"Is it still possible to make a voyage of discovery here in Maryland, the nation's fifth most densely settled state? In The Great Marsh: An Intimate Journey into a Chesapeake Wetland, David W. Harp's photography and Tom Horton's prose produce a portrait of one such journey in an intriguing and endangered habitat." "Into this remarkable territory - whose shrinking dimensions frighten every naturalist and ecologist - Harp and Horton embarked on a canoe trip, exploring, documenting, and photographing the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County. This volume, at its core, is the story of a single crossing of the Blackwater's length, east to west, while the accompanying essays discuss how the marsh functions as a refuge for migrating butterflies, the wetlands sustain a lonely trapper, and the bogs yield archeological treasures - remnants of American Indian hunting forays and colonial boat building."--Jacket.