702 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 11 



No. IH. 



Journey over the firm land of Washington county. 

 First impressions of the great swamp, and Lake 

 Scuppernong. 



Somerset Place, Nov. 21. 

 Having been most kindly invited by Josiah Col- 

 lins, esq. to accompany him to his place of resi- 

 dence, and promised his aid to enable me to see 

 the swamp lands where I had heard had been 

 made the most successful and inferestinir improve- 

 ments by draining, I readily availed of his offer; 

 and this morning we left Plymouth. Our road 

 was neces.-=arily on the only long and nearly con- 

 tinuous stretch of dry land in the county ; and was 

 very circuitous. All of the central and southern 

 part of the county, through which a direct route 

 would have led, is parr, of the great swamp, and of 

 course impassable. The road is on the lower yet 

 firm land near the shore of AlbemiiHe Sound, and 

 for 4 or 5 miles we were with a mile of it, and ge- 

 nerally within a quarter of a mile, and in lull view 

 of the trees on the opposite side. The water 

 however was but seldom and barely visible, owing 

 to the low level of the road. This firm ground is 

 supposed to be not more than of 10 feet elevation 

 above the water of the sound, and of course is 

 lower than the main body of the great swamp. 

 But whether of the sandy or the clay soil, (as be- 

 fore described,) the land was firm, and the road 

 excellent throughout. Thouiih wider than the 

 smaller ridges, the land generally was of the same 

 kinds and alternations of soil. I'he swamp growth 

 was often in sight, on one or both sides. After 

 turning southward, fi-om the neighborhood of the 

 sound, we crossed the outer partol'Po|)lar Swamp, 

 a projecting portion of the main body, and which, 

 like that in general, is now covered several inches 

 deep in water, though no rain has recently fallen. 

 Afterwards we passed through a part of what is call- 

 ed the " body land," being the largest body of firm 

 land (7 to 8,000 acres,) and having uniform and 

 peculiar qualities. This is very level, and a close 

 stiff clay soil, which, though firm, requires drain- 

 ing to removesurfice water, and without that ope- 

 ration beinnr well executed, the land is worth very 

 little. This draining was not done, or very imper- 

 fectly, for a long time ; and during that time, the 

 people living on this land supposed that it was not 

 capable of producing them bread. Accordin<T|y, 

 they either cultivated corn on some poor sandy 

 spot in the neighborhood, or bought it wiih what 

 they gained by cutting lumber, which business 

 was, and still is, the aeneral source of income, 

 here and elsewhere in this county, except the liitle 

 corn and less wheat cultivated. But since having 

 been sufficiently drained, this " body land" brings 

 good corn, as I saw standing;, and very heavy 

 crops of wheat. Some of it has produced 30 

 bushels of wheat to the acre. 



On several of the small farms passed in the 

 day's journey, were seen the Scuppernong grape 

 vines, trained in the manner usual in this part of 

 the country, and on Roanoke Island. One or 

 more vines, (which appeared to be three or four 

 inches in diameter,) rose perpeneicularly about 7 

 feet, to the top of an open horizontal frame or seal- 

 fold, raised on posts, and over which the branches 

 spread, and thickly cover. A single vine will co- 

 ver, and closely shade a wide space; and as ihr 



growth spreads, the frame is extended. The Scup- 

 pernong is a native grape. The fruit is while, 

 very large, and grows not in bunches, but singly. 

 It is, to my taste, delicious, and is also a good grape 

 lor wine, of wliich some that is very palatable 

 and much that is bad, is made hercabuui. 



We crossed Scuppernong river on a draw-brdge. 

 The river is a narrow, but deep, and navigable for 

 sea vessels lor a mile above the bridge. It has 

 the same general appearance of all the small rivers 

 of this countrj', iis waters being black and slug- 

 gish, spreading far over the low and wide swamp 

 on its borders. Having passed out of this river 

 swamp, our road again rose into high-land or 

 firm soil, and generally under its original high- 

 land forest growth. So liar, for more than 30 miles 

 the road had passed through lands as devoid of 

 interest as any whatever. Eut soon after this, 

 notwithstanding my having been somewhat pre- 

 prepared fiy previous general description, it was 

 with no less surprise than pleasure that the scene 

 was seen to change, and successive works of 

 industry as well as of nature were successively 

 reached, none of which could have been otherwise 

 suspected of existing in such a locality. The road, 

 while yet on high or dry land, first brought us to 

 the margin of a wide and deep navigable canal, 

 down which the water flowed with a fulness and 

 degree of rapidity which aflbrded evidence of an 

 unusual rate of descent. 



The canal stretched out of sight in a perfectly 

 straight course both above and below, and appa- 

 rently (as really) for miles in extent. One of il3 

 banks had been formed into a wide and excellent 

 road, along whicii was our still ascending course, 

 meeting the direction of the flow of the water. 

 After proceeding thus, and the land obviously still 

 increasing in elevation, our route rose from a high- 

 land and firm soil to swamp land, having its usual 

 and marked peculiarities. We had indeed just 

 entered the border of the great swamp region, and 

 our course was towards its interior. The land 

 here on both sides was a wet morass, though not 

 inundated, and was principally covered with ever- 

 green trees, so that the verdure of summer was 

 iienerally presented, when eveiy thing else showed 

 the hues or nakedness of winter. The most nume- 

 rous and largest of the evergreens are of the same 

 species of magnolia before mentioned, and which 

 is called the black laurel. Some here are more 

 than two feet through the body. It is a beautiful 

 tree, on account of its glossy and bright green 

 leaves, and its long and very strarght body; and 

 iTiuch more pleasin<i to the eye were these trees 

 wliere they formed the almost entire and thick 

 growth. 



Next we reached cleared and well drained 

 swamp land, under 'a heavy crop of corn, ofvvhich 

 the growth covered a single field of some 600 

 acres. 'J'he rich soil was quite dry; yet its ap- 

 pearance, as well as the large intersecting ditches, 

 and the yet standing dead trees, all showed clearly 

 enough that it had formerly been swamp of the 

 same'character as that on which still grew the na- 

 tive forest of gigantic cypresses, which bounded 

 the prospect beyond the cleared land. A-head of 

 us, and still distant, now were in view various 

 buildings, so numerous as to seem a village. The 

 increased rapidity of the current, as well as the 

 ascending course of the road, which was now 

 manitijst to the eve. showed that the land was stil! 



