Show the dismal swa MP az Z Z 0 t t 2 A hunter of the dismal swamp prepared by national geographic society washington Washl neton D C service HEN the eastern hunting WUEN season Is at its height the usual quiet of the dismal swamp one of the famous hunting banting grounds of the eastern seaboard Is broken by the crack of sportsmens sports mens guns since it was first explored dismal swamp has remained a mystery place its last indian disappeared around the but in its depth it Is almost as wild today as it was then neither fire nor ax as has tamed it though it has yielded about a third of its original area to the plow much of the remainder Is an unbroken wilderness on the virginia north carolina border george Washing toris name Is permanently manent ly linked with dismal swamp and lake drummond soon after the french and indian war washington tig ton and others attracted by the wealth of Juril juniper per in this region obtained a grant of land and organized the dismal swamp land company washington made at least six visits to the great wilderness to which he refers in correspondence as a glorious paradise one of the six ditches connecting lake drummond with the outer world bears his name it extends five and a half miles from the northwest shore of the lake to a point on the white marsh road and was dug to get timber from the swamp to the nansemond river near suffolk thence the timber went by ship to its destination some went to england A hamlet known as dismal town grew up at the white marsh road end of the ditch it has disappeared completely and the roads course has been slightly changed in his will washington valued his acres of dismal swamp holdings at about today to all except a very few the swamps interior Is as much of a mystery as yucatan Tu catan sien alen are born live and die in towns that touch dismal swamps very edges without ever having entered it has a bad reputation the name given to the swamp by col william byrd in 1728 28 stories of the ghosts of lake drummond of venomous serpents and poisonous plants of savage descendants of runaway slaves still roaming its depths of fugitives hiding out and in recent years of moon moons shiners biners that kill on sight of wild beasts and the noxious vapors that infest the air all have created a feeling of tear fear that has contributed tri buted to the grim atmosphere that en shrouds great dismal there are miles of dry forest around lake drummond but here and there along the west shore are holes that would mire you to the waist near the headwaters of pasquotank Pasquo tank river are holes that would engulf you also all over the peat areas are deep fire holes boles when the swamp Is full of water and bovere covered of with vines travel Is difficult and dangerous ge rous dismal swamp canal connecting hampton ampton II roads with pasquotank Pasquo tank river and albemarle sound begins at the village of deep creek six miles southwest of portsmouth it Is ro BO fiet feet wide and navigable for vessels wila a seven foot draft however forbidding many people regard dismal swamps exterior few can view the mouth of the feeder ditch from the george washington highway without becoming enthusiastic while it pass passes through the wide reedy treeless and vine matted expanse the feeders banks are lined with stately trees tor for most of its three miles in springtime there are jasmine honeysuckle and other fragrant flowers e rs in places it resembles a sylvan tunnel as ene enchanting hanting and alluring it runs straight as an arrow into the mysterious and romantic depths toward lake drummond otter slides along the banks and bear trails where old bruin swims the canal in passing from open space to open space add zest to the journey in summer the logs and roots that jut from the bunks and often the overhanging llinus swarm with snakes most of them harmess however the feeder Is 30 feet wide clog ed with debris from years of to log ran ing the fermer seven foot normal oage has dwindled to three 4 and with low water the ditch Is almost impassable the so called juniper water of the th feeder and lake drummond la is 11 in reality a blend of the teachings of water from gum cypress maple and juniper southern white cedar pe atland which covered several hundred square miles the occasional visitor to dismal swamp cannot distinguish between th var various 10 u S waters or the blends but a small amount of juniper leaching lg Is required to make other swamp waters palatable pure aum um water Is dark in color and causes a feeling of distress after drinking cypress water Is palatable and of a lighter color and ana will keep longer than gum water which will not remain sweet an entire summer pure juniper water however Is smooth healthful and palatable it Is of a beautiful sparkling color between rich chrome yellow and orange given the same kind of food timber workers who drink other swamp waters never look as healthy as those who work in the cedar forests and drink pure juniper water formerly juniper tea made from steeped cedar straw was a standard beverage to in swamp lumber camps journeying up the feeder in seasons season of low water where underlying roots are exposed the traveler gets an idea of the source of the swamps rich amber colored waters there are places in the cedar and cypress growths where roots logs limbs stumps and snags are lapped and tied and twisted to a depth of 17 to 20 feet such i natural laboratory will produce or cypress water for years jungle hard to conquer the ax means little to great DI dismal it was wild before the lumberman came and after he passes it ra verts to its former state the jungle with its claws and thorns returns and the bear the deer the panther the raccoon again come into their own one lumber company operates more than SO 30 miles of narrow gauge gaug ge log railroad in the section lying southeast of lake drummond and extending well into north carolina th there ere Is little high grade timber left the greater portion lies south of lake drummond there are immense areas of hardwoods in which most of the trees are worthless still others where the never falling cedar will appear and the slow growing cypress and miles of scorched standing timber of all kinds for any use tise except firewood then there are the square miles of scattered clearings where in places the peat has burned eight and ten feet down to the sand and may clay the only permanent human baman habitation in the lake drummond wilderness Is the house of the government employed lock tender at the waste weir clearing two and three quarter miles west of dismal swamp canal and a quarter of a mile from lake drummond six gates or wickets regulate the low flow from the lake until the government obtained pos possession in 1929 the feeder and canal were privately operated now the ink lake and canals are controlled by the united states army engineers whose orderly meth methods are bringing a new day to dismal swamp indian relics on sand bars during the abnormally low water of the winter of ifko ll 31 many sand bars bare were exposed along the ahe shores of lake drummond in places the water receded more than a thousand feet one can find indian arrow henda hammers and other weapons and emple merits ments along the north shore where the Indi indians ting had hunted and fished for generations few indian relies relics are ever found ashore they rhey were soon covered by the olp decaying easing vegetation that forms forma the peat while nelds in tome some of the woods disintegrate the very bones of men and animals only three of the swamps many canals find ditches are now in ve tramp armil the feeder Fp eiler and the and chi canal all the rest have been abandoned many of were dug by slaves the jericho canal for the most part pa pases pa ans ses flir through clean clen rny ri q near the lake its bunks bonk are lined with tree wap tops loan lean inward past of the jericho ditch leer deer |