THE DUNES A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 



335 



inland, while elsewhere along this coast such a movement is less evi- 

 dent or not to be detected (fig. 51). From the summit and the steep 

 inward face of the highest dunes al (ape Henry project the tops pf 

 old cypress trees, some of which still bear a few living leaves (fig. 52). 

 The sand is pouring down upon the floor of a tract of swampy forest 

 (locally known as "The Desert,") and the leaves and branches of 

 many of the trees have been more or less perfectly denuded by sand- 

 laden winds (fig. 53). Between these high inner dunes and the beach 

 are to be seen dead trunks of large pine trees standing amid the bar- 

 ren sands. 



The Desert itself occupies an ancient dune area, and bears witness 

 to the fact that, while at present the aeolian sands are gaining upon 



Fx(j. 53.— Incursion of the sand on inland vegetation near Capo Henry, Va. 



the forest, in times past- a contrary process has had place (lig. 54). 

 This forest area covers an area of alternate elevations and depres- 

 sions, the former bearing a growth of oaks, pines, and a more or less 

 xerophilous undergrowth, the latter a palustrine forest of cypress 

 (Taxodium), black gum ( Yyssa bi'Jforct), red maple (Acer rubrum), 

 etc., with here and there small, shallow pools containing aquatic 

 vegetation. The ridges which traverse The Desert conform generally 

 in direction to that of the present coast line. 



Very interesting, as showing how little conditions have altered at 

 Cape Henry within the past, one hundred years, is the following 

 description of the dunes as they appeared about 1700 toB. II. Latrol>e: 1 



These easterly winds, blowing during the driest and hottest .season of the year, 



'Trans. Am. Phil. Soc., vol. 4, pp. 4:!9 to 4 (S (1799). 



