CANAfc. 
m 
however, and by no means unpalatable ; it is 
said to possess a diuretic quality, and the peo¬ 
ple in the neighbourhood, who think it very 
wholesome, prefer it to any other. Certainly 
there is something* very uncommon in the na¬ 
ture of this Swamp, for the people living up¬ 
on the borders of it, do not suffer by fever and 
ague, or bilious complaints, as is generally the 
case with those resident in the neighbourhood 
of other swamps and marshes. Whether it is 
the medicinal quality of the water, however, 
which keeps them in better health or not, I do 
not pretend to determine. 
As the Dismal Swamp lies so very near to 
Norfolk, where there is a constant demand 
for shingles, staves, &c. for exportation, and 
as the very best of these different articles are 
made from the trees grown upon the swamp, 
it of course becomes a very valuable species 
of property. The canal which is now cutting 
through it, will also enhance its value, as when 
it is completed, lumber can then be readily 
sent from the remotest parts. The more • 
southern parts of it, when cleared, answer 
uncommonly well for the culture of rice; but 
in the neighbourhood of Norfolk, as far as 
ten feet deep from the surface, there seems 
to be nothing but roots and fibres of differ^ 
ent herbs mixed with a whitish sand, which 
would not answer for the purpose, as rice 
