Not Without its Attractive Side – HC Jackson in the Okefenokee 1890

An excerpt from the journal of Howell C. Jackson describing the beautiful Okefenokee Prairies as he surveyed the Okefenokee Swamp in 1890…

“I am at this instant writing this letter in the midst of the Okefenokee, using my notebook for my desk. I am standing in water nearly to my hips. Near above me, and pointing heavenward are some of the largest and most graceful Pine and Cypress I have ever seen. Around me on every side a network of gallberry bushes, bamboo briars, bay bushes and vines woven into such an impenetrable mass. The width of these bays varies from 100 to sometimes 1,200 feet. This picture, like most others is also not all together without its attractive side. Within the range of my eye are the water lily, the spotless purity of its exquisite flowers beautifully contrasted with the dark face of the water upon which it is growing, while the warm morning air is laden with the perfume of the cape jessamine, yellow jessamine and the bay blossoms.”

H.C. Jackson, Camp Robinson, June 4th, 1890