22 PEOCBEDINGS OF THE 



small game abounds ; where you may wander far without meet- 

 ing with signs of man, save perhaps the charred relics of de- 

 serted charcoal camps. You may take a likely-looking trail 

 into this lonely region, sure that it must lead to some point of 

 interest, but it rarely does. It just ramifies and fades away, 

 and one is fortunate if there is enough of its thread left to make 

 possible the retracing of his steps. Over this lonely land the 

 broad, brooding wings of the Turkey Vulture are constantly 

 spread ; its dark swamps are bright with Cypripedium and 

 White Orchids ; in the spring its dry, sandy stretches are fra- 

 grant with trailing arbutus ; the little sundews lift their heads 

 in the moist places ; millions of cranberries gleam in the brown 

 bogs in autumn. In the winter it is a country of beautiful 

 color ; rich russets and reds give contrast to the dark greens and 

 purples of pine and cedar. 



Here in the warm shelter of seed-bearing thickets thousands 

 of birds find food and protection during the winter. The light, 

 sandy soil does not hold the frost. The proximity to the sea 

 has a distinctly moderating effect upon the temperature. You 

 come upon birds and plants and even insects and reptiles which 

 you had not expected to find so far north. In short it seems as 

 though a bit of the Carolinas had been transported thither. In 

 summer the marshes dry up to some extent and the land be- 

 comes gray, parched and dusty. Forest fires burn here and 

 there, and by autumn the dry and sandy regions look withered 

 and wasted. 



A mild March day found three of the would-be campers 

 wandering on the edge of this mysterious country. The old 

 town of Medford was not far distant; the deep, dark waters of 

 the south branch of the Rancocas Creek flowed beside them. In 

 the distance the purple pines formed a frieze along the skyline, 

 hemming in the desolate regions beyond. We had come to the 

 eastern edge of the farming country. A mile further and we 

 would enter the Bear Swamp region, and then one might wander 

 across some forty miles of almost uninhabited wilderness before 

 reaching the coast. To us it seemed an enchanted land lying 

 out there in the soft spring sunshine, and it called us with 

 alluring voice. We determined to settle, if possible, within 

 sight of its borders. 



