198 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



In that portion of the State which lies between the Santee and the 

 head-waters of the Cooper commences a chain of so-called springs which 

 present some exceedingly interesting features. Before describing them 

 it may be well to note the surroundings. The face of the country is 

 fiat, without a single hill worthy the name. The soil is a sandy loam, 

 and, being within the thermal influences exerted by the Gulf Stream 

 along the entire lower coast-line for fifty miles or more inland, is well 

 adapted to the culture of the " long-stapled," " black-seed," or " sea- 

 island " cotton, but yields poor crops of corn, and no pasturage. The 

 lower bank of the river is always covered by " the swamp," with its 

 dense canebrakes and its heavy growth of cypress. The upland is a 

 broad and rich belt, dotted with cotton-plantations, and well wooded 

 with oak, hickory, gum, and similar trees. Winding about through 

 this belt is a high ridge of sandy, barren soil, covered by the long- 

 leaved or turpentine pine and a thick undergrowth of " scrub-oak." 

 It is in the middle or plantation belt that the " springs " occur. In 

 both swamp and pine-land the water is soft, while that of the springs 

 is strongly charged with lime, and, unless boiled and iced, decidedly 

 laxative. Good pure water can usually be obtained, however, within 

 a few hundred yards from " pine-land wells," or " freestone " springs. 

 The country abounds in game, especially the swamps bear, deer, 

 wild-cats, the gray fox, and other small quadrupeds, with turkeys, 

 partridges, woodcock, snipe, and indeed all birds, common to the lati- 

 tude. No rocks or bowlders are to be found. The springs occur at 

 irregular intervals over a space of some thirty miles, at least ; whether 

 beyond that distance or not I do not know. They are not properly 

 springs, there being no case which I can remember where any bub- 

 bling or oozing of the water occurs, nor is there any adequate outlet 

 from any of the basins ; a small and shallow stream, or " run," which 

 is soon absorbed by the swampy soil, being the only way of escape 

 for the water, while in some cases, as we shall see, there is absolutely 

 no way for it to escape. 



Let us now proceed to examine a few of these basins in detail. 

 The most remarkable of them all is on the " Woodboo " plantation, 

 about forty miles from Charleston. Walking toward a clump of tall 

 cypresses, you suddenly find yourself on the brink of a miniature 

 lake, the ground being firm up to the water's edge. An irregular 

 basin, about fifty yards long by a dozen wide, is hollowed out in 

 the blue limestone-rock which underlies the soil but a few inches from 

 the surface, and this is filled to the brim with slightly opaline yet 

 perfectly clear water. The bottom slopes abruptly from either side to 

 the middle, where it is fully twelve feet deep, and where exists an 

 irregular fissure extending the whole length of the basin, and varying 

 from two to six inches (apparently) in width. The basin swarms with 

 fish of every variety common to the waters of the region, and of every 

 size. Schools of fry keep near the edges, hundreds in number, while 



