16 
GEOLOGY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
ara frequently elevated many feet above the adjacent streams, of which 
they are the sources. Some of them are in large part mere peat swamps 
or bogs ; being characterised by the occurrence of an accumulation of de- 
cayed and decaying vegetation, from 1 or 2 to 10 feet deep and upwards, 
which, with the growing plants act as a sponge, arresting or retarding 
the escape of the rain water, whether by evaporation or efflux. The 
prominent ingredients are peat and fine sand in various proportions, and 
when of any agricultural value at all, there are also small proportions of 
clay, iron, lime and alkalies. The vegetation varies with the character of 
the soil, and serves therefore, as an index of its fertility. The prevalent 
growth of the best swamp soils is black gum, poplar, cypress, ash and 
maple. As the soil becomes more peaty, the proportion of cypress in- 
creases. Where juniper abounds, peat is in excess and the soil of little 
value or none. On the best lands there is often besides, a rank growth 
of canes; but such a growth is also often found on soils too peaty to be 
of any value. Much of the poorest and most worthless tracts of swamp, 
which are covered with several feet of half decayed wood and other veg- 
etable matter saturated with water, is occupied by a stunted and scat- 
tered growth of bay, swamp pine and other scrubby vegetation ; or if the 
drainage he a little better, with a thickety growth of bays, gallberries and 
a few other shrubs, with an occasional pine and maple. Most of the 
large bodies of swamp contain lands belonging to all these descriptions, 
and enclose besides within their boundaries, knolls, hummocks, belts and 
ridges, like islands, of firm land, aud some of them, large areas of barren 
sandy soil, covered with a tangle of brambles and tufts of sedge, and in 
the middle of several of them occur fresh water lakes of considerable ex- 
tent. Many of the open, gladey portions are covered with cranberries. 
The largest continuous area of swamp lies between Albemarle and Pamp- 
lico sounds, and is called the Hyde County Swamp. It occupies a con- 
siderable part of the territory of five counties, and an area of nearly 
3,000 square miles. 
Large tracts of the better description of these lands, have been 
drained and subdued, and are among the finest farming lands in tne 
State. The largest body of these lies along the rim of Matamuskeet 
Lake, which is raised four to six feet above the water in the lake (and 
sound.) Prom this marginal ridge the surface gradually descends in every 
direction, often reaching a level but two or three above tide at the dis- 
tance of a few miles from the lake. These lands are drained by cutting 
ditches through the loose black soil down to water level, which is so near 
the surface that they never suffer from drouth, and the crops are inde- 
pendent of the rain fall. The north-eastern portion of this swamp is- 
