Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-05-28
EXPLORING THE OKEEINOKEE.

party of naturalists from Cornell university
have set out to explore the Okefnokee swamp, their
plan being to enter the great wilderness sometime
this week and<remain there the summer through
studying its rich variety of plant and animal and in
sect life. This expedition should prove of the
most interesting of it's kind ever undertaken, and
should yield fruitful results to science; for, the
okehnokee, comprising. it does, some five hundred
thousand acres with circuit of more than hun
dred and eighty miles, is treasure-trove to anyone
who cares to know the earth's secret places and to
delve in the hidden laboratories of nature.
In ancient times and eastern lands this vast
swamp would have developed cycle of legends. 1t
would have been famed as the lair of strange dra-
CONS or hydras and Perseus, doubt, would
have sought Medusa in its twilight depths. Even
in our work-a-day western world, it has long been
the subject of speculation and such adventures
have gone into thickets and islands and lagoons
haSJ returned with tales wonderful enough. As far
back as 1891, English explorer by the name Of
William Bartram left engaging account of the
okefnokee in his book of Travels" In the winter
of 1856 and the early spring of 1857 during the ad
ministration Of Governor johnson, the swamp
partly surveyed by Colonel R, L. Hunter, with the
idea of ascertanng the praeticabilty and the cost
of its drainage. Other expeditions, less
noteworthy, have been made from time to time SO
that we have a general knowledge of what the mo-
rass is like, it's resources and the practical to
which they might be turned. >-
Over a considerable area of the Okeinokee are
cypress trees Of extraordinary height and thickness
There are also the pine and white and red bays.
This bay, it is said, takes fine polish and would
probably be valuable for furniture making Mag
nolas, oaks and holly flourish some of the
islands. Dr. George Little, at time state geoo-
gist of Georgia in telling of trip he made to the
swamp, speaks of mats Of bamboo briars, ten feet
high many of them an inch in diameter and armed
with thorns which stick like daggers."
Dr. Little also furnished an interesting account
of Billys lake" and the diversity of bird and reptile
life that about its banks This lake, he said,
is some four miles in length, from one to three
hundred wide and from four to eight feet deep
perfectly clear and Astounding in the finest trout and
jackhsh. which spring into the boat at night
when torch is carried" In summer, he continues,
hundreds of alligators some of them ten or twelve
feet long, may be seen sprawling like many Cali
bans while bevies Of ducks and other water fowl
are found by thousands. Bears and wildcats have
made paths through the underbrush. "Just at dusk
white herons will settle in the trees the banks
of the small lakes, until they look like solid white
wall. Occasionally a goose is heard, uttering his
melancholy croak he flaps his broad wings just
out of reach of the hunters shot. few squirrels
are seen in the more open woods the islands.
while owls make the night hideous with their boot
ing. On these same islands, according to other
writer's, herds of deer and wild cattle fatten the
year around on" the Iuxuriant grasses.
report on Drainage Reclamation in Georgia."
prepared by the present state geologist, Mr. s. w.
McCallie contains wealth of interesting and sug-
gestve material on the okefnokee The surveys that
have already been made leave little for doubt
that day much,sif not ALL of this dense morass
will be reclaimed and converted into wondrously
productive farms -. i'
For the present, it is pleasing to know that
scientists will avail themselves of the opportunities
the swamp affords for the study of botany entomol-
ogy zoology and other branches. 1t is to be hoped
that their discoveries and conclusions will be pre-
sented to the public in order that we may know
more Of what is one Of the wonders of Georgia and,
indeed, of all America
All right for the last call for June brides