1878] The Dismal Swamp 



The offshore spit, which follows with only oc- 

 casional breaks the whole coastline of North Caro- 

 lina, is made up of material first washed down by 

 streams and rains from the adjacent, low-lying, 

 sandy pine woods, to be then hurled back by the 

 strong currents outside. It culminates in Cape 

 Lookout and Cape Hatteras, the latter forming the 

 stormy divide between north and south and throwing 

 the Gulf Stream far out into the ocean. 



Leaving Beaufort, we took a little steamer from 

 Newbern through Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, 

 then into the Dismal Swamp Canal and so on to and 

 Norfolk a trip of much interest botanically and 

 otherwise. The banks of the canal were lined with 

 the showy white-flowered Stuartia, an American 

 cousin of the Chinese Camellia. Deeper in, one sees 

 multitudes of picturesque cypress trees, which form 

 abrupt angles or "knees" at the water level. On 

 these projections frogs sit, and sometimes long, 

 slim, striped water-snakes rest there, dropping into 

 the water when disturbed, and making on the sur- 

 face as they recede the letter "S" in endless suc- 

 cession. Here also lives the little rice-field fish 

 Chologaster of antiquated type, a supposed an- 

 cestor of similar fishes, blind and colorless, which 

 frequent the cave streams of Kentucky, Indiana, 

 and Missouri. 



Midst of it all lies Drummond, "the Lake of the 

 Dismal Swamp," a round sheet of water about 

 five miles across. To me its basin has an appearance 

 of having been formed by fire at some time when 

 the swamp was dry, so that a big hole was burned 

 out; but I may be wrong. The water, although 

 the color of black coffee like that in evergreen bogs 



C 173 3 



