78 



Golsan's, are bluffs with more loamy and moderately fertile 

 soil, sometimes precipitous and sometimes gently sloping, rising 

 to a height of loo feet or more, and pretty well wooded. The 

 vegetation on the more gentle slopes varies in density and luxuri- 

 ance with the distance from the water, exposure to sun, etc., 

 that near the base being fairly typical climax forest or rich 

 woods, passing into dry woods higher up. On the most precipi- 

 tous bluffs, where there is more exposure to sun and wind, but 

 also better protection from fire, are a few plants that seem to be 

 sensitive to fire (pyrophobic), such as Illicium, Kalmia lati- 

 folia, Oxydendrum, and Symplocos. 



About half a mile farther south, after passing under the rail- 

 road. Bridge Creek flows into Autauga Creek, in a swampy 

 bottom about* one-half mile wide. Near this point, where the 

 swamp is presumably sandier than usual, is one of the few known 

 Alabama localities for Pinus serotina* The large tree which 

 I had seen several times from trains (and photographed in 1906) 

 is still standing, and accompanied by a few smaller ones. 



About four miles south of Booth, among the hills of the 

 Eutaw formation, is a large creek swamp known as Bear Swamp, 

 a tributary of the Alabama River. On the 19th I went into 

 this swamp near its upper end with Mr. Golsan and Mr. Holt, 

 who had hunted birds and other animals in it for many years.' 

 In recent years there has been some agitation for draining this 

 swamp, on account of the widespread prejudice against swamps 

 of all kinds; but if the part I saw is typical, draining it would 

 do very little good from the standpoint of either agriculture or 

 health. For it is a non-alluvial swamp, with the deepest peat 

 I have ever noticed in Alabama. We had no way of measuring 

 the total depth of the peat, but it is evidently several feet. 

 A curious feature of the swamp is the presence of several deep 

 pools of clear water with precipitous edges, not visibly connected 

 with any channel. The only way I can account for them is 

 that they may represent holes burned in the peat by fire during 

 some extremely dry season, perhaps a generation ago. The 

 vegetation of the part I saw has much in common with that of 

 the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, and a bay and gum swamp 

 near Tallahassee, Fla.,t the commonest trees being Magnolia 



*See Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 33: 524. 1906. 



t See 3d Ann. Rep. F!a. Geol. Surv. pp. 254-255. 1911. 



