Harper: Explorations in Georgia 1903 151 



the vicinity do not seem to know much about it, and have not 

 even given it a name, apparently. But from the nature of its 

 surroundings and other considerations, I imagine that this pond 

 must be a good deal hke Okefinokee Swamp, on a small scale. 

 Within a mile of the pond the sand is deeper and drier than usual, 

 with a sort of sand-hill flora much like that around the large 

 ponds in the lime-sink regions of Decatur and Lowndes counties.* 

 Later in September I did some work along the Altamaha 

 River, in the vicinity of the two points where railroads cross it 

 (near Doctortown and Barrington) and around Darien^ the seaport 

 at its mouth. Like most of its tributaries, the Altamaha has sand- 

 hills along its left bank, but they are not as extensive (where I 

 saw them, at least) as those farther inland, and their flora seems 

 less varied. Opposite Doctortown the sand-hills are not over 

 a mile wide, near Barrington (station) they are much narrower, 

 and they disappear entirely somewhere above Darien. At both 

 points where I crossed the river its swamp is about a mile wide, 

 containing several elongated " lakes " (bayous they would prob- 

 ably be called farther west), and happens to be all on the left 

 or sand-hill side. The bridge near Barrington is not over twenty 

 miles from the ocean, but the volume of flow of the river is such 



* 



that the influence of the sea is not felt by the vegetation there, and 

 I was informed that the tide is perceptible only when the river is 

 very low. (The smaller rivers, such as the Ogeechee, Satilla and 

 St. Mary's, at this distance from the coast have several feet of tide 

 and are bordered by brackish marshes.) Even at Darien, which 

 is within ten miles of the open ocean, the river marshes are fresh 

 or nearly so, and contain a good deal of Taxodinm distichiim. 

 Coming up by steamer from Brunswick to Darien the gradual 

 transition from salt to fresh marshes can be plainly seen, the com- 

 position of the vegetation changing almost completely while its 

 general aspect remains about the same, 



A few miles above the railroad bridge near Barrington is the 

 lowest ferry on the Altamaha, where the Bartrams, father and son, 

 crossed in the i8th century, and discovered that now long-lost 



Franklinia Alatamaha or Gordonia p 

 d.t Somewhere near the same poin 



florid ana 



*See Bull, Torrey Club 30 : 291. 1903 ; 3^ = ^5- '904- 



iFor an account of several attempts to rediscover this tree see Ravenel, Am. Nat 



16: 235-238. 18S2. 



