DISMAL SWAMP, the name given to two extensive stretches of morass on the eastern seaboard of North America. The larger of the two, distinguished as the Great Dismal, lies in the peninsula between the James River on the north and Albemarle Sound on the south, and thus belongs partly to Virginia and partly to North Carolina. Its length from north to south is about 40 miles and its breadth about '25. The greater part of the area is covered with a thick stratum of spongy vegetable soil, without any mixture of earthy particles, which at once supports and is augmented by a luxuriant growth of aquatic plants, brushwood, and timber. The prevailing trees are cypress, juniper, and white cedar, and on the higher ridges oak and beech. By a curious arrangement, minutely described by Sir Charles Lyell in his Travels in North America, the surface of the swamp is actually higher, in some parts by as much as 12 feet, than that of the surrounding country; so that, except on the western side, where it receives a few small streams, the waters flow outwards. The centre is occupied by Drummond’s Lake, an oval basin about 6 miles long and 3 wide, with perpendicular banks and an extreme depth of 15 feet; the water is clear and abounds with fish. The swamp has long furnished large supplies of timber, much of which has been obtained by excavation from the peaty soil in which it was preserved. The transit is facilitated by means of canals, of which the two most important are the Dismal Swamp Canal, uniting the western branch of Elizabeth river with the Pasquotank, and the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal, connecting the eastern branch of Elizabeth river with Currituck Sound. The former is flanked by a stage road, which terminates in the south at Elizabeth City, and in the north at Norfolk. Two ...