History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900, Part 26

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1054

USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900 > Part 26

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The result of this interference with the

natural drainage of swamp has been that the western section of the morass is probably rather wetter than it was before the barrier was constructed, while the section to the east of the canal, deprived of the water which originally flowed into it, has become partially desiccated. In the section to the west of the canal, within the limits of the morass, there are probably no areas which in an ordinary season are sufficiently dry to permit tillage, though in periods of peculiar drought a large part of the surface may attain this measure of desiccation. In the section to the east of the canal the higher parts of the ground at many places are in an ordinary summer season so dry that they might be tilled without incon- venience from water. In that part of its area considerable portions of the surface have been improved by ditching, the swamp covering re- maining only in the lower grounds adjacent to the sluggish streams which traverse the district. Something of this relative difference in the measure of the desiccation has doubt- less come about in consequence of the barrier imposed by the embankments of the Dismal Swamp Canal.

An interesting feature in the topography of the Dismal Swamp is the presence of a con- siderable lake occupying a tolerably central position in the part of the morass which lies to the west of the main canal. The basin it occupies is everywhere shallow ; probably in its natural state the maximun depth was not over six feet. At first I purposed to make careful study of the depth and form of the basin, but a little observation showed me that the depth of water had been much affected by retaining dams. The measure of the effect produced by the obstructions to natural drain- age not being determinable, it did not seem worth while to make a careful study of the basin.

There is a tradition, which appears in its origin mythical, to the effect that this basin was formed by fires which occurred in some remote time. Intelligent local observers, in proof of this hypothesis, note the fact that,

THE MANSION HOUSE ON THE PLANTATION OF COL. WILLIAM CRAFORD, THE FOUNDER OF PORTSMOUTH, LOCATED AT SWIMMING POINT.

LAKE DRUMMOND IN THE DISMAL SWAMP.

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during dry seasons, patches of the swamp a few acres in extent have been seen to burn to such a depth as to form a place for the accumu- lation of permanent water. Not only is proof wanting to justify the supposition that Lake Drummond was thus formed. but there are good reasons why its origin must be other- wise explained. It is difficult to believe that in the course of a single dry season a forest fire could burn over an area as large as is occit- pied by this lake, or that the conflagration could so completely have removed the whole deposit of peaty matter. Moreover, even in the dryest season, it appears to be the only peripheral portions of the swamp which become suffici- ently desiccated to burn to any depth, this cen- tral portion remaining wet at any depth be- neath the surface even in the periods of great- est droughts.

If Lake Drummond were an unparalleled feature of our swamp areas, it might be reason- able to explain its origin by the hypothesis of an extensive forest fire in a period of great drought, but there are numerous instances in which similar lakes occur in the central por- tion of our greater swamp areas. I have been, therefore, leld to the conclusion that this cen- tral lake of the Dismal Swamp was formed in the following way, viz: The gently sloping platform on which the Dismal Swamp rests evidently emerged from the sea in a somewhat rapid manner ; the absence of any marine bench on its surface appears to be conclusive evidence of this. At first we may assume that the sterile character of the soil would have pre- vented the simultaneous growth of forest trees and other plants of a higher order over the greater part of the plain. The growth of such plants would naturally have begun on the periphery of the district, either on the western border, where the soil had already been formed, or next to the sea, where the humidity would favor the growth of plants even on barren sands. 1 conceive that begin- ning on the margin the forest would advance toward the center of the field, and the fallen trees and other entanglements would serve to

form an obstruction to the outflow of the water, and thus to retain the central part of the area in the condition of a shallow lake. The area of this basin would be gradually narrowed by the growth of the cypresses, black gums and other trees which can maintain their roots beneath the level of permanent water. Not- withstanding the fact that the level of the water of Lake Drummond has been raised since the construction of the Dismal Swamp Canal, the forest is still slowly gaining upon the area of the lake at several points. Leaves and drifted wood accumulate next the shore and shallow the basin so that gradually trees can find a foothold in what was recently open water.

If this view be correct, Lake Drummond must be considered as belonging to the type of peat-inclosed lakes which are so common in' the small morasses of the glaciated area. To the same group we shall probably have to refer the numerous other lakes in the region of swamps south of Albemarle Sound. Lake Phelps, Pingo Lake, Mattamuskeet Lake, Alli- gator Lake and other basins on the more southern part of North Carolina probably be- long to the same type of swamp-inclosed basins.

VEGETATION.

Although the physical conditions of the Dismal Swamp district are extremely uniform, the vegetation exhibits a considerable diversity in its distribution in different parts of the area. The higher land, lying not more than three feet above the lowest adjacent levels, is gener- ally occupied by a growth of pines. altogether composed of the common species of southern pine so far as observed. These pine-clad ele- vations often rise so little above the surface of the swamp that the eye fails to detect the difference in level. Yet the lessened moisture due to the perceptible elevation is sufficient to give over the field to the possession of conifer- ous trees. The lower levels of the swamp are mainly occupied by three species of trees,

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which are greatly, though somewhat diversely, tolerant of water about their roots. These are the taxodium or bald cypress, the juniper and the black gum. The juniper occupies areas which are commonly somewhat desiccated through the dry season. The tupulo, or gum, and the cypress can inhabit areas which are in most cases water-covered even during the growing season. The cypress is the most tol- erant of water of these species, often attaining its best development in places where summer droughts at no time remove the water far from the surface of their roots.

The peculiar tolerance of these two species to water about their bases-a feature which is somewhat sharply contrasted with the other forest trees of this country-is probably to be explained by the fact that in both forms we have provisions by which the roots are enabled to have access to the air, and thus secure the aeriation required by the processes which take place in their underground branches. The knees of the cypress have long been a subject of discussion on the part of botanists, and various conjectures concerning the service which they perform have been made. A study of the region of the Mississippi Valley, which subsided during the earthquake of 18II, showed me very clearly that wherever by such accidents the vascular summits of these pro- jections were brought below the level of the summer waters, the trees inevitably died. In other cases, where by artificial dams the sur- face of the water had been raised in a swamp area. I found that the trees, the summits of which were suffused by the water in the sun- iner season, were quickly killed, while others continued to live.

It is an interesting fact that the knees of the cypress develop only where the roots upon which they rest lie beneath the surface of the water during the growing season of the year. They sometimes appear above the surface of the soil which is bare of water in the summer time, but, digging down to the place occupied by the roots, water will generally, if not al-

ways, be found so far present in the soil that it fills the excavation.

Another important fact in this connection is exhibited in the specimens of this species which grow upon elevated land secure from summer inundation, or where the trees stand on the margin of a swamp with parts of their roots on the dry land and part beneath the water. In the case where the tree is altogether removed from the chance of inundation, the roots bear no knees whatever, or at least they . exhibit slight enlargements from point to point, which, though they indicate the posi- tions the knees might occupy, never develop into such structures. On the margin of the swamp the roots which are beneath the water will bear knees, while those in the dry soil exhibit no such protuberances, or, at most, the slight prominences just mentioned.

In the Dismal Swamp the knees of the taxodium never attain any considerable height above the surface, the tallest seen having an elevation of not more than three feet above the roots from which they spring. In the swamps of the Mississippi Valley, where the water of the marshes is often deeper than it is at any point in the Dismal Swamp, the knees sometimes attain an altitude of six feet or more.

The black gum contrives to secure a result similar to that attained by the taxodium by quite another contrivance of its roots. Where this tree occupies positions in which the water remains during the summer season, the roots, in all cases in which I have been able to ob- serve the facts, have the habit of arching up- ward a few feet from the base of the hole.

Where the region is only moderately wet, where the water in the summer season comes near the surface, the emergence of the root is accomplished by a gentle upward flexure which brings its surface a little above the top of the ground ; where the water stands yet higher the whole of the root may emerge from the soil. In rare cases, where the water during the growing season stands two feet or more above

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the level of the roots, the flexure in that part of the tree is still more noticeable.

It is tolerably easy to determine the depth of inundation during the growing season by a close inspection of these root-arches of the tupulo. The bark is very rugose and in the damp swamp is frequently the seat of a con- siderable growth of annual plants. In some cases I was able to observe this coat of vege- tation on many of the root-arches around the same tree. The annual vegetation was every- where at the same height, and therefore may be taken as evidence that the roots are deeply covered by water in the summer time, but that the knee arches rise a foot or more above the surface of the water, or to about the same ex- tent as the summits of the knees of the tax- odium.

The amount of root arching in individuals of this species as well as the development of similar knee processes in the taxodium differ considerably in the individual trees. In some forms, lying at the same height as others, which are abundantly provided with these arched processes, the flexures are almost want- ing. It appeared to me. however, that in the cases where the arches are not well developed, the trees are always of an inferior growth and apparently not well reconciled to their en- vironment.

It is also a noticeable fact that the flexures of the roots do not develop in the youth of the plant. but begin to be evident after the tree has attained a diameter of a foot or more. Some- thing of the same sort may be observed in the case of the taxodium. The okdler the tree. the more extensive proportionately are the knee processes. A young tree an inch or two in diameter without any knees at all may often be observed growing near specimens of the same species a foot or more in diameter, all of which have abundant knee processes. It seems clear that in both of these genera the knees are features which are not developed until the plant attains a considerable size.

It appears to be a characteristic common to nearly all trees which have become reconciled

to very wet soils that their trunks are much expanded at the crown, tapering from that point upward more rapidly than trees in other situations. The two varieties of gum and cy- press are conspicuous for this feature, It seems evident on eye inspection-I have made no comparative measurements-that the ex- pansion of these trees at the crown where they occupy wet situations is much greater than when they occur upon relatively dry ground. Not infrequently with gums and cypresses, the diameter of the tree at the crown is over twice as great as it is at the height of 10 feet above the surface, and in some cases I have found the ratios as high as three to one. An eye in- spection, without measurement. of several other species in stations diverse as regards the amount of moisture to which they were sub- jected, appears to indicate that this expansion of the crown in wet conditions is a common feature of forest trees. It seems possible that the enlargement of the tree just above the level of permanent water may be due to the same physiological conditions which determine the development of knees such as occur in the taxodium, or of sharp flexures of the roots, like those exhibited in the nyssa. When I first observed this feature I was disposed to think that it was perhaps designed to support the trees in their somewhat insecure foothold in the soft earth of the morass. Further inspec- tion has satisfied me that this view is untenable and that the peculiarity is more likely to be clue to the cause above mentioned.

ANIMAL LIFE.

The singular nature in the physical condi- tions in our morasses is marked in the animal as well as in the vegetable forms which in- habit their areas. Where a morass occupies but a small surface the exceptional features of its animal forms are not usually conspicuous. The larger swamps, those which are to be measured by square miles, generally have a peculiar fauna. The characteristics exhibited by the animals which occupy our morasses are

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usually related to the nature of the vegetation and the peculiar wetness of the earth. Thus, owing to the fact that nut-bearing trees are relatively rare, the arboreal rodents are gen- erally absent. The inundated nature of the soil makes it unfit for occupation by the sub- terranean forms of that group. Thus this important order of mammals is imperfectly represented in our larger morasses. So, too, with the reptilian forms. Certain of our ser- pents which have accustomed themselves to dry situations are generally absent from the swamps. The predaceous mammals, such as the fox and wolf, find these marshy lands un- suited to their needs. The species of birds which nest upon the ground are also rare. The birds generally, excepting aquatic forms; are less plentifully developed in our marshy areas than in the upland districts.

I have not yet been able to undertake any systematic inquiry into the animal life of our inundated lands. My general observations, however, show that the biological conditions of these areas are such as to afford an interest- ing subject for research. Thus the swamps of Ohio and other States north of Kentucky contain a good many species which are other- wise limited to Tennessee and other Southern States. It seems probable that these outlying groups of southern fauna occupying northern districts will be discovered in other sections of the country.

I have already noted the fact that a num- ber of species of trees show a singularly specialized structure which fits them to the peculiar environment which the swamps af- ford. It seems likely that this reconciliation with the environment will also be exhibited in the animal species which inhabit these areas. From the facts which have met my observa- tion, I am inclined to think that the fishes of our larger and more isolated swamp areas will be found to present certain interesting peculi- aritics.

extensive river systems. Thus the smaller fishes which inhabit the pools of our swamps. have secured something like the measure of isolation which characterizes the inhabitants of our caverns, and it seems likely that the species of the detached morasses may have a trace of the same specific and generic peculi- arities which are to be noted in the under- ground world. With this brief sketch of the conditions of animal life in the swamps, I will now proceed to give a few notes which I have been able to make on the fauna of the Dismal Swamp district.

Bird life is only moderately abundant, and is characterized by the general absence of the ground forms. The serpents which tolerate moist ground are of frequent occurrence, but are not known to present any peculiarities of species. The mammalian life is more peculiar than that of the other groups. The rodents are conspicuous by their absence. Bears are remarkably abundant. About 200 are killed each year within the limits of this field of morasses. Deer are now rare, but they have been somewhat plenty. The most peculiar feature in the mammalian life is the fact that large numbers of wild horned cattle are found within the morass. These have feralized from. domestic herds about the swamps. Estimates as to the number of these creatures vary con- siderably. I am inclined to think that there are probably about 500 now living within this area. They are extremely wild, and when hunted are often dangerous to the sportsman. Several observant persons have reported to me that fierce combats frequently take place between the bulls and the bears. John G. Wallace, of Wallaceton, states that he has sev- eral times heard the bellowing of the horned cattle when they were engaged in such com- bats. Another observer stated to me that some years ago he found a bull and a bear lying dead beside each other, both having been killed in the combat.

It is said that the bears have a peculiar

Owing to the isolation of the swamp areas, the species have been kept from the com- habit in their assault upon the horned cattle ; mingling of blood which necessarily occurs in they spring upon their backs and rend the

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imuscles which support the head of their prey, and thus escape the danger from its horns. The evidence as to this peculiar habit rests upon the fact that where the horned cattle have been killed in their contests with the bears the neck muscles are found divided.

I have not myself had an opportunity of seeing any of these cattle, but it is stated that they are generally of a black color and of small size. They appear to range through all portions of the swamp, but during the breed- ing season to prefer the slightly elevated por- tions where the canes abound. They feed mainly on the tender shoots of the cane, and are said to dwell generally in herds of from 20 to 50 individuals. Occasionally members of the wild herds are tolled out into the culti- vated fields by offerings of salt, and are led to join the domestic cattle. The greater part of the wild cattle, however, evidently live for generations without obtaining access to saline materials, a fact which shows that salt is not really necessary to them. for within the morass they can have no opportunity whatever of obtaining it. There are no salt springs, the tidal rivers which penetrate to the swamp are all fresh and there are no licks, such as were afforded by the slightly saline clays of the Mississippi Valley, to which the buffalo abundantly resorted.

METHOD OF DRAINING.

During the time when slaves were held in this part of the country, a considerable por- tion of the morasses which originally con- stitute the Dismal Swamp was drained. This task was accomplished by the simplest engin- eering expedients. Ditches having a depth rarely exceeding six feet were dug wherever convenience dictated. Each farmer planned the system for his own land without any re- lation to a general scheme for improvement. It is evident that the work was done in most cases without even the surveyor's aid. The aggregate labor expended in this ill-directed system has been great. Properly applied. it

would have gone far toward winning the whole of the unreclaimed swamps between Al- bemarle Sound and the James River to agri- culture. There are hundreds of miles of these trenches but few of which exhibit any concep- tion of the conditions which should have regu- lated their construction. In any scheme for the improvement of this region, the existing system of ditches will have to be neglected save in so far as the ditches may serve for the drainage of the small patches of land for which they were contrived.

There can be no question that the whole of the swamp area of this district, excepting certain small strips near the mouths of the larger indentations which extend northward from Albemarle Sound, is ready to be won to tillage by simple and comparatively inexpen- sive improvements. The average inclination of the surface is about 20 inches per mile, and this is sufficient to give a strong current to water flowing in ditches having a width on the water surface of four feet and a total depth of water of three feet. The character of the soil is very favorable for such improve- ments. The considerable amount of vegetable matter in the earth causes the canals which are not used for navigation to maintain their banks in good order. There are few tree trunks buried in the swamp deposits, as is well known by the excavation of ditches contrived for conveying timber. The aggregate length of these channels is at least 20 miles. At no point in their various courses have they en- countered any considerable difficulty from the trunks of , trees lying prostrate beneath the surface. The rank growth of the vegetation, particularly the roots which seize upon the banks of the canals, will save all costs for revetting their slopes.

In devising a plan for the drainage of this area, it will be necessary to take account of the existing canals; for, although these have not been contrived for the purpose of desic- cation and are in certain ways unsuited to that object, the constructions are so large that it will be necessary to introduce them into the

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scheme of drainage works. If the principal canal, that which is now navigable to vessels. were deprived of its locks and a similar course were taken with the Jericho canal or ditch, ex- tending from Lake Drummond to the James River near Suffolk, the result would be that a strip of land bordering on these water-ways would. provided the embankment on either side of the water-ways were cut through at a sufficient number of places to permit the exit of the water, at once become sufficiently dry for the uses of agriculture. The drain- age level of the swamp on either side of the main channel would be lowered about five feet. This alone would afford a base level low enough for the drainage of at least four miles west of the canal and about two miles east of it. The difference in the distance to which the ditches might be made effective would be determined by the slightly varying slope from the west toward the sea. Along the Jericho ditch the drainage would be less effective be- cause of the small size and shallowness of that excavation. At present the ditch averages not more than 15 feet of effective width with a depth of not more than three feet. The level of the water, moreover, is nearer the general level of the swamp than in the case of the Dis- mal Swamp Canal.

If the level of the bottom of the Dismal Swamp Canal were lowered to 12 feet below the present level of the water with an average width of 12 feet and an average depth of water with the new plane of four feet, it would doubtless furnish a sufficient exit way for all the swamp waters which would be drained to it from either side, and it would then be pos- sible by branch ditches to unwater the whole country on the western sde of its path and nearly the whole of the area to the east. At the same time the depth of the water remain- ing in the canal would be sufficient for all the purposes of transportation which would arise from the agricultural use of this area. Tribu- tary ditches, starting with the depth of eight or 10 feet and a width of water-way of about eight feet, should be extended with diminish-

ing size and depth to near the western margin of the swamp. They would probably not need to be nearer together than intervals of two miles. Their average length would be about eight miles and thus the total length of this system would be about 80 miles. Smaller and shallower ditches. having a width of water-way of not more than four feet where they connected with the main channels, would need to be carried ini a general north and south direction from the secondary channels so that no portion of the surface would be more than a mile from the water-way. Even smaller ditches would have to be extended across the surface so that no considerable portion of the area would be without a channel for its flood waters in the summer season. Practical ex- perience in the district seems to indicate that with this kind of drainage channels the soil would, after it had been subjugated to the plow. remain in a fit condition for tillage.

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History of Norfolk County, Virginia : and representative citizens, 1637-1900, Part 26

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1054

Author: Stewart, William H. (William Henry), 1838-1912
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1054