
Ply and respected 10 green old age, Tor
the odds are some what heavily against
his career being terminated by hunters
rifle But. when the beautiful golden
corn stands ripe beneath the autumn
moon md the field seems abandoned to
his pleasure. ii is not in bear nature to
resist the temptatiun-to 20 marauding.
Then ~ he ambles clumSilY along, he is
likely to encounter the cruel wire which
pulls the trigger Of a cunningly set gun,
ana to get 4 skull fun Of sugs ana bull
lets for his pains. ! saw one day bear
hide nailed up on 4 barn door on one vi
the large farms that border the swamp.
The sight recalled to mind many 4 de-
lightfully CHASTITY tale Of heads displayed
on Temple Ear and Of thieves CreakinS
in chains Mt the crossroads.
Take II when one will or can. the Great
Dismal has a charm that falls upon all
VINO go on pilgrimage thither. The very
loneliness and vast wilderness Of il helps
to increase this feeling. Although one
no longer hears the startling tales Of
great monsters. lions, and aligators,
and others still more impossible where
with the rustic=- RECALLED William Byrd,
one time his majesty's boundary COM
missioner tor his domain Of Virginia,
there is not wanting delicious sense OF
unexplored Businesses, far beyond outer
Ken, in which the wild things Of the for
est have found a last hiding place. Tales
Of apparitions, such as MOore'S white
maid and the ghostly full-rigged snip
that is seen on Lake Drummond in times
Of storm. are firmly rooted in the negro
folklore. Then there are many legends OF
desperate runaway slaves who took re-
fuge in Ine swamp in ante-bellum days.
With its native weird beauty, its strange
history and yet stranger traditions, the
Dismal swamp has come to holu i place
all its own in the imaginatons OF msE