Since its discovery by Captain John Smith in 1608, the Nanticoke has never been particularly hospitable to the outsider. Flowing thirty-six miles from its source above Seaford, Delaware, to the Chesapeake Bay below Salisbury on Maryland's Eastern Shore, it is surrounded by mosquito-ridden and low-lying marshland.
In Naturalist on the Nanticoke, Robert Hedeen concentrates on the natural history and ecology of the river area, but especially on those aspects that have given rise to fascinating stories and legends.