' Difmal
Swamp.
Aboriginal forefts are fo numerous throughout the United territory,
that noneieem to be particularly diftinguifhed. There does -riQt- ^ppcar
to exift, on the whole continent of America, any of thöfe fandy d.eferts
which- are fo-remarkable in Alia and Africa. - There is, on the y©n-
■ trai-y, an exuberance of water even in the moll torrid regions; which
might be added as a proof of the theory that this continent has more recently
emerged.' “ Even the volcanoes in South America, often pour
down torreuts of water and mud, and no where occur the fandy ruins
o f plains, after the fertile foil has been totally loft, or the rocky Ikele-
tons of ancient mountains. The large tra£t in' the eaftern part- of Virginia
and North Carolina, called the Difirial Swatnp,' «céupiesï^ibout
150,000 acresj but it is entirely covered with trees, juniper androypefs
On theinore moift parts; and m the drier white and red Oakl and a; variety
of pines.* Thefe ’treesattain~a .prodigious §ze-p and .among jfaein
thëre is often tlack brufhwood, fo as to rencter the fwamp ifepervieusjV
while other forefts in North America hre'commoÖ^M'e'froth uridfer-
Avood. Cane reeds, and tall rich grafs, foon fatten cattle-Of the yifcinirjr,
which taught To. return tq the farqis oT thetf dwp'accord. ïngfeis
fvvampy forèft'bears,, wolves-, deer, and other wild animals abound ;?and
. ilories' are told of children haying been loft, who have been feen, after
many years, In a wild ftate of nature. Some-parts are Jo d r f^ to r bear a
boric, while fome are overflowed, and others To miry that a man Would
fmk up to the neck.- A canal has been led through i t ; and even in the
dry parts water of the colour of brandy, as is fuppofêd from the.root's of
-the junipers; gulhed in at the depth of three feet. In the northern part
the timber fuppliesan article oftradè, while in the fouthern rice is found
to- profper ; and in-the neighbourhood none of thefe difeafes are known
which haunt other marlhy fituatiops.*
aian term, the Endlefs mountains. 1 It appears from repeated paflages of-JKalm that they chiefly
confift of what may be called calcareous granite, or mingled limeitone, quartz, and mica. The
river Hudfon cuts direftly acrofs the high ridge of mountains. ICalm, p. 7.7.
* Weld* i »79* I i *V*.4 . | '■
> On the N .E . of the Ghefapek is another of great extent called Cedar Swamp and fome'
other large fwamps occur in the fouthern Hates. -
i i .■ Georgia
1 Georgia prefe.nts a lingular marfh, or in the wet feafon a lake, called Swamps.
Ekanfanoko, by , others Ouaquafenoga,* in the S. E. extremity of the
province.. This marlhy lake is about 300 miles in circumference, and
contains feveral large and fertile ifles, one of which is reprefented by the
Creek Indians as a kind of paradife, inhabited by a g^ppliar''T^^whoffiA
women are; incomparably rbeahtiful, ‘and hy,J^,em daughters of
.th-6 fan. iThefe? iflaiiders are faidt til ;be.4>r^mK^ptt^SaW'ap'e-ite®|Mrt|be
neatly exterminated by the; Creeks,.Such events ma je;$|0it’-hav,e; .feeeh
tmpfiWjJOn among fayage tribal j^bd- tjtei more indpfti-||§^ (people %bo
er#ftedrthe. n©t;ed' l%a*ypibieft;p|Sy.g,j t
comparative ftate-of civilization, when an unhappy defeat, by more fa-
vage tribes extinguifhed their name and power. T|Sa£ktfep pgti^ssMawp,
n^jHmiTKjgyj.of’fpc.h trardab^ions ,js'jnotr,?nrattei;1Gtf W0amfr^|£or,,t!beil' tra->
diti,oasfcaq ferpely excoedta-Gentury^pytwo, ^tTayptmuft.
A ,eta nutty thairehpeTl^psgSrqh pnq frantienlhe feverit^pE^iC^apa-'?®^11^-
diap wiqlprs^ and ,on( the efther baiks Wtlyyjpjlya^j^df'P-f Wef^ Indian
hummers, may naturally he expected lo. ypntaip fmall varipjtsr„o£
native plants,So-numerous'and important indeed are they, aSjlpiiEea-
dt^T^mpoff^blfL’ in a work not demoted particularly- tq, fhe fipbjetL.fo po-
tiogrthgm as they>deferve ; we mu ft therefore .hpl{qpEitentpd with; the fe%
leition of fuch. alone as, from their utility and beauty,; hav'e: the ftrongpfk5
claim to our attention,
The botany of thefe fta.ths',including the Floridas, or, in- other words,
of the whole region extending caftwardfrom the Miffifljppi to the ocean, -
and fouthward.from the river .St. Lawrence with 'its lakes to the .gulf, o f
Mexico, may be divided- into th.ofe v;2getsblesVwbich-are;xommon to the
whf|||country,. arid, thofevth-at occupy only particular parts-..
The; mod generally- di flu fed fpecies among the timber trees; are the
willow-leaved oak (quercus phellos) growing In the fwamps ; the.cheft- '
riut oak (q. prinbs)', which in the fopthern^ Eases attains -an enornrohsl
fiz.e,,and is.almoft as valuable for its fweet farinaceous acorns- as fo;r ij-gi!';•
woqdfj- the white.,qak ; the red and the black- Next-tort-heft» in rank
* long aqd'-baTbaroiis appellatives, derived fkprn favag.es \alio have a w^pVof fourteen fyl- I
lablea.ttf* exprefs tlreTi limber three, are’ not infrequent5 in North American geography, '-a nd ,o u ghtS^S.
|||H abbreviated, and redxiced to a fixed orthography’, by fome learned focietjr,- mi
ar^