Travels into North America : containing its natural history, and a circumstantial account of its plantations and agriculture in general, with the civil, ecclesiastical and commercial state of the country, the manners of the inhabitants, and several curious and important remarks on various subjects

UNIVERSITY OF PlTi'SBURGH

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V^a\"l'v^ ,"Per^ nTIG- \"7T'^ mbmoriai uBRABy

•^ • ' UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

TRAVELS

INTO

NORTH AMERICA;

containing
Its Natural History, and

A circumftantial Account of its Plantations
and Agriculture in general,

W I T H T H E •

CIVIL, ECCLESIASTICAL AND COMMERCIAL
STATE OF THE COUNTRY,

The MANNERS of the inhabitants, and fiveral curious
and IMPORTANT REMARKS OH varlous Subjedls.

By peter KALM,
Profeflbr of Oeconomy in the Univerfity of Aolo in Swedifh
Finland, and Member of the Sn/jedijh Royal Academy of
Sciences.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH

By JOHN REINHOLD FORSTER, F. A. S.

Enriched with a Map, feveral Cuts for the llluftration of
Natural Hillory, and fome additional Notes,

VOL. L

WARRINGTON:
Printed by WILLIAM EYRES.

. MDCCLXX.

V

7/5

TO THE HONOURABLE

* DAINES BARRINGTON,

One of his Majefty's Juftices of the
Grand Seffions for the Counties of
r Anglesey, Caernarvon, and
Merioneth*

S I R,

IPrefume to prefix your name to
a performance which will in fome
meafure difplay to the Britijh
nation, the circumftances of a coun-
try which is fo happy as to be under
its protection.

Every lover of knowledge, efpe-
cially of natural hiftory, muft be fen-
fible of YOUR zealous endeavours to
' promote every branch of it. It was
my great happinefs to fall within your
notice, and to receive very fubftantial
and feafonable favours from your
? a 2 patronage

iv DEDICATION.

patronage and recommendations. I
fliall ever remain mindful of your
generofity and humanity towards me,
but muft lament that I have no other
means of expreffing my gratitude than
by this publick acknov^ledgment.

Accept then, Dear Sir, my ear-
neft v^ifhes for your profperity, and
think me with the trueft efteem.

Your moft obliged,

Warrington,
July 25th. 1770.

and obedient

humble Servant,

John Reinhold Forfter.

PREFACE,

THE prefent Volume of Profeflbr
Kalms Travels through North
America, is originally written in
the Swedijh language, but was
immediately after tran dated into the German
by the two Murray %, both of whom are
Swedes, and one a pupil of Dr. Linnceus,
and therefore we may be fure that this tranf-
lation correfponds exactly with the origi-
nal.

Baron Sten Charles Bielke^ Vice prefi-
dent of the Court of Juftice in Finland, was
the firil who made a propofal to the Royal
Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, to fend
an able man to the northern parts oi Siberia
and Iceland, as places which are partly un-
der the fame latitude with Sweden, and to
make there fuch obfervations and colledti-
ons of feeds and plants, as would improve
the Swedijh hufbandry, gardening, manu-
a 3 failures.

vi PREFACE.

fadtures, arts and fciences. Dr. Linnceus
found the propofal juft, but he thought that
a journey through North America would be
yet of a more extenfive utility, than that
through the before-mentioned countries ;
for the plants of America were then little
known, and not fcientifically defcribed, and
by feveral trials, it feemed probable that the
greateft part of the North American plants,
would bear very well the Swedijh winters ;
and what was more important, a great many
American plants promifed to be very ufeful
in hufbandry and phyfic.

Thus far this journey was a mere fcheme;
but as Captain Triewald^ a man well known
for his abilities in England, gave his Obfer-
n) at ions on the Cultivation of Silk in a feries of
Memoirs to the Royal Academy of Sciences,
and mentioned therein a kind of mulberry
tree, which was difcovered by Dr. LinnauSy
and which bore the rigours of the SwediJJo
climate as well as a fir or pine tree y this
circumftance revived the propofal of fuch a
journey in the year 1745. Count TeJ/in, a
nobleman of eftablifhed merit both in the
political and learned world, becoming pre-
iident of the Royal Academy, it was unani-
rnouily agreed upon to fend ProfelTor Kalm to
North America. The expences were at firft
a great obftacle ; but the Royal Academy

wrote

PREFACE. vii

wrote to the three univeriities to affift them
in this great and ufeful undertaking. Aobo
fent firft her fmall contribution, Lund had
nothing to fpare, but Upfala made up this
deficiency by a liberal contribution.

Count Piper was intreated to give a fa-
mily exhibition to Mr. Kalm, which he
readily promifed, but as the Academy had
obtained from the convocation of the uni-
verfity of Upfala and the magiftrates of
Stockholm, another exhibition of the family
of Helmsfield for Mr. Kalm, Count Piper
refufed to grant his exhibition, as being
contrary to the ftatutes of the univerfity and
without any precedent, that one perfon
fhould enjoy two exhibitions. The prefent
king of Sweden being then prince royal,
fucceflbr to the throne, and chancellor of
the univerfity, wrote to the convocation, and
exprefi^ed his wifhes to have from the trea-
fury of the univerfity for fo ufeful a purpofe,
about I GOO plates, or about 150I. fterling.
The univerfity complied generoufly with
the defire of her chancellor, and gave or-
ders that the money {hould be paid to the
Royal Academy. The board for promoting
manufadures gave 300 plates, or about
45I. Mr. Kalm fpent in this journey his
falary, and befides very near 130I. of his
own fortune, fo that at his return he found
a 4 himfelf

viii PREFACE.

himfelf obliged to live upon a very fmall
pittance. The reft of the expences the
Academy made up from her own fund.

We on purpofe have given this detail
from Mr. Kalms long preface, to fhew the
reader v^rith vi'hat public fpirit this journey
has been fupported in a country where mo-
ney is fo fcarce, and what a patriotic and
laudable ardor for the promotion of fciences
in general, and efpecially of natural hiftory
and hufbandry animates the univerfities, the
public boards, and even the private perfons,
in this cold climate, which goes fo far,
that they chufe rather to fpend their own
private fortunes, than to give up fo benefi-
cial and ufeful a fcheme. We have the
fame inftance in Dr. Hajfelquiji, who with
a iickly and confumptive conftitution, went
to A/ia Minor, Egypt and Palejiiney and
colle<fted fuch great riches in new plants
and animals, that Dr. Linnceus's fyftem
would never have contained fo many
fpecies, had he not made ufe of thefe trea-
fures, which the queen oi Sweden generouf-
ly bought by paying the debts of Dr. Haffel-
quijl, who died in his attempt to promote
natural hiftory. The Reverend Mr. OJbeck
in his voyage to China, made an infinite
number of ufeful and interefting obfervati-
ons at the expence of his whole falary, and

publiftied

PREFACE. ix

publiflied them by the contributions of
his parifli. The Reverend Mr. Horeen
died by the fatigues of the fame voyage,
and left his letters publifhed along with
OJbeck, as a monument of his fine genius,
and fpirit for promoting natural hiftory.
We here look upon the expences as tri-
fling, but they are not fo in Sweden, and
therefore are certainly the befl monuments
to the honour of the nation and th« great
Linnaus, who in refped: to natural hiftory
is the prmf4m mobile of that country.

Professor Kalm having obtained leave
of his Majefty to be abfent from his poft as
profeiTor, and having got a paflport, and
recommendations to the feveral Swedijh mi-
nifters at the courts of London, Paris, Ma-
drid, and at the Hague, in order to obtain
paflports for him in their refpedlive ftates,
fet out from Upfala, the i6th. of 05lober
1747, accompanied by Lars Tungfircem, a
gardener well fkilled in the knowledge of
plants and mechanics, and who had at the
fame time a good hand for drawing, whom
he took into his fervice. He then fet fail
from Gothenburgh,\\\e nth. oi December but
a violent hurricane obliged the fliip he was
in to take fhelter in the harbour of Grcem-
Jiad in Norway, from which place he made
excurfions to Arendal and Chrijiianfand. He

went

X PREFACE.

went again to fea F^/^rz/^ry the 8th. 1748,
and arrived at London the 17th. of the fame
month. He ftaidin England iiWAuguJi 1 5th.
in which interval of time he made excur«
lions to Woodford in Eff'exy to little Gaddefden
in Hertfordfiire, where William Ellisy a man
celebrated for his publications in hufbandry
lived, but whofe pradtical hufbandry Mr.
Kalm found not to be equal to the theory
laid down in his writings ; he likewife faw
Ivinghoe in Buckinghamjhirey Eaton and fe-
veral other places, and all the curiofities and
gardens in and about London : at laft he
went on board a iliip, and traverfed the
ocean to Philadelphia in Penfyhania, which
was formerly called New Sweden, where he
arrived September the 26th. The reft of
that year he employed in collediing feeds of
trees and plants, and fending them up to
Sweden; and in feveral excurfions in the en-
virons of Philadelphia. The winter he
pafled among his countrymen at Raccoon in
New Jerfey. The next year 1749, Mr.
Kalm went through New Jerfey and New
Tork along the river Hudfon to Albany, and
from thence, after having croiTed the lakes of
St. George and Champlain, to Montreal and
^lebecy he returned that very year againft
winter to Philadelphia, and fent a new cargo
of feeds, plants and curiofities to Sweden. In

the

PREFACE. xi

the year 1750, Mr. Kalm faw the weftern
parts of Penfyhania and the coaft of New
Jerfey -, Tungfircem ftaid in the former pro-
vince all the fummer for the coUeftion of
feeds, and Prof, Kalm in the mean time
pafTed New York and the blue mountains,
went to Albany^ then along the river Mo-
hawk to the Iroquois nations, where he got
acquainted with the Mohawk's, Oneida's^
Tujkaroras, Onandagas and Kayugaw's. He
then viewed and navigated the great lake
Ontario, and faw the celebrated fall at Nia-
gar a. In his return from his fummer ex-
pedition, he croiTed the blue mountains in
a different place, and in OBober again reach-
ed Philadelphia.

In the year 1751, the 13th. Qi February,
he went at Newcaftle on board a fhip for
England, and after a pafTage fubjed to many
dangers in the moft dreadful hurricanes, he
arrived March the 27th. in the Thames, and
two days after in London. He took paflage
for Gothenburgh May the 5th. and was the
1 6th. of the fame month at the place of his
deftination, and the 13th. of June he again
arrived at Stockholm, after having been on
this truly ufeful expedition three years and
eight months. He afterwards returned
again to his place of profefTor at Aobo, where
in a fmall garden of hi$ own, he cultivates

many

xii PREFACE.

many hundreds of American plants, as there
is not yet a public botanical garden for the
ufe of the univerlity, and he with great ex-
pedation wifhes to fee what plants will bear
the climate, and bear good and ripe feeds fo
far north. He published the account of his
journey by intervals, for want of encou-
ragement, and fearing the expences of pub-
lifhing at once in a country where few
bookfellers are found, and where the author
muft very often embrace the bufinefs of
bookfeller, in order to reimburfe himfelf
for the expences of his publication. He
published in his firft volume obfervations on
Englandj and chiefly on its hufbandry, where
he with the mofl minute fcrupuloufnefs and
detail, entered into the very minutiae of this
branch of his bufinefs for the benefit of his
countrymen, and this-fubjed: he continued
at the beginning of the fecond volume. A
paiTage crofs the Atlantic ocean is a new
thing to Swedesy who are little ufed to it,
unlefs they go in the few Eaft India fhips
of their country. Every thing therefore
was new to Mr. Kalm, and he omitted no
circumftance unobferved which are repeated
in all the navigators from the earlier times
down to our own age. It would be a kind
of injuftice to the public, to give all this at
large to the reader. All that part defcribing

England

- ^*

PREFACE. xlii^

England and its curiofities and hufbandry we
omitted. The. particulars of the paiTage
from England to Penfyhania we abridged ;
no circumftance interefting to natural hiflo-
ry or to any other part of literature has
been omitted. And from his arrival at
Philadelphia, we give the original at large,
except where we omitted fome trifling cir-
cumstances, viz. the way of eating oyfters,
the art of making apple dumplings, and
fome more of the fame nature, which ftruck
that Swedijh gentleman with their novelty.
Mr. Kalm makes ufe of the Swedijh mea-
furej its foot is to the Enghfi footy as 1134
to 1350. For his meteorological obferva-
tions, he employed the thermometer of
Prof. Celjius generally made ufe of in Swe-
den, and his was of Celjius % own making 5
the interval from the point of freezing to
the point of boiling water, is equally divi-
ded in this thermometer into 100 parts. \x\.
the names of plants, we have chiefly em-
ployed after his directions the Linncean
names in the laft edition of his Spec, Plan-
tammy and Syjlema Natures, Vol. 2. But
as his defcriptions of animals, plants, and
minerals are very fhort, he promifes to give
them at large fome time hence in a Latin
work. He excufes the negligence of his
flile, from the time in which he methodi-

xiv PREFACE.

fed his obfervations, which was commonly
at night, after being fatigued with the bu-
finefs of the preceding day, when his fpi-
rits were almoft exhaufted, and he, incapa-s
ble of that fprighthnefs which commends
fo many curious performances of that nature.

He gives you his obfervations as they oc-
curred day after day, which makes him a
faithful relater, notwithftanding it takes
away all elegance of fl:yle,and often occafions
him to make very fudden tranfitions from
fubjeds very foreign to one another. This
defedl we will endeavour to fupply by a very
copious index at the end of the whole work,
rather than derange the author's wordsy
which are the more to be relied on, as be-
ing inftantly committed to paper warm from
his refledHons.

At laft he arms himfelf with a very
noble indifference againft the criticifm of
feveral people, founded on the great aim he
had in view by his performance, which
was no lefs than public utility. This he looks
upon as the true reward of his pains and
expences.

These are the contents of his long pre-
face. We have nothing to add, but that
we intend to go on in this work as foon as
poffible, hoping to be fupported and en-
couraged in this undertaking, by a nation

which

P R E F A C E. XV

which is the poffeflbr of that great conti-
nent, a great part of which is here accu-
rately and impartially defcribed, efpecially
at this time when American affairs attract
the attention of the public.

We intend to join for the better illuftra-
tion of the work, a map and drawings of
American birds and animals which were not
in the original. They will be copied from
original drawings and real birds and ani-
mals from 'North America, which we have
accefs to, and muft therefore give to this
tranflation a fuperiority above the original
and the German tranflation.

An encourager of this work propofed it
as an improvement to the tranflation of
KaM% travels, to add in the margin the
paging of the original, as by this means
recourfe would be had eafily to the quotati-
ons made by Dr. Linnceus. We would
very readily have complied with this dejide-
ratwUi had we had the Swedijh edition of
this work at hand, or had the work not
been too far advanced at the time we got
this kind hint : however this will be
remedied by a copious index, which will
certainly appear at the end of the whole
work.

As we have not yet been able to procure
a compleat lift of the fubferibers and encou-

ragers

xvi PREFACE.

ragers of this undertaking, we choofe rather
to poftpone it, than to give an imperfedt
one : at the fame time we aflure the public,
that it fhall certainly appear in one of the
fubfequent volumes.

We find it neceiTary here to mention,
that as many articles in Mr. Kalm^ travels
required illuilrations, the publifher has taken
the liberty to join here and there fome notes,
which are marked at the end with F. The
other notes not thus marked were kindly
communicated by the publifher's friends.

Lastly, we take this opportunity to
return our mod lincere thanks in this pub-
lic manner to the ladies and gentlemen,
who have generoufly in various ways exert-
ed themfelves in promoting the publication.
of thefe ufeful remarks of an impartial, ac-
curate and judicious foreigner, on a country
which is at prefent fo much the objed: of
public deliberation and private converfation.

PETER

PETER KAL M's
TRAVELS.

Augujl the 5 th. 1748.

I WITH my fervant Lars Yungftrcem
(who joined to his abilities as garden-
er, a tolerable fkill in mechanics and
drawing) went at Grave/end on board
the Mary Gaily, Captain Law/on, bound for
Philadelphia -, and though it was fo late as
fix o'clock in the afternoon, we weighed
anchor and failed a good way down the
Thames before we again came to anchor.

Auguji the 6th. Very early in the
morning we refumed our voyage, and after
a few hours failing we came to the mouth
of the Thames, where we turned into the
channel and failed along the Kentijh coaft,
which confifts of fteep and almoft perpen«
A dicular

2 -^f^gnft 174B.

dicular chalk hills, . covered at the top with
fome foil and a fine verdure, and including
ftrata of flints, as it frequently is found in this
kind of chalk-hills in the refl of England.
And we were delighted in viewing on them
excellent corn fields, covered for the greatefl
part with wheat, then ripening.

At fix o'clock at night, we arrived at
Deal, a little well known town, fituate at
the entrance of a bay expofed to the fouth-
ern and eaflerly winds. Here commonly
the outward bound fhips provide themfelves
with greens, frefh victuals, brandy, and
many more articles. This trade, a fifhery,
and in the laft war the equipping of priva-
teers, has enriched the inhabitants.

Augujl the 7th. When the tide was
out, I faw numbers of fifhermen reforting
to the fandy fhallow places, where they
find round fmall eminences caufed by the
excrements of the log worms, ovfea worms,
(Lumbrici marini. Linn.) who live in the
holes leading to thefe hillocks, fometimes
eighteen inches deep, and they are then
dug out with a fmall three tacked iron fork
and ufed as baits.

Auguft the 8th. At three o'clock we
tided down the channel, pafTed Dover, and
faw plainly the opinion of the celebrated
Camden in his Britannia confirmed, that

here

i'he Channel. J

here England had been formerly joined to
France and Flanders by an ifthmus. Both
fhores form here two oppofite points 5 and
both are formed of the fame chalk hills,
which have the fame configuration, fo that a
perfon acquainted with the Englijh coafts
and approaching thofe oiFicardy afterwards,
without knowing them to be fuch, would
certainly take them to be the Englijh ones.*

Aiigujt the 9th — 1 2th. We tided and
alternately failed down the channel, and
pafled Dungnefs, Fair light, the IJle of Wight,
Fort/mouth, the Feninfula of Portland and
Bolthead, a point behind which Plymouth
lies 'y during all which time we had very
little wind.

Augiifi the 13th. Towards night we
got out of the Englijh channel into the Bay
of B if cay.

Augujl the 14th. We had contrary wind,
and this increafed the rolling of the fhip,
for it is generally remarked that the Bay of
Bifcay has the greateft and broadeft waves,
which are of equal fize with thofe between
America and Europe ; they are commonly
half an Englijh mile in length, and have a
height proportionable to it. The Baltic
A 1 and

• The fame opinion has been confirmed by Mr. Bufon in
his Hiji. Naturelle. torn. I. art. xix. Vol, 2. p. 419 of the
edit, in twelves. F.

4 Augujl 1748.

and the German ocean has on the contrary
fhort and broken waves.

Whenever an animal is killed on board
the fliip, the failors commonly hang fome
freih pieces of meat for a while into the
fea, and it is faid, it then keeps better.

Auguft the 15th. The fame fwell of the
fea flill continued, but the waves began to
fmooth, and a foam fwimming on them
was faid to forebode in calm weather, a
continuance of the fame for fome days.

About noon a north eafterly breeze
fprung up, and in the afternoon it blew
more, and this gave us a fine fpedacle; for
the great waves rolled the water in great
flieets, in one diredion, and the north eaft-
erly wind curled the furface of thefe waves
quite in another. By the beating and dafli-
ing of the waves againft one another, with a
more than ordinary violence, we could fee
that we pall'ed a current, whofe direction
the captain could not determine.

Auguft the i6th— 2ift. The fame fa-
vourable breeze continued to our great com-
fort and amazement, for the captain ob-
ferved that it was very uncommon to meet
with an eafterly or north-eafterly wind be-
tween Europe and the Azores (which the
failors call the Wefiern IJlands) for more
than two days together; for the more com-
mon

Sea between Europe and America 5

mon wind is here a wefterly one : but be-
yond the Azores they find a great variety of
winds, efpecially about this time of the
year ; nor do the wefterly winds continue
long beyond thefe ifles ; and to this it is
owing, that when navigators have pafled
the Azores, they think they have perform-
ed one half of the voyage, although in rea-
lity it be but one third part. Thefe ifles
come feldom in fight -, for the navigators
keep off them, on account of the dangerous
rocks under water furrounding them. Up-
on obfervation and comparifon of the jour-
nal, we found that we were in forty-three
deg. twenty-four min. north lat. and thirty
and a half degrees weft long, from London,

Auguji the 22d. About noon the cap-
tain aflured us, that in twenty-four hours
we ftiould have a fouth-weft wind : and
upon my enquiring into the reafons of his
foretelling this with certainty, he pointed
at fome clouds in the fouth-weft, whofe
points turned towards north-eaft, and faid
they were occafioned by a wind from the
oppofite quarter. At this time I was told
we were about half way to Penjyhania.

Auguji the 23d. About feven o'clock

in the morning the expeded fouth-weft

wind fprung up, and foon accelerated our

A 3 courfe

6 -^uguft 1748.

courfe fo much, that we went at the rat©
of eight knots an hour.

Auguji the 24th. The wind fhifted and
was in our teeth. We were told by fome
of the crew to expedl a little ftorm, the
higher clouds being very thin and ftriped
and fcattered about the fky like parcels of
combed wool, or fo many fkains of yarn,
which they faid forebode a ftorm. Thefe
ftriped clouds ran north-weft and fouth-
eaft, in the direction of the wind we then
had. Towards night the wind abated and
we had a perfedt calm, which is a fign of
a change of wind.

Auguji the 25th. and 26th. A west
wind fprung up and grew ftronger and
ftronger, fo that at laft the waves waftied
our deck,

Auguji the 27th. In the morning we
got a better wind, which went through va-
rious points of the compafs and brought on
a ftorm from north-eaft towards night.

Our captain told me an obfervation found-
ed on long experience, n)iz. that though
the winds changed frequently in the Atlantic
ocean, efpecially in fummer time, the moft
frequent however was the weftern, and
this accounts for the paffage from Ame-
rica to Europe commonly being ftiorter,

than

Sea between Europe and America, 7

than that from Europe to America. Befides
this, the winds in the Atlantic during
fummer are frequently partial, fo that a
ftorm may rage on one part of it, and
within a few miles of the place little
or no ftorm at all may be felt. In winter
the winds are more conftant, extenfive and
violent ; fo that then the fame wind reigns
on the greater part of the ocean for a good
while, and caufes greater waves than in
fummer.

Auguft the 30th. As I had obferved the
night before fome ftrong flafhes of lighten-
ing without any fubfequent clap of thunder,
I enquired of our captain, whether he could
aflign any reafons for it. He told me thefe
phoenomena were pretty common, and the
confequence of a preceding heat in the at-
mofphere ; but that when lightenings were
obferved in winter, prudent navigators were
ufed to reef their fails, as they are by this
fign certain of an impendent ftorm ; and fo
likewife in that feafon, a cloud riling from
the north-weft, is an infallible forerunner
of a great tempeft.

Septe?nber the 7th. As we had the firft day
of the month contrary wind, on the fecond
it fhifted to the north, was again contrary the
third, and fair the fourth and following
days. The fifth we were in forty deg.
A 4 three

8 September 1748.

three min. north lat. and between fif-
ty-three and fifty-four deg. weft long,
from London.

Besides the common waves rolling with
the wind, we met on the 4th. and 5th.
inft. with waves coming from fouth-weft,
which the captain gave as a mark of a
former ftorm from that quarter in this
neighbourhood.

September the 8th. We croffed by a
moderate wind, a fea with the higheft
waves we met on the whole paffage, attri-
buted by the captain to the divifion between
the great ocean and the inner American gulf;
and foon after we met with waves greatly
inferior to thofe we obferved before.

September the 9th. In the afternoon we
remarked that in fome places the colour of
the fea (which had been hitherto of a deep
blue) was changed into a paler hue -, fome of
thefe fpots were narrow ftripes of twelve or
fourteen fathoms breadth, of a pale green
colour, which is fuppofed to be caufed by
the fand, or as fome fay, by the weeds un-
der water.

September the 12th. We were becalmed
that day, and as we in this fituation ob-
ferved a fhip, which we fufpeded to be a
Spanifh privateer, our fear was very great ;
but we faw fome days after our arrival at

'PbiladeU

Ocean between Europe and America, 9

Philadelphia the fame (hip arrive, and heard
that they feeing us had been under the fame
apprehenfions with ourfelves.

September the 13th. Captain Lawfon^
who kept his bed for the greater part of
the voyage, on account of an indifpofition,
affured us yefterday we were in all appear-
ance very near America: but as the mate
was of a different opinion, and as the failors
could fee no land from the head of the maft,
nor find ground by the lead, we fteered on
diredtly towards the land. About three
o'clock in the morning the captain gave or-
ders to heave the lead, and we found but ten
fathom : the fecond mate himfelf took the
lead and called out ten and fourteen fathoms,
but a moment after the fhip ftruck on the
fand, and this (hock was followed by four
other very violent ones. The confternation
was incredible j and very juftly might it be
fo ; for there were above eighty perfons on
board, and the fhip had but one boat : but
happily our (hip got off again, after having
been turned. At day break, which fol-
lowed foon after (for the accident happened
half an hour paft four) we faw the conti-
nent oi America within a Swedijh mile be-
fore us : the coaft was whitifh, low, and
higher up covered with firs. We found
out, that the fand we ftruck on, lay oppo-

fite

lo T^he Bay of Delaware,

fite Arcadia in Maryland, in thirty-feven
deg. fifty min. North lat.

We coafted the fliores of Maryland all
the day, but not being able to reach cape
Hinlopen, where we intended to take a pi-
lot on board, we cruized all night before
the bay of Delaware. The darknefs of the
night made us exped: a rain, but we found
that only a copious fall of dew enfued,
which made our coats quite wet, and the
pages of a book, accidently left open on
the deck, were in half an hours time after
fun-fetting likewife wet, and we were told
by the captain and the failors that both in
England and in America a copious dew was
commonly followed by a hot and fultry
day.

September the 14th. We faw land on
our larboard in the weft, which appeared
to be low, white, fandy, and higher up the
country covered with firs, cape Hinlopen
is a head of land running into the fea from
the weftern {hore, and has a village on it.
The eaftern fhore belongs here to New Jer-
fey, and the weftern to Penfylvania. The
bay of Delaware has many fands, and from
four to eleven fathom water.

The fine woods of oak, hiccory and firs
covering both ftiores made a fine appear-
ance, and were partly employed in fhip-

building

River Delaware. • ii

building at Philadelphia ; for which purpofe
every year fome Engli/b captains take a
paffage in autumn to this town, and fuper-
intend the building of new fhips during
winter, with which they go to fea next
fpring : and at this time it was more ufual
than common, as the French and Spanijh
privateers had taken many Englijh merchant
{hips.

A LITTLE after noon we reached the
mouth of Delaware river, which is here
about three Englijh miles broad, but de-
creafes gradually fo much, that it is fcarcely
a mile broad at Philadelphia.

HEREweweredelighted in feeingnowand
then between the^ woods fome farm houfes
furrounded with corn fields, paftures well-
ftocked with cattle, and meadows covered
with fine hay; and more than one fenfe
was agreeably affected, when the wind
brought to us the finefl effluvia of odorife-
rous plants and flowers, or that of the frefh
made hay : thefe agreeable fenfations and
the fine fcenery of nature on this continent,
fo new to us, continued till it grew quite
dark.

Here I will return to fea, and give the
reader a fhort view of the various occur-
rences belonging to Natural-Hiflory, during
pur crofiing the Ocean.

Of

1 2 Ocean between Europe and America.

Of fea weeds fFucuslinnJ we faw Au^
gufi the 1 6th. and 17th. a kind which had
a (imilarity to a bunch of onions tied toge-
ther, thefe bunches were of the lize of the
fift, and of a white colour. Near thecoaft
of America within the American gulf, Sep-
tember the nth. we met likewife with fe-
veral fea weeds, one fpecies of which was
called by the failors rock-weed-, another
kind looked like a firing of pearls, and ano-
ther was white, about a foot long, narrow,
every where equally wide and quite ftrait.
From Auguft the 24th. to September the
nth. we faw nci other weeds, but thofe
commonly going under the name of Gulf-
weed, becaufe they are fuppofed to come
from the gulf of Florida; others call it
Sargazo, and Dr. Linnaus, Fucus natans,
\tsjialk is very flender, rotundato-angulated,
and of a dark green, it has many branches
and each of them has numerous leaves dif-
pofed in a row, they are extremely thin,
are ferrated, and are a line or a line and a
half wide, fo that they bear a great refem-
blance to the leaves of Iceland-mofs ; their
colour is a yellowifli green. Its fruit in a
great meafure refembles unripe juniper
berries, is round, greenifh yellow, almoft
fmooth on the outfide, and grows under the
leaves on fhort footftalks, of two or three

lines

Ocean letween Europe and America. 1 3

lines length ; under each leaf are from one
to three berries, but I never have feen them
exceed that number. Some berries were
fmall, and when cut were quite hollow and
confifted of a thin peel only, which is cal-
culated to communicate their buoyancy to
the whole plant. The leaves grow in pro-
portion narrower, as they approach the ex-
tremities of the branches : their upper fides
are fmooth, the ribs are on the under fides,
and there likewife appear fmall roots of
two, three or four lines length. I was told
by our mate that gulf weed, dried and pound-
ed, was given in America to women in
childbed, and befides this it is alfo ufed
there in fevers. The whole ocean is as if
it were covered with this weed, and it muft
alfo be in immenfe quantities in the gulf of
Florida, from whence all this driving on
the ocean is faid to come. Several little
jhells pointed like horns, and Efcharce or
Horn wracks are frequently found on it: and
feldom is there one bundle of this plant to
be met with, which does not contain either
a m'mutejhrimp, or a fmall cra6, the latter
of which is the Cancer minutus of Dr. Lin-
naus. Of thefe I colledted eight, and of
the former three, all which I put in a glafs
with water: the little fhrimp moved as
fwift as an arrow round the glafs, but fome-

times

14 Ocean between Europe and Americd*

times its motion was flow, and fomctimes it
flood ftill on one fide, or at the bottom of
the glafs. If one of the little crabs ap--
proached, it was feized by its forepaws,
killed and fucked ; for which reafon they
were careful to avoid their fate. It was
quite of the fhape of a fhrimp ; in fwim-
ming it moved always on one fide, the fides
and the tail moving alternately. It was ca-
pable of putting its forepaws entirely into
its mouth : its antennae were in continual
motion. Having left thefe little fhrimps
together with the crabs during night, I
found on the morning all the crabs killed
and eaten by the fhrimps. The former
moved when alive with incredible fwiftnefs
in the water. Sometimes when they were
quite at the bottom of the glafs, with a
motion fomething like to that of a Puceron
or Podura of Linnceus -, they came in a mo-
ment to the furface of the water. In fwim-
ming they moved all their feet very clofe,
fometimes they held them down as other
crabs do, fometimes they lay on their backs^
but as foon as the motion of their feet ceafed,
they always funk to the bottom. The re-
maining fhrimps Ipreferved in fpirits, and the
lofs of my little crabs was foon repaired by
other fpecimens which are fo plentiful in
each of the floating bundles of gulf-weed^

For

Ocean between Europe and America. 1 5

For a more minute defcription of which I
muft refer the reader to another work, I
intend to publifli. In fome places we faw
a crab of the fize of the iilt, fwimming by
the continual motion of its feet, which be-
ing at reft, the animal began immediately
to link. And one time I met with a great
red crawfjhy or lobjier, floating on the furface
of the fea.

Blubbers, or Medufoe Linn, we found of
three kinds : the firft is the Medufa aurita
Linn j it is round, purple coloured, opens
like a bag, and in it are as if it were four
white rings, their fize varies from one inch
diameter to fix inches j they have not that
nettling and burning quality which other
blubbers have, fuch for inftance as are on
the coaft of Norway y and in the ocean. Thefe
we met chiefly in the channel and in the
Bay of B if cay.

After having crofled more than half of
the ocean between Europe and A??ierica, we
met with a kind of blubber, which is known
to Sailors by the name of the Spanifi or
Portugueze man of War y it looks like a great
bladder, or the lungs of a quadruped, com-
prefifed on both fides, about fix inches in
diameter, of a fine purple-red colour, and
when touched by the naked fkin of the
human body, it caufes a greater burning than

any

1 6 Ocean between Europe and America,

any other kind of blubber. They are often
overturned by the rolling of the waves, but
they are again {landing up in an inftant, and
keep the {harp or narrow (ide uppermoft. •

Within the American gulf we faw not
only thefe Spanijh men of War, but another
kind too, for which the Sailors had no other
name but that of a blubber.. It was of the
lize of a pewter plate, brown in the middle,
with a pale margin, which was in continual
motion.

Of the Lepas anatifera Linn. I faw
on the 30th. of Auguji a log of wood,
which floated on the ocean, quite covered.
OiinfeSis I faw in the channel, when we were
in fight of the IJle of Wight feveral white
butterflies, very like to the Papilio Brafjicoe
Linn. They never fettled, and by their ven-
turing at fo great a difl:ance from land they
caufed us juft afl:onifhment.

Some common flies were in our cabbin alive
during the whole voyage, and it cannot
therefore be determined whether they were
originally in America, or whether they came
over with the Europeans.

Of Cetaceous fijh we met with Porpejfes,
or as fome failors call them Sea-iogs^fDeU

phinus

• The name of Porpe£i is certainly derived from the name

Pone"

Ocean between Europe and America, 1 7

phinus Phocana, Linn.) firft in the channel
and then they continued every where on this
fide the AzoreSy where they are the only fifh
navigators meet with; but beyond thefe ifles
they are feldom feen, till again in the
neighbourhood of America we faw them
equally frequent to the very mouth of De^
laware river. They always appeared in
fhoals, fome of which confided of upwards
of an hundred individuals 5 their Avimming
was very fwift, and though they often
fwam along fide of our fhip, being ta-
ken as it were with the noife caufed by the
fhip cutting the waves, they however foon
outwent her, whepi they were tired with
flaring at her. They are from four to eight
feet long, have a bill like in fhape to that
of a goofe, a white belly, and leap up into
the air frequently four feet high, and from
four to eight feet in length j though their
fnoring indicates the effort vi^hich a leap of

Porcopefce, given to this genus by the Italia^is ; and it is re-
Kiarkable that almoft all the European nations confpired in
calling them Sea-hogs, their name being in German Meer
Sch-wein ; the Danijh, Svoedijh, and Norwegian, Mar/uin, from
whence the jFr^«fi> borrowed their Mflr/oa/«. The natives of
Iceland call them Suinhual, i. e. a S-uuine-'whale, and fo like-
wife the Slavonian nations have their Snjuinia Morjkaya. Whe-
ther this confent arifes from their rooting the fand at the bot-
tom of the fea in queft of Sand-eels and Sea-worms like
fwine, or from the vaft quantity of lard furrounding their
Bodies is uncertain. F.

B that

1 8 Ocean between Europe and Americd,

that nature cofts them. Our failors made
many vain attempts to ftrike one of them
with the harp iron from the forecaflle,
when they came within reach, but their
velocity always eluded their fkill.

Another cetaceous fi{h, of the Dolphin
kind,* with which we met, is called by the
failors Bottk-nofey it fwims in great fhoals,
has a head like a bottle, and is killed by a
harpoon, and is fometimes eaten. Thefe
fifh are very large, and fome fully twelve
feet long; their fhape, and manner of
tumbling aiid fwimming make them
nearly related to Porpefles. They are to be
met with every where in the ocean from
the channel to the very neighbourhood of
America.

One Whale we faw at a diftance, and
knew it by the water which it fpouted up.

A Dog-Jijh of a confiderable lize followed
the fhip for a little while, but it was foon
out of fight, without our being able to
determine to which fpecies it belonged :

this

* Mr. Kalm is certainly miftaken in reckoning the Bottle-
nofe amongft the Do/phhi kind ; it has no teeth in its mouth
as all the iifti of that clafs have, and therefore belongs to the
firft order of the Whales, or thofe that are without teeth. See
Mr. Pennant\ Britifh Zoology Vol. 3. p. 43. where it is
called the beaked Whale, and very well defcribed ; a
drawing is feen in the explanatory table, n. I. Perhaps it
would not be improper to call it Baleena ampuUata, F,

Ocenn between Europe and America, 19

this was the only cartilaginous fifh we faw
on the whole pafTage.

Of the bony fifh, we faw feveral beyond
the Azores, but never one on this fide of
thofe ifles, one of them was of a large fize,
and we faw it at a diftance , the failors
called it an Albecor, and it is Dr. Linnaus^
Scomber Thynnus,

TuE Dolphin of the Englijh is the
Dorado of the Fortugiieze, and Dr. Linnceus
calls it Coryphcena Hippuris , it is about
two feet and a half long, near the head
fix inches deep, pnd three inches broad >
from the head the Dolphin decreafes on
all fides towards the tail, where its per-
pendicular depth is one inch and a half, and
its breadth hardly one inch. The colour
of the back near the head is a fine green
on a filver ground, but near the tail of
a deep blue 3 the belly is white, and
fometimes mixed with a deep yellow,
on the fides it has fome round pale brown
fpots. It has fix and not itv^n fins as was
imagined ; two of them are on the breaft^
two on the belly, one at the tail extending
to the anus, and one along the whole back,
which is of a fine blue : when the fifh is
juft taken the extremities of the moft out-
ward rays in the tail were eight inches one
from another. Their motion when they
B 2 fwam

20 Ocean between Europe and America,

fwam behind, or along iide of the {hip was
very flow, and gave a fair opportunity to
hit them with the harpoon, though fome
are taken with a hook and Hne, and a bait
of chicken bowels, fmall fiih, or pieces
of his own fpecies, or the flying fifli, which
latter are their chief food : and it is by
their chaflng them, that the flying fifli leave
their element to find fhelter in one to which
they are flirangers. The Dolphins fome-
times leap a fathom out of the water, and
love to fwim about cafks and logs of wood,
that fometimes drive in the fea. They are
eaten with thick butter, when boiled, and
fometimes fried, and afford a palatable food,
but rather fomewhat dry. In the bellies of
the fifli of this fpecies which we caught, fe-
veral animals were found, viz. an OJiracion-,
a little fifh with blue eyes, which was yet
alive, being jufl: the moment before fwal-
lowed, and meafuring two inches in length -,
another little fifli ; a curious marine infedt,
and a flying fifli, all which not yet being
damaged by digellion, 1 preferved in fpirits.
The Flying Fijh fExocoetus njolitans, Linn. J
are always feen in great flioals, fometimes
of an hundred or more getting at once out
of the water, being purfued by greater fifh,
and chiefly by Dolphins ; they rife about a
yard, and even a fathom above the water

in

Ocean between Europe and America. 2 r

in their flight, but thislatterheight theyonly
are at, when they take their flight from
the top of a wave; and fometimes it is faid
they fall on the deck of (hips. The
greateft diftance they fly, is a good muflcet-
(hot, and this they perform in lefs than
half a minute's time ; their motion is fome -
what like that of x\\t yellow-hammer, (Em~
beriza Citrinella, Linn.) It is very remark-
able that I found the courfe they took al-
ways to be againfl the wind, and though
I was contradicted by the failors, who af-
firmed that they went at any diredion, I
neverthelefs was confirmed in my opinion by
a careful obfervation during the whole voy-
age, according to which they fly conftantly
either diredly againfl the wind, or fome-
what in an oblique diredion.*

We fav/ likewife the fifh called Bonetosy
f Scomber Pelamys, Linn.) they were likewife
in fhoals, hunting fome fmaller fiih, which
chafe caufed a noife like to that of a caf-
cade, becaufe they were all fwimming ciofe
in a body ; but they always kept out of the
reach of our harpoons.

B 3 Of

* In Mr. Pennant*^ Britijh Zoology vol. 3. p. 282. is the
bell account of this fifh to be met with ; atid in his Britijh
7.oology, illujlrated hy Plates and brief explanations is plate
xliv. a good and exadl drawing of th6 fifti, the Upper figure
reprefenting it in front, the lower fideways. F.

22 Ocean between Europe and America.

Of amphibious animals, or reptiles ; we met
twice with a Turtle, one of which was
ileeping, the other fwam without taking
notice of our fhip -, both were of two feet
diameter.

Birds are pretty frequently feen on the
ocean, though Aquatic Birds are more com-
mon than Land Birds.

The Petrel fProcellaria Pelagic a, Linn.)
was our companion from the channel to the
{hores oi Afnerica. Flocks of this bird were ,
always about our ihip, chiefly in that part
of the fea, which being cut by the fliip,
forms a fmooth furface, where they fre-
quently feem to fettle, though always on
the wing. They pick up or examine every
thing that falls accidentally from the {hip,
or is thrown over board : little fifh feem to
be their chief food ; in day time they are
filent, in the dark clamorous ; they are re-
puted to forebode a ftorm, for which rea-
fon the failors difliking their company,
complimented them with the name of
witches-, but they are as frequent in fair
weather, without a ftorm following their
appearance. To me it appeared as if they
flayed fometimes half an hour and longer
under the waves, and the failors alTured me
they did. They look like fwallows, and
like them they fkim fometimes on the
water. The

Ocean between Europe and America, 23

The Shearwater ( Procellaria Puffinus,
Linn. J is another fea-bird, which we faw
every where on our voyage, from the chan-
nel to the American coafts ; it has much the
appearance and fize of the dark-grey Sea-
gull, or of a Duck ; it has a brown back,
and commonly a white ring round its neck,
and a peculiar flow way of flying. We
plainly faw fome of thefe birds feed on fifli.

The Tro/)?V bird (Phaeton cethereus, Linn.)
has very much the fhape of a gull, but two
very long feathers, which it has in its tail,
diftinguifh it enough from any other bird -,
its flight is often exceedingly high : the
firfl: of this kind we met, was at about for-
ty deg. north lat. and forty-nine or fifty d^g,
wefl: long, from London.

Common Gulls fLarus canusy Linn. J we
faw, when we were oppofite the Land's
End, the moft wefl:erly cape of England,
and when according to our reckoning we
were oppofite Ireland.

Terns (Sterna hirundo, Linn.) though
of a fomewhat darker colour than the com-
mon ones, we found after the forty-firft
deg. of north lat. and forty-feventh deg.
wefl: long, from London, very plentifully,
and fometimes in flocks of fome hundreds -,
fometimes they fettled, as if tired, on our
Olip.

B4 WXTH-

24 Ocean between Europe and America,

Within the American gulph wedifcover-
cd a fea-bird at a little diftance from the
fhip, which the failors called a Sea- hen.

Land-birds are now and then feen at
fea, and fometimes at a good diftance from
any land, fo that it is often difficult, to
account for their appearance in fo uncom- .
liion a place. Angufi the i8th. we faw a
bird which fetled on our fhip, and was per-
fectly like the great Titmoufe, ( Par us major
Linn:) upon an attempt to catch it, it got
behind the fails, and could never be caught.

September the ift. We oblerved fome
Land- birds flying about our fhip, which
we took for Sand Martins (Hirundo riparia
Linn. J fometimes they fettled on our fhip,
or on the fails; they were of a greyifh
brown colour on their back, their breafl
white, and the tail fomewhat furcated ; a
heavy fhower of rain drove them afterwards
away. September the 2d. a Swallow flut-
tered about the fhip, and fometimes it fet-
tled on the maft; it feemed to be very
tired ', feveral times it approached our cabin
windows, as if it was willing to take fhelter
there. Thefe cafes happened about forty
deg. north lat. and between forty-feven and
forty-nine deg. wefl long, from London,
and alfo about twenty deg. long, or

more

Ocean between 'Europe and America, 25

more than nine hundred and twenty lea
miles from any land whatfoever.

September the loth. within the American
gulph a large bird, which we took for an
Owly and likewife a little bird fettled on
our fails.

September the 12th. a Wood-pecker fettled
on our rigging : its back was of a fpeckled
grey, and it feemed extremely fatigued.
And another land- bird of the pajjerine clafs,
endeavoured to take fhelter and reft on our
fliip.

Before I entirely take leave of the fea,
I will communicate my obfervations on two
curious phcenomena.

In the channel and in the ocean we faw
at night time, /parks of fire y as if flow-
ing on the water, efpecially where it was
agitated, fometimes one iingle fpark fwam
for the fpace of more than one minute on
the ocean before it vanifhed. The failors
obferved them commonly to appear during,
and after a ftorm from the north, and that
often the fea is as if it were full of fire, and
that fome fuch ihining fparks would like-*
wife ftick to the mafts and fails.

Sometimes this light had not the ap-
pearance of fparks, but looked rather like
the phofphorefcence of putrid wood.

The 'Thames-'W2iiQv which made our pro-
vifion of frefh water, is reputed to be the

beft

26 Ocean between Europe and America,

beft of any. It not only fettled in the oak
cafks it is kept in, but becomes in a little
time {linking, when flopped up -, however
this naufeous fmell it foon loofes, after being
filled into large ftone juggs, andexpofed to
the open frefh air for two or three hours
together. Often the vapours arifing from a
calk which has been kept clofe and Hopped
up for a great while take fire, if a candle
is held near them when the cafk is opened,
and the T&ames wzter is thought to have
more of this quality than any others though
I was told that this even happened with
any other water in the fame circumilances.
Now I can refume my narrative, and
therefore obferve that we afterwards failed
on the river with a fair wind, pretty late at
night. In the dawn of the evening we paf-
fed by Newcaji/e, a little town on the weft-
ern fhore of the river Delaware. It was
already fo dark, that we could hardly know
it, but by the light which appeared through
feme of the windows. The Dutch are faid
to have been the firft founders of this place,
which is therefore reckoned the moft an-
cient in the country, even more ancient
than Philadelphia. But its trade can by no
means be compared with the Philadelphia
trade, though its fituation has more advan-r
tages in feveral refpeds ; one of which is,

that

River Delaware.

27

that the river feldom freezes before it, and
confequently fhips can come in and go out
at any time. But near Philadelphia it is al-
moft every winter covered v^^ith ice, fo that
navigation is interrupted for fomc weeks
together. But the country about Phila-
delphia and farther up, being highly culti-
vated, and the people bringing all their
goods to that place, Newcajile muft always
be inferior to it.

I MENTIONED, that the Dutch laid the
foundations of this town. This happened
at the time, when this country was as yet
fubje(fl to Siveden. But the Dutch crept
in, and intended by degrees to difpoflefs
the Swedes, as a people who had taken
pofleffion of their property. They fuc-
ceeded in their attempt ; for the Swedes
not being able to bear with this encroach-
ment, came to a war, in which the Dutch
got the better. But they did not enjoy the
fruits of their vidory long: for a few years
after, the EngliJJo came and deprived them
of their acquisition, and have ever fince
continued in the undifturbed pofleffion of the
country. Somewhat later at night we caft
anchor, the pilot not venturing to carry the
{hip up the river in the dark, feveral fands
being in the way.

September 15th. In the dawn of the

morning

28 September 1748.

morning we weighed anchor, and continu-
ed our voyage up the river. The country-
was inhabited almoft every where on both
fides. The farm-houfes were however
pretty far afunder. About eight o'clock in
the morning we failed by the little town of
Cheftery on the weftern fide of the river.
In this town, our mate, who was born in
Philadelphia, fhewed me the places, which
the Swedes ftill inhabit.

At laft we arrived in Philadelphia about
ten o'clock in the morning. We had not
been more than fix weeks, or (to fpeak
more accurately) not quite forty one days
on our voyage from Grave/end to this place,
including the time we fpent at Dealy in
fupplying ourfelves with the neceflary fre(h
provifions, &c. our voyage was therefore
reckoned one of the fhorteft. For it is
common in winter time to be fourteen,
nineteen, or more weeks in coming from
Grave/end to Philadelphia. Hardly any
body ever had a more pleafant voyage over
this great ocean, than we had. Captain
Lawfon affirmed this feveral times. Nay
he affured us he had never feen fuch calm
weather in this ocean, though he had croff-
ed it very often. The wind was generally
fo favourable that a boat of a middling fize
might have failed in perfect fafety. The

fea

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 29

fea never went over our cabin, and but once
over the deck, and that was only in a fwell.
The weather indeed was fo clear, that a
great number of the Germans on board flept
on the deck. The cabin windows needed
not the (butters. All thefe are circum-
ftances which ihow the uncommon good-
nefs of the weather.

Captain Law/on s civility increafed the
pleafure of the voyage. For he fhewed me
all the friendfhip, that he could have (hewn
to any of his relations.

As foon as we were come to the town,
and had caft anchor, many of the inhabi-
tants came onboard, to enquire for Letters.
They took all thofe which they could car-
ry, either for themfelves or for their friends.
Thofe, which remained, the captain or-
dered to be carried on (hore, and to be
brought into a coffee-houfe, where every
body could make enquiry for them, and by
this means he was rid of the trouble of de-
livering them himfelf. I afterwards went
on. (hore with him. But before he went,
he ftridrly charged the fecond mate, to let
no one of the German refugees out of the
(hip, unlefs he paid for his pa(rage, or
fome body elfe paid for him, or bought
him.

Om my leaving London I received letters

of

3<5 September 1748.

of reGommendation from Mr. Abraham
Spaldingy Mr. Peter Collmfon, Dr. Mitchel,
and others to their friends here. It was
eafy for me therefore to get acquaintance.
Mr. Benjamin Franklin, to whom Penjylva-
nia is indebted for its welfare, and the learn-
ed world for many new difcoveries in Elec-
tricity, was the firft, who took notice of
me, and introduced me to many of his
friends. He gave me all neceffary inftruc-
tions, and (hewed me his kindnefs on many
occafions.

I WENT to day accompanied by Mr.
'Jacob Bengtfon, a member of the Swedijh
confiftory and the fculptor Gujiavus Heff'e-
liusy to fee the town and the fields which
lay before it. (The former is brother of
the rev. Meflrs. Andrew and Samuel HeJJ'e-
litis, both minifters at Chrijiiana in new
Sweden, and of the late Dr. J ohn Heff'elius
in the provinces of Nerik and Wermeland) ,
My new friend had followed his brother
Andrew in 1711 to this country, and had
fince lived in it. I found that I was now
come into a new world. Whenever I look-
ed to the ground, I every where found fuch
plants as 1 had never feen 'before. When
I faw a tree, I was forced to flop, and afk
thofe who accompanied me, how it was
called. The firfl plant which flruck my

eyes

Penfyhantat Philadelphia, 31

eyes was an Andropogon, or a kind of grafs,
and grafs is a part of Botany I always de-
lighted in. I was feized with terror at the
thought of ranging fo many new and un-
known parts of natural hiflory. At firft I
only confidered the plants, without ventu-
ring a more accurate examination.

At night I took up my lodging with a
grocer who was a quaker, and 1 met with
very good honeft people in this houfe, fuch
as moft people of this profeffion appeared
to me, land my Tungjircem, the companion
of my voyage, had a room, candles, beds,
attendance, and three meals a day, if we
chofe to have fo many, for twenty (hillings
per week in Penfyhania currency. But
wood, wafliing and wine, if required, were
to be paid for befides.

September the i6th. Before I proceed
I muft give a fhort defcription oi Phiia-
delphia, which I fhall frequently mention
in the fequel of my travels. 1 here put
down feveral particulars which I marked
during my ftay at that place, as a help to
my memory.

Philadelphia, the capital oi Penfyha-
niay a province which makes part of what
formerly was called New Sweden is one of
the principal towns in North- America-, and
next to Bojion the greatefl. It is fituated

almofl

3« September 1748.

almoft in the center of the Englijh colonics^
and its lat. is thirty nine deg. and fifty
min. but its weft long, from London near
feventy five deg.

This town was built in the year 1683, or
as others fay in 1682, by the well known
quaker William Pen, who got this whole
province by a grant from Charles the fecond,
king of England ; after Sweden had given
up its claims to it. According to Pen's
plan the town was to have been built upon
a piece of land which is formed by the
union of the rivers Delaware and Skulkill, in
a quadrangular form, two Englijh miles
long and one broad. The eaftern fide
would therefore have been bounded by the
Delaware, and the weftern by the Skulkill.
They had adually begun to build houfes
on both thefe rivers ; for eight capital
ftreets, each two Englifi miles long, and
fixteen leiler ftreets (or lanes) acrofs them,
each one mile in length, were marked out,
with a conliderable breadth, and in ftrait
lines. The place was at that time almofl
an entire wildernefs covered with thick
forefts, and belonged to three Swedijh
brothers called Svens-Scener (Sons of Sven)
who had fettled in it. They with difficul-
ty left the place, the fituation of which was
very advantageous. But at lafl they were

per-

Penjytvdnia, Philadelphia, 3^

perfuaded to it by Petti who gave thefti a
few Englijh miles from that place twice
the fpace of country they inhabited.
However Pen himfelf and his defcendants
after him, have confiderably leffened thd
ground belonging to them, by repeated
menfurations, under pretence that they had
taken more than they ought.

But the inhabitants could not be got inf
fufficient number to fill a place of fuch ex-
tent. The plan therefore about the river
Skulkill was laid afide till more favoura-
ble circumftances (hould occur, and the
houfes were only built along the Delaware^
This river flows along the eaftern fide of
the town, is of great advantage to its trade^
and gives a fine profped:. The houfes
which had already been built upon the
Skulkill were transplanted hitherto by de-
grees. This town accordingly lies in a very
pleafant country, from north to fouth along
the river. It meafures fomewhat more than
an Englijh mile in length -, and its breadth
in fome places is half a mile or more.
The ground is flat and confifls of fand
mixed with a little clay. Experience has
fhewn that the air of this place is very
healthy.

The ftreets are regular, fine, and mofi: of

them are fifty foot, Englijh meafure, broad ^

G Areh-^

34 September 1748.

Arch-ftreet meafures (ixty fix feet in breadth,-
and Market-Jlreet or the principal ftreet,
where the market is kept, near a hundred.
Thofe which run longitudinally, or from
north to fouth are feven, exclufive of a
little one, which runs along the river, to
the fouth of the market, and is called
Water-Jireet. The lanes which go acrofs,
and were intended to reach from the De-
laware to the Skulkill, are eight in number.
They do not go quite from eafl to weft, but
deviate a little from that diredion. All the
ftreets except two which are neareft to the
river, run in a ftraight line, and make right
angles at the interfedions. Some are paved,
others are not ; and it feems lefs necelTary
fince the ground is fandy, and therefore foon
abforbs the wet. But in moft of the ftreets
is a pavement of flags, a fathom or more
broad, laid before the houfes, and pofts put
on the outfide three or four fathom afunder.
Under the roofs are gutters which are
carefully connected with pipes, and by this
means, thofe who walk under them, when
it rains, or when the fnow melts, need
not fear being wetted by the dropping from
the roofs.

The houfes make a good appearance,
are frequen iy feveral ftories high, and
built eitiier of bricks or of ftone ; but the

former

Penfyhania^ Philadelphia, j^

former are more commonly ufed, fincef
bricks are made before the town, and are
well burnt. The ftone which has been'
employed in the building of other houfes,
is a mixture of black or grey glimmer^ run-
ning in undulated veins, and of a loofe, and
quite fmall grained limejionet which run
fcattered between the bendings of the other
veins, and are of a grey colour, excepting
here and there fome fingle grains of fand,'
of a paler hue. The glimmer makes the
greateft part of the ftone ; but the mixture
is fometimes of another kind, as I fliall re-
late hereafter under the article, eleventh of
OSiober. This ftone is now got in great
quantities in the country, is eafily cut, and
has the good quality of not attracting the
moifture in a wet feafon. Very good lime
is burnt every where hereabouts, for ma*
fonry.

The houfes are covered with fhingles.
The wood for this purpofe is taken from
the Ciiprejfus thyoides, Linn, or a tree which
Swedes here call the white juniper- tree, and
the Englijldy the white cedar. Swamps and
Morafles formerly were full of themy but
at prefent thefe trees are for the greatefb
part cut down, and no attempt has as yet
been made to plant new ones. The wood
is very light, rots lefs than any other iii>
G 2 this*

36 September 174B.

this country, and for that reafon Is exceed-
ing good for roofs. For it is not too heavy
for the walls, and will ferve for forty or
fifty years together. But many people
already begin to fear, that thefe roofs will
in time be looked upon as having been very
detrimental to the city. For being fo very
light, moil people who have built their
houfes of ftone, or bricks, have been led
to make their walls extremely thin. But
at prefent this kind of wood is almoft en-
tirely deftroyed. Whenever therefore in
procefs of time thefe roofs decay, the peo-
ple will be obliged to have recourfe to the
heavier materials of tiles, or the like, which
the walls will not be ftrong enough to bear.
The roof will therefore require fupports,
or the people be obliged to pull down the
walls and to build new ones, or to take
other fteps for fecuring them. Several
people have already in late years begun to
make roofs of tiles.

Among the publick buildings I will firft
mention churches, of which there are fe-
veral, for God is ferved in various ways in
this country.

I. The En^Iijh ejlablijhed church ftands
in the northern part of the town, at fome
diftance from the market, and is the fineft
of all. It has a little, inconfiderabl&

ileeple.

Penjylvania, Philadelphia. 37

fteeple, in which is a bell to be rung when
it is time to go to church, and on burials.
It has likewife a clock which fttikes the
hours. This building which is called
Chrift church, was founded towards the end
of the laft century, but has lately been re-
built and more adorned. It has two mi-
nifters who get the greatefl part of their
falary from England. In the beginning of
this century, the Swedijh minifter the
Rev. Mr. Rudmann, performed the fun(^ti-
ons of a clergyman to the EngHfh congre-
gation for near two years, during the ab-
fence of their own clergyman.

2. Th'e. Swedijh church, which is other-
wife called the church of Weekacko, is on
the fouthern part of the town, and almoft
without it, on the river's lide, and its fitu-
ation is therefore more agreeable than that
of any other. I Ihall have an oportunity
of defcribing it more exadly, when I (hall
fpeak of the Swedes in particular, who live
in this place.

3. The German Lutheran church, is
on the north-weft fide of the town. On
my arrival in America it had a little fteeple,
but that being but up by an ignorant
archited:, before the walls of the church
were quite dry, they leaned forwards by
Its weight, and therefore they were forced

C3 to

2 8 September 1748.

to pull it down again in the autumn of the
year 1750. About that time the congre-
gation received a fine organ from Germany,
They have only one minifter, who likewife
preaches at another Lutheran church in
Germantown. He preaches alternately
one funday in that church, and another in
this. The firft clergyman which the Lu-
therans had in this town, was the Rev. Mr.
Muhlenbergy who laid the foundations of
this church in 1743, and being called to
another place afterwards, the rev. Mr.
Brunholz from Slefimck was his fucceflbr,
and is yet here. Both thefe gentlemen were
fent to this place from Hall in Saxony, and-
have been a great advantage to it by their
peculiar talent of preaching in an edifying
manner. A little v/hile before this church
was built, the Lutheran Germans had no
clergyman for themfelves, To that the
every-where beloved Swedijl: minifter at
Weekackoy Mr. Dylander, preached like-
wife to them. He therefore preached three
fermons every funday j the firft: early in the
morning to the Germans j the fecond to the
Swedes, and the third in the afternoon to
the Etiglifh, and befides this he went .all
the week into the country and inftruded
the Germans who lived feparately there.
He therefore frequently preached fixteen

fermonq

Penjyhaniat Fhyladelpbia, 39

fermons a week. And after his death,
which happened in Novemberij/\.iy the Ger^
mans firft wrote to Germany for a clergyman
for themfelves. This congregation is at pre-
fent very numerous, fo that every funday
the church is very much crowded. It has
two galleries, but no veftry. They do not
fmg the collects, but read them before the
altar.

4. The o/d Prejbyterian churchy is not
far from the market, and on the. fouth-fide
oi market-jirtet. It is of a middling fize,
and built in the year 1704, as the infcrip-
tion on the northern pediment fhews.
The roof is built almoft hemifpherical, or at
leaft forms a hexagon. The whole build-
ing ftands from north to fouth, for the
prelbyterians do not regard, as other people
do, whether their churches look towards a
certain point of the heavens or not.

5. The new Prejbyterian church was
built in the year 1750, by the New-lights
in the north- weftern part of the town. By
the name of New-lightSy are underflood the
people who have, from different religions,
become profelytes to the well known
Whitefieldy who in the years 1739, 1740,
and likewife in 1744 and 1745 travelled
through almofl all the EngliJJ:) colonies.
His delivery, his extraordinary zeal, and

C 4 other

4© September 1748.

other talents fo well adapted to the inteleds
of his hearers, made him fo popular that he
frequently, efpecially in the two firft
years, got from eight thoufand to twenty
thoufand hearers in the fields. His inten-
tion in thefe travels, was to collect money
for an orphans hofpital which had been
ereded in Georgia. He here frequently
colled:ed feventy pounds fterling at onefer-r
rnon j nay, at two fermons which he
preached in the year 1740, both on one
funday, at Fhiladelphiay he got an hundred
and fifty pounds. The profelytes of this
man, or the above-mentioned new-lights^
are at prefent merely a feft of preibyterians.
For though Whitejield was originally a
clergyman o'i the EngiiJJ:) church, yet he
deviated by little and little from her
doctrines; and on arriving in the year 1744
at Bojion in New England j he difputed with
the Preibyterians about their doctrines, {o
much that he almoft entirely embraced
them. For Whitejield w^s no great difpu-
tant, and could therefore eafily be led by
thefe cunning people, whitherfoever they
would have him. This likewife during his
latter rtay in A?nerica caufed his audience
to be lefs numerous than during the firft.
The new-lights built firft in the year 1741,
a great houfe in the weftern part of the

town.

Pettfyhania, Philadelphia. 41

town, to hold divine fervice in. But a di-
vifion arifing amongft them after the de-
parture of Whitejield, and befides on other
accounts, the building was fold to the town
in the beginning of the year 1750, and def-
ined for a fchool. The new-lights then
built a church which I call the new Prejby-
terian one. On its eaftern pediment is the
following infcription, in golden letters :
Templum Prejbyterianumt annuente numine,
eredlum. Anno Dom. MDCCL.

6. The old German reformed church is
built in the weft north-weft part of the
town, and looks like the church in the
Ladugoor d field v\t2.x Stockholm. It is not yet
finifhed, though for feveral years together,
the congregation has kept up divine fervice
in it. Thefe Germans attended the German
fervice at the Swedijh church, whilft the
SwediJJj minifter Mr. Dylander lived. — But
as the Lutherans got a clergyman for them-
felves on the death of the laft, thofe of the
reformed church madelikewife preparations
to get one from Dordrecht ; and the firft
who was fent to them, was the Rev. Mr,
Slaughter y whom I found on my arrival.
But in the year 1750, another clergyman of
the reformed church arrived from Holland,
and by his artful behaviour, fo infmuated
himfelf into the favour of the Rev. Mr.

Slaughters

42 September 1748.

Slaughter ^ congregation, that the latter
loft almoft half his audience. The two
clergymen then difputed for feveral fun- J
days together, about the pulpit, nay, people 1
relate that the new comer mounted the
pulpit on a faturday, and ftayed in it all
night. The other being thus excluded, the
two parties in the audience, made them-
felves the fubjedt both of the laughter and
of the fcorn of the whole town, by beating
and bruifing each other, and committing
other excefies. The affair was inquired
into by the magiftrates, and decided in fa-
vour of the rev. Mr. Slaughter, the perfon
who had been abufed.

7. The new reformed church, was built
at a little diftance from the old one by the
party of the clergyman, who had loft his
caufe. This man however had influence
enough to bring over to his party almoft
the whole audience of his antagonift, at
the end of the year 1750, and therefore this
new church will foon be ufelefs.

8. 9. The fakers have two meetings,
one in the market, and the other in the
northern part of the town. In them are
according to the cuftom of this people, nei-
ther altars, nor pulpits, nor any other or-
naments ufual in churches; but only feats
and fome fconces. They meet thrice every

funday

Penfyhaniat Philadelphia. 43

funday in them, and befides that at certain
times every week or every month. I ftiall
mention more about them hereafter.

10. The Baptijh, have their fervice,
in the northern part of the town.

1 1. The Roman Catholieksy have in the
fouth-weft part of the town a great houfe,
which is well adorned within, and has an
organ.

12. The Moravian Brethren, have hi-
red a great houfe, in the northern part of the
town, in which they performed the fervice
hoxh mGer man znd. in Englijh; not only twice
or three times every funday, but likewife
every night after it was grown dark. But
in the winter of the year 1750, they were
obliged to drop their evening meetings;
fome wanton young fellows having feveral
times difturbed the congregation, by an in-
ftrument founding like the note of a cuckoo,
for this noife they made in a dark corner,
not only at the end of every ftanza, but
likevi'ife at that of every line, whilft they
were finging a hymn.

Those of the 'Englifi church, the New-
lights, the Quakers, and the Germans of
the reformed religion, have each of them
their burying places on one fide out of
town, and not near their churches, though
the firft of thefe fometimes make an excep-
tion. All the others bury their dead in

their

44 September 1748.

their church-yards, and Moravian brethren
bury where they can. The Negroes are
buried in a particular place out of town.

I NOW proceed to mention the other pub-
lick buildings in Philadelphia.

The Town-hall, or the place where the
alTemblies are held, is fituated in the weftern
part of the town, it is a fine large building,
having a tower with a bell in the middle,
and is the greateft ornament to the town..
The deputies of each province meet in it
commonly every OBober, or even more
frequently if circumftances require it, in
order to confider of the welfare of the coun-
try, and to hold their parliaments or diets in
miniature. There they revife the old laws, «
and make new ones. i

On one fide of this building flands the
Library, which was firfi: begun in the year
1742, on a publick fpirited plan, formed and
put in execution by the learned Mr.
Franklin. For he perfuaded firft the mofl
fubftantial people in town to pay forty ^
{hillings at the outfet, and afterwards an-
nually ten fhillings, all in Penfylva?iia cur-
rency, towards purchafing all kinds of ufeful
books. The fubfcribers are entitled to
make ufe of the books. Other people are
likewife at liberty to borrow them for a
certain time, but muft leave a pledge and

pay

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 45

pay eight-pence a week for a folio volume,
fix-pence for a quarto, and four-pence for
all others of a fmaller fize. As foon as the
time, allowed a perfon for the periifal of
the volume, is elapfed, it muft be return-
ed, or he is fined. The money arifing in
this manner is employed for the falary of
the librarian, and for purchafing new
books. There was already a fine colledi-
on of excellent works, moft of them Eng~
Ufi', many French and Latin, but few in
any other language. The fubfcribers were
fo kind to me, as to order the librarian,
during my ftay here, to lend me every book*,
which I fhould want, without requiring
any payment of me. The library was open
every faturday from four to eight o'clock
in the afternoon. Befides the books, feveral
mathematical and phyfical inftruments, and
a large colledion of natural curiofities were
to be feen in it. Several little libraries
were founded in the town on the fame foot-
ing or nearly with this.

The Court Houfe ftands in the mid-die of
Market flreet, to the weft of the market, it
is a fine building, with a little tower in
which there is a bell. Below and round
about this building the market is properly
kept every week.

The building of the Academy ^ is in the

wertern

46 September 1748;.

weftern part of the town. It was formerly
as I have before mentioned, a meeting-houfe
of the followers of Whitefield, but they fold
it in the year 1750, and it was deftined to
be the feat of an univeriity, or to exprefs
myfelf in more exadt terms, to be a college,
it was therefore fitted up to this purpcfe.
The youths are here only taught thofe things
which they learn in our common fchools ;
but in time, fuch ledures are intended to be
read here, as are ufual in real univerfities.

At the clofe of the laft war, a redoubt
was eredled here, on the fouth fide of the
town, near the river, to prevent the French
and Spanifi privateers from landing. But
this was done after a very ftrong debate.
For the quakers oppofed all fortifications, as
contrary to the tenets of their religion,
which allow not chriftians to make war
either offenfive or defenfive, but direct them
to place their truft in the Almighty alone.
Several papers were then handed about for
and againft the opinion. But the enemy's
privateers having taken feveral veflels be-
longing to the town, in the rivei, many
of the quakers, if not all of them, found
it reafonable to forward the building of the
fonification as much as poflible, at leafl by
a fupply of money.

Of all the natural advantages of the

town^

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia. 4.7

town, its temperate clitnate\% the moil con-
iiderable, the winter not being over fevere,
and its duration butihort, andthefummernot
too hot; the country round about bringing
forth thofe fruits in the greateft plenty,
which are raifed by hulbandry. Their
September and OSiober are like the beginning
of the Swedijh AuguJL And the firft days
in their February are frequently as pleafant,
as the end of April and the beginning of
May in Sweden, Even their coldelt days in
fome winters have been no feverer, than
the days at the end of autumn are in the mid-
dlemoft parts of Sweden^ and the fouthern
ones of Finland,

The good and clear water in Philadelphia ^
is likewife one of its advantages. For though
there are no fountains in the town, yet
there is a well in every houfe, and feveral in
the ftreets, all which afford excellent water
for boiling, drinking, wafliing, and other
ufes. The water is commonly met with
at the depth of forty feet. The water of
the river Delaware is likewife good. But
in making the wells, a fault is frequently
committed, which in feveral places of the
town fpoils the water which is naturally
good ; I fliall in the fequel take an oppor-
tunity of fpeaking further about it.

The Delaware is exceeding convenient

for

48 September 1748.

for trade. It is one of the greateft rivers irt
the world : is three Englijh miles broad at
its mouth, two miles at the town of Wil-
mington, and three quarters of a mile at
Philadelphia. This city lies within ninety
or an hundred Englijh miles from the fea,
or from the place where the river Delaware
difcharges itfelf into the bay of that name.
Yet its depth is hardly ever lefs than five or
fix fathom. The greateft fhips therefore
can fail quite up to the town and anchor in
good ground in five fathoms of water, on
the fide of the bridge. The water here has
no longer a faltifh tafte, and therefore all
deftrudive worms, which have faftened
themfelves to the fliips in the fea, and have
pierced holes into them, either die, or drop
oif, after the fhip has been here for a while. ,

The only difadvantage which trade la- I
hours under here, is the freezing of the ri-
ver -almoft every winter for a month or
more. For during that time the navigati- \
on is entirely flopped. But this does not '
happen at Bofiouy New Torky and other .
towns which are nearer the fea.

The tide comes up to Philadelphia^ and
even goes thirty miles higher, to Tretiton.
The difference between high and low water
is eight feet at Philadelphia.

The cataracts of the Delaware near

Trenton,

Fenfyhmia, Philadelphia. 4^

'Trenton, and of the Skulkill at fome diftance
from Philadelphiuy make thefe rivers ufelefs
further up the country, in regard to the
conveyance of goods either from or to Phi-
ladelphia. Both muft therefore be carried
on waggons or carts. It has therefore al-
ready been thought of to make thefe two
rivers navigable in time, at leaft for large
boats and fmall veflels.

Several fliips are annually built of
American oak, in the docks which are
made in feveral parts of the town and about
it, yet they can by no means be put in
comparifon with thofe built of European
oak, in point of goodnefs and duration.

The town carries on a great trade, both
with the inhabitants of the country, and
to other parts of the world, efpecially to
the Weji Indies, South America^ and the
Antilles -, to England, Ireland, Portugal,
and to feveral Englijh colonies in North
America. Yet none but Englifi ihips are
allowed to come into this port.

Philadelphia reaps the greateft profits
from its trade to the Wejl Indies. For thi-
ther the inhabitants fliip almoft every day
a quantity of flour, butter, flefh and other
viduals ; timber, plank and the like. In
return they receive either fugdr, molaffes,
rum, indigo, mahogany, and other goods,
D or

$p September 1748.

or ready money. The true mahogany,
which grows in Jamaica, is at prefent al-
moft all cut down.

They fend both Weji India goods, and
their own productions to England -y the lat-
ter are all forts of woods, efpecially black
walnut, and oak planks for fhips -, fhips
ready built, iron, hides and tar. Yet this
latter is properly bought in New Jerfey, the
forefts of which province are confequently
more ruined than any others. Ready mo-
ney is likewife fent over to England, from
whence in return they get all forts of goods
there manufactured, viz. fine and coarfe
cloth, linen, iron ware, and other wrought
metals, and Eafl India goods. For it is to
be obferved that England fupplies Philadel-
phia with almoft all fluffs and manufaftur-
ed goods which are wanted here.

A GREAT quantity of linfeed goes annu-
ally to /r^/^W, together with many of the
fhips which are built here. Portugal gets
wheat, corn, flour and maize which is not
ground. Spain fometimes takes fome corn.
But all the money, which is got in thefe
feveral countries, muft immediately be fent
to England, in payment for the goods which
are got from thence, and yet thofe fums are
not fufficient to pay all the debts.

But to fhew more exadly, what the
town and province have imported from

'P-nffland

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 5 1

England f in different years, I fliall here
infert an extrafl from the Englijh cuftom-
houfe books, which I got from the engi-
neerj Lewis Evans^ at Philadelphia, and
which will fufficiently anfwer the purpofe.
This gentleman had defired one of his
friends in London to fend him a compleat
account of all the goods fhipped from
England to Penfylvania in feveral years.
He got this account, and though the goods
are not enumerated in it, yet their value
in money is calculated. Such extrads from
the cuftom-houfe books have been made
for every North- American province, in or-
der to convince the Englijh parliament,
that thofe provinces have taken greater
quantities of the goods in that kingdom,
ever fince they have turned their money
into bills.

I HAVE taken the copy from the original
itfelf, and it is tobeobferved that it begins
with the chriftmas of the year 1722, and
ends about the fame time of the year 1747.
In the firft column is the value of the
foreign goods, the duty for which has al-
ready been paid in England, The fecond
column (hews the value of the goods ma-
nufadurcd in England and exported to
Penfylvania. And in the laft column thefe
two fums are added together, but at the
bottom each of the columns is caft up.

D 2 But

^.2 September 1748.

But this table does not include the goods
which are annually {hipped in great quantitie
to Penfyhania from Scotland and Irelandy a
mong which is a great quantity of linen.

1 The Value of the Goods annually fhipped from 1

Irt n "^j £«j-/fl:Wt0 P£«/y/x'fi»/«. ^

le Year, from
ne Chriftmas
) another.

Foreign Goods for
which the duty has
already been paid,
& which therefore
onlyreq. receipts.

Englijh manufac-
tured Goods.

TheSumsofthefc
two preceding co-
lumns added to-
gether.

/. s. d.

/. J. d.

/. .. d.

1723

5>99

»3

5

10793

5 »

15992

19

1724

9373

15

8

20951

0 5

30324

16

1725

10301

12

6

31508

I 8

42209

H

1726

9371

1 1

6

28263

6 2

37634

17

1727

10243

0

7

21736

10

0

31979

10

1728

14073

13

3

23405

6

2

37478

'9

II

1729

12948

8

5

16851

2

5

29799

lO

10

1730

15660

10

u

32931

16

6

48592

7

»73i

11838

17

4

32421

18

9

44260

16

1732

15240

H

4

26457

19

3

41698

13

1733

13187

0

8

27378

7

5

40585

8

1734

19648

^5

9

34743

12

I

54392

7

10

1735

18078

4

3

30726

7

1

48804

II

1736

23456

^5

II

38057

2

5

61513

18

1737

14517

4

3

42173

2

4

56690

6

J738

20320

19

3

41129

5

0

61450

4

J739

9041

4

5

45411

7

6

54452

11

II

1740

10280

2

0

46471

12

9

56751

H

1741

12977

18

10

78032

13

I

91010

II

II

1742

14458

6

3

60836

17

I

75295

3

^743

19220

1

6

60120

4

10

79340

0

4

1744

1 468 1

8

4

47595

18

2

,62214

6

6

J 745

13043

8

8

41237

2

3

'54280

10

11

1746

18103

12

7

55595

^9

7

73699

12

2

1747

8585

H

11

73819 2- 8»;82404' 17 1 7 |

Total.

343,789 16 0 969,049 I 6 1,312,838 17 6j

1

1

1

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 53

The whole extent of the Philadelphia
trade may be comprehended from the num-
ber of fhips, which annually arrive at and
fail from this town. I intend to infert here
a table of a few years which I have taken
from the gazettes of the town. The ihips
coming and going in one year, are to be
reckoned from the twenty fifth of March
of that year, to the twenty fifth of March of
the next.

The Year.

Ships arrived.

Ships failed

1735

199

212.

1740

'',^7

208.

1741

292

309-

1744

229

271.

1745

280

301.

1746

273

293-

But it is much to be feared that the trade
of Philadelphia, and of all the Englijh colo-
nies, will rather decreafe than encreafe,
in cafe no provifion is made to prevent it.
I fhall hereafter plainly fhew upon what
foundation this decreafe of trade is likely to
take place.

The town not only furnifhes moft of

the inhabitants of Penfyhania with the

goods which they want, but numbers of

D 3 the

54- September 1748.

the inhabitants of New J er/ey come every
day and carry on a great trade.

The town has two great fairs every year;
one in May, and the other in November,
both on the fixteenth days of thofe two
months. But befides thefe fairs, there are
every week two market days, viz. Wednef^
day and Saturday. On thofe days the coun^
try people in Penfylvania and New Jerfey,
bring to town a quantity of victuals, and
other produdions of the country, and this
is a great advantage to the town. It is
therefore to be wifhed that the like regula-
tion might be made in our Swedt/h towns.
You are fure to meet with every produce of
the feafon, which the country affords, on
the market-days. But on other days, they
are in vain fought for.

Provisions are always to be got frefh
here, and for that reafon moil: of the inha-
bitants never buy more at a time, than what
will be fufficient till the next market-day.
In fummer there is a market almoft every
day; for the victuals do not keep well in
the great heat. There are two places in
the town where thefe markets are kept ;
but that near the court-houfe is the princi-
pal. It begins about four or five o'clock in
the morning, and ends about nine o'clock
in the forenoon.

The

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia, 55

The town is not enclofed, and has no
other cuftom-houfe than the great one for
the fhips.

The governor of the whole province lives
here ; and though he is nominated by the
heirs of Pen, yet he cannot take that office
without being confirmed by the king of
England.

The quakers of almoft all parts of North-
America, have their great aflembly here
once a year.

In the year 1743, a fociety for the ad^
vancement of the fciences was ereded here.
Its objedts would have been the curiofities
of the three kingdoms of nature, mathe-
maticks, phyfick, chemiftry, oeconomy, and
manufactures. But the war, which enfued
immediately, flopped all defigns of this na-
ture, and fince that time, nothing has been
done towards eftablifhing any thing of this
kind.

The declination of the needle was here
obferved on the thirtieth of OSlober 1750,
old ftyle, to be five deg. and forty-five
min. wefl. It was examined by the new
meridian, which was drawn at Philadelphia
in the autumn of the fame year, and ex*
tended a mile in length. By experience it
appears, that this declination lelTens about
a degree in twenty years time.

D 4 The

^& September 1748.

The greateft difference in the rifing and
falling of the barometer, is according ta
the obfervations made for feveral years to-
gether by Mr. James Logan, found at a8''
59 and 30" 78.

Here are three printers, and every week
fwo Englijh, and one German news-paper
is printed.

In the year 1732, on the fifth of Septem-
ber, old ftyle, a little earthquake was fek
here about noon, and at the fame time at
Bojion in New England, and at Montreal in ,
Canada, which places are above fixty Swe-^^
dijh miles afunder.

In the month of November of the yelr
iyTfJ, the well known prince from mount
Lebanon, Sheich Sidi came to Philadelphia, on
his travels through moft of the Englifb
American colonies. And in the fame year
a fecond earthquake was felt about eleven
o'clock at night, on the feventh of Decern^
ber. But it did not continue above half a
minute, and yet, it was felt according to
the accounts of the gazettes at the fame
hour in Newcaftle, New Tork, New London,
Bojion, and other towns of New England.
It had therefore likewife reached feveral
ihiles.

The count Sinzendorf* arrived here in

* Head of the Moravian Brethren. F.

the

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 57

the December of th^ year 1741, and conti-
nued till the next fpring. His uncommon
behaviour perfuaded many Englijhmen of
rank, that he was difordercd in his head.

I HAVE not been able to find the exad:
number of the inhabitants of Philadelphia.
In the year 1746, they were reckoned above
ten thoufand, and fince that time their
number is incredibly encreafed. Neither
can it be made out from the Bills of morta-
lity, fince they are not kept regularly in all
the churches. I Ihall, however, mention
fome of thofe which appeared either in the
gazettes, or in bills printed on purpofe.

Year. Dead. Year. Dead. Year. Dead.

420
672

758

716

From thefe bills of mortality it alfo ap-
pears, that the difeafes which are the moft
fatal, are confumptions, fevers, convulfi-
ons, pleurefies, hsemorrhagies, and drop-
fies.

The number of thofe that are born can-
not be determined, fince in many churches
no order is obferved with regard to this af-
fair. The quakers, who are the moft

nume-

1730

227

I74I

345

1745

1738

250

1742

409

1748

J739

350

1743

425

1749.

1740

290

1744

410

1750

58 September 1748.

numerous In this town, never baptize their
children, tliough they take a pretty exadt
account of all who are born among them.

It is likewife impoffible to guefs at the
number of inhabitants from the dead, be-
caufe the town gets fuch great fupplies an-
nually from other countries. In the fum-
mer of the year 1749, near twelve thoufand
Germans came over to Philadelphia, many
of whom ftaid in that town. In the fame
year the houfes in Philadelphia were count-
ed, and found to be two thoufand and feven-
ty fix in number.

The town is now quite filled with inha-
bitants, which in regard to their country,
religion and trade, are very different from
each other. You meet with excellent
maflers in all trades, and many things are
made here full as well as in England. Yet
no manufactures, efpecially for making fine
cloth are eflablifhed. Perhaps the reafon
is, that it can be got with fo little difficul-
ty from England, and that the breed of fheep
which is brought over, degenerates in pro-
cefs of time, and affords but a coarfe wool.

Here is great plenty of provifions, and
their prices are very moderate. There are
no examples of an extraordinary dearth.

Every one who acknowledges God to
be the Creator, preferver and ruler of all

things.

Penjyhaniay Philadelphia, 59

things, and teaches or undertakes nothing
againft the ftate, or againfl: the common
peace, is at liberty to fettle, ftay, and car-
ry on his trade here, be his religious prin-
ciples ever fo itrange. No one is here mo-
lefted on account of the erroneous princi-
ples of the dodtrine which he follows, if he
does not exceed the above-mentioned bounds.
And he is fo well fecured by the laws in
his perfon and property, and enjoys fuch
liberties ; that a citizen oi Philadelphia may
in a manner be faid to live in his houfelike
a king.

On a careful confideration of what I have
already faid, it will be eafy to conceive how
this city fhould rife fo fuddenly from no-
thing, into fuch grandeur and perfection,
without fuppofing any powerful monarch's
contributing to it, either by punifhing the
wicked, or by giving great fupplies in mo-
ney. And yet its fine appearance, good
regulations, agreeable lituation, natural ad-
vantages, trade, riches and power, are by
no means inferior to thofe of any, even of
the moft ancient towns in Europe, It has
not been neceflary to force people to come
and fettle here j on the contrary foreigners
of different languages, have left their coun-
try, houfes, property and relations, and
ventured over wide and flormy feas, in order

to

6o September 1748.

to come hither. Other countries, which
have been peopled for a long fpace of time,
complain of the fmall number of their in-
habitants. But Penfylvaniaj which was no
better than a defart in the year 1681, and
hardly contained five hundred people, now
vies with feveral kingdoms in Europe, in
number of inhabitants. It has received
numbers of people which other countries,
to their infinite lofs, have either negleded
or expelled.

A WRETCHED old wooden building, on
a hill near the river fomewhat north of the
Wickako church, belonging to one of the
Sons of Sven, of whom, as before-mention-
ed, the ground was bought for building
Philadelphia upon, is preferved on purpofe,
as a memorial of the poor ftate of that
place, before the town was built on it.
Its antiquity gives it a kind of fuperiority
over all the other buildings in town, though
in itfelf the worfi: of all. This hut was in- j
habited, whilft as yet flags, deers, elks, "
and beavers, at broad day Hght lived in the
future ftreets, church-yards, and market-
places oi Philadelphia. The noife of a fpin-
ning wheel was heard in this houfe, before
the manufaaures now eftablifhed were
thought of, or Philadelphia built. But with
all thefe advantages, this houfc is ready to

fall

Penfylvaniat Philadelphia, 6i

^11 down, and in a few years to come, it
will be as difficult to find the place where
it ftood, as it was unlikely at the time of
its eredion, that one of the greateft towns
in America, ftiould in a fhort time ftand
clofe up to it.

September the 7th. Mr. Peter Cock, a
merchant of this town, affured me that he
had laft week himfelf been a fpedator of a
fnake's fwallowing a little bird. This bird,
which from its cry has the name of Cat
birdy ( Mufcicapa Carolinenjis, Linn.) fiew
from one branch of a tree to another, and
was making a doleful tune. At the bot-
tom of the tree, but at a fathom's diftance
from the ftem, lay one of the great black
fnakes, with its head continually upright,
pointing towards the bird, which was al-
ways fluttering about,! and now and then
fettling on the branches. At firft it only
kept in the topmoft branches, but by de-
grees it came lower down, and even flew
upon the ground, and hopped to the place
where the fnake lay, which immediately
opened its mouth, caught the bird and
fwallowed it ; but it had fcarce finiflied its
repaft before Mr. Cock came up and killed
it. I was afterwards told that this kind of
fnakes was frequently obferved to purfue
little birds in this manner. It is already

well

62 September 1748.

well known that the rattle fnake does the'
fame.

I WALKED out to day into the fields in
order to get more acquainted with the
plants hereabouts, I found feveral European
and even Swedijh Tp\2inis among them. But
thofe which are peculiar to America, are
much more numerous

The Virginian maple grows in plenty on
the Ihores of the Delatvare. The Englijh
in this country call it either Buttonwood,
or Waterbeech, which latter name is mod
ufual. The Swedes call it Wattenbok, or
Wajbok. It is Ijinnceus% Platanus occidentalism
See Catejbys^zt. Hift. oi Carolina, vol. i.
p. 56. t. 56. It grows for the greatefl part in
low places, but efpecially on the edge of
rivers and brooks. But thefe trees are
eafiiy tranfplanted to more dry places, if
they be only filled with good foil ; and as
their leaves are large and their foliage
thick, they are planted about the houfes
and in gardens, to afford a pleafant fliade
in the hot feafon, to the enjoyment of
which fome feats were placed under them.
Some of the Swedes had boxes, pails, and
the like, made of the bark of this tree by
the native Americans. They fay that thofe
people whilft they were yet fettled here,
made little diflies of this bark for gathering

whort-

Penfyhaniat Philadelphia, 6^

whortleberries. The bark was a line in
thicknefs. This tree likewife grows in
marfhes, or in fwampy fields, where a{h
and red maple commonly grow. They are
frequently as tall and thick, as the befl: of
our fir trees. The feed flays on them till
fpring, but in the middle of ^pril the pods
open and fhed the feeds. Query, Whether
they are not ripe before that time, and
confequently fooner fit for fowing ? This
American maple is remarkable for its quick
growth, in which it exceeds all other trees.
There are fuch numbers of them on the
low meadows between Philadelphia and the
ferry at Gloucejier, on both fides of the
road, that in fummer time you go as it
were through a fhady walk. In that part
of Philadelphia which is near the Swedijh
church, fome great trees of this kind ftand
on the fhore of the river. In the year 1750,
on the 15th. oi May I faw the buds ftill on
them, and in the year 1749 they began to
flower on the eighth of that month. Several
trees of this fort are planted at Chelfea near
Londoriy and they now in point of height
vie with the talleft oak.

.S^/^^^/^i^^r the i8th. In the morning I
went with the Swedijh painter, Mr. He£e'
lius, to the country feat of Mr. Bartram,
which is about four Englijh miles to the

fouth

^4 S^tfmher 1748.

fouth of Fhiladelphiay at fome diftance from .
the high road to Marylandy Virginia, and I
Carolina. I had therefore the firft oppor*
tunity here, of getting an exa<ft knowledge
of the ftate of the country, which was a
plain covered with all ^i^inds of trees with
deciduous leaves. The ground was fandy,
mixed with clay. But the fand feemed to
be in greater quantity. In fome parts the
wood was cut down, and we faw the ha-
bitations of fome country people, whofe
corn-fields and plantations were round their
farm-houfes. The wood was full of mul-
berry-trees, walnut-trees of feveral kinds,
chefnut-trees, faffafras, and the like. Se-
veral forts of wild vines clafped their ten-
drils round, and climbed up to the fummits
of the higheft trees ; and in other places
they twined round the enclofures, fo thick,
that the latter almoft funk down under
their weight. The Perjimon, or Diofpyros
Virginiana, Linn. fp. pi. p. 15 10, gr^w
in the mar(hy fields, and about fprings. Its
little apples looked very well already, but are
not fit for eating, before the froft has aflfedt-
ed them, and then they have a very fine
tafte. Heffelius gathered fome of them, and
defired my fervant to tafte of the fruits of
the land -, but this poor credulous fellow,
had hardly bit into them, when he felt the

qualities

Penfylvania, Philadelphia, 65

qualhies they have before the froft has pe-
netrated them. For they contrad:ed his
mouth fo that he could hardly fpeak, and
had a very difagreeable tafte. This dif-
gufted him fo much that he vi^as vi^ith dif*
iiculty perfuaded to tafte of it during the
whole of our ftayin -America^ notwithftand-
ing it lofes all its acidity and acquires an
Agreeable flavour in autumn and towards
the beginning of winter. For the fellow
always imagined, that though he Should
«at them ever fo late in the year, they would
ftill retain the fame difagreeable tafie.

To fatisfy the curiofity of thofe, who are
willing to know, how the woods look in
this country, and whether or no the trees
in them are the fame with thofe found in
ourforefts, I here infert a fmall catalogue of
thofe which grow fpontaneoufly in the woode
which are neareft to Philadelphia, But I
exclude fuch fhrubs as do not attain any con-
fiderable height. I {hall put that tree firft. in
order, which is moft plentiful, and fo on
with the reft, and therefore trees which I
have found but iingle, though near the
town, will be laft.

I. ^ercus alba, the White oak in ^ood
ground.

E 2. ^uercus

66 September 1748.

2. ^ercus rubra, or the black oak.

3. ^ercus hifpanica, the Spanijh oak, a
variety of the preceding.

4. JugJans alba, hiccory, a kind of wal-
nut tree, of which three or four varieties
are to be met with.

5. Rubus Occident alts, or American black-
berry fhrub.

6. Acer rubrum, the maple tree with
red flowers, in fwamps.

7. Rhus glabra, the fmooth leaved Su-
mach, in the woods, on high glades, and
old corn-fields.

8. Vitis labrufca and Vulpina, vines of
feveral kinds.

9. Sambucus canadenjis, American Elder
.tree,_ along the hedges and on glades.

^10. ^ercus phellos, the Iwamp oak,
in moraffes.

1 1 . Azalea lutea, the American upright
honey-fuckle, in the woods in dry places.

12. Crataegus Crus galli, the Virginian
Azarole, in woods.

13. Vaccinium , a fpecies of

whortleberry fhrub.

14. §luercus prinus, the chefnut oak in
good ground.

15. Cornus ftorida, the cornelian cherry,
in all kinds of ground.

1 6. Liriodendron 'Tulipifera, the tulip tree,

in

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 67

in every kind of foil.

17. Prunus 'virgim'ana, the wild cherry
tree.

1 8 . Vaccijiium -, a frutex whor-
tleberry, in good ground.

19. Prims verticillatus, the winterberry
tree in fwamps.

20. P lat anus Occident alis, the water-beech.

21. Nyjj'a aquaticay the tupelo tree ; on
fields and mountains,*

22. Liquidambar Jiyraciflua, fweet gum
tree, near fprings.

23. Befula Alnust alder, a variety of the
Swedifi-y it was here but a {hrub.

24. Fagiis cajianea, the chefnut tree, on
corn-fields, paftures, and in little woods.

25. Juglans nigra, the black walnut
tree, in the fame place with the preceding
tree.

26. Rhus radicans, the twining fumach,
climbed along the trees.

27. j4cer NegunJoy the alh-leaved maple,
in moralTes and fwampy places.

28. Prunus do??ieJiica, the wild plumb
tree.

29. Ulmus Americana, the white elm.

• Dr. Linn^us mentions only one fpecies oi Nyjfa, namely
NyJJa aquatica ; Mr. Kalm does not mention the name of the
fpecies ; but if his is not a different fpecies, it muft at leaft be
a variety, fince he fays it grows on hills, whereas the aquatica
grows in the water. F.

E 2 QO. Pru-

15^ S^iember 1748.

30. Prunus fpinofa, floe flirub, in low
places.

3 1 . Laurus fajfafras, the faffafras tree, ih
a loofe foil mixed with fand.

32. Ribes nigrum, the currant tree, grew
in low places and in marfhes.

3 3 . Fraxinus excelfiory the afh tree in low
places.

34. Smilax laurifolia, the rough bind
weed with the bay leaf, in woods and on
pales or enclofures.

35. Kalmia latifoUa, the American dwarf
laurel, on the northern fide of mountains.

36. Morus rubra, the mulberry tree on
fields, hills and near the houfes.

37. Rhus vernix, the poifonous Sumach,
in wet places.

38. ^ercus rubra, the red oak, but a
peculiar variety.

39. Hamamelis virginica, the witch hazel.

40. Diofpyros virginiana, the periimon.

41. Pyrus coro7iaria, the anchor tree.

42. Juniperus virginiana, the red juniper,
in a dry poor foil.

43. Laurus ajivalis, fpice-wood in a
wet foil.

44. Carpimis ojiry a, ^ifpeciQS of horn beam
in a good foil.

45. Carpinus betulus, a horn beam, in
the fame kind of foil with the former.

46. Fagus

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 69

46. Fagus fyhatica, the beech, likewife
in good foil.

47. Juglans r, a fpecies of wal-
nut tree on hills near rivers,* called by the

Swedes Butternufira.

48. Pinus Americana, Pen fyhanian fir tree;
on the north fide of mountains, and in
vallies. -j'

49. Betula lenta, a fpecies of birch, on
the banks of rivers.

50. Cephalantus occidentalism button wood,
in wet places.

5 1 . Pinus tada, the New Jerfey fir tree,
on dry fandy heaths.

52. Cercis canadenjis, the fallad tree, in
a good foil.

53. Robinia pfeudacacia, the locuft tree,
on the corn-fields.

54. Magnolia glauca, the laurel-leaved
tulip tree, in marfhy foil.

55. T^ilia Americana, the lime tree, in a
good foil.

56. Gleditjia triacanthos, the honey locuft
tree, or three thorned acacia, in the fame foil.

t^']. Celtis occidentalis, the nettle tree, in
the fields.

58. Annona muricata, the cuftard apple
in a fruitful foil.

E 3 58. An-

• Quere. Is this the Juglans haccata of Linnaus ? F.
t This fpecies is not to be met with in Linn, /pec. plant. F.

JO September 1748.

We vifited feveral Swedes, who .were
fsttled here, and were at prefent in very,
good circumftances. One of them was
called Andrew Rambo ; he had a fine houfe
built of ftone, two ftories high, and a great
orchard near it. We were every where
well received, and flayed over night with-
the above-mentioned countryman. We
faw no other marks of autumn, than that
feveral fruits of this feafon were already
ripe. For befides this all the trees were yet
as green, and the ground ftill as much co-
vered with flowers, as in our fummer.
Thoufands of frogs croaked ail the night
long in the marfhes and brooks. The lo-
cufts and grafshoppers made likewife fuch a
great noife,, that it was hardly poflible for
one perfon to underftand another. The
trees too, were full of all forts of birds,
which by the variety of their, fine plumage,
delighted the eye, while the infinite varie-
ty of their tunes were continually re-echoed.

The orchards, along which we pafied to-
day, were only enclofed by hurdles. But
they contained all kinds of fine fruit. We
wondered at firfi: very much when our lead-
er leaped over the hedge into the orchards,
and gathered fome agreeable fruit for us.
But our aftonifhment was ftill greater, when
we faw that the people in the garden were

ft

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, y i

fo little concerned at it, as not even to look
at us. But our companion told us, that the
people here were not fo exadt in regard to
a few fruits, as they are in other countries
where the foil is not fo fruitful in them.
We afterwards found very frequently that
the country people in Sweden and Finland
guarded their turneps more carefully, than
the people here do the moft exquifite fruits.

September iho. 19th. As I walked this
morning into the fields, I obferved that a
copious dew was fallen -, for the grafs was
as wet as if it had rained. The leaves of
the plants and trees, had contrad:ed fo
much moifture, that the drops ran down.
I found on this occaiion that the dew was
not only on the fuperior, but likewife on
the inferior fide of the leaves. I therefore
carefully confidered many leaves both of
trees and of other plants ^ both of thofe
which are more above, and of thofe which
are nearer to the ground. But I found in
all of them, that both fides of the leaves
were equally bedewed, except thofe of the
Verbafcum Thapfus, or great Mullein, which
though their fuperior fide was pretty well
covered with the dew, yet their inferior
had but a little.

Every countryman, even a common

peafanr, has commonly an orchard near

E 4 his

72 September 1748.

his houfe, in which all forts of fruit, fiich
as peaches, apples, pears, cherries, and
others, are in plenty. The peaches were
now almoft ripe. They are rare in Europe^
particularly in Sweden, for in that country
hardly any people befides the rich taile
them. But here every countryman had an
orchard full of peach trees, which were
covered with fuch quantities of fruit, that
we could fcarcely walk in the orchard,
without treading upon thofe peaches which
were fallen off; many of which were always
left on the ground, and only part of thetn
was fold in town, and the reft was confu-
med by the family and ftrangers -, for every
one that paffed by, was at liberty to go in-
to the orchard, and to gather as many of
them as he wanted. Nay, this fine fruiu
was frequently given to the fwine.

This fruit is however fometimes kept
for winter ufe, and for this purpofe they
are prepared in the following manner.
The fruit is cut into four parts, the ftone
thrown away, and the fruit put upon a
thread, on which they are expofed to the
funfhine in the open air, till they are fuffi-
ciently dry. They are then put into a vef-
fel for winter. But this manner of drying
them i« not very good, becaufe the rain of
this feafon very eafily fpoils and putrifies

thern,

Penjylvaniai Philadelphia, 73

them, whilft they hang in the open air.
For this reafon a different method is fol-
lowed by others, which is by far the moft
eligible. The peaches are as before cut
into four parts, are then either put upon a
thread, or laid upon a board, and fo hung
up in the air when the fun fhines. Being
dried in fome meafure, or having loft their
juice by this means, they are put into an
oven, out of which the bread has but juft
been taken, and are left in it for a while.
But they are foon taken out and brought
into the frefh air ; and after that they are
again put into the oven, and this is
repeated feveral times till they are as dry as
they ought to be. For if they were dried
up at once in the oven, they would ihrivel
up too much, and lofe part of their flavour.
They are then put up and kept for the
winter. They are either baked into tarts
and pyes, or boiled and prepared as dried
apples and pears are in Sweden. Several
people here dry and preferve their apples in
the fame manner as their peaches.

The peach trees, have, as I am told,
been firft planted here by the Europeans.
But at prefent they fucceed very well, and
require even lefs care, than our apple and
pear trees.

The orehafGS have feldom other fruit

thai)

74 September 1748.

than apples and peaches. Pear trees are
fcarce in this province, and thofe that
had any of them, had planted them in
their orchards. They likewife have cher-
ry trees in the orchards, but commonly on
the fides of them towards the houfe, or
along the enclofures. Mulberry trees are
planted on fome hillocks near the houfe,
and fometimes even in the court yards of
the houfe. The black walnut trees, or
"Juglans nigra, grow partly on hills, and in
fields near the farm-houfes, and partly along
the enclofures -, but moft commonly in the
forefts. No other trees of this kind, are
made ufe of here. The chefnuts are left
in the fields ; here and there is one in a dry
field or in a wood.

The Hibifcus efculentus, or Okra,^ is a
plant which grows wild in the Weji Indies,
but is planted in the gardens here. The
fruit, which is a long pod, is cut whilft it
is green, and boiled in foups, which there-
by become as thick as pulfe. This diHi is
reckoned a dainty by fome people, and ef-
pecially by the negroes.

Capsicum annuum, or Guinea pepper is
likewife planted in gardens. When the

fruit

* In Miller's Garden. Diftionary, It is called Ketmia Indi-
ca folio ficus, fruSlu pentagono, recuwo efculento, graciliori, et
longiori.

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. j^

fruit is ripe it is almofi: entirely red, it is
put to a roafted or boiled piece of meat, a
little of it being ftrewed upon it, or mixed
with the broth. Befides this, cucumbers
are pickled with it. Or the pods are
pounded whilfl they are yet tender, and be-
ing mixed with fait are preferved in a bot-
tle ; and this fpice is ftrewed over roafted
or boiled meat, or fried fifh, and gives them
a very fine tafte. But the fruit by itfelf is
as biting as common pepper.

This country contains many fpecies of
the plant, which Dr. Linnaus calls Rhus,
and the moft common is the Rhusfoliis pin-
natisferratis lanceolates retrinque nudisy or the
Rhus glabra. The Englijh call this plant
Sumach. But the Swedes here, have no
particular name for it, and therefore make
ufe of the Englijh name. Its berries or
fruits are red. They are made ufe of for
dying, and afford a colour like their own.
This tree is like a weed in this country, for
if a corn-field is left uncultivated for fome
few years together, it grows on it in plen-
ty, fince the berries are fpread everywhere
by the birds. And when the ground is
to be ploughed the roots ftop the plough
very much. The fruit ftays on the ftirub
during the whole winter. But the leaves
drop very early in autumn, after they are

turned

j^ September 1748.

t-arnjed reddifb, like thofe of our Swedijh
mountain afh. The branches boiled with
Ijbe berries afford a black ink like tindlure.
The boys eat the berries, there being no
danger of falling fick after the repaft -, but
they are very four. They feldom grow
above three yards high. On cutting the
ftea>, it appears that it contains nothing
but pith. I have cut feveral in this man-
ner, and found that fome were ten years
old j but that moft of them were above
one year old. When the cut is made, a
yellow juice comes out between the bark
and the wood. One or two of the moft
outward circles are white, but the inner-^
moft are of a yellowifh green. It is eafy
to diftinguifh them one from another.
They contain a very plentiful pith, thg
diameter of which is frequently half an
inch, and fometimes more. It is brown,
and fo loofe that it is eafily pufhed out
by a little ftick, in the fame manner as
the pith of the elder tree, rafpberry and
blackberry buihes. This fumach grows
Bear the enclofures, round the corn-fields,
but efpecially on fallow ground. The wood
feemed to burn well, and made no great
crackling in the fire.

September the 20th. In the morning we
walked in the fields and woods near the

town.

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 77

t6^D, partly for gathering feeds, and partly
for gathering plants for my herbal, which
was our principal occupation i and in the
autumn of this year, we fent part of our
colledtion to England and Sweden,.

A SPECIES of Rhus y which was frequent
in the marflies here was called the poifon
tree by both Englifh and Swedes.^ Some of
the former gave it the mmt^oi fwamp^
fumach, and my country-men gave it the
fame name. Dr. Linnaus in his botanical
works calls it Rhus Vernix. Sp. pi. i.
380. Flora Virgin. 45. An incifion being
made into the tree, a whitifli yellow
juice, which has a naufeous fmell, comes
out between the bark and the wood. This
tree is not known for its good qualities,
but greatly fo for the effea: of its poifon,
which though it is noxious to fome people,
yet does not in the lead affed others. And
therefore one perfon can handle the tree
as he pleafes, cut it, peel off its bark,
rub it, or the wood upon his hands, fmell at
it, fpread the juice upon his fkin, and make
ttiore experiments, with no inconvenience
to himfelf 5 another perfon on the contrary
dares not meddle with the tree, while its
wood is frefh, nor can he venture to touch
a hand which has handled it, nor even to
ibxpofe himfelf to the fmoak of a fire which
is made with this wood, without foon

feeling

7^ September 1748.

feeling its bad efFeds ; for the face, the
hands, and frequently the whole body fwells
exceffively, and is afFeded with a very accute
pain. Sometimes bladders or blifters arife
in great plenty, and make the fick perfon
look as if he was infedted by a leprofy. In
fome people the external thin fkin,or cuticle^
peels of in a few days, as is the cafe when
a perfon has fcalded or burnt any part of
his body. Nay, the nature of fome perfons
will not even allow them to approach the
place where the tree grows, or to expofe
themfelves to the wind, when it carries the
effluvia or exhalations of this tree with it,
without letting them feel the inconvenience
of the fwelling, which I have juft now
defcribed. Their eyes are fometimes fhut
up for one, or two and more days together
by the iwelling. I know two brothers,
one of whom could without danger handle
this tree in what manner he pleafed, where-
as the other could not come near it with-
out fwelling. A perfon fometimes does not
know that he has touched this poifonous
plant, or that he has been near it, before
his face and hands fhews it by their fwel-
ling. I have known old people who were
more afraid of this tree than of a viper 5
and I was acquainted with a perfon who
merely by the noxious exhalations of it

was

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 79

was fwelled to fuch a degree, that he was as
ftiiF as a log of wood, and could only be
turned about in fheets.

On relating in the winter of the year
1750, the poifonous qualites of the fwamp
fumach to my Tungfircemy who attended
me on my travels, he only laughed, and
looked upon the whole as a fable, in
which opinion he was confirmed by his
having often handled the tree the autumn
before, cut many branches of it, which he
had carried for a good while in his hand in
order to preferve its feeds, and put many
into the herbals, and all this, without feel-
ing the leafl inconvenience. He would
therefore, being a kind of philofopher in
his own way, take nothing for granted of
which he had no fufficient proofs, efpeci-
ally as he had his own experience in the
fummer of the year 1749, to fupport the
contrary opinion. But in the next fummer
his fyftem of philofophy was overturned.
For his hands fwelled and he felt a violent
pain, and itching in his eyes as foon as
he touched the tree, and this inconvenience
not only attended him when he meddled
with this kind of fumach, but even when
he had any thing to do with the Rhus ra^
dicans, or that fpecies of fumach which
climbs along the trees, and is not by far fo

poifonous

86 Septemher 1748.

poifonous as the former. By this advehttiffe
he was fo convinced of the power of th6
poifon tree, that I could not eafily perfuadfe
him to gather more feeds of it for me.
But he not only felt the noxious effeds af
it in fummer when he was very hot, but
teven in winter when both he and the wood
were cold. Hence it appears that though
a perfoQ be fecured againft the power bf
this poifon for fome time, yet that in lengtli
of time he may be affedled with it as well,
as people of a weaker conftitution.

I HAVE likewife tried experiments 6f
every kind with the poifon tree on myfelf.
I have fpread its juice upon my hands, cvit
and broke its branches, peeled off its bark,
and rubbed my hands with it, fmelt at it,
carried pieces of it in my bare hands, and
repeated all this frequently, without feel^
ing the baneful effects fo commonly annex-
ed to it ; but I however once experienced
that the poifon of the fumach was not en-
tirely without effed: upon me. On a hot
day in fummer, as I was in fome degree of
perfpiration, I cut a branch of the tree, and
carried it in my hand for about half ah
hour together, and fmelt at it now and
then. I felt no effeds from it, till in the
evening. But next morning I awoke with
a violent itching of my eye-lids, and thfe

parts

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 8i

parts thereabouts, and this was fo painful,
that I could hardly keep my hands from
it. It ceafed after I had wafhed my eyes
for a while, with very cold water. But
my eye-lids were very ftiff all that day.
At. night the itching returned, and in the
morning as I awoke, I felt it as ill as the
morning before, and I ufed the fame reme-
dy againft it. However it continued almoft
for a whole week together, and my eyes
were very red, and my eye-lids were with
difficulty moved, during all that time. My
pain ceafed entirely afterwards. About the
fame time, I had fpread the juice of the
tree very thick upon my hand. Three days
after they occafioned blifters, which foon
went off without affeding me much. 1
have not experienced any thing more of the
effeds of this plant, nor had I any delire fo
to do. However I found that it could not
exert its power upon me, when I was not
perfpiring.

1 HAVE never heard that the poifon of
this Sumach has been mortal ; but the pain
ceafes after a few days duration. The na-
tives formerly made their flutes of this tree,
becaufe it has a great deal of pith. Some
people aiTured me, that a perfon fufFering
from its noifome exhalations, would eafily
recover by fpreading a mixture of the wood,
F burnt

82 September 1748.

burnt to charcoal, and hog's lard, upon the
fwelled parts. Some afferted that they had
really tried this remedy. In fome places
this tree is rooted out on purpofe, that
its poifon may not afFedt the workmen.

1 RECEIVED to day, feveral curiolities
belonging to the mineral kingdom, which
were colledted in the country. The fol-
lowing were thofe which were moft worth
attention. The firft was a white, and quite
tranfparent cryftal.* Many of this kind
are found in Penjyhaniay in feveral kinds of
ftone, efpecially in a pale-grey limeftone.
The pieces are of the thicknefs and length
of the little linger, and commonly as tran-
fparent as poffible. But I have likewife
got cryflals here, of the length of a foot,
and of the thicknefs of a middle-fized man's
leg. They were not fo tranfparent as the
former.

. The cubic Pyrites of Bijhop Browallius,-^
was of a very regular texture. But its
cubes were different in fize, for in fome of

the

* Nifrutn Cryft alius montana, Linn. Syft. nat. 3. p. 84.
Cryftallus hexagona pellucida non Colorata. Wallerius's Minera-
logy, p. 100. Cryjiallus montana^ colourlefs cryftal. For-
Jler's Introd. to Mineralogy, p. 13.

f Pyrites cryftallinus, Linn. Syft. nat. 3. p. II 3. Marcha-
fit a hexaedricct tejfelares. Wallerius's Mineralogy, p. 2H.
Marcafita, vel cry/ialli fjritacei, M^rQaHtQS, Forfier's IntiOd,
to Mineralogy, p. 39.

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia. 83

the cubes, the planes of the fides only-
amounted to a quarter of an inch, but in
the biggeft cubes, they were full two inch-
es. Some were exceedingly glittering, fo
that it was very eafy to be perceived that
they confifted of fulphureous pyrites. But
in fome one or two lides only, glittered fo
well, and the others were dark-brown.
Yet mofl of thefe marcafites had this fame
colour on all the fides. On breaking them
they fhewed the pure pyrites. They are
found near Lancajier in this province, and
fometimes lie quite above the ground ;
but commonly they are found at the
depth of eight feet or more from the
furface of the ground, on digging wells and
the like. " Mr. Heff'eliiis had feveral pieces
of this kind of flone, which he made ufe of
in his work. He firft burnt them, then
pounded or ground them to a powder, and
at lafl rubbed them flill finer in the ufual
way, and this afforded him a fine reddifh-
brown colour.

Few black pebbles are found in this pro-
vince, which on the other hand yields ma-
ny kinds oi marble y efpecially a white oney
^with pale-grey bliiijh fpots, which is found
in a quarry at the diftance of a few Englijh
miles from Philadelphia, and is very good
F 2 for

$4 September 1748.

for working, though it is not one of the
fineft kind of marbles. They make many
tombftones and tables, enchafe chimneys
and doors, floors of marble flags in the
rooms, and the like of this kind of marble.
A quantity of this commodity is fhipped to
different parts of America,

Muscovy glafs^^ is found in many pla-
ces hereabouts, and fome pieces of it are
pretty large, and as fine as thofe which are
brought from Rujjia. I have feen fome of
them, which were a foot and more in
length. And I have feveral in my collec-
tion that are nearly nine inches fquare. The
Swedes on their firfl: arrival here made theic
windows of this native glafs.

A PALE grey fine limefl:one,-f' of a com-
paft texture, lies in many places hereabouts^
and affords a fine lime. Some pieces of it
are fo full of fine tranfparent cryilals, that
almofl: half of the flone confifts of nothing
elfe. But befides this limefl:one, they make

lime

* Mica memhranacea, Linn. Syft. nat. 3. p. 58.

Micamembranacea pellucidijftma fiexilis alba. Walkrius*s Mia.
p. 120.

RuJ/tan glafs, Mufco'vy glafs, Ifinglafs, Vitrum ruthenicu»h
Vitrum Maria. ForJi£r\ Introd. to Mineralogy, p. 18.

f Marmcr rude, Linn. Syft. nat. 3. p. 41.

Calcareus particitlis fcintillantihus. WalL Min. p. 39.

Calcareus feint illans, glittering limeftonc. Forfter^i Introd.
•& Mineral, p. 9.

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia. ^^

lime near the fea-fhore, from oyfter fhells,
and bring it to town in winter, which is
faid to be worfe for mafonry, but better
for white-wafhing, than that which is got
from the limeflone.

Coals have not yet been found in Pen-
fylvania ; but people pretend to have {^Qn
them higher up in the country among the
natives. Many people however agree that
they are met with in great quantity more
to the north, near Cape Breton.^

The ladies make wine from fome of the
fruits of the land. They principally take
white and red currants for that purpofe,
fince the flirubs of this kind are very plen-
tiful in the gardens, and fucceed very well.
An old failor who had frequently been in
New-foundland, told me that red currants
grew wild in that country in great quanti-
ty. They likewife make a wine of ftraw-
berries, which grow in great plenty in the
woods, but are fourer than the Swedijh
ones. The American blackberries ^ or Rubus
occidentalism are likewife made ufe of for
this purpofe, for they grow every where
about the fields, almoft as abundantly as
F 3 thirties

* This has been confirmed, fince Cape Breton is in the
hands of the Englijh^ and it is reported that the ftrata of
coals run through the whole ifle, and fome baflet out to day
near the fea-lhore, fo that this ifle will afford immenfe trea-
fures of coals, when the government will find it convenient,
to have them dug for the benefit of the Nation. F.

86 September 1748.

thiftles in S-weden, and have a very agreea^r
ble tafte. In Maryland a wine is made of
the wild grapes, which grow in the woods
of that province. Rafpberries and cherries
which are planted on purpofe, and taken
great care of, likewife afford a very fine
wine. It is unneceflary to give an account
of the manner of making the currant wine,
for in Sweden this art is in higher perfection
than in North America.

September the 2 1 ft. The common Privet,
or Ligujirum vulgarcy Linn, grows among
the bufhes in thickets and woods. But I
pannot determine whether it belongs to the
indigenous plants, or to thofe which the
^nglijh have introduced, the fruits of which
the birds may have difperfed every where.
The enclofures and pales are generally made
here of wooden pianks and pofts. But a
few good oeconomifts, having already
thought of fparing the woods for future
times, have begun to plant quick hedges
round their fields ; and to this purpofe they
take the above-mentioned privet, which
they plant in a little bank, which is thrown
up for it. The foil every where hereabouts
is a clay mixed with fand, and of courfe
very loofe. The privet hedges however,
are only adapted to the tamenefs of the
pattle and other animals here 5 for the hogs

ail

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 87

all have a triangular yoke about their
necks, and the other cattle are not very
unruly. But in fuch places where the cat-
tle break through the enclofures, hedges of
this kind would make but a poor defence.
The people who live in the neighbourhood
of Philadelphia, are obliged to keep their
hogs enclofed.

In the afternoon I rode with Mr. Peter
Cock, who was a merchant, born at Karl-
fcron in Sweden, to his country feat, about
nine miles from the town, to the north-
weft.

The country on both fides of the road
was covered with a great foreft. The trees
were all with annual leaves, and I did not
fee a fingle fir or pine. Moft of the trees
were different forts of oak. But we like-
wife faw chefnut trees, walnut trees, locuft
trees, apple trees, hiccory, blackberry bufli-
es, and the like. The ground ceafed to
be fo even as it was before, and began to
look more like the Englijh ground, diverfi-
fied with hills and vallies. We found nei-
ther mountains nor great ftones, and the
wood was fo much thinned, and the ground
fo uniformly even, that we could fee a great
way between the trees, under which we
rode without any inconvenience ; for there
were no bufhes to ftop us. In fome places
F 4 where

88 September 1748.

where the foil was thrown up, we faw
fome little ftones of that kind of which the
houfes here are fo generally built. I intend
to defcribe them in the fequel.

As we went on in the wood, we conti-
nually faw at moderate diil:ances little fields,
which had been cleared of the wood. Each
of thefe was a farm. Thefe farms were
commonly very pretty, and a walk of trees
frequently led from them to the high-
road. The houfes were all built of brick,
or of the ftone which i? here every where
to be met with. Every countryman, even
though he were the pooreil peafant, had an,
orchard with apples, peaches, chefnuts,
walnuts, cherries, quinces, and fuch fruits,
and fometiraes we faw the vines climbing
along them. The vallies were frequently
provided with little brooks which contain-
ed a cryftal ftream. The corn on the fide§
of the road, was almoft all mown, and no
other grain befides maize and buckwheat
was ftanding. The former was to be met
with near each farm, in greater or lefler
quantities ; it grew very well and to a great
length, the ftalks being from fix to ten foot
high, and covered with fine green leaves.
Buckwheat likewife was not very uncom-
mon, and in fome places the people were
beginning to reap it. I intend in the fe-
quel

Penjyhania, Germantown. S9

quel to be more particular about the quali-
ties and ufe of thefe kinds of corn.

After a ride of fix Englifi miles, we
came to Germantown -y this town has only
one ftreet, but is near two Engiifh miles
long. It is for the greateft part inhabited
by Germans, who from time to time come
from their country to North America, and
fettle here, becaufe they enjoy fuch
privileges, as they are not pofleffed of any
where elfe. Moft of the inhabitants arc
tradcfmen, and make almoft every thing in
fuch quantity and perfedion, that in a
fhort time this province will want very lit-
tle from England, its .mother country.
Moft of the houfes were built of the ftonc
which is mixed with glimmer, and found
every where towards Philadelphia, but is
more fcarce further on. Several houfes
however were made of brick. They were
commonly two ftories high, and fometimes
higher. The roofs conlifted of fhingles of
the white cedar wood. Their fhape refem-
bled that of the roofs in Sweden, but the
angles they formed at the top were either
obtufe, right angled, or acute, according
as the flopes were fteep or eafy. They
fometimes formed either the half of an
odtogon, or the half of a dodecagon.

Many of the roofs were made in fuch a

manner.

go September 1748.

manner, that they could be walked upon,
having a baluftrade round them. Many of
the upper ftories had balconies before them,
from whence the people had a profpedt in-
to the ftrcet. The windows, even thofe in
the third ftory, had fhutters. Each houfe
had a fine garden. The town had three
churches, one for the lutherans, another
for the reformed proteftants, and the third
for the quakers. The inhabitants were fo
numerous, that the ftreet was always full.
The baptifts have likewife a meeting-houfe.

September the 2 2d. After I had been at
church, I employed the remainder of the
day in converfing with the moft confidera-
ble people in town, who had lived here for
a long while, and I enquired into the curi-
ofities hereabouts.

Mr. Cock had a fine fpring near his
country feat ; it came from a fandy hill,
and afforded water enough conftantly to fill
a little brook. Juft above this fpring Mr.
Cock had erected a building from thofe
above-mentioned glittering ftones, into
which were put many jugs, and other ear-
then vefiels full of milk ; for it kept very
well in cold water during the great heat
with which the fummer is attended here.

I AFTERWARDS met with many houfes
which were fituated like this on fprings,

and

Penjyhania, Germantown, 91

and therefore were deftined to keep the
meat and milk frefli.

. Almost all the enclofures round the
corn-fields and meadows hereabouts, were
made of planks faftened in a horizontal di-
rection. I only perceived a hedge of privet
in one fingle place. The enclofures were
not made like ours, for the people here
take pofts from four to fix feet in height,
and make two or three holes into them, fo
that there was a diftance of two feet and
above between them. Such a poft does the
fame fervice as two, and fometimes three
poles are fcarce fufficient. The pofts were
faftened in the ground, at two or three fa-
thoms diftance from each other, and the
holes in them kept up the planks, which
were nine inches, and fometimes a foot
broad, and lay above each other from one
poft to the next. Such an enclofure there-
fore looked at a diftance like the hurdles
in which we enclofe the flieep at night
in Sweden. They were really no clofer
than hurdles, being only deftined to keep
out the greater animals, fuch as cows and
horfes. The hogs are kept near the farm-
houfes every where about Philadelphia, and
therefore this enclofure does not need to be
made clofer on their account. Chefnut
trees were commonly made ufe of for this

purpofe.

92 September 1748.

purpofe, becaufe this wood keeps longeft
againft putrefaction, and an enclofure made
of it can ftand for thirty years together.
But where no chefnut wood was to be got,
the white, and likewife the black oaks were
taken for that purpofe. Of all kinds of
wood, that of the red cedar holds out the
longeft. The . greateft quantity of it is
bought up here ; for near Philadelphia it is
not plentiful enough, to be made ufe of for
enclofures ; however there are many enclo-
fures near the town made of this wood.

The beft wood for fuel in every body's
opinion is the hiccory, or a fpecies of wal-
nut ; for it heats well ; but is not good for
enclofures, fince it cannot well withftand
putrefadion when it is in the open air.
The white and black oaks are next in
goodnefs for fuel. The woods with which
Philadelphia is furrounded, would lead one
to conclude, that fuel mull be cheap there.
But it is far from being fo, becaufe the
great and high foreil near the town is the
property of fome people of quality and for-
tune, vvrho do not regard the money which
they could make of them. They do not
fell fo much as they require for their own
ufe, and much lefs would they fell it to
others. But they leave the trees for times
to come, expeding that wood will become

much

Penjyhania, Germantown. 93

much more fcarcc. However they fell it
to joiners, coach -makers, and other artifts,
who pay exorbitantly for it. For a quan-
tity of biccory of eight foot in length, and
four in depth, and the pieces being like-
wife four foot long, they paid at prefent
eighteen (hillings of Penfyhanian currency.
But the fame quantity of oak only came to
twelve fhillings. The people who came
at prefent to fell v^^ood in the market were
peafants, who lived at a great diflance from
the town. Every body complained that
fuel in the fpace of a few years, was rifen
in price to many times as much again as it
had been, and to account for this, the fol-
lowing reafons were given : the town is
encreafed to fuch a degree, as to be four or
fix times bigger, and more populous than
what fome old people have known it to be,
when they were young. Many brick-kilns
have been made hereabouts, which require
a great quantity of wood. The country is
likewife more cultivated than it ufed to be,
and confequently great woods have been
cut down for that purpofe ; and the farms
built in thofe places likewife confume a
quantity of wood. Laftly, they melt iron
out of the ore, in feveral places about the
town, and this work always goes oa with-
out interruption. For thefe reafons it is

concluded

94 September 1748.

concluded in future times Philadelphia will
be obliged to pay a great price for wood.

The wine of blackberries, which has a
very fine tafte, is made in the following
manner. The juice of the blackberries is
prefled out, and put into a veflel; with half
a gallon of this juice, an equal quantity of
water is well mixed. Three pounds of
brown fugar are added to this mixture,
which muft then fland for a while, and
after that, it is fit for ufe. Cherry wine is
made in the fame manner, but care muft
be taken that when the juice is prefTed
out, the ftones be not crufhed, for they
give the wine a bad tafle.

They make brandy from peaches here,
after the following method. The fruit is
cut afunder, and the flones are taken out.
The pieces of fruit are then put ifito a
vefTel, where they are left for three weeks
or a month, tilt they are quite putrid.
They are then put into the diftilling veffely
and the brandy is made and afterwards dif-
tilled over again. This brandy is not good
for people who have a more refined tafle,
but it is only for the common kind of
people, fuch as workmen and the like.

Apples yield a brandy, when prepared
in the fame manner as the peaches. But
for this purpofe thofe apples are chiefly

taken

Penfyhania, Germantown, 95

taken which fall from the tree before they
are ripe.

The American Night- jhade, or Phytolacca
decandra, Linn. S. N. grows abundantly
near the farms, on the highroad in hedges
and bufhes, and in feveral places in the
fields. Whenever I came to any of thefe
places I was fure of finding this plant in
great abundance. Moft of them had red
berries, which grew in bunches, and look-
ed very tempting, though they were not at
all fit for eating. Some of thefe plants
were yet in flower. In fome places, fuch
as in the hedges, and near the houfes, they
fometimes grow two fathom high. But
in the fields were always low ; yet I could
no where perceive that the cattle had eaten
of it. A German of this place who was a
confecftioner told me, that the dyers gather-
ed the roots of this plant and made a fine
red dye of them.

Here are feveral fpecies of Squirrels,
The ground Squirrels, or Sciurus Jiriatus,
Linn. S. N. are commonly kept in cages,
becaufe they are very pretty : but they can-
not be entirely tamed. Th^ greater Squir-
rels, or Sciurus cinereus, Linn. S. N. fre-
quently do a great deal of mifchief in the
plantations, but particularly deftroy the
maize. For they climb up the ilalks, cut

the

g6 September 1748.

the ears in pieces and eat only the loofe and
fweet kernel which lies quite in the infide.
They fometimes come by hundreds upon a
maize-field, and then deftroy the whole
crop of a countryman in one night. In
Maryland therefore every one is obliged an-
nually to bring four fquirrels, and their
heads are given to the furveyor, to prevent
deceit. In other provinces every body that
kills fquirrels, received tw^opence a piece
for them from the public, on delivering
the heads. Their flefh is eaten and reck-
oned a dainty. The fkins are fold, but are
not much efteemed. Squirrels are the chief
food of the rattle-fnake and other fnakes,
and it was a common fancy with the peo-
ple hereabouts, that when the rattle fnake
lay on the ground, and fixed its eyes upon
a fquirrel, the latter would be as it were
fafcinated, and that though it were on the
uppermoft branches of a tree, yet it would
come down by degrees, till it leaped into
the fnake's mouth. The fnake then licks
the little animal feveral times, and makes
it wet all over with its fpittle, that it may
go down the throat eafier. It then fwallows
the whole fquirrel at once. When the
fnake has made fuch a good meal, it lies
down to reft without any concern.

The quadruped, which Dr. Linnceus in

the

Penfylhania, GermaHtown, ^f

the' memoirs of thfe FLoy«l Atadehiy of Sci-
encesi has defcribed by- the naiiie of JJrfiti
caudk eUn^ata, and- which- he calls Urjitt
Latdr, in his Syftema NalUfae^^ is here call^^
Q.6.' Raccoon, If is found v6ry' frequently;
anddeftroys marty-chickeiis: It is huntfed'
bydogs, and when if runs upon a ttfee to
fave itfeifi a mart climb's upkyn the tree af^--
ter it; and fhak-es it' dbwn to the gtourtdi
where the dogs kill it. The flefh is eaten^
and is reputed to t^ft^ wfell. The bone 'of
its male' parts is mad6 life of'f6r a tobacco-i*
flopperi The hatters purchafe thieir fkins^i
ai^ Jnfyak^ hats out of thfe hair> which are ■
iveJct' in goodnef^ to beavers; The tail is^
worn- rouftd the neckin winter, and thefei-^
f&reis Ukewife valuable. The' Raecoon'h'
frequently the food of fnakes.

SoME^ £;?^/^^/«f« aflerted that nfea^ th^'
vwQt Potomack-'m Virginiaj a great qtiantif^^
of oyfter {hells were to be met with, ahd'^'
that they themfelves had feen whole moun- '
t^itis of^hem'. The place wher6 they arei-
f6und is f^id to be about iwo Bhglip nlile^"^
diftant from the fca-fhOre. The prOprietof^
of that ground btirns lime' oUt *of theW9
This ftratum of oyfter-fheHs is two fathbftfi
aAd more deep . Such quan titie^ of fh^ife i
have likewif<f'beeft found ' in oth6r placfeV'
e^jledally in ^NtW'- T'drk, oh dfggiftg- irt th^Sf -
G ground i

98 September 1748.

ground > and in one place, at the diftance
of fome EngliJJo miles from the fea, a vaft
quantity of oyfter-fliells, and of other fhells
was found. Some people conjedured that
the natives had formerly lived in that place,
and had left the fhells of the oyfters which
they had confumed, in fuch great heaps. But
others could not conceive how it happened
that they were thrown in fuch" immenfe
quantities all into one place.

Every one is of opinion that the Ame-
rican favages were a very good-natured peo-
ple, if they were not attacked. No body is
fo ftri6l in keeping his word as a favage.
If any one of their allies come to vilit them,
they (hew him more kindnefs, and greater
endeavours to ferve him, than he could have
expected from his own countrymen. Mr.
Cock gave me the following relation, as a
proof of their integrity. About two years
ago, an Englijh merchant travelling amongft
the favages, in order to fell them necefla-
ries, and to buy other goods, was fecretly
killed, without the murderer's being found
out. But about a year after, the favages
found out the guilty perfon amongft them-
felves. They immediately took him up,
bound his hands on his back, and thus fent
him with a guard to the governor at Phila-
delphia, and fent him word, that they could

no

Penjyhaniay Germantown. 99

no longer acknowledge this wretch (who
had been fo wicked towards an Englijhman)
as their countryman, and therefore would
have nothing more to do with him, and
that they delivered him up to the gover-
nor, to be punifhed for his villainy as the
laws of England dired:. This Indian was
afterwards hanged at Philadelphia.

Their good natural parts are proved by
the following account, which many people
have given me as a true one. When they
fend their ambaffadors to the Englijh colo-
nies, in order to fettle things of confequence
with the governor, they lit down on the
ground, as foon as they come to his audi-
ence, and hear with great attention the go-
vernor's demands which they are to make
an anfwer to. His demands are fometimes
many. Yet they have only a ftick in their
hand, and make their marks on it with a
knife, without writing any thing elfe down.
But when they return the next day to give
in their refolutiohs, they anfwer all the go-
vernor's articles in the fame order, in which
he delivered them, without leaving one out,
or changing the order, and give fuch accu-
rate anfwers, as if they had an account of
them at full length in writing.

Mr. Sleidorn related another ftory, whi'ch

gave me great plcafure. He fajd he had

G 2 beea

too Septmbt^ 174^^

beer) 2X.^lS[e^Xorkt and bM, found ^iVj^n^
rable old American favage an^ppgft feveral
others in an inn. This old map began to .talk
with Sleidorn as fppn as the liqjapi: \yas.giqtf:
ting the better of his head, and boal^dthat
he could write and. read in JS«^/^. Sleid^rr{
t.herefore defired leave to aik a queftipn^
which the old, man readily granted;. Sleidorn
then afked him, whether he. knew, s^ho
was firft circunjcifed ? and the old ii^^n im-
mediately anfwered. Father Abraham^ h\x%
at the fame tjme afked leave to prpppfp a
queftion in his turn, which Sleidorn^ gr^llr.
ed ; the old man then faid, wh,o was. the
firA quaker? Sleidorn faid it was uncer,tainy
that fo^le took one.perfon for it, and fopi?;
another ; but the cunning old. fellow 1914
hirn, you are miftaken, fir ; M^rdecfli, wa^
the firft quaker, for he would not take, off
his hat to Haman. Many of thp favages,
who are yet heathens, are faid, to havQ
fome obfcure notion of the deluge, ^ut I
am convinced from my own ej^perienc^,
that they are not at all acquainted with it.

I MET with people here vi'ho maintained
that giants had formerly lived in thefe pajts,
and the following particulars confirmed them
in this opiniofi. A few years ago fomcj
people digging in the ground, met witji a
g|rave which contained human bones of an^

afloniih-

Fenfyhania, Germantown, loi

aftbnlfhifig lize. The Tibia rs faid to have
been fourteen feet long, and the os femoris
to have meafored as much. The teeth are
Mkewife faid to have been of a fize propor-
tioned to the reft. Bat more bones of this
kind have not yet been found. Perfons
ikilled in anatomy, v^^ho have feen thefe
bones, have declared that they were human
boneis. One of the teeth has been fent to
Hahiburghy to a perfon who collected natu-
ral cilriofities. Among the favages, in the
neighbourhood of the place where the bones
^ere found, there is an account handed
down through many generations from fa-
thers to children, that in this neighbour-
hood, on the banks of a river, there lived
a Very tall and ftrong man, in ancient
times, Who carried the people over the ri-^
Ver on his back, and waded in the water,
though it was Very deep. Every body to
whom he did this fervice gaVe him fome
maize, fome ikins of animals, or the like.
In fine he got his livelyhood by this means,
and was as it v^^ere the ferryman of thofe
who wanted to pafs the river.

Tnfe foil here confifts for the greateft

part of fknd, which is more Or lefs mixed

iVith clay. Both the fand and the clay, are

of the colour of pale bricks. To judge by

G 3 appear--

I02 September 1748.

appearance the ground was none of the
beitj and this conjedlure was verified by
the inhabitants of the country. When a
corn-field has been obliged to bear the
fame kind of corn for three years together,
it does not after that produce any thing at all
if it be not well manured, or fallowed for
fome years. Manure is very difficult to be
got, and therefore people rather leave the
field uncultivated. In that interval it is
covered with all forts of plants and trees j
and the countryman in the mean while,
cultivates a piece of ground which has till
then been fallow, or he chufes a part of the
ground which has never been, ploughed be-
fore, and he can in both cafes be pretty
fure of a plentiful crop. This method
can here be ufed with great convenience.
For the foil is loofe, fo that it can eafily be
ploughed, and every countryman has com-
monly a great deal of land for his property.
The cattle here are neither houfed in win-
ter, nor tended in the fields, and for this
reafon they cannot gather a fufficient quan-
tity of dung.

All the cattle has been originally
brought over from Europe. The natives
have never had any, and at prefent few of
them care to get any. But the cattle dege^

nerates

Penjyhaniaj Germantown, 103

nerates by degrees here, and becomes fmall-
er. For the cows, horfes, fheep, and hogs,
are all larger in England, though thofe
which are brought over are of that breed.
But the firft generation decreafes. a little,
and the third and fourth is of the fame fize
with the cattle already common here. The
climate, the foil, and the food, altogether
contribute their fhare towards producing
this change.

It is remarkable that the inhabitants of
the country, commonly fooner acquire un-
derftanding, but likewife grow fooner old
than the people in Europe. It is nothing
uncommon to fee little children, giving
fprightly and ready anfwers to queflions that
are propofed to them, fo that they feem to
have as much underftanding as old men.
But they do not attain to fuch an age as the
Europeans, and it is almoft an unheard of
thing, that a perfon born in this country,
fhould live to be eighty or ninety years of
age. But I only fpeak of the Europeans
that fettled here. For the favages, or firft
inhabitants, frequently attained a great age,
though at prefent fuch examples are un-
common, which is chiefly attributed to the
great ufe of brandy, which the favages have
learnt of the Europeans. Thofe who are
born in Europe attain a greater age here,
G 4 than

^P4 M^t^e^rkr 1.748. ;

than thofb who are born Jiere, of Eurc^^au
p^^repts. In the laft war, it plainly appear-
je^ ,tl?at ,thefe new Americans w,ere by far
I^jCs jbardy than the Europeans in expediti-
C).i?5^ fiegeg, and loxig fea voyages, and died
i^. pu 01 hers. It is very difficiult for then*
IP ufp thenifelyeg Ko a plimate diferent froca
|J>eir p^iV'D. The wpmtn ceafe bearing chil-
idreu fooner than in Europe, They feldoQi
or never have children, after they ar« forty
or forty- five years old, and fom^ leave off
ia ^be thirtieth year of their age. I enquir
red into the caufes oi this, but no one could
giv^ me a good one. Some faid it was owt
ing to the affluence in which the people
Jive h?re. Sonne afcribed it to the incon-r
/lancy and changeablenefs of the weather,
and believed that there hardly was a coun^
try on earth in which the weather changes
fo pftep \n a day, as it does here. For if
it were ever fo hot, one could not be cer-
tain whether in twenty-four hours there
would not be a piercing cold. Nay, forne-
times the weather will change five or fi^c
times a day.

TuE trees in this country have the fam^
qualities as its inhabitants. For the ihip$
l^hich are built of American wood, are by
no means equal in point of ftrength, to
tl).pfq vifhich are built in Europe, This i^

what

Penfylvdnia, •Germmt'Qwn. lOJ

Wibat nobody attempts to 'contradi<9:» Wheii
a ibip wliich is bmit here, has lerved eight
or twelve years it is worth little ; and if
one is to be met with, which has been in
ufe longer and h yet ferviceahle, it is reck-
oned very aftonifhing. It is difficult t6
find out the caufes from whence this hap^
pens. Some lay the fault to the badneft
of the wood : others condemn the method
of building the (hips, which is to make
them of trees which are yet green, and have
had no time to dry. I believe both caufes
are joined. For I found oak, which at the
utmoft had been cut down about twelve
years, and was covered by a hard bark.
But upon taking off this bark, the wood
below it was almoft entirely rotten, and
like flour, fo that I could rub it into pow-
der between my fingers. How much long-
er will not our European oak ftand before
it moulders ?

At night we returned to Philadelphia,
September the 23d. There are no Hares
in this country, but fome animals, which
are a medium between our Hares and Rab-
bets, and make a great devaftation whenever
they get into fields of cabbage and turneps.
Many people have not been able to find
out why the North American plants which
are carried to Europe and planted there, for

the

io6 September 1748.

the greateft part flower fo late, and do not
get ripe fruit before the froft overtakes
them, although it appears from feveral ac-
counts of travels, that the vt^inters in Pen-
fyhaniay and more fo thofe in New Tork,
New England, and Canada, are full as fevere
as our SwediJJo winters, and therefore are
much feverer than thofe which are felt
in England. Several men of judgment
charged me for this reafon to examine and
enquire into this phoenomenon with all
poflible care. But 1 (hall inftead of an an-
fwer, rather give a few remarks which I
made upon the climate and upon the plants
of North America, and leave my readers at
liberty to draw the conclulions themfelves.
I. It is true, that the winters in Feu'
fylvania, and much more thofe in the more
northern provinces, are frequently as fevere
as our Swedijh winters, and much colder
than the Englijh ones, or thofe of the fouth-
ern parts of Europe. For I found at Phila-
delphia, which is above twenty deg. more
foutherly than feveral provinces in Sweden,
that the thermometer of p^ofeflbr C^^z//,
fell twenty-four deg. belovi^ the freezing
point in winter. Yet I was afTured that
the winters I fpent here,- were none of the
coldeft, but only common ones, which I
couU like wife conclude from the Delaware'^

not

Penfylvania, Philadelphia. 107

not being frozen ftrong enough to bear a
carriage at Philadelphia during my (lay,
though this often happens. On confider-
ing the breadth of the river which I have
already mentioned in my defcription of
Philadelphia, and the difference between
high and low water, which is eight Englijh
feet y it will pretty plainly appear that a
very intenfe froft is required to cover the
Delaware with fuch thick ice.

2. But it is likewife true, that though
the winters are fevere here, yet they are
commonly of no long duration, and I can
juftly fay, that they do not continue above
two months and fometimes even lefs,at Phi-
ladelphiai and it is fomething very uncom-
mon when they continue for three months
together, in fo much that it is put into the
gazettes. Nearer the pole the winters are
fomewhat longer, and in the quite northern
parts they are as long as the Swedijh win-
ters. The daily meteorological obfervations
which I have made during my ftay in Ame-
rica, and which I intend to annex at the
end of each volume of this work, will give
more light in this matter.

3. The heat in fummeris exceffive, and
without intermiffion. I own I have feen
the thermometer rife to nearly the fame
degree at Aobo in Finland. But the differ-
ence

io8 September 174^.

cnce i^, that when the thermometer of prtfi
fcfibr Qelfius rofe to thirty ^^. abdVe the
fix^ezing point once in tvvo or three fuiftmerfe
at ;,4(?^(?, the fam^ therrtibmeter did hot oiliy
For three months together ftaiid at the fame
degree, but even fometimes rdfe higher 5
hot oAly in i^ehjylvania, but iikfeWife ift
Mw Torky Albany, and a great part bf Ca^
nada, Durihg the furamers which I fpent
at Philadelphia^ the thermdni'eter has two
or three times tifen lb thirty-iik deg. above
the freezing point, ft ttiay therefore with
great certainty be faid* that ih PehJ^Puania
the greateft part of April, the whole May^
and all the following months till OBober-,
are like our Swedifi months of June and
Jte^i So exceffive arid continued a heat
muft certainly ha\^e very great efFedts. I here
again tefer to my meteorological obfervati-i
ens. It ihuft iikewife be afcribed to the
eifeds of this heat that the common tiielonsi
the water melonSj and the pumpions of
different for ts are foWri in the fields with-i
mit any bells or the like put over theth, and
yet ai-i2 ripe as early as July', further, that
cherries are ripe at Philadelphra about the
i^th. of MiT^j arid that in Pehfylvania the
t»4ieat is frequently reaped in the middle of
Jufii,
#. The ^hole oiSepnmber, and half, if

not

Penjyhanifi, Philadelphia, iog.

np^ the whole o£ QSlaber^ are the. fineH
months, in. Fenfyhaniay £bn the preceding-
on^s aj-e too hot. But thefe reprefent-
our July, and hal£ of Augufi, The greateft
partof the plants are in flower in SepUmher,
aji4 nj.any, do. not begin to. open their flow-
ers before the latter end of this naonth, P
make no. (Joubt that the. goodnefs of the
feafon, wJiich is enlivened by. a clear {ky^,
apdi a^ tolerably hot fun-fhine, greaJtly- con-
tributes towards this lafl efforts of Elor^.
Yet, though thefe plants come, out fo late^
they are quite ripe before the middle of^'
O^ober. But I am not able, to account for-
their coming up fo. late.in a,utumfl, and t
rather alk, \y.hy do not theCentaurea Jacea^
the Gentiana., Amarella and Qentaurium oi^
Linneeust and the common- golden, rpdi
QX.Solidego Firga urea fiowtr before theend*
oXfummer ? or why do the common noble-
liverwort, or Anemone Hepaficay the- wild^
violets. (Viola marlia, Linn. J - the mezereoa:
(-Daphne Mezereum, ii/;w./ and other plants
fhew, their flowers fo early in fpring?^ It has
pleafed the Almighty Creator to give to
them, this difpolition. The weather at
Philadelphia during thefe months, is {hewn
by my meteorological tables. I have, taken,
the greateft care in . my, obfervations, and ;
have always avoided putting the thermo -

no . ■ September 1 748 .

meter into any place where the fun could
{hine upon it, or where he had before heat-
ed the wall by his beams; for in thofe cafes
my obfervations would certainly not have
been exaft. The weather during our Sep-
tember and OBober is too well known to
want an explanation.*

5. However there are fome fpontaneous
plants in Penjyhania, which do not every
year bring their feeds to maturity before the
cold begins. To thefe belong fome fpecies
of Gentiana, of Afters ^ and others. But in
thefe too the . wifdom of the Creator has
wifely ordered every thing in its turn. For
ajmoft all the plants which have the quali-
ty of flowering fo late in autumn, are peren-
nial, or fuch as, though they have no feed to
propagate themfelves, can revive by fhoot-
ing new branches and ftalks from the fame
root every year. But perhaps a natural
caufe may be given to account for the late
growth of thefe plants. Before the Euro^
peans came into this country, it was inhabit-
ed by favage nations, who pradtifed agri-
culture but little or not at all, and chiefly

lived

* The Englijh reader, who is perhaps not fo well acquaint-
ed with the weather of the Sivedijh autumn, may form an
idea of it, by having recourfe to the Calendarium Flora, or
the botanical and ceconomical almanack of S^weden^ in Dr.
Linnteus'% Amcen. Academ. and in Mr. Stillingfleet'i S-iuediJh
trafts, tranflated from the Amcen. Acad. 2d. edition. F,

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 1 1 1

lived upon hunting and fifhing. The woods
therefore have never been meddled with,
except that fometimes a fmall part was de-
ftroyed by fire. The accounts which we
have of the firft landing of the Europeans
here, (hew that they found the country all
over covered with thick forefts.* From hence
it follows, that excepting the higher trees,
and the plants which grow in the water or
near the (hore, the reft muft for the great-
eit part have been obliged to grow perhaps
for a thoufand years together, in a fhade,
either below or between the trees, and they
therefore naturally belong to thofe which
are only peculiar to woody and fhady places.
The trees in this country drop their leaves
in fuch quantities in autumn, that the
ground is covered with them to the depth
of four or five inches. Thefe leaves lie a
good while in the next fummer before they
moulder, and this muft of courfe hinder
the growth of the plants which are under
the trees, at the fame time depriving them
of the few rays of the fun which can come
down to them through the thick leaves at
the top of the trees. Thefe caufes joined
together make fuch plants flower much
later than they would otherwife do. May-
it

* Vide Hackluyt'i collect, voy. ui. 246.

\\ not; th before be faid-,. that in^fo^ntahy/
ceniturie^ thefe pUnts hftd; at Uft contraftedj
2^ktihit of Goming up verylatej. atid tshat- it-
would now r^uire a great fp3£e of time to!
makp them lofe this. habit, and ufe themtoi
^uickeji their growth ?

September the 24.th. We employed this)
whole day in gathering the feeds of piantsi
of all kinds, and ia putting fcarce plantss
into the: herbal.

September the 2 5th . Mr. Heffelius raad*^)
me a prefent of; a little piece of petrifiedl
wood, which was found in the ground herc^.
I^ was four inches long, , one inch broad},
and three lines thick. It might plainly be:
Uen that it had formerly been wood. For.
in the places where it had been: polifljied*;!
all the longitudinal fibres wereeafily diftin^
guifliable, fo that it might have been taken
for a piece of oak which was cut fmooth.
My piece was part of a (till greater piece;
It was here thought to be petrified hiccory.
I afterwards got more of it from other peo-
plci Mr. JLewis £^'tfffJ toldme that on. the
boundaries of Virginia, z greats petrified
block of hiccory had beeo found in the
ground, with the; bark.oa.it, whicli was
likewife petrified.

Mr. "John Bar tram is an Englijkmarii
who lives in the eountry about four miles

from

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. lij

from Philadelphia. He has acquired a great
knowledge of natural philofophy and hifto-
ry, and feems to be born with a peculiar
genius for thefe fciences. In his youth he
had no opportunity of going to fchool. But
by his own diligence and indefatigable ap-
plication he got, without inftrudtion, fo far
in Latin, as to underftand all Latin books,
and even thofe which were filled with bo-
tanical terms* He has in feveral fucceflive
years made frequent excurfions into differ-
ent diftant parts of North America^ with an
intention of gathering all forts of plants
which are fcarce and little known. Thofe
which he found he has planted in his own
botanical garden, and likewife fent over
their feeds or frefh roots to England. We
owe to him the knowledge of many fcarce
plants, which he firft found, and which
were never known before. He has fhevvn
great judgment, and an attention which
lets nothing efcape unnoticed. Yet with
all thefe great qualities, he is to be blamed
for his negligence -, for he did not care to
write down his numerous and ufeful obferva-
tions* His friends at London once obliged
him to fend them a fhort account of one of
his travels, and they were very ready/ with
a good intention, though not with fufSci*
eat judgment^ to get this account printed^
H Biit

114 September 1748.

But this book, did Mr. Bartram more harm
than good; for as he is rather backward in
writing down what he knows, this publi-
cation was found to contain but few new
obfervations." It would not however be
doing juflicc to Mr. Bartram s merit, if it
were to be judged of by this performance.
He has not filled it with a thoufandth part
of the great knowledge, which he has ac-
quired in natural philofophy and hiftory,
efpecially in regard to North America, I
have often been at a lofs to think of the
fources, from whence he got many things
which came to his knowledge. I likewife
owe him many things, for he pofTefTed that
great quality of communicating every thing
he knew. I (hall therefore in the fequel,
frequently mention this gentleman. For I
fhould never forgive myfelf, if I were to
omit the name of the firft inventor, and
claim that as my own invention, which I
learnt from another perfon.

Many Mufcle pells, or My till anatini,
are to be met with on the north-weft fide
of the town in the clay-pits, which were at
prefent filled with water from a little brook
in the neighbourhood. Thefe mufcles feem
to have been wafhed into that place by the
tide, when the water in the brook was high.
For thefe clay-pits are not old, but were

lately

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 1 1 5

lately made. Poor boys fometimes go out
of town, wade in the water, and gather
great quantities of thefe fhells, which they
fell very eafily, they being reckoned a
dainty.

The Virginian Azarole with a red fruit,
or Linnaus's Crataegus Crus galliy is a fpe-
cies of hawthorn, and they plant it in hedg-
es, for want of that hawthorn, which is
commonly ufed for this purpofe in 'Europe,
Its berries are red, and of the fame fize,
ihape, and tafte with thofe of our haw-
thorn. Yet this tree does not feem to
make a good hedge, for its leaves were al-
ready fallen, whilft other trees ftill preferv-
ed theirs. Its fpines are very long and
fharp ; their length being two or three
inches. Thefe fpines are applied to fome
inconfiderable ufe. Each berry contains
two {tones.

Mr. Bartram alTured me, that the
North American oak, cannot refift pu-
trefaction for near fuch a fpace of time, as
the European. For this reafon, the boats
(which carry all forts of goods down from
the upper parts of the country) upon the
river Hudfon, which is one of the greateft
in thefe parts, are made of two kinds of
wood. That part which muft always be
under water, is made of black oak; but
H2 the

ii6 September 1748.

the ttpper part, which is now at)6ve and
now under water, and is therefore more e*--
pofed to putrefadtion, is made of red cedar
or Juniperus Firginiana, which is reckoned
the mod hardy wood in the country. The
bottom is made of black oak, becaufe that
wood is very tough. For the river being
full of ftones, and the boats frequently run-
ning againft them, the black oak gives
way, and therefore tioes not eafily crack.
But the cedar would not do for this pur-
pofe ; becaufe it is hard and brittle. The
oak likewife is not fo much attacked by
putrefadtion, when it is always kept under
water.

In autumn, I could always get good
pears here ; but every body acknowledged,
that this fruit would not fucceed well in the
country.

All my obfervations and remarks on the
qualities of the Rattk-fnakey are inferted in
the Memoirs of the Swedifh Academy of
Sciences, for the year ij^z, p. 316, and
for the year 1753, p. 54, and thither I re-
fer the reader.*

Bears are very numerous higher up in
the country, and do much mifchief. Mr.
Bar tram told me, that when a bear catches

a cow,

* Vide Medical, &c. cafes ai^ experiments, tranflated from
the Svjidijh^ London 1758. p. 282. P.

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia, iiy

a cow, he kills her in the following man-
ner: he bites a hole into the hide, and
blows with all his power into it, till the ani-
mal fwells exceffively and dies j for the
air expands greatly between the flefli and
the hide.* An old Swede called ISIils Guf-
tave's foriy who was ninety-one years of
age, faid, that in his youth, the bears had
been very frequent hereabouts, but that
they had feldom attacked the cattle : that
whenever a bear was killed, its flefli was
prepared like pork, and that it had a very
good tafte. And the flefh of bears is .ftill
prepared like ham, on the river Morris,
The environs oi Philadelphia, and even the
whole province of Penjyhania in general
contain very few bears, they having been
extirpated by degrees. In Vrrginia they kill
them in feveral different ways. Their flefh
is eaten by both rich and poor, fmce it is
reckoned equal in goodnefs to pork. In
H 3 fome

•This has all the appearance of a vulgar error: neither
does the fucceeding account of the American bears being car-
nivorous, agree with the obfervations of the moft judicious
travellers, who deny the faft. P.

^ But however it might be eafible to reconcile both opi-
nions. For Europe has two or three kinds of bears, one fpe-
cies of which is carnivorous, the other lives only on vegeta-
bles : the large brown fpecies, with its fmall variety, are
reputed to be carnivorous, the black fpecies is merely phy-
tivorous. In cafe therefore both fpecies are found in North
America, it would be very eafy to account for their being both
carnivorous and not. F.

Ii8 September 1748.

fome parts of this province, where no hogs
can be kept on account of the great num-
bers of bears, the people are ufed to catch
and kill them, and to ufe them inftead of
hogs. The American bears however, are
faid to be lefs fierce and dangerous, than
the European ones.

September i\\Q 26th. The broad plantain,
or Flantago tnajor, grows on the high-
roads, foot paths, meadows, and in gardens
in great plenty. Mr. Bartram had found
this plant in many places on his travels,
but he did not know whether it was an
original American plant, or whether the
"Europeans had brought it over. This doubt
had its rife from the favages (who always
had an extenfive knowledge of the plants
of the country) pretending that this plant
never grew here before the arrival of the
Europeans. They therefore give it a name
which fignifies, the Englijhmans foot, for
they fay that where a European had walked,
there this plant grew in his foot fteps.

The Chenopodium album, or Goofefoot with
linuated leaves, grows in plenty in the gar-
dens. But it is more fcarce near the houfes,
in the ftreets, on dunghills and corn-fields.
This feems to fhew, that it is not a native
of America^ but has been brought over
amongfl: other feeds from Europe. In the

fame

Penfyhaniay Fbiladelphia, 119

fame manner it is thought that the Ttanfey
fTanacetum vu/gare, Linn.) which grows
here and there in the hedges, on the roads,
and near houfes, was produced from European
feeds.

The common vervaint with blue flowers,
or verbena ojicinalis, was (hewn t6 me by
Mr. Bartram, not far from his houfe in a
little plain near Philadelphia. It was the
only place where he had found it in Ame-
rica. And for this reafon I fuppofe it waS;
likewife fown here amongft other European
feeds.

Mr. Bartram was at this time building
a houfe in Philadelphia y and had funk a
cellar to a confiderable depth, the foil of
which was thrown out. I here obferved
the following ftrata. The upper loofe foil
was only half a foot deep, and of a dark
brown colour. Under it was a ftratum of
clay fo much blended with fand, that it
was in greater quantity than the clay itfelf j
and this ftratum was eight feet deep. Thefe
were both brick coloured. The next ftra^
turn confifted of little pebbles mixed with
a coarfe fand. The ftones confifted either
of a clear i or of a dark ^artz 5* they were
H 4 quite

• ^artzum hyalinutrit Linn. Syft. nat. 3. p. 65.
^artzum folidum pellucidum^ Walhrii Miner. 91.

I20 September 1748,

quite fmooth and roundifh on the outfide,
and lay in a ftratum which was a foot deep.
Then the brick-coloured clay mixed with
fand appeared again. But the depth of this
ftratum could not be determined. Query^
could the river formerly have reached to
this place and formed thefe ftrata ?

Mr. Bar tram has not only frequently
found oyfter-fhells in the ground, but like-
wife met with fuch fhells and fnails, as
undoubtedly belong to the fea, at the diA
tance of a hundred and more Englijh miles
from the (hore. He has even found them
on the ridge of mountains which feparate
the Englijh plantations from the habitations
of the favages. Thefe mountains which
the Englijh call the blue mountains, are of
confiderable height, and extend in one
continued chain from north to fouth, or
from Canada to Carolina. Yet in fome
places they have gaps, which are as it were
broke through, to afford a paffage for the
great rivers, which roll down into the
lower country.

The CaJlia Chamcecrijla grew on the
Toads through the woods, and fometimes

on

The common ^artz. Former's Mineralogy, p. 16.
And ^artztwi coloratum, Linn. Syft. nat. j. p. 65.
^artzum /olidum opacum coloratum. Wall. Min. 99.
The impure ^artz, Forft. Min. p. 16.

Penjyivanid, Philadelphia, I2I

on uncultivated fields, efpecially when
(hrubs grew in them. Its leaves are like
thofe of the Senfitive plant, or Mimofa, and
have likewife the quality of contracting
when touched, in common with the leaves
of the latter.

The Crows in this country are little dif-
ferent from our common crows in Sweden^
Their fize is the fame with that of our
crows, and they are as black as jet in every
part of their body. I faw them flying to
day in great numbers together. Their
voice is not quite like that of our crows,
but has rather more of the cry of the rook,
or Linnceus^ Corvus frugilegus,

Mr. Bartram related, that on his jour-
neys to the northern £«^/^ colonies, he had
difcovered great holes in the mountains on
the banks of rivers, which according to his
defcription, muft exadly have been fuch
giants pot s,'^ as are to be met with in Sweden^
and which I have defcribed in a particular
diflertation read in the Royal Swedifi Aca-
demy of Sciences. Mr. Bartram has like-
wife addrefled fome letters to the Royal
Society at London upon this fubje(ft. For

fome

• In Snvedetif and in the north of Germany, the round holes
in rivers, with a ftoney or rocky bed, which the whirling
of the water has made, are called giants pots; thefe holes are
likewife mentioned in Mr. Grojleys ne^w obfervations on Italyt
Vol. I. p. 8. F.

122 September 1748.

fome people pretended, that thefe holes were
made by the favages, that they might in
time of war hide their corn and other valu-
able effedts in them. But he wrote agaihft
this opinion, and accounted for the origin
of thefe cavities in the following manner.
When the ice fettles, many pebbles flick
in it. In fpring when the fnow melts, the
water in the rivers fwells fo high that it
reaches above the place where thefe holes
are now found in the mountains. The ice
therefore will of courfe float as high. And
then it often happens, that the pebbles
which Were contained in it, ever fince
autumn when it firfl: fettled on the banks of
the river, fall out of the ice upon the rocky
bank, and are from thence carried into a cleft
or crack by the water. Thefe pebbles are
then continually turned about by the water,
which comes in upon them, and by this
means they gradually form the hole. The
water at the fame time polifl^es the ftone
by its circular motion round it, and helps
to make the hole or cavity round. It is
certain that by this turning and tofling,
the ftone is at laft unfit for this purpofe ;
but the river throws commonly every fpring
other ftones inftead of it into the cavity,
and they are turned round in the fame man-
ner. By this whirling both the mountain

and

Penjyhaniaj Philadelphia, 123

and the ftone afford either a fine or a coarfe
fand, which is wafhed away by the water
when in fpring, or at other times it is
high enough to throw its waves into the
cavity. This was the opinion of Mr.
Bartram about the origin of thefe cavities.
The Royal Society of Sciences at London,
has given a favourable reception to, and ap-
proved of them.* The remarks which I
made in the fummer of the year 1743,
during my ftay zt Land^s-Ortt in my coun-
try, will prove that I was at that time of
the fame opinion, in regard to thefe holes.
I have fince further explained this opinion
in a letter to the Royal Academy of Scien-
ces ', and this letter is ftill preferved in the
Academy's Memoirs, which have not yet
been publifhed. But there is great reafon
to doubt, whether all cavities of this kind
in mountains, have the fame origin.

Here are different fpecies oi Mulberry
trees, which grow wild in the forefls of
north and fouth America. In thefe parts
the red mulberry trees are more plentiful
than any other. However Mr. Bartram
alfured me that he had likewife feen the

white

• How far this approbation of the Royal Society, ought
to be credited, is to be underftood from the advertifements
publiftied at the head of each new volume of the Philofophi-
cal Tranfadions. F.

124 September 1748.

white mulberry trees growing wild, but
that they were more fcarce. I afked him
and feveral other people of this country ;
why they did not fet up filk manufadurcs,
having fuch a quantity of mulberries, which
fucceed fo eafily ? For it has been obferv-
ed that when the berries fall upon the
ground where it is not compadt but loofe,
they foon put out feveral fine delicate fhoots.
But they replied that it would not be worth
while to eredt any filk manufactures here,
becaufe labour is fo dear. For a man gets
from eighteen pence to three (hillings and
upwards, for one day's work, and the women
are paid in proportion. They were there-
fore of opinion that the cultivation of all
forts of corn, of hemp, and of flax, would
be of greater advantage, and that at the
fame time it did not require near fo much
care as the feeding of filk worms. By the
trials of a governor in Conne£iicut , which
is a more northern province than New Tork,
it is evident however, that filk worms fuc-
ceed very well here, and that this kind of
mulberry trees is very good for them. The
governor brought up a great quantity of filk
worms in his court yard -, and they fucceed-
ed fo well, and fpun fo much filk, as to
afford him a fufficient quantity for cloath-
jng himfelf and all his family.

Several

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 125

Several forts of Vines likewifc grow
wild hereabouts. Whenever I made a lit-
tle excurlion out of town, I faw them in
numerous places climbing up trees and
hedges. They clafp around them, and co-
ver them fometimes entirely, and even
hang down on the fides. This has the fame
appearance at a diftance, as the tendrils of
hops climbing along trees. I enquired of
Mr. Bartram why they did not plant vine-
yards, or prefs wine from the grapes of the
wild vine. But they anfwered, that the
fame objection lay againft it, which lies
againft the eredion of a filk manufadure,
that the neceffary hands were too fcarcc,
and it therefore was more rational to make
agriculture their chief employment. But
the true reafon undoubtedly is, that the
wine which is preffed out. of moft of the
North American wild grapes is four and
iharp, and has not near fuch an agreeable
tafte, as that which is made from European
grapes.

The Virginian Wake- robin, ox Arum Vir-
ginicum, grows in wet places. Mr. Bar-
tram told me, that the favages boiled the
fpadix and the hrries of this flower, and
devoured it as a great dainty. When the
berries are raw, they have a harfli, pungent

tafte.

126 September 1748.

tafle, which they lofe in great meafure up-
on boiling.

The Sarothra Gentianoides, grows abun-
dantly in the fields and under the bufhes,
in a dry fandy ground near Philadelphia.
It looks extremely like our whortleberry
bufhes when they firfl begin to green, and
when the points of the leaves are yet red.
Mr. Bartram has fent this plant to Dr.
Dilleniusy but that gentleman did not know
where he fhould range it. It is reckoned
a very good traumatic, and this quality Mr.
Bartram himfelf experienced; for being
thrown and kicked by a vicious horfe, in fuch
a manner as to have both his thighs greatly
hurt, he boiled the Sarothra and applied
it to his wounds. It not only immediately
appeafed his pain, which before had been
very violent, but he likewife by its affifl-
ance recovered in a fhort time.

Having read in Mr. Millers Botanical
"DiBionaryy that Mr. Teter Coliinfon had a
particular Larch tree from America in his
garden, I afked Mr. Bartram whether he
was acquainted with it, he anfwered, that
he had fent it himfelf to Mr. Coliinfon,
that it only grew in the eaflern parts of
New Jerfey, and that he had met with it
in no other Englijh plantation. It differs
from the other fpecies of Larch trees, its

cones

Penfylvaniat Philadelphia, 127

cones being much lefs. I afterwards faw
this tree in great plenty in Canada,

Mr. Bartram was of opinion, that the
apple tree was brought into America by the
Europeans, and that it never was there be-
fore their arrival. But he looked upon
peaches as an original American fruit, and
as growing wild in the greateft part of
America. Others again were of opinion,
that they were firft brought over by the
Europeans. But all the French in Canada
agreed, that on the banks of the river
Mijifippi and in the country thereabouts
peaches were found growing wild in great
quantity.*

September the 2yth, The tree whichthe
Englijh here call Perjimon, is the Diofpyros
Virginiana of Linnceus. It grows for
the greateft part in wet places, round
the water pits. I have already mentioned
that the fruits of this tree are extremely
bitter and (harp before they are quite ripe,
and that being eaten in that ftate they quite

contract

* Thomas Herriot, fervant to Sir Walter Raleigh, who was
employed by him to examine into the produftions of North
Jmerica, makes no mention of the peach among the other
fruits he defcribes, and M. du Pratz, who has given a very
good account of Louifiana and the Mijftjippi, fays, that the na-
tives got their peaches from the Englijh colony of Carolina,
i>efore the French fettled there. P.

1 28 September 1748.

contra(9: ones mouth, and have a very difa-f*
^reeable tafte. But as foon as they are ripe,
which does not happen till they have been
quite foftened by the froft, they are a very
agreeable fruit. They are here eaten raw,
and feldom any other way. But in a great
book, which contains a defcription of Vir-
gtm'a, you meet with different ways of
preparing the Ferfimon, under the article
of that name. Mr. Bartramy related that
they were commonly put upon the table
amongft the fweet-meats, and that fome
people made a tolerably good wine of them.
Some of thefe Perfimon fruits were dropped
on the ground in his garden, and were al-
moft quite ripe, having been expofed to a
great degree of the heat of the fun. We
picked up a few and tafted them, and I
muft own that thofe who praifed this fruit
as an agreeable one, have but done it juftice.
It really deferves a place among the moft
palatable fruit of this country, when the
froft has thoroughly conquered its acri-
mony.

The Verbafcum I'hapfust or great white
Mullein, grows in great quantity on roads,
in hedges, on dry fields, and high mea-
dows of a ground mixed with fand. The
Swedes here call it the tobacco of thefavages,
but owned, that they did not know whe-
ther

Penjyhania, Philadelphia^ \%^

ther or no the Indians really ufed this
plant inftead of tobacco. The Swedes
are ufed to tie the leaves round their feet
and armSj when they have the ague. Sonne
of them prepared a tea from the leaves, for
the dyfentery. A Swede likewife told me^
that a deco<iion of the roots was injedted
into the wounds of the cattle which are full
of wormSi which killed thefe wormSj and
made them fall out.*

September the 28th. The meadows
which are furrounded by wood, and were
at prefent mown, have a fine lively verdure.
On the contrary when they lie on hills, or
in open fields, or in fome elevated fituation,
cfpecially fo that the fun rnay be able to adt
upon them without any obftacles, their
grafs looks brown and dry. Several people
from Virginia told me^ that on account of
the great heat and droughty the meadows
and paftures almoft always had a brown co-
lourj and looked as if they were burnt.
The inhabitants of thofe parts do not there-"
fore enjoy the pleafure which a European
I feels

f These worms are the Larva's of the deftrus or Gad^y^
.which depofite its eggs on the baclj: of cattle, and the Lar-
va's being hatched from thefe eggs, caufe great fores, where-
in they five till they are ready for dieir change. In the foCitfe
.«f Rugia they ufe for the fame parpofc the decoftioa of Vera-
trurrii or thi itibite Hellebore. F,

130 September 1748.

feels at the fight of our verdant, odoriferous
meadows.

The American Nightjhade, or the Phytolacca
decandra^ grows abundantly in the fields,
and under the trees, on little hills. Its
black berries are now ripe. We obferved
to day feme little birds with a blue plu-
mage, and of the fize of our Hortulans and
Tellow Hammers (Emberiza Citrinella and
Emberiza Hortulanus) flying down from
the trees, in order to fettle upon the night-
fhade and eat its berries.

Towards night I went to Mr. Bartram*s
country feat.

September the 29th. The Gnaphalium
margaritaceum, grows in aftonifhing quanti-
ties upon all uncultivated fields, glades, hills,
and the like. Its height is different accord-
ing to its difi^erent foil and fituation. Some-
times it is very ramofe, and fometimes very
little. It has a ftrong, but agreeable fmell.
The Englijh call it Life everlajiing -, for its
flowers, which confift chiefly of dry, fhi-
ning, filvery leaves (Folia calycina) do not
change when dried. This plant is now
every where in full bloflbm. But fome
have already loft the flowers, and are be-
ginning to drop the feeds. The Englijh
ladies were ufed to gather great quantities
of this Life everlajiing, and to pluck them

with

Penjylvania, Philadelphia, l^l

with the ftalks. For they put them into
pots with or without water, amongft otheif
fine flowers which they had gathered both
in the gardens and in the fields, and placed
them as an ornament in the rooms. The
Englijh ladies in general are much inclined
to have fine flowers all the fiimmer long,
in or upon the chimneys, fometimes upon a
table, or before the windows, either on ac-
count of their fine appearance, or for the fake
of their fweet fcent. The Gnaphalium2hovt^
mentioned, was one of thofe, which they
kept in their rooms during the winter, be-
caufe its flowers never altered from what
they were when they flood in the ground.
Mr. Bartram told me another ufe of this
plant. A decodion of the flowers and
ftalks is ufed to bathe any pained or bruifed
part, or it is rubbed with the plant itfelf
tied up in a bag.

Instead of flax feveral people made ufe
of a kind of Dogs bane^ or Linnceuss Apo-^
cynum cannabinum. The people prepared
the ftalks of this plant, in the fame manner
as we prepare thofe of hemp or flax* It
was fpun and feveral kinds of ftufts were
woven from it. The favages are faid to
have had the art of making bags, fiftiing-
ncts, and the like, for many centuries to^
gether, before the arrival of the Europeans^

I 2 I ASKEE^

i;32 . September 1748.

; I ASKED Mr. Bartramy whether he had
€>bferved in his travels, that the water was
fallen, and that the fea had formerly cover-
ed any places which were rvow land. He
told me, that from what he had experienc-
ed, he was convinced that the greateft part
pf this country, even for feveral miles to-
gether, had formerly been under water.
The reafons which led him to give credit
to this opinion, were the following.

1. On digging in the blue mountains,
which are above three hundred Englifi
miles diftant from the fea, you find loofe
oyfter and other forts of fhells, and they
are alfo likewife to be met with in the
vallies formed by thefe mountains.

2. A VAST quantity of petrified fhells
are found in limeftone, flint, and fandftone,
on the fame mountains. Mr. Bartram af-
fured me at the fame time, that it was in-
credible what quantities of them there
were in the different kinds of ftones of
which the mountains confift.

3. The fame (hells are likewife dug in
great quantity, quite entire and not moul-
dered,, in the provinces of Virginia and
Maryland, as alfo in Philadelphia and in
New Tork,

4. On digging wells (not only in Fbila^
delphiay but likewife in other places) the

people

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 133

people have met with trees, roots, and
leaves of oak, for the greateft part, not yet
rotten, at the depth of eighteen feet.

5. The beft foil and the rieheft mould
is to be met with in the vallies hereabouts.
Thefe vallies are commonly croffed by a ri-
vulet or brook. And on their declivity, a
mountain commonly rifes, which in thofe
places where the brook pafles clofe to it,
looks as if it were cut on purpofe. Mr.
Bartram believed, that all thefe vallies fot^-
merly were lakes ; that the water had by
degrees hollowed out the mountain, and
opened a pafTage for itfelf through it ; and
that the great quantity of flime which is
contained in the water, and which had fub-
fided to the bottom of the lake, was the
rich foil which is at prcfent in the vallies,
and the caufe of their great fertility. But
fuch vallies and cloven mountains are very
frequent in the country, and of this kind
is the peculiar gap between two mountains,
through which a river takes its courfe on
the boundaries of New Tork and Penfyha-
nia. The people in a jeft fay, that this
opening was made by the D — 1, as he
wanted to go out of Penfyhania into New
Tork.

6. The whole appearance of the blue

mountains, plainly fhews that the water

1 2 formerly

134 September 1748.

formerly covered a part of them. For
many are broken in a peculiar manner, but
the higheft are plain.

7. When the favages are told, that {hells
<are found on thefe high mountains, and

that from thence there is reafon to believe
that the fea muft formerly have extended to
them, and even in part flown over them ;
they anfwer that this is not new to them,
they having a tradition from their anceftors
among them, that the fe^ formerly fur-
rounded thefe mountains.

8. The water in rivers and brooks like-
wife decreafes. Mills, which fixty years
ago were built on rivers, and at that time
had a fufficient fupply of water alnioft all
the year long, have at prefent fo little, that
they cannot be ufed, but after a heavy rain,
or when the fnow melts in Ypring. This
decreafe of water in part arifes from the
great quantity of land which is now culti-
vated, and from the extirpation of great
forefls for that purpofe.

9. The fea-fhore increafes likewife in
time. This arifes from the quantity of
fand continually thrown on fhore from the
bottom of the fea, by the waves.

Mr. Bartram thought that fome peculi-
^x attention fhould be paid to another thing
relating to thefe obfervations. The fliells

which

Penjyhaniat Philadelphia, 135

which are to be found petrified on the nor-
thern mountains, are of fuch kinds as at
prefent are not to be got in the fea, in the
fame latitude, and they are not fiflied on
the fhore, till you come to South Carolina,
Mr. Bartram from hence took an occafion
to defend Dr. T^homas Burnet's opinion, that
the earth before the deluge was in a differ-
ent pofition towards the fun. He likewife
afked whether the great bones which are
fometimes found in the ground in Siberia,
and which are fuppofed to be elephant's
bones and tufks, did not confirm this opi-
nion. For at prefent thofe animals cannot
live in fuch cold countries.; but if according
to Dr. Burnett the fun once formed different
zones about our earth, from thofe it now
makes, the elephant may eafily be fuppofed
to have lived in Siberia. * However it
1 4 feems

* The bones and tufks of Elephants are not only found
in RuJJia, but alfo in the canton of Bafel in Swifferland, in
the dominions of the Marquis of Bareith in Franconia, and
more inftances are found in the Protogaa of the cele-
brated Leibnitz. Lately near the river Ohio have been dif-
covered, a great number of flceletons of Elephants with their
tuflcs, and very remarkable grinders ftill flicking in their
jaw bones were fent to t)\t Britijh Mufeum; the late Dr.
Littleton Bifhop of Carlijle, alfo lodged fome teeth flicking in
their jawbones in the Mufeum of the Royal Society, which
were brought from Peru. The rivers Chatunga and Indi-
ghirka in Siberia, are remarkable for affording on their banks
great quantities of bones and tufks of Elephants, which

being

t%(> Sepiemher 1748.

feems th^lall which we have hitherto men-
tioned, may have been the efFe^ of differ-
ent caufes, To thofe belong the univerfal
^elugej theincreafeof land which is mere-

•y

bfcihg f>itfertf(Sd thefe by the grtst froft, and in the Ihoft
fumttief of a few weeks, the rain being rare, thefe tuiks are
commonly fo frelh that they are employed in HuJ/ja, as com-
fttbft ivoi-yj oh account of the great quantity brought froiA
thefe places to Rnjia j fome of them were eight feet long, and
of three hundred pounds weight. There have been found
grinders of nine inches diametef. Biit tht Jmericnn grindew
t)f Elephants from near the Ohio are vet more remarkable*
on account of their being provided with crowns on their
tops, fuch as are only found in the carnivorous animals, and
fach is feed on hard bohes or nut«. Whilft on the contrary.
Elephants at prefent feeding on graffes and foft vegeubles
fave no fuch crowns at the tops of their grinders. Z%, it
ii tr\it, iiikkes a diftinaion between th.t :Aftatk or Indian
Elephants, and the J^rican ones ; and remarks the latter to
be inferior to the former in fize and vigour ; but whether
the teeth ih thefe lanimals are fo much different from thofe
bt the dther variety, has never been atteaded to. This cir-
cumftance of the difference in the folTil grinders of Ele-
phants, from thofe in the living ones, and the place where
thefe Skeletons were found in, viz. Siberia, Germany and
iihttricay where at prefent no Ehqjhants are to be met with,
tJpetis a wide field to x:onje«5Vores in regard to the way, by
^hich thefe animals were carried to thofe ^ots. The flood
4tt the deluge perhaps ha6 carrifed them thitlrer : nor is it
tontrary to reafon, hiilory or revelation, to believe, t^efe
fteliptbns to be the remaindets of amimals, which lived on
thefurface tf this globe^ anterior to the Mofaic creatitm,
Whidi -may be eonfjdered only as a new modification of the
creatures living on this globe, adapted to its prefent ftate,
<tmder which it will iiemain till circumftances will make a new
-chahge neceffary, and then our globe will by a new creation
^ffevolutJon appear ihore adapted to itsitate, and be docfc-
ffcd twth a fet of animah more Suitable to that ftate. Eveiy

maq

Penfylvania, Philadelphia, 137

ly the work of time, and the changes of
the courfe of rivers, which when the fnow
melts and in great floods, leave their firft
beds, and form new ones.

At fome di fiance from Mr. Bartrarri^
country houfe, a little brook flowed through
the wood, and likewife ran over a rock.
The attentive Mr. Bartram here {hewed
me feveral little cavities in the rock, and
we plainly faw that they muft have been
generated in the manner I before defcribed,
that is, by fuppofing a pebble to have re-
mained in a cleft of the rock, and to have
been turned round by the violence of the
water, till it had formed fuch a cavity in
the mountain. For on putting our hands
into one of thcfe cavities, we found that it
contained numerous fmall pebbles, whofe
furface was xjuite fmooth and round. And
thefe ftones we found in each of the holes.

Mr. Bartra?n Shewed me a number of

plants

man ttfed to philofophy and reasoning will find, that this plan
gives a grand idea of the Creator, his oeconomy and ma-
nagement of the univerfe : and moreover, it is conformable
to the meaning of the words of a facred writer, who fay« :
Ff. civ. 29. go. Tbou hideji thy face and they (fmall and
great beafts) are troubled; thou takeft a-way their Breathy they die,
^tnd return to their duft. Thou fendeji forth thyjpirit, they are
treated ; and thou renmueji the face of the earth. See Dr.
Hunter's, remarks on the above-mentioned teeth, in the Phi^
hfofhical Tranf. Vol. Iviii. F.

138 September 1748.

plants which he had colleded into a herbal
on his travels. Among thefe were the fol-
lowing, which likewife grow in the nor-
thern parts oi Europe, of which he had ei-
ther got the whole plants, or only broken
branches.

1 . Befula alba. The common birch tree,
which he had found on the cats-hills,

2. Betula nana. This fpecies of birch
grows in feveral low places towards the
hills.

3. Comarum palujire, in the meadows,
between the hills in New Jerfey.

4. Gentiana lutea, the great Gentian,
from the fields near the mountains. It was
very like our variety, but had not fo many
flowers under each leaf.

5. Linncea borealis, from the mountains
in Canada, It creeps along the ground.

6. Myrica Gale, from the neighbourhood
of the river Sufquehanna, where it grows in
a wet foil.

7. Fotentilla fruticofa, from the fwampy
fields and low meadows, between the river
'Delaware, and the river New Tork.

8. Trientalis Europaa, from the cats- hills.

9. Triglochin maritimum, from the fait
fprings towards the country of the five na-
tions.

Mr.

Penjylvania, Philadelphia. 139

Mr. Bart ram fhewed me a letter from
]E>aJi Jerfey, in which he got the following
account of the difcovery of an Indian grave.
In the April of the year 1744, as fome
people were digging a cellar, they came
upon a great ftone, like a tombftone, which
was at laft got out with great difficulty, and
about four feet deeper under it, they met
with a large quantity of human bones and
a cake of maize. The latter was yet quite
untouched, and feveral of the people pre-
fent tafted it out of curiofity. From thefe
circumftances it was concluded that this
was a grave of a perfon of note among the
favages. For it is their cuftom to bury
along with the deceafed, meat and other
things which he liked beft. The ftone
was eight feet long, four feet broad, and
even fome inches more where it was broad-
eft, and fifteen inches thick at one end, but
only twelve inches at the other end. It
confifted of the fame coarfe kind of ftone,
that is to be got in this country. There
were no letters nor other characfters vifible
on it.

The corn which the Indians chiefly cul-
tivate is the Maize, or Zea Mays, Linn,
They have little corn fields for that pur-
pofe. But befides this, they likewife plant
a great quantity of Squajhes, a fpecies of

pumpions

1 40 September 1 748 .

pumpions or melons, which they have al-
ways cultivated, even in the remoteft ages.
The Europeans fettled in America^ got the
feeds of this plant, and at prefent their gar-
dens are full of it, the fruit has an agreeable
tafte when it is well prepared. They are
commonly boiled, then cruflied (as we are
ufed to do with turneps when we make a
pulfeof them) andfome pepper or other fpice
thrown upon them, and the difli is ready.
The Indians likewife fow feveral kinds of
beans, which for the greatefl part they
have got from the Europeans, But peafe
which they likewife fow, they have always
had amongft them, before any foreigners
came into the country. The fquafhes of
the Indians, which now are likewife culti-
vated by the Europeans, belong to thofe
kinds of gourds {cucurbita,) which ripen
before any other. They are a very deli-
cious fruit, but will not keep. 1 have
however feen them kept till pretty late in
winter.

September the 30th. Wheat and rye
are fown in autumn about this time, and
commonly reaped towards the end of June,
or in the beginning of July, Thefe kinds
of corn, however, are fometimes ready to be
reaped in the middle of June, and there
3re even examples that they have been

mown

Penfylh3ania, Philadelphia, 14 1

mbwn in the beginning of that month.
Barley and oats are fown in April, and
they commonly begin to grow ripe towards
the end of July. Buck-wheat is fown in
the middle or at the end of jFa^, and is
about this time, or fomewhat later, ready-
to be reaptfd. If it be fown before the
above-mentioned time, as in May, or in
June, it only gives flowers, and little or no
corn.

Mr. Bar tram and other people afTured
me, that moft of the cows which the En^
glijh have here, are the offspring of thofe
which they bought; of the Swedes when they
were mafters of the country. The Englijh
themfelves are faid to have brought over
but few. The Swedes either brought their
cattle from home, or bought them of the
Dutch, who were then fettled here.

Near the town, I faw an Ivy or Hedera
Helix, planted againft the wall of a ftone
building, which was fo covered by the
fine green leaves of this plant, as almoft to
conceal the whole. It was doubtlefs brought
over from Europe, for I have never perceiv-
ed it any where elfe on my travels through
North' America. But in its ftead I have
often feen wild vines made to run up the
walls.

I ASKED Mr. Bartramj whether he had

obferved.

142 September 174-8.

obferved, that trees and plants decreafed irf
proportion as they were brought further to
the North, as Catejby pretends ? He an-
fwered, that the queftion fhould be more
limited, and then his opinion would prove
the true one. There are fome trees which
grow better in fouthcrn countrit-s, and be-
come lefs as you advance to the north.
Their feeds or berries are fometimes brought
into colder climates by birds and by other
accidents. They gradually decreafe in
growth, till at laft they will not grow at
all. On the other hand, there are other
trees and herbs which the wife Creator def-
tined for the northern countries, and they
grow there to an amazing fize. But the
further they are tranfplanted to the fouth,
the lefs they grow j till at laft they dege-
nerate fo much as not to be able to grow
at all. Other plants love a temperate cli-
mate, and if they be carried either fouth
or north, they will not fucceed well, but
always decreafe. Thus for example Pen-
Jyivania contains fome trees which grow
exceedingly well, but always decreafe in
proportion as they are carried further oiF
either to the north, or to the fouth.

I AFTERWARDS on my travels, had
frequent proofs of this truth. The Sajfa-
fras, which grows in Penfyhanta, under

forty

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 14 j

forty deg. of lat. and becomes a pretty tall
and thick tree, was fo little at Ofwego and
Fort Nicholfon, between forty-three and
forty-four deg. of lat. that it hardly reach-
ed the height of two or four feet, and was
feldom fo thick as the little finger of a full
grown perfon. This was likewife the cafe
with the 'Tulip tree. For in Penjyhania it
grows as high as our talleft oaks and firs,
and its thicknefs is proportionable to its
height. But about Ofwego it was not above
twelve feet high, and no thicker than a
man's arm. The Sugar Maple ^ or Acer
faccharinumy is one of the moft common
trees in the woods of Canada^ and grows
very tall. But in the fouthern provinces,
as New yerfey and Penjyhania, it only
grows on the northern fide of the blue
mountains, and on the fteep hills which are
on the banks of the river, and which are
turned to the north. Yet there it does
not attain to a third or fourth part of the
height which it has in Canada. It is need-
lefs to mention more examples.

OBober the ift. The gnats which are
very troublefome at night here, are called
Mufquetoes. They are exadly like the
gnats in Sweden, only fomewhat lefs, and the
defcription which is to be met with in
Dr. Linnaus's Syjiema Natura, and Fauna

Suecica.

144 OSlober 174S.

Suecica, fully agrees with them, and thejr
are called by him Culex pipiens. In day
time or at night they come into the houfes*
and when the people are gone to bed they
begin their difagreeable humming, approach
always nearer to the bed, and at laft fuck
up fo much blood, that they can hardly fly
away. Their bite caufes blifters in people
of adelicate complexion. When the weather
has been cool for fome days, the mufquetoes
difappear. But when it changes again,
and efpecially after a rain, they gather fre-
quently in fuch quantities about the houfes,
that their numbers are aftonifhing. The
chimneys of the Englijh which have no
.valves for (hutting them up, afford the gnats
a free entrance into the houfes. In fultry
evenings, they accompany the cattle in
great fwarms, from the woods to the houfes
or to town, and when they are drove before
the houfes, the gnats fly in wherever they
can. In the greateft heat of fummer, they
are fo numerous in fome places, that the
air feems to be quite full of them, efpeci-
ally near fwamps and ftagnant waters,
fuch as the river Morris in New y^rfey.
The inhabitants therefore make a fire be-
fore their houfes to expell thefe difagreea-
ble gueft by the fmoak. The old Swedes
here, faid that gnats had formerly been

much

Penfylvania, Philadelphia^ 14^

much more numerous -, that even at prefent
they fwarmed in vaft quantities on the fea;
fhore near the fait water, and that thofe
which troubled us this autumn in Phila-
delphia were of a more venomous kind,
than they commonly ufed to be. This laft
quality appeared from the biifters, which
were formed on the fpots,- where the gnats
j had inferted their fting. In Sweden I never
felt any other inconvenience from theit*
fting, than a little itching, whilfl they
fucked. But when they ftung me here at
night, my face was fo disfigured by littld
red fpots and blifters, that 1 was almoft a-
fhamed to {hew myfelf.

I HAVE already mentioned fomewhat
about the enclofures ufual here ; I now add,
that moft of the planks which are put ho-
rizontally, and of which the enclofures in
the environs of Philadelphia chiefly confift,
are of the red cedar wood, which is here
reckoned more durable than any other. But
v/here this eould not be got, either white
or black oak fupplied its place. The peo-
ple were likewife very glad if they could
get cedar wood for the pofts, ot elfe they
took white oak, or chefnut, as I v^ras told
by Mr. Bartram, But it feems that that
kind of wood in general does not keep well
in the ground- fbt' a eonfiderable time. I
K faw

146 OBober 1748.

faw fome pofts made of chefnut wood, and
put into the ground only the year before,
which were already for the greateft part
rotten below.

The Saff'afras free, or Laurus Saff'afraSy
Linn, grows in abundance in the country,
and ftands fcattered up and down the woods,
and near bufhes and enclofures. On old
grounds, which are left uncultivated, it is
Ciie of the firft that comes up, and is as
plentiful as young birches are on thofe
Sivedijh fields, which are formed by burn-
ing the trees which grew on them.* The
faffafras grows in a dry loofe ground, of a
pale brick colour, which confifts for the
greateft part of fand, mixed with fome
clay. It feems to be but a poor foil. The
mountains round Gothenburgb, in Sweden,
would afford many places rich enough for
the Sajfafras to grow in, and I even fear
they would be too rich. I here faw it
both in the woods amidft other trees, and
more frequently by itfelf along the enclo-.

fures.

* In Mr. OJhecK's Voyage to China^ Vol. i. p. 50. in a
note, an account is given of this kind of land, which the
S'wedes call S^edieland, where it is obferved, that the trees
being burnt, their alhes afford manure fufficient for three
years, after which they are left uncultivated again, till aftet
twenty or more years, a new generation of trees being pro4
duced on them, the country people burn them, and cultivate
the country for three years again. F.

Penjylvania, Philadelphia, i^y

fures. In both it looks equally frefh. I
have never fecn it on w^et or low places.
The people here gather its flowers, and ufe
them inflead of tea. But the wood itfelf
is of no ufe in oeconomy j for when it is
fet on fire, it caufes a continual crackling,
without making any good fire. The tree
fpreads its roots very much, and new fhoots
come up from them in fome places ; bufi^
thefe fhoots are not good for tranfplanting^o
becaufe they have fo few fibres befides the
root, which connedts thern to the main ftem,
that they cannot well ftrike into the ground.
If therefore any one would plant Saffafras
trees he muft endeavour to get their berries,
which however is difficult, fince the birds
eat them before they are half ripe. The
cows are very greedy after the tender new
fhoots, and look for them every where.

The bark of this tree is ufed by the
women here in dying worfled a fine laft-
ing orange colour, which does not fade in
the fun. They ufe urine inftead of alum
in dying, and boil the dye in a brafs boiler,
becaufe in an iron vefTel it does not yield
fo fine a colour. A woman in Virginia has
fuccefsfuUy employed the berries of the
SafTafras againfl a great pain in one of her
feet, which for three years together fhe
had to fuch a degree, that it almofl hindered
K 2 her

148 OBober 1748.

lier from walking. She was advifed to
broil the berries of faffafras, and to rub the
painful parts of her foot with the oil,
which by this means would be got from
the berries. She did fo, but at the fame
time it made her vomit -, yet this was not
fufficient to keep her from following the
prefcription three times more, though as
often as fhe made ufe thereof, it always had
the fame effedt. However fhe was entirely
freed from that pain, and perfedtly re-
covered.

A BLACK Woodpecker with a red head, or
the Picus fileatus, Linn, is frequent in the
Fenfyhanian forefts, and flays the winter,
as I know from my own experience. It is
reckoned among thofe birds which deftroy
the maize; becaufe it fettles on the ripe
ears, and deftroys them with its bill. The
Swedes call it Tillkroka, but all other wood-
peckers, thofe with gold yellow wings ex-
cepted, are called Hackfpickar in the Swedijh
language. I intend to defcribc them alto-
gether more exactly in a particular work.
I only obferve here, that almoft all the dif-
ferent fpecies of woodpeckers are very nox-
ious to the maize, when it begins to ripen 5
for by picking holes in the membrane
round the ear, the rain gets into it, and
caufes the ear with all the corn it contain*
to rot. OSfober

Fenfylvaniat journey to Wilmington. 149

OSlober the 3d. In the morning I fet
out for Wilmington^ which was formerly
<:alled Chrifiina by the Swedes^ and is thirty
Englijh miles to the fouth weft of Phila-
delphia. ' Three miles behind Philadelphia
I paiTed the river Skulkill in a ferry, beyond
which the country appears almoft a conti-
nual chain of mountains and vallies. The
mountains have an eafy flope on all fide&,
and the vallies are commonly crofted by
brooks, with cryftal ftreams. The greater
part of the country is covered with feveral
kinds of deciduous trees; for I fcarcely faw a
fingle tree of the fir kind, if I except a few
red cedars. The foreft was high, but open
below, fo that it left a free profped: to the
eye, and no under-wood obftrud:ed the paf-
fage between the trees. It wokH haye
been eafy in fome places to have gonb un^
der the branches with a carriage for a quar-
ter of a mile, the trees ftanding at great
diftances from each other, and the ground
being very level. In fome places little
glade^ opened, which were either meadows,
paftures, or corn-fields j of which latter
fome were cultivated and others not. In a
few places, feveral houfes were built clof@
to each other. But for the greateft part
they were fingle. In part of the fields the
wheat was already fown, in the Englijh
K 3 manner

15^ OSlober 1748.

manner without trenches, but with furrows
pretty clofe together. I fometimes faw the
country people very bufy in fowing their
rye. Near every farm-houfe was a little
field with maize. The inhabitants herea-
bouts were commonly either Englijh or
Swedes.

All the day long I faw a continual vari-
ety of trees j walnut trees of different forts,
which were all full of nuts 3 chefnut trees
quite covered with fine chefnuts -, mulber-
ries, faffafras, liquidambar, tulip trees, and
many others.

Several fpecies of vines grew wild
hereabouts. They run up to the fummits
of the trees, their clufters of grapes and
their leaves covering the ftems. I even faw
fpme young oaks five or fix fathoms high,
whofe tops were crowned with vines. The
ground is that which is fo common herea-
bouts, which I have already defcribed, viz.
a clay mixed with a great quantity of fand,
and covered with a rich foil or vegetable
earth. The vines are principally feen on
trees which ftand fingle in corn-fields, and
at the end of woods, where the meadows,
paftures, and fields begin, and likewife
along the enclofures, where they cling with
their tendrils round the trees which ftand
^here. The lower parts of the plant are

full

Penfyhania, Journey to Wilmington. 151

full of grapes, which hang below the leaves,
and were now almofl ripe, and had a plea-
fant fourifh tafte. The country people ga-
ther them in great quantities, and fell them
in the town. They are eaten without fur-
ther preparation, and commonly people are
prefented with them when they come to pay
a vifit.

The foil does not feem to be deep herea-
bouts ; for the upper black flratum is hard-
ly two inches. This I had an occafion to
fee both in fuch places where the ground is
dug up, and in fuch where the water, du-
ring heavy fliowers of rain, has made cuts,
which are pretty numerous here. The up-
per foil has a dark colour, and the next a
pale colour like bricks. I have obferved
every where in America, that the depth of
the upper foil does not by far agree with
the computation of fome people, though
we can almofl be fure, that in fome places
it never was ftirred fmce the deluge. I
fhall be more particular in this refped: af-
terwards.*

K4 The

* The learned Dr. Wallerius, in his Mineralogy, §. 8. in
the note to the article, Humus communis atra, mentions that
fome people were of opinion, that the mould of our globe in-
creafed gradually from the yearly putrefaftion of plants and
their parts, efpecially in fuch places as had been uncultiva-
ted ever fmce the deluge, and that thus in a hundred years,

half

15^ ^5tober 1748.

The Datura Stramonium, or Thorn Apr
fhy grows in great quantities near ^11 the
villages. Its height is different according
^o the foil it is in. For in a rich foil it

grow$

half an inch of mould was produced. But he obferves in the
fame time, that this obfervation was not at all exaft; for as
the common mould feldom exceeds a foot, it muft from
the^ce follow, that fmce the deluge no more than 2400 years
were elapfed, though the fcripture chronology reckons up,-
*vards of 4000 years fince that event : befides this, he re-
marks, that moujd always becomes more dry and comprefled,
>vhere it is out of the reach of rain and fnow ; and where i^t
is expofed to rain, it is carried oiF to lower places, and
.therefore increafes and decreafes according to the qualities of
its local fituation. Moreover, vegetables it is known profpei"
che beft where mould is found. As the furface of oiir globe
has been covered with vegetables fmce the deluge, they muft
have had a mould to grow in ever fince that time ; confer
quently it is highly probable, that there muft have been a
mould covering the furface of our globe, ever fince the firft
origin. I fhould be led by feme other confiderations, tp
doubt of the infallibility of this rule for the iijcreafe of
mould. In Rufta, on this fide the river Vclga, are high and
extenfive plains, which have been uncultivated ever fmce the
deluge, for we know froip hiftory, that the Scythians, Sarmar
tians, Huns, Chazars, and Mogols, were fucceffively the
piafters of thefe vaft countries, and were altogether nomadic
nations, who lived without agriculture; the country has
been without wood fmce time immemorial, nor could there
even fpring up any wood whatfoever, fmce its rambling pof-
felTors every fpring fet fire to the old dry grafs, in order to
make room for the new grafs, which in the latter end of Ma>',
I found come up very near to my waift. And thefe vaft, de-
ikrt plains, I faw every where covered with at leaft two feet
fnould ; nay, in fome places it amounted to four feet ; this
would give according to the former rule of half an inch per
century, 4800 years, in the firft inftance, and in the fecond,
9600 years, and therefore fhews that this rule for calculatinc^
the increafe of mould, is very precarious. The chemical

analyfis

Penfyhania, Journey to Wilmington. 153

grows eight or ten feet high, but in a hard
and poor ground, it will feldom come up
to fix inches. Thh Datura, together with
the Phytolacca, or American Nightfiade^
grow here in thofe places near the gardens,

houfes.

analyfis of plants, fhews that they confift of water, earth,
acid, alkali, oil, and an inflammable principle, independent
of the laft fubftance, and called by a late German chemift the
caujik : thefe fubftances muft enter yearly the new plants,
and make their fubftance, and are as it were regenerated in
thefe new plants, after being fet at liberty from the ftrudure
of the laft year's plants by putrefaftion, or by fire. Mould
chemically examined, has the fame analogous parts._ Acid
and cauftic are plentifully contained in the common air, and
rnay alfo eafily be reftored to the mould, and thus circulate
through a new fyftem of plants. Water comes likewife from
rain and fnovv, out of our atmofphere : alkaline and oily
particles, or a kind of foap, are the only things wanting,
which when added with the former to any fubtle earth, vyill
make a good mould, and thefe are produced by putrefaflion
or fire, from vegetable and animal fubftances, and are the
great promoters of vegetation.

But the great queftion is, from whence thefe various
fubftances necefl'ary ^ for vegetation originally came ? T6
believe they are produced from putnfied vegetables is
begging the queftion, and making a circulus 'vitiofus
in the argument. There is therefore no evafion ; they
were certainly produced by the great Creator of the unir
verfe, and endowed with fuch qualities, as make then|
capable of producing in various mixtures new bodies ; and
when they are introduced by moifture, into the firft ftamin^
of a plant, or a feed, they expand thefe ftamina, and conftitute
a new being, capable of affording food to the animal creati-
on. It is evident, Mr. Kabn hinted at the above-mentione4
opinion of the increafe of mould, and this gave me an oppor-
tunity of confirming his argument, and of ftating fairly the
great queftion on which agriculture, the mofl: neceffary branch
of human arts depends. F.

154 Odiober 1748.

houfes, and roads, which in Sweden are co-
vered with nettles and goofe-foot, which
'European plants are very fcarce in America.
But the Datura and Phytolacca are the worft
weeds here, nobody knowing any particu-
lar ufe of them.

TuRNEP-FiELDs are fometimes to be
feen. In the middle of the highroad I per-
ceived a dead black fnake, which was four
feet fix inches long, and an inch and a half
in thicknefs. It belonged to the viper
kind.

Late at night a great Halo appeared
round the moon. The people faid that it
prognofticated either a florm, or rain, or
both together. The fmaller the ring is, or
the nearer it comes to the moon, the foon-
er this weather fets in. But this time
neither of thefe changes happened, and
the halo had foretold a coldnefs in the air.

I SAW to-day the Chermes of the alder
(Chermes Alni) in great abundance on the
branches of that tree, which for that reafon
looks quite white, and at a diftance ap-
pears as it were covered with mould.

OBober the 4th. I continued my jour-
ney early in the morning, and the country
ftill had the fame appearance as I went on.
It was a continual chain of pretty high
hills, with an eafy afcent on all fides, and of

vallies

Tenfylvania, journey to Wilmington, 155

vallies between them. The foil confifted
of a brick coloured mould, mixed with
clay, and a few pebbles, I rode fometimes
through woods of feveral forts of trees, and
fometimes amidft little fields, which had been
cleared of the wood, and which at prefent were
corn-fields, meadows, and paftures. The
farm-houfes flood fingle, fometimes near
the roads, and fometimes at a little diftance
from them, fo that the fpace between the
road and the houfes was taken up with lit-
tle fields and meadows. Some of the
houfes were built of ftone, two flories
high, and covered with fhingles of the
white cedar. But moft of the houfes were
wooden, and the crevices flopped up with
clay, inflead of mofs, which we make ufe
of for that purpofe. No valves were to be
met with in the chimneys, and the people
even did not know what I meant by them.
The ovens were commonly built up at fome
diflance from the houfes, and were either
under a roof, or without any covering
againfl the weather. The fields bore part-
ly buck-wheat, which was not yet cut,
partly maize, and partly wheat, which was
l3Ut lately fown -, but fometimes they lay
fallow. The vines climbed to the top of
feveral trees, and hung down again on both
lides. Other trees again were furrounded
by the ivy (Hedera quinquefoliaj which

with

Ij6 O5iober 1748.

with the fame flexibility afcended to a great
height. The Smilax laurifolia always join-
ed with the ivy, and together with it twitt-
ed itfelf round the trees. The leaves of
the ivy were at this time commonly red-
difh, but thofe of the vine were ftill quite
green. The trees which were furrounded
with them, looked at a diftance like thofe
which are covered with hops in our coun-
try, (and on feeing them from afar off, one
might expedt to find wild hops climbing
upon the trees.) Walnut and chefnut trees
were common near enclofures, in woods,
and on hills, and at prefent were loaded
with their fruit. The perlimon was like-
wife plentiful near the roads, and in the
woods. It had a great quantity of fruit,
but they were not yet fit for eating, fince
the froft had not foftened them. At fome
diftance from Wilmington^ I pafled a bridge
over a little river, which falls north into j
the Delaware. The rider pays here two- 1
pence toll for himfelf and his horfe.

Towards noon I arrived at Wilmington,
Wilmington is a little town, about
thirty Englijh miles fouth-weft from Fhila-
delphia. It was founded in the year 1733.
Part of it ftands upon the grounds belong^,
ing to the Swedijh church, which annually
receives certain rents, out of which they

pay

Penfyhaniai Wtlmingfon. ij7

pay the minifter's falary, and employ the
reft for other ufes. The houfes are built
of ftone, and look very pretty; yet they
are not built clofe together, but large open
places are left between them. The quakcrs
have a meeting-houfe in this town. The
Swedijh church, which I intend to mention
in the fequel, is half a mile out of town
eaflwards. The parfonage is under the
fame roof with the church. A little rivef
called Chrijiina-kill palTes by the town, and
from thence falls into the Delaware. By
following its banks one goes three miles
before one reaches the Delaware. The river
is faid to be fufficiently deep, fo that the
greateft veffel may come quite up to the town :
for at its mouth or jundure with the Dela-'
ware, it is flialloweft, and yet its depth even
there when the water is loweft, is from two
fathoms to two and a half. But as you go
higher its depth encreafes to three, three and a-
half, and even four fathoms. Thelargeftfhips^
therefore may fafely, and with their full
cargoes come to, and from the town with
the tide. From Wilmington, you have a fine
profpedl of a great part of the river Dela-
ware, and the Ihips failing on it. On both
fides of the river ChriJlina^kill, almoft from
the place where the redoubt is built to its
jundure with the Delaware, are low mea-^
dows, which afford a great quantity of hay

to

158 05iober 1748.

to the inhabitants. The town carries on *
confiderable trade, and would have been
more enlarged, if Philadelphia and New-
cajiky which are both towns of a more anci-
ent date, were not fo near on both fides of it.
The Redoubt upon the river Chrijlina-
killf was eredted this fummer, when it was
known that the French and Spanijh priva-
teers intended to fail up the river, and to at-
tempt a landing. It ftands, according to the
accounts of the late Rev. Mr. Tranbergy
on the fame fpot, where the Swedes had
built theirs. It is remarkable, that on
working in the ground this fummer, to
make this redoubt, an old Swedifi filver coin
of Queen Chrifiina, not quite fo big as a
(hilling was found at the depth of a yard,
among fome other things. The Rev. Mr.
Tranberg afterwards prefented me with it.
On one fide were the arms of the houfe of
TFafa with the infcription : CHRISTINA.
D. G. DE. RE. SVE. that is, Chrijiina, by
the grace of God, eleSied ^een of Sweden-, and
near this the year of our Lord 1633. On
the reverfe were thefe words : MONETA
NOVA REGNI SVEC. or, a new coin of
the kingdom of Sweden. At the fame time a
number of old iron tools^ fuch as axes,
fhovels, and the like, were difcovered.
The redoubt, that is now ereded, confifts

of

Penjyhamaf IVilmington. 1 59

of bulwarks of planks, with a rampart on
the outfide. Near it is the powder maga-
zine, in a vault built of bricks. At the
ered:ion of this little fortification it was re-
markable, that the quakers, whofe tenets
reject even defenlive war, were as bufy as
the other people in building it. For the
fear of being every moment fuddenly at-
tacked by privateers, conquered all other
thoughts. Many of them fcrupled to put
their own hands to the work ; but forward-
ed it by fupplies of money, and by getting
ready every thing, which was neceflary.

OSiober the 5th. It was my defign to
crofs the Delaware, and to get into New
Jerfey with a view to get acquainted with
the country ; but as there was no ferry
here to bring my horfe over, I fet out on
my return to Philadelphia. I partly went
along the high road, and partly deviated on
one or the other lide of it, in order to take
more exadl obfervations of the country, and
of its natural hiftory.

The maize, was fown in feveral places.
In fome its ftalks were cut fomewhat below
the ear, dried and put up in narrow high
flacks, in order to keep them as a food for the
cattle in winter. The lower part of the flalk
had likewife leaves, but as they commonly
dry of themfelves, the people do not like to

feed

i66 05lober 1748,

feed the cattle with them, alF their flavour
being loft. But the upper ones are cut,
whilft they are yet green.

The vallies between the hills commonly
contain brooks : but they are not very broad,
and require no bridges, fo that carriages and
horfe can eaiily pafs through them 5 for the
water is feldom above fix inches deep.

The leaves of moft trees were yet quite
green, fuch as thofe of oaks, chefnut trees,
black walnut trees, hiccory, tulip trees,
and fafTafras. The two latter fpecies are
found in plenty on the fides of the little
Woods, on hills, on the fallow fields, near
hedges, and on the road. The perfimort
likewife had ftill its leaves ; however fome
trees of this kind had dropt them. The
leaves of the American bramble were at pre-
fent almoft entirely red, though fome of
thefe bufhes yet retained a lively green in
the leaves. The Cornelian cherry likewife
had already a mixture of brown and pale
leaves. The leaves of the red maple were
alfo red.

I CONTINUED my journey to Chichejierf
a borough upon the Delaware, where tra-
vellers pafs the river in a ferry. They
build here every year a number of fmall
ihips for fale. From an iron work which

Penjyhania, Return from Wilmington, i6i

lies higher in the country, they carry iron
bars to this place, and fhip them.

Canoes are boats made of one piece of
wood, and are much in ufe with the farm-
ers, and other people upon the Delaware,
and fome little rivers. For that purpofe a
very thick trunk of a tree is hollowed out;
the red juniper or red cedar tree, the white
cedar, the chefhut tree, the white oak, and
the tulip tree are commonly made ufe of
for this purpofe. The canoes made of red
and white cedar are reckoned the beft, be-
caufe they fwim very light upon the water,
and laft twenty years together. But of
thefe, the red cedar canoes are moll prefe-
rable. Thofe made of chefnut trees will
likewife laft for a good while. But thofe
of white oak are hardly ferviceable above
fix years, and alfo fwim deep, becaufe they
are fo heavy. The Liquidambar tree, or
luiquidambar fiyracifiua, Linn, is big enough
but unfit for making canoes, becaufe it
imbibes the water. The canoes which
are made of the tulip tree, fcarce laft
fo long as thofe of white oak. The fize
of the canoes is different, according to
the purpofes they are deftined for. They
can carry fix perfons, who however, muft
by no means be unruly, but fit at the bot-
tom of the canoe in the quieteft manner
L poflible.

1 62 OBober 1748.

poffible, left the boat overfet. The Swedes
in Penfyhania and New Jerfey near the
rivers, have no other boats to go to Phila-
delphia in, virhich they commonly do twice
a v^^eek on the market days, though they
be feveral miles diftant from the tovt^n,
and meet fometimes w^ith fevere ftorms ;
yet misfortunes from the ovcrfetting, &c.
of thefe canoes are feldom heard of, though
they might well be exped:ed on account of
the fmall lize of this kind of boats. How-
ever a great deal of attention and care is
neceffary in managing the canoes, when
the wind is fomewhat violent ; for they are
narrow, round below, have no keel, and
therefore may ealily be overfet. Accord-
ingly when the wind is more brifk than
ordinary, the people make for the land.

The common garden crefTes grow in fe-
veral places on the roads about Chicbejier,
and undoubtedly come from the feeds,
which were by chance carried out of the
many gardens about that town.

The American brambles are here in great
plenty. When a field is left uncultivated,
they are the firft plants that appear on it 5
and I frequently obferved them in fuch
fields as are annually ploughed, and have
corn fown on them. For when thefe bufh-
es are once rooted, they are not eafily ex-
tirpated.

I

Penfylvania, Return from Wilmington. 163

Itirpated. Such a bufn runs out tendrils
fometimes four fathoms off its root, and
then throws a new root, fo that on pulling
it up, you meet with roots on both ends.
On feme old grounds, which had long been
uncultivated, there were fo many buflies of
this kind, that it was very troublefome and
dangerous walking in them. A wine is
made of the berries, as I have already men-
tioned. The berries are likewife eaten
when they are ripe, and tafte well. No
other ufe is made of them.

Odlober the 6th. The Chenopodium an^
thelminticum is very plentiful on the road,
and on the banks of the river, but chiefly
in dry places in a loofe fandy foil. The
Englijh who are fettled here, call it Worm^
feed and fe7'ufalem Oak. It has a difagree-
ablefcent. In Penfylvania and New Jer*
fey its feeds are given to children, againft
the worms, and for that purpofe they are
excellent. The plant itfelf is fpontancous
in both provinces.

The environs oi Chichejier, contain many
gardens, which are full of apple trees,
finking under the weight of innumera-
ble apples. Mod: of them are winter fruit,
and therefore were yet quite four. Each farm
has a garden, and fo has each houfe of the
better fort. The extent of thefe gardens is
L 2 likewife

164 Odloher 1748.

likewife not inconfiderable, and thereford
affords the poffeffor all the year long, great
fupplies in his houfe-keeping, both for eat-
ing and drinking. I frequently was fur-
prized at the prudence of the inhabitants of
this country. As foon as one has bought ai
piece of ground, which is neither built up-
on nor fown, his firft care is to get young
apple trees, and to make a garden. He
next proceeds to build his houfe, and laftly
prepares the uncultivated ground to receive
corn. For it is well known that the trees
require many years before they arrive to
perfedion, and this makes it neceffary to
plant them firft. I now perceived near the
farms, millsy wheels, and other inftru-
ments which are made ufe of in crushing
the apples, in order to prepare cyder from
them afterwards.

From Chichejler I went on towards Fhi^
ladelpbia. The oaks were the moft plenti-
ful trees in the wood. But there were fe-
veral fpecies of them, all different from the
European ones. The fwine now went about
in great herds in the oak woods, where
they fed upon the acorns which fell in great
abundance from the trees. Each hog had
a wooden triangular yoke about its neck,
by which it was hindered from penetrating
through the holes in the enclofures 3 and

for

Penjyhania, Return from Wilmington, 165

for this reafon, the enclofures are made
very llender, and eafy to put up, and do
not require much wood. No other enclo-
fures are in ufe, but thofe which are fo like
(heep hurdles. A number of fquirrels were
in the oak woods, partly running on the
ground, and partly leaping from one branch
to another; and at this time they chiefly
fed upon acorns.

. I SELDOM faw beach trees ; but I found
them quite the fame with the European ones.
Their wood is reckoned very good for
making joiner's planes of.

I DO not remember feeing any other than
the black AntSy or Formica nigra in Fenfyl-
njania. They are as black as a coal, and of
two forts, fome very little, like the lead of
our ants, and others of the fize of our com-
mon reddifh ants. I have not yet obferved
any hills of theirs, but only feen fome run-
ning about fingly. In other parts of Ame-
rica, I have likewife found other fpecies of
ants, as 1 intend to remark in the fequel.

The common Privet, or Liguftrum vul-
gare, is made ufe of in many places, as a
hedge round corn-fields and gardens, and
on my whole voyage, I did not fee that any
other trees were made ufe of for this pur-
pofe, though the Englijhmen here, well
know that the hawthorn makes a much bet-
L 3 ter

1 66 OSfober 1748.

i

ter hedge. The privet hedges grow very
thick and clofe, but having no fpines, the
hogs, and even other animals break eafily
through them ; and v^rhen they have once
made a hole, it requires a long while before
it grows up again. But when the hedges
confift of fpinofe bufhes, the cattle will
hardly attempt to get through them.

About noon I came through Chejler, a
little market- town which lies on the Dela^
ware. A rivulet coming down out of the
country, pafles through this place, and dif-
charg€s itfelf into the Delaware. There is
a bridge over it. The houfes ftand difperf-
ed. Moft of them are built of ftone, and
two or three ftories high 3 Tome are how-
ever made of wood. In the town is a
church, and a market-place.

Wheat was now fown every where. In
fome places it was already green, having
been fown four weeks before. The wheat
fields were made in the EngUJh manner,
having no ditches in them, but numerous
furrows for draining the water, at the dif-
tance of four or fix foot from one another.
Great flumps of the trees which had been
cut down, are every where feen on the
fields, and this ihews that the country has
been but lately cultivated.

The roots of the trees do not go deep

into'

I

Penfyhanid, Return from Wilmington, 167

into the ground, but fpread horizontally.
I had opportunities of obferving this in fe-
veral places where the trees were dug up ;
for I feldom faw one, whofe roots went
above a foot deep into the ground, though
it was a loofe foil.

About two Englijh miles behind Chejier,
I pafTed by an iron forge, which was to the
right hand by the road fide. It belonged
to two brothers, as I was told. The ore
however is not dug here, but thirty or for-
ty miles from hence, where it is iirft
melted in the oven, and then carried to
this place. The bellows were made of
leather, and both they and the hammers,
and even the hearth, but fmall in proporti-
on to ours. All the machines were work-
ed by water. The iron was wrought into
bars.

To day I remarked, as 1 have fince fre-
quently feen on my travels in this country,
that horfes are very greedy of apples. When
they are let into an orchard to feed upon
the grafs, if there are any apples on the
ground, they frequently leave the frefh
green grafs, and eat the apples, which,
however, are not reckoned a good food for
them ', and befides that, it is too expensive.

The red Maple, or Acer rubrum, is f^len-

tiful in thefe places. Its proper fituations

L 4 are

1 68 OBober 1748.

are chiefly fwampy, wet places, in which
the alder commonly is its companion. Out
of its wood they make plates, fpinning-
wheels, rolls, feet for chairs and beds, and
all forts of work. With the bark, they
dye both worfted and linnen, giving it a
dark blue colour. For that purpofe it is
iirft boiled in water -, and fome copperas,
fuch as the hat-makers and flioe-makers
commonly make ufe of, is added, before
the fluff (which is to be dyed) is put into
the boiler. This bark likewife affords a
good black ink. When the tree is felled
early in fpring, a fweet juice runs out of it,
like that which runs out of our birches.
This juice they do not make any ufe of
here ; but in Canada, they make both trea-
cle and fugar of it. Here is a variety of
this tree which they call the curled Maple,
the wood being as it were marbled within j
it is much ufed in all kinds of joiner's work,
and the utenfils made of this wood, are pre-
ferable to thofe made of any other fort of
wood in the country, and are much dearer
than thofe made of the wood of the wild
cherry iTttsfPrunus Virginiana) or of black
walnut trees. But the mofl valuable utenfils
were thofe made oi curled black walnut, for
that is an excefTive fcarce kind of wood.
The curled maple was likewife very un-

com-

Penfyhania, Return from Wilmington. 169

common, and you frequently find trees,
whofe outfides are marbled, but their infide
not. The tree is therefore cut very deep
before it is felled, to fee whether it has
veins in every part.

In the evening I reached Philadelphia.

OBober the 7th. In the morning we
croffed the Delaware in a boat to the other
iide which belongs to New Jerfey, each per-
fon paying fourpence for his palTage. The
country here is very different from that in
Penfyhania ; for here the ground is almoft
mere fand, but in the other province it is
mixed with a good deal of clay, and this
makes the ground pretty rich. The dif-
coveries which I made to day of infed:s
and plants, I intend to mention in another
work.

A SOIL like this in New feffey, one
might be led to think, could produce no-
thing becaufe it is fo dry and poor. Yet
the maize which is planted on it grows
extremely well, and we faw many fields
filled with it. The earth is of that kind
in which tobacco commonly fucceeds, but
it is not near fo rich. The flalks of maize
are commonly eight feet high, more or
lefs, and are full of leaves. The maize
is planted as ufual in rows, in little fquares,
fo that there is a fpace of five feet and fix

inches

170 OBober 1748.

inches between each fquare, both in length
and breadth ; on each of thefe little hills
three or four ftalks come up, which were not
yet cut for the cattle j each flalk again
has from one to four ears, which are large
and full of corn. A fandy ground could
never have been better employed. In fome
places the ground between the maize is
ploughed, and rye fown in it, fo that when
the maize is cut, the rye remains upon the
field.

We frequently faw Afparagus growing
near the enclofures, in a loofe foil, on un-
cultivated fandy fields. It is likewife plen-
tiful between the maize, and was at prefent
full of berries, but I cannot tell whether
the feeds are carried by the wind to the
places where I faw them; it is however
certain, that I have likewife feen it grow-
ing wild in other parts oi America.

The Worm-feed, is likewife plentiful on
the roads, in a fandy ground fuch as that
near the ferry oppofite to Philadelphia.
I have already mentioned that it is given to
children, as a remedy to carry off the
worms. It is then put into brandy, and
when it has been in it for one hour, it is
taken out again, dried and given to the,
children, either in beer fweetened with
treacle, or in any other liquor. Its effe(fts

are

Penfyhania, Return from Wilmington, 171

are talked of differently. Some people fay
it .kills the worms, others again pretend
that it forwards their encreafe. But I know
by my own experience, that this worm-
feed has had very good effeds upon children.

The Furjlain, which we cultivate in
our gardens, grows wild in great abundance
in the loofe foil amongft the maize. It
was there creeping on the ground, and its
ftalks were pretty thick and fucculentj
which circumftance very juftly gave reafon
to wonder from whence it could get juice
fufficient to fupply it in fuch a dry ground.
It is to be found plentiful in fuch foil, in
other places of this country.

The Bidens bipinfjata, is here called Spa-
nijh Needles. It grows fingle about farm
houfes, near roads, pales and along the
hedges. It was yet partly in flower ; but
for the greatefl: part it was already out of
bloffom. When its feeds are ripe it is very
difagreeable walking where it grows. For
they ftick to the cloaths and make them
black ; and it is difficult to difcharge the
black fpots which they occafion. Each
feed has three fpines at its extremity ; and
each of thefe again is full of nnmerous little
books, by which the feed faftens itfelf to the
cloaths.

In the woods and along the hedges in

this

172 OSfober 1748.

this neighbourhood, fome fingle red Ants,
(Formica rubra) crept about, and their •
antennae or feel-horns were as long as their
bodies.

Towards night we returned to Phila-
delphia.

: Oeiober the 8th. The fhore oi Penfyl-
vania has a great quantity of the fineft
oyflers. About this time the people began
to bring them to Philadelphia for fale.
They come from that part of the {hore,
which is near the mouth of the river Dela-
ware. They are reckoned as good as the
New York oyflers, of which I fhall make
more particular mention afterwards. How-
ever I thought that this latter fort of oyfters
was generally larger, fatter and more pa-
latable. It is remarkable that they com-
monly became palatable at the time when
the agues had left off their fury. Some men
went with whole carts full of oyfters, cry-
ing them about the ftreets ; this is unufual
here when any thing elfe is to be fold, but
in London it is very common. The oyfter
fhells are thrown away, though formerly
a lime was burnt from them, which has
been found unnecefTary, there being ftones
for burning of lime in this neighbourhood,
and the lime of oyfter fhells not being as
good as this other lime. The people fhew-

ed

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. ly^

cd me fome houfes in this town which
were built of ftone, and to the mafon work
6T which the lime of oyfler fhells had been
employed. The walls of thefe houfes were
always fo wet two or three days before a
rain, that great drops of water could plain-
ly be perceived on them ; and thus they
were as good as Hygrometers.* Several
people who had lived in this kind of houfes
complained of thefe inconveniences.

October the 9th. Pease are not much
cultivated in Penfyhania at prefent, though
formerly, according to the accounts of
fome old Swedes, every farmer had a little
field with peafe. In New Jerfey and the
fouthern parts of New Tork, peafe are like-
wife not fo much cultivated as they ufed to
be. But in the northern parts of New
Torky or about Albany, arid in all the parts
of Canada which are inhabited by the
French, the people fow great quantities,
and have a plentiful crop. In the former
colonies, a little defpicable infedt has obli-
ged the people to give up fo ufeful a part of
agriculture. This little infedl was formerly

little

* As the fhells of oyfters are a marine animal produftion,
and their cavities are full of particles of fea-water, the moif-
ture of it flies off, leaving behind its fait ; when the fhells
are burnt, and the lime is flacked, the fait mixes with the
lime : and though the mortar of fuch a lime grows ever fo
dry, the particles of fait immediately attraft the moillure of
the air, and caufe that danjpnefs complained of here. F.

174 O£ioher 1748.

little known, but a few years ago it multi-
plied exceffively. It couples in fummer,
about the time when the peafe are in blof^
fom, and then depofites an egg into almoft
every one of the little peafe. When the
peafe are ripe, their outward appearance
does not difcover the worm, which, how-
ever, is found within, when it is cut.
This worm lies in the pea, if it is not ftir-
red during all the winter, and part of the
fpring, and in that fpace of time confumes
the greateft part of the infide of the pea :
In fpring therefore little more than the
mere thin outward ikin is left. This worm
at laft changes into an infedt, of the coleop-
tera clafs, and in that ftate creeps through
a hole of its own making in the hufk,
and flies oif, in order to look for new fields
of peafe, in which it may couple with
its cogeneric infedts, and provide food fuf-
ficient for its poilerity.

This noxious infe<ft has fpread from
Tenfylvania to the north. For the country
of New Tork, where it is common at pre-
fent, has not been plagued with it above
twelve or fifteen years ago j and before that
time the people fowed peafe every year
without any inconvenience, and had excel-
lent crops. But by degrees thefe little
enemies came in fuch numbers, that the

inhabitants

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia. 175

inhabitants were forced to leave off fowing
of peafe. The people complained of this
in feveral places. The country people
about Albany have yet the pleafure to fee
their fields of peafe not infeded by thefe
beetles, but are always afraid of their ap-
proach ; as it has been obferved they come
every year nearer to that province.

I KNOW not whether this infedt would
live in Europe, and I fhould think our
Swedijh winters muft kill the worm, even
if it be ever fo deeply inclofed in the pea;
notwithflanding it is often as cold in New
Tork (where this infedt is fo abundant) as in
our country, yet it continues to multiply here
every year, and proceeds always farther to
the north. 1 was very near bringing fome
of thefe vermin into Europe, without know-
ing of it. At my departure from America, I
took fome fweet peas with me in a paper,
and they were at that time quite freih and
green. But on opening the paper after my
arrival at Stockholm, on Auguft the ift.
1751 s I found all the peas hollow, and
the head of an infed: peeping out of each.
Some of thefe infers even crept out, in or-
der to try the weather of this new climate -,
but I made hafte, to fhut the paper again,
}n order to prevent the fpreading of this

noxious

ly^ OSlober 1748.

noxious infed:.* I own, that when I firf!
perceived them, I was more frightened
than I fhould have been at the fight of a
viper. For I at once had a full view of
the whole damage, which my dear country
would have fuifered, if only two or three
of thefe noxious infers had efcaped me.
The pofterity of many families, and even the
inhabitants of whole provinces, would have
had fufficient reafon to deteft me as the
caufe of fo great a calamity. I afterwards
fent fome of them, though well fecured, to
count 'Tejiny and to Dr. Linnaus, together
with an account of their deftrudive quali-
ties. Dr. Linnceus has already inferted a
defcription of them in an Academical Dif-
fertation, which has been drawn up under
his prefidency, and treats of the damages
made by infeds.f He there calls this in-
fed the Bruchus of North-America. % It

was

•Though Mt. Kalm has fo carefully avoided peopling
Europe with this infeft, yet Dr. Linnaus affures us in his
Syjlema Nafura, that the fouthern countries of Europe are al-
ready infefted with it ; Scopoli mentions it among his In/eSia
Carniolica p. 63. and Geoffroy among his Parijian In/eas,
V9I. I. p. 267. t. 4. f. 9. has given a fine figure of it. F.

t DifF. de Noxa Infeftorum, Amcen. Acad. Vol. 3. p.
347. ^.

X In his Syftema Naturae, he calls it Bruchus Piji, or the
Peafe Beetle ; and fays that the Gracula ^i/cula, or Purple
daw of Catejby, is the greateft deftroyer of them, and though

this

Penjylvania, Philadelphia. ijy

was very peculiar that every pea iri the
paper was eaten without exception.

When the inhabitants of Penfyhania
fow peafe procured from abroad, they are
iiot commonly attacked by thefe infedts
for the firfi: year -, but in the next they take
pofleffion of the pea. It is greatly to be
wifhed that none of the fhips which annu-
ally depart from New Tbrk or Penjylvania,
may bring them into the 'European coun-
tries. From hence the power of a lingle
defpicable infect will plainly appear; as
alfo, that the ftudy of the oeconomy and of
the qualities of infedls, is not to be looked
upon as a merepaftime and ufelefs employ -
ment.*

The Phus radicans is a fhrub or tree
which grows abundantly in this country,
and has in common with the ivy, called He-
dera arborea, the quality of not growing
without the fupport either of a tree, a
wall, or a hedge, I have feen it climb-
ing to the very top of high trees in the
M woods.

this bird has been profcrlbed by the legiflature of Penjyl'va-
nia, Nenu Jer/ey, and Newo England as a maize-thief, they
feel however the imprudence of extirpating this bird ; for a
quantity of worms which formerly were eaten by thefe birds'
deftroy their meadows at prefent. F.

* If the peafe were fteeped before they are fown, in a lie
of lime water and fome diltolved arfenic, the pupa or aurelia
6f the infeft would be killed. F.

178 OSiober 1748.

woods, and its branches flioot out every
where little roots, which faften upon
the tree and as it were enter into it.
When the ftem is cut, it emits a pale
brown fap of a difagreeable fcent. This
fap is fo fharp that the letters and charac-
ters made upon linnen with it, cannot be
got out again, but grow blacker the more
the cloath is wafhed. Boys commonly
marked their names on their linnen with
this juice. If you write with it on paper,
the letters never go out, but grow blacker
from time to time.

This fpecies of Sumach has the fame
noxious qualities as the poifonous fumach,
or Poifon-tree, which I have above defcribed,
being poifonous to fome peo'ple, though
not to every one. Therefore all that has
been faid of the poifon tree is likewife ap-
plicable to this ; excepting that the former
has the ftronger poifon. However I have
feen people who have been as much fwelled
from the noxious exhalations of the latter,
as they could have been from thofe of the
former. I likewife know, that of two lif-
ters, the one could manage the tree without
being affeded by its venom, though the
other immediately felt it as foon as the ex-
halations of the tree came near her, or
when ever ihe came a yard too near the

tree.

Penfyhania, Germantown. 179

itree, and even when fhe flood in the way
of the wind, which blew diredlly from this
ihrub. But upon me this fpecies of fumach
has never exherted its power, though I
jmade above a hundred experiments upon
imyfelf with the greateft ftems, and the
Ijuice once fquirted into my eye, without
doing me any harm. On another perfon's
hand which I had covered very thick with
it, the fkin a few hours after became as
hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled
off in the following days, as if little fcales
fell from it.

OSlober the loth. In the morning I ac-
companied Mr. Cock to his country feat,
which is about nine miles from Philadelphia
to the north.

Though the woods of PenJ^lvania Sifford
many oaks, and more fpecies of them thaa
are found further north, yet they do not
build fo many {hips in this province as they
do in the northern ones, and efpecially in
New England. But experience has taught
the people that the fame kind of trees is
more durable the further it grows to the
north, and that this advantage decreafes
the more it grows in warm climates. It is
likewife plain that the trees in the fouth
grow more every year, and form thicker
ringlets than thofein the north. The for-
M 2 mer

l8o 06lober 1748.

mer have likewife much greater tubes fot*
the circulation of the fap than the latter.
And for this reafon they do not build foj
many fhips in Penfylvania, as they do
in New England, though more than irt
Virginia and Maryland; but Carolina
builds very few, and its merchants get all
their fhips from New England. Thofe
which are here made of the beft oak, hard-
ly are ferviceable above ten, or at moft
twelve years ; for then they are fo rotten,
that no body ventures to go to fea in them.
Many captains of fhips come over from
England to North- America, in order to get
fhips built. But moft of them choofe New
England, that being the mofl northerly
province -, and if they even come over in
fhips which are bound for Philadelphia, they
frequently on their arrival fet out from Pen-
Jylvania for New England. The Spaniards
in the Weji Indies are faid to build their
fhips of a peculiar fort of cedar, which
holds out againfl putrefaction and wet ; but
it is not to be met with on the continent
in the Englijh provinces. Here are above
nine different forts of oak, but not one of
them is comparable to the fingle fpecies we
have in Sweden, with regard to its good-
.nefs. And therefore a fliip of European
oak cofls a great deal more than one made
of American oak. Many

Penjyhania, Germantown. \%i

Many people who chiefly employed
ithemfelves in gardening, had found in a
fuccellion of years, that the red Beet, which
grew out of the feed which was got from
JSlew Tork, became very fweet and had a
very fine tafte ; but that it every year loft
part of its goodnefs, if it was cultivated
from feeds which were got here. The
people were therefore obliged to get as many
feeds of red beet every year from New Tork,
as were wanted in their gardens. It has
likewife been generally obferved, that the
plants which are produced from Englijh
feeds are always much better and more a-
greeable, than thofe which come from feeds
of this country.

In the garden of Mr. Cock was a raddifh
which was in the loofe foil, grown fo big
as to be feven inches in diameter. Every
body that faw it, owned it was uncommon
to fee them of fuch a fize.

That fpecies of Convolvulus which is
pommonly called Batatas, has here the
nzvntoi Bermudian potatoes. The common
people, and the gentry without djftindtion
planted them in their gardens. This is
done in the fame manner as with the com-
mon potatoes. Some people made little hil-
locks, into which they put thefe potatoes i
but others only planted them in flat beds,
M 3 Th©

i82 OSlober 1748.

The foil mull be a mixture of fand and earth,
and neither too rich, nor too poor. When
they are going to plant them, they cut them,,l
as the common potatoes, taking care how-'
ever that a bud or two be left upon each
piece which is intended to be planted.
Their colour is commonly red without, and
yellow within. They are bigger than the
common fort, and have a fweet and very
agreeable tafte, which I cannot find in the-
other potatoes, in artichokes or in any
(Other root, and they almoft melt in the
mouth. It is not long fince they have been
planted here. They are dreffed in the
fame manner as commom potatoes, and
eaten either along with them, or by them-
felves. They grow very faft and very well'
here ; but the greateft difficulty confifts in
keeping them over winter, for they will bear
neither cold, nor a great heat, nor wet.
They mufl therefore be kept during winter
in a box with fand in a warm room. In
Penjylvania where they have no valves in
their chimnies, they are put in fuch a box
with fand, at Tome diftance from the fire,
and there they are fecured both againft froft
and againft over great heat. It will not
anfwer the purpofe to put them into dry
fand in a cellar, as is commonly done with
the common fort of potatoes. For the

moif-

Penjyhania, Germantown. 1S3

moifture which is always in cellars, pene-
trates the fand, and makes them putre-
fy. It would probably be very eafy to
keep them in Sweden in warm rooms,
during the cold feafon. But the difficulty
lies wholly in bringing them ever to Swe-
den, I carried a confiderable number of
them with me on leaving America, and
took all poflible care in preferving them.
But we had a very violent ftorm at fea, by
which the fliip was fo greatly damaged, that
the water got in every where, and wetted
our cloaths, beds and other moveables fo
much, that we could wring the water out
of them. It is therefore no wonder that
my Bermuda potatoes were rotten -, but as
they are now cultivated in Portugal and
Spain, nay even in England, it will be eafy
to bring them into Sweden. The drink
which the Spaniards prepare from thefe po-
tatoes in their American pofleffions is not
ufual in Penfyhania,^

Mr. Cock had a paper mill, on a little
brook, and all the coarfef forts of paper are
manufactured in it. It is noW annually
rented for fifty pounds Penfyhania cur-
rency.

M 4 OSfober

* Mr. Miller defcribes this liquor in his Gardener's Difti-
onary under the article of Cenvoivu/us, fpecies the 17th. and
1 8th.

iB4 OBober 1748.

OBober the nth. I have already men-f
tioned, that every countryman has a great-r
er or lefTer number of apple trees planted
round his farm-houfe, from whence heget^
great quantities of fruit, part of which he
fells, part he makes cyder of, and part he
ufes in his own family for pyes, tarts, and
the like. However he cannot exped: an
equal quantity of fruit every year. And I
was told, that this year had not by far af-
forded fuch a great quantity of apples as the
preceding ; the caufe of which they told
me, was the continual and great drought
in the month of Mayy. which had hurt all
the bloflbms of the apple trees, and made
them wither. The heat had been fo great^
as to dry up all the plants, and thegrafs in
the fields,

The Polytrichum commune^ a fpecies of
mofs, grew plentifully on wet and low
meadows between the woods, and in feve-
ral places quite covered them, as our mofTr
es cover the meadows in Sweden, It was
Jikewife very plentiful on hills.

Agriculture was in a very bad ftate
hereabouts. When a perfon had bought a
piece of land, which perhaps had nevef
been ploughed fince the creation, he cut
down part of the wood, tore up the roots,
ploughed the ground, fowed corn on it,

and

Penjyhania, Germantown, 185

^nd the firft time got a plentiful crop. But
the fame land being tilled for feveral years
fucceffively, without being manured, it at lafl
muft of courfe lofe its fertility. Its poflefTor
therefore leaves it fallow, and proceeds to
another part of his ground, which he treats
in the fame manner. Thus he goes on till
he has changed a great part of his poffeffions
into corn-fields, and by that means depri-
ves the ground of its fertility. He then
returns to the firft field, which now is pret-
ty well recovered; this he again tills as
long as it will afford him a good crop, but
when its fertility is exhaufted, he leaves it
fallow again, and proceeds to the reft as
before.

It being cuftomary here, to let the cat-
tle go about the fields and in the woods
both day and night, the people cannot col-^
led; much dung for manure. But by leaving
the land fallow for feveral years together, a
great quantity of weeds fpring up in it, and
get fuch ftrength, that it requires a confi-
derable time to extirpate them. From
hence it likewife comes, that the corn is
always fo much mixed with weeds. The
great richnefs of the foil, which the firft
European colonifts found here, and which
had never been ploughed before, has given
fife to this negled of agriculture, which is

ftill

l86 OBoher 1748.

ftill pbferved by many of the inhabitants.
But they do not confider, that when the
earth is quite exhaufted, a great fpace of
lime, and an infinite deal of labour is
ileceflary to bring it again into good or-
der; efpecially in thefe countries which
are almoft every fummer fo fcorched
up by the exceffive heat and drought..
The foil of the corn-fields confifted of a
thin mould, greatly mixed with a brick
coloured clay, and a quantity of fmall par-
ticles of glimmer. This latter came from
the ftones which are here almoft every
where to be met with at the depth of a foot
or thereabouts. Thefe little pieces of
glimmer made the ground fparkle, when
the fun {hone upon it.

Almost all the houfes hereabouts were
built either of ftone or bricks ; but thofe
of ftone were more numerous. German-
town, which is about two Englijh miles
long, had no other houfes, and the coun-
try houfes thereabouts, were all built of
ftone. But there are feveral varieties of
that ftone which is commonly made ufe of
in building. Sometimes it confifted of a
black or grey glimmer, running in undulated
veins, the fpaces between their bendings
being filled up with a grey, loofe, fmail-

grained

Fenfyhaniay Germantown. 1%J

grained limeftone, which was eafily friable.
Some tranfparent particles of quartz Were
fcattered in the mafs, of which the glim*
mer made the greateft part. It was very
cafy to be cut, and with proper tools could
readily be fhaped into any form. Some-
times however the pieces confifled of a
black, fmall-grained glimmer, a white
fmall-grained fandflone, and fome particles
of quartz, and the feveral conftituent parts
were well mixed together; and fometimes
the ftone had broad flripes of the white
limeftone without any addition of glim-
mer, but moft commonly they were much
blended together, and of a grey colour.
Sometimes this ftone was found to confift
of quite fine and black pieces of glimmer,
and a grey, loofe and very fmall-grained
limeftone. This was likewife very eafy
to be cut, being loofe.

These varieties of the ftone are com-
monly found clofe together. They were
every where to be met with, at a little
depth, but not in equal quantity and good-
nefs 'j and not always eafy to be broken.
When therefore a perfon intended to build
a houfe, he enquired where the beft ftone
could be met with. It is to be found on
corn-fields and meadows, at a depth which
varies from two to fix feet. The pieces

were

1 88 OSiober 1748.

were different as to lize. Some were eight
or ten feet long, two broad, and one thick.
Sometimes they were ftill bigger, but fre-
quently much lefs. Hereabouts they lay in
ftrata one above another, the thicknefs of
each ftratum being about a foot. The
length and breadth were different, but
commonly fuch as I have before mentioned.
They muft commonly dig three or four
feet before they reach the firft ftratum.
The loofe ground above that ftratum, is
full of little pieces of this ftone. This
ground is the common brick coloured foil,
which is univerfal here, and confifts of fand
and clay, though the former is more plen-
tiful. The loofe pieces of glimmer which
fhine fo much in it, feem to have been
broken off from the great ftrata of ftone.

It muft be obferved that when the
people build with this ftone, they take care
to turn the flat fide of it outwards. But as
that cannot always be done, the ftone be-
ing frequently rough on all fides, it is eafi-
ly cut fmooth with tools, fince it is foft,
and not very difficult to be broken. The
ftones however are unequal in thicknefs,
and therefore by putting them together
they cannot be kept in fuch ftraight lines as
bricks. It fometimes likewife happens that
pieces break off when they are cut, and

leav^

Penfyhania, Germaritown, 189

leave holes on the outlide of the wall. But
in order to fill up thefe holes, the little
pieces of ftone which cannot be made ufe
of are pounded, mixed with mortar; and
put into the holes ; the places thus filled
up, are afterwards fmoothed, and when
they are dry, they are hardly diftinguifh-
able from the reft at fome diftance. At
laft they draw on the outfide of the wall,
ftrokes of mortar, which crofs each other
perpendicularly, fo that it looks as if the
wall confifted wholly of equal, fquare
ftones, and as if the white ftrokes were the
places where they were joined with mortar.
The infide of the wall is made fmooth, co-
vered with mortar and whitewafhed. It
has not been obferved that this kind of
ftone attradts the moifture in a rainy or wet
feafon. In Philadelphia and its environs,
you find feveral houfes built of this kind of
ftone.

The houfes here are commonly built in
the Englijh manner.

One of Mr. CocJis negroes fhewed me
the fkin of a badger fUrfus MelesJ which
he had killed a few days ago, and which
convinced me that the American badger is
the fame with the Swedijh one. It was here
called Ground Hog,

Towards night I returned to Philadel-
phia. OBober-

I9P OBoher ly^^.

OBober iht 12th. In the morning we
went to the river Skulkill^ partly to gather
feeds, partly to colled plants for the herb^
al, and to make all forts of obfervations.
The Skulkill is a narrow river, which falls
into the Delaware, about four miles from
Philadelphia to the fouth -, but narrow as it
is, it rifes on the weft fide of thofe high
mountains, commonly called the blue moun-
tains, and runs two hundred Englijh miles,
and perhaps more. It is a great difadvan-
tage to this country, that there are feveral
cataracts in this river as low as Philadel-
phia, for which reafon there can be no na-
vigation on it. To day I made fome de-
fcriptions and remarks on fuch plants as the
cattle liked, or fuch as they never touched.

I OBSERVED feveral little fubterraneous
walks in the fields, running under ground
in various directions, the opening of which
was big enough for a mole : the earth,
which formed as it were a vault above it,
and lay elevated like a little bank, was near
two inches high, full as broad as a man's
hand, and about two inches thick. In un-
cultivated fields I frequently faw thefe
fubterraneous walks, which difcovered them-
felves by the ground thrown up above them,
which when trod upon gave way, and made
it inconvenient to walk in the field.

These

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 191

These walks are inhabited by a kind of
mole,* which I intend to defcribe more
accurately in another work. Their food is
commonly roots : I have obferved the fol-
lowing qualities in one which was caught.
It had greater ftiffnefs and ftrength in its
legs, than I ever obferved in other animals
in proportion to their fize. Whenever it
intended to dig, it held its legs obliquely,
like oars. I laid my handkerchief before
it, and it began to ftir in it with the fnout,
and taking away the handkerchief to fee
what it had done to it, I found that in the
fpace of a minute it had made it full of
holes, and it looked as if it had been pierc-
ed very much by an awl. I was obliged to
put fome books on the cover of the box in
which I kept this animal, or elfe it was
flung off immediately. It was very irafci-
ble, and would bite great holes into any
thing that was put in its way; I held a
fteel pen-cafe to it, it at iirft bit at it
with great violence, but having felt its
hardnefs, it would not venture again to bite
at any thing. Thefe moles do not make
fuch hills as the European ones, but only
fuch walks as I have already defcribed.

O^ober

* This animal is probably the Sorex criJJatus of Dr. Lipnaus^
who fays it is like the mole and lives in Penjylvania. F,

t^i OBober 1748.

OBober the 1 3th. There is a plant herCj^
from the. berries of which they make a kind
of wax or tallow, and for that reafon the
Swedes call it the Tallow Jhrub. The £«-
glijh call the fame tree the Candleberry-tree,
or Bayberry-bujh ', and Dr. Ltnnceus gives
it the name of Myrica cerifera. It grows
abundantly on a wet foil, and it feems to
thrive particularly well in the neighbour-
hood of the fea, nor have I ever found it
high up in the country far from the fea. .
The berries grow abundantly on the femaleJ
fhrub, and look as if flower had been^
ftrewed upon them. They are gathered
late in autumn, being ripe about that time,
and are then thrown into a kettle or pot
full of boiling water -, by this means their
fat melts out, floats at the top of the water
and may be fkimmed off into a vefl^el ;
with the fkimming they go on till there is
no tallow left. The tallow as foon as it is
congealed, looks like common tallow or
wax, but has a dirty green colour ; it is for
that reafon melted over again, and refined,
by which means it acquires a fine and pret-
ty tranfparent green colour : this tallow is
dearer than common tallow, but cheaper
than wax. In Philadelphia they pay a fhil-
ling Penfyhania currency, for a pound of
this tallow j but a pound of common tallow

only

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 193

Only came to half that money, and wax
cofts as much again. From this tallow they
make candles in many parts of this pro-
vince, but they ufually mix fome common
tallow with it. Candles of this kind, do
not ealily bend> nor melt in fummer as
common candles do i they burn better and
flower, nor do they caufe any fmoak, bat
rather yield an agreeable fmell, when they
are extinguished. An old Swede of ninety-
one years of age told me, that this fort of
candles had formerly been much in ufe with
his country men. At prcfent they do
not make fo many candles of this kind, if
they can get the tallow of animals ; it be-
ing too troublefome to gather the berriesw
However thefe candles are made ufe of by
poor people, who live in the neighbourhood
of a place where the bufhesgrow, and have
not cattle enough to kill, in order to fupply
them with a fufficient quantity of tallow.
From the wax of the candleberry tree they
like wife make a foap here, which has an a-
greeable fcent, and is the beft for {having.
This wax is likewife ufed by doctors and
furgeons, who reckon it exceeding good
for plafters upon wounds. A merchant of
this town once fent a quantity of thefe can-
dles to thofe American provinces which had
Roman Catholic inhabitants, thinking he
N would

194 OBober 1748.

would be well paid, fince wax candles are
made ufe of in the Roman Catholick
churches; but the clergy would not take
them. An old Swede mentioned that the
root of the candleberry tree was formerly
made ufe of by the Indians, as a remedy
againft the tooth ach, and that he himfelf
having had the tooth ach very violently,
had cut the root in pieces and applied it
round his tooth; and that the pain had
been leffened by it. Another «S'Z£;^^<? affu-
red me that he had been cured of the
tooth ach, by applying the peel of the root
to it. In Carolina, they not only make
candles out of the wax of the berries, but
likewife fealing-wax.

October the 14th. Penny Royal is a"
plant which has a peculiar ftrong fcent,
and grows abundantly on dry places in the
country. Botanifts call it Ciinila pulegioides.
It is reckoned very wholefome to drink
as a tea when a perfon has got cold, as it
promotes perfpiration. I was likewife told,
that on feeling a pain in any limb, this
plant, if applied to it, would give imme-
diate relief.

The goods which are fhipped to London
from New England are the following : all
forts of fifli caught near Newfoundland and
elfewhere ; train-oil of feveral forts ; whale-
bone > tar, pitch, mafls> new ihips, of which

a great

Penjyhaniai Philadelphia^ tgj

a great number is annually built ; a few hides,
and fometimes fome forts of wood. The
Englijh iflands in America, as Jamaiea and
Barbadoes, get from New England, fifh,
flefh, butter, cheefe, tallow, horfes, cattle^
all forts of lumber, fuch as pails, buckets,
and ho^fheads ; and have returns made in
rum, fugar, melafies, and other produces
of the country, or in cafh, the greateft part
of all which they fend to London (the money
efpecially) in payment of the goods received
from thence, and yet all this is infuffieient
to pay off the debt.

OBober the 15th. The Alders grcvf
here in confiderable abundance on wet and
low places, and even fometimes on pretty
high ones, but never reached the height of
the European alders, and commonly flood
like a bufh about a fathom of two high.
Mr. Bartram, and other gentlemen who
had frequently travelled in thefe provinces,
told me that the more you go to the fouth,
the lefs are the alders, but that they are
higher and taller, the more you advance to
the north. I found afterwards myfelf, that
the alders in fome places of Canada, are
little inferior to the Swedijh ones. Their
bark is employed here in dying red and
brown. A Swedijfj inhabitant of America,
told me that he had cut his leg to the very
bone, and that fome coagulated blood had
N 2 already

196 OBober 1748.

already been fettled within. That he had
been advifed to boil the alder bark, and to
wafli the wound often with the water : that
he followed this advice, and had foon got
his leg healed, though it had been ver}^
dangerous at firft. ' ^

The Phytolacca decandra was called Poke
by the Englijh, The Swedes had no parti-
cular name for it, but made ufe of the £»-
glifi, with fome little variation into Paok,
When the juice of its berries is put upon
paper or the like, it ftrikes it with a high
purple colour, which is as fine as as any ift-
the world, and it is pity that no method is
as yet found out, of making this colour laft
on woollen and linen cloth, for it fades
very foon. Mr. Bartram mentioned, that
having hit his foot againft a ftone, he had
got a violent pain in it ; he then bethought
himfelf to put a leaf of the Phytolacca oqv
his foot, by which he loft the pain in al
fhort time, and got his foot well foon after.'
The berries are eaten by the birds about
this time. The Englijh and feveral Swedes
make ufe of the leaves in fpring, when
they are juft come out, and are yet tender
and foft, and eat them partly as green cale,
and partly in the manner we eat fpinnage.
Sometimes they likewife prepare them in
the firft of thefe ways, when the ftalks are
already grown a little longer, breaking off

none

Penjylvaniay Philadelphia, i<)j

none but the upper fprouts which are yet ten-
der, and not woody ; but in this latter cafe,
great care is to be taken, for if you eat the
plant when it is already grown up, and its
leaves are no longer foft, you may expecft
death as a confequence which feldom fails
to follow, for the plant has then got a
power of purging the body to excefs. I
have known people, who, by eating great
full grown leaves of this plant, have got
fuch a ftrong dyfentery, that they were near
dying with it : its berries however are eat-
en in autumn by children, without any ill
confequence.

Woollen and linen cloth is dyed yel-
low with the bark of hiccory. This like-
wife is done with the bark of the black
oak, or Linnaus's ^ercus nigra, and that
variety of it which Catefiy in his Natural
Hijiory of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 19. calls
^ercus marilandica. The flowers and leaves
of the Impatiens Noli tangere or balfamine,
likewife dyed all woollen fluffs with a fine
yellow colour.

The Collinfonia canadenjis was frequently
found in little woods and bufhes, in a good
rich foil. Mr. Bar tram who knew the coun-
try perfeftly well, was fure that Penjyha-
nia, and all the parts of America in the
fame climate, were the true and original
places where this plant grows. For further
N 3 to

19S QBober 1748.

%Q the ibuth, neither he nor Meffrs. Clayton.
and Mitfhel ever found it, though the lat-
ter gentlemen have made accurate obferva^
tions in Virginia and part of Maryland,
And from his own experience he knew,
that it did not grow in the northerly parts.
I have never found it more than fifteen
inin. north of forty-three deg. The time
of the year when it comes up in Penjyhaniaj
is fo late, that its feed has but juft time
fufi&cient to ripen in, and it therefore feems.
unlikely, that it can fucceed further north.
Mr, Bar tram was the firft who difcovered;
it, and fent it over into Europe, Mr. Juf-
Jeu during his flay at London, and Dr.
' Lannceus afterwards, called iiCollinfonia^Uovs^.
the celebrated Mr. Peter Collinfon, a mer^
chant in London, and fellow of the Englijh. \
an4 Swedijh Royal Societies. He well de-*
ferved the honour of having a plant called
after his name, for there are i&w people
that have promoted natural hiftory and all
iifeful fciences with a zeal like his ^ or that:
have done as much as he towards colleding,,
cultivating, and making known all forts of;
plants. The Collinfonia has a peculiar fcent,
which is agreeable, but very ftrong. It al-
ways gave me a pretty violent head-ach
whenever I paffed by a place where it flood
in plenty, and efpccially when it was in

flower.

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 199

flower. Mr. Bartram was acquainted with a
better quality of this plant, which was that
of being an excellent remedy againft all forts
of pain in the limbs, and againfl a cold,
when the parts afFedted are rubbed with it.
And Mr. Conrad Weijfery interpreter of the
language of the Indians in Penfyhania, had
told him of a more wonderful cure with
this plant. He was once among a com-
pany of Indians, one of which had been
flung by a rattle fnake, the favages gave
him over, but he boiled the collinfonia,
and made the poor wretch drink the water,
from which he happily recovered. Some-
what more to the north and in New Tork
they call this plant Horfeweed, becaufe the
horfes eat it in fpring, before any other
plant comes up.

OSiober the i6th. I asked Mr. Pranks
tin and other gentlemen who were well ac-
quainted with this country, whether they
had met with any figns, from whence they
could have concluded that any place v^hich
was now a part of the continent, had for-
merly been covered with water ? and I got
the following account in anfwer.

I. On travelling from hence to the

fouth, you meet with a place where the

highroad is very low in the ground between

two mountains. On both fides you fee

N 4 nothing

20O OSlober 1748.

nothing but oyfter fhells and mufcle (hells
in immenfe quantities above each other;
however the place is many miles off the
fea.

2. Whenever they dig wells, or build
houfes in town, they find the earth lying in
feveral ftrata above each other. At a depth
of fourteen feet or more, they find globular
ftones, which are as fmooth on the outfide
as thofe which lie on the fea-fhore, and are
made round and fmooth by the rolling pf
the waves. And after having dug through
the fand, and reached a depth of eighteen
feet or more, they difcover in fome places
a llime like that which the fea throws up
on the fhore, and which commonly lies at
its bottom and in rivers : this llime is quite
full of trees, leaves, branches, reed, char-
coal, &c.

3. It has fometimes happened that new
houfes have funk on one fide in a fhort
time, and have obliged the people to pull
them down again. On digging deeper, for
a very hard ground to build upon, they
have found a quantity of the above flime,
wood, roots, &c.

Are not thefe reafons fufiicient to make
one fuppofe that thofe places in Philadelphia
which are at prefent fourteen feet and more
imder ground, formerly were the bottom of

the

Penfylvania, Philadelphia. 20 1

the fea, and that by feveral accidents, fand,
earth, and other things were carried upon
it? or, that the Delaware formerly was
broader than it is at prefent ? or, that it
has changed its courfe ? This laft ftill of-
ten happens at prefent ; the river breaking
off the bank on one fide, and forming one
on the other. Both the Swedes and Englijh
often fhewed me fuch places.

OBober the i8th. At prefent I did not
find above ten different kinds of plants in
bloflbm : they were, a Gentiatta, two fpe-
cies of After t the common Golden Rod, or
Solidago Virga aurea, a fpecies of Hieracium,
the yellow wood Sorrel, or Oxalis corniculata,
the Fox Gloves, or Digitalis purpurea^ the
Hamamelis Virginianaj or Witch Hazel, our
common Millefoil, or Achillea Millefolium,
and our Dandelion, or Leontodon Taraxacum.
All other plants had for this year laid afide
their gay colours. Several trees, efpecially
thofe which were to flower early in fpring,
had already formed fuch large buds, that on
opening them all the parts of fructification,
fuch as Calyxy Corolla, Stamina and Piftillum
were plainly diftinguifhable. It was therefore
eafy to determine the genus to which fuch
trees belonged. Such were the red maple,
or Acer rubrum, and the Laurus ceftivalis,
g fpecies of bay. Thus nature prepared to

bring

^02 OBober 1748.

bring forth flowers, with the firft mild
weather in the next year. The buds were
at prefent quite hard, and all their parts
prefled clofe together, that the cold might
by all means be excluded.

The black Walnut trees had for the great-
eft part dropt their leaves, and many of
them were entirely without them. The
walnuts themfelves were already fallen off.
The green peel which enclofcd them, if
frequently handled, would yield a black
colour, which could not be got off the-
fingers in two or three weeks time, though
the hands were wafhed ever fo much.

The Cornus jlorida was called Dogwood
by the Englijh, and grew abundantly in the
woods. It looks beautiful when it is adorn-
ed with its numerous great white flowers in
fpring. The wood is very hard, and is
therefore made ufe of for weaver's fpools,
joiner's planes, wedges, &c. When the
cattle fall down in fpring for want of
ftrength, the people tie a branch of this
tree on their neck, thinking it will help
them.

OSloher the 19th. The Tulip tree grows
every where in the woods of this country.
The botanifts call it Liriodendron tulipifera,
becaufe its flowers both in refpedl to their
fize, and in refped: to their exterior form,

and

Penjyhania, Philadelphia* 203

and even in fome meafure with regard to
their colour, refemble tulips. The Swedes
called it Canoe tree, for both the Indians
and the Europeans often make their canoes
of the ftem of this tree. The Englijhmez,
in Penfyhania give it the name of Poplar,
It is reckoned a tree w^hich grows to the
greateft height and thicknefs of any in
North America, and which vies in that
point with our greateft European trees. The
white oak and the fir in North America,
however are little inferior to it. It cannot
therefore but be very agreeable to fee in
fpring, at the end of May (when it is in
bloflbm) one of the greateft trees covered
for a fortnight together with flowers, which
with regard to their fhape, fize, and partly
colour are like tulips, the leaves have like-
wife fomething peculiar, the Englijh there-
fore in fome places call the tree the old wo-
man sfmock, becaufe their imagination finds
fomething like it below the leaves.

Its wood is here made ufe of for canoes,
boards, planks, bowls, difhes, fpoons, door
pofts, and all forts of joiners work. I have
feen a barn of a confiderable fize whofe
walls, and roof were made of a fingle tree
of this kind, fplit into boards. Some joiners
reckoned this wood better than oak, be-
caqfe this latter frequently is warped, which

the

204 OBober 1748.

■*
the other never does, but works very eafy 5
others again valued it very little. It is
certain, that it contrads fo much in hot
weather, as to occafion great cracks in
IPhe boards, and in wet weather it fwells
fo as to be near burfting, and the people
hardly know of a wood in thefe parts which
varies fo much in contradling and expand-
ing itfelf. The joiners however make much
ufe of it in their work, they fay there are
two fpecies of it ; but they are merely two
varieties, one of which in time turns yellow
within, the other is white, the former is
faid to have a loofer texture. The bark
(like RuJJia glafs) is divilible into very thin
leaves, which are very tough like baft,
though I have never feen it employed as
fuch. The leaves when crufhed and ap-
plied to the forehead are faid to be a reme-
dy againft the head ach. When horfes are
plagued with worms, the bark is pounded,
and given them quite dry. Many people
believe its roots to be as efficacious againft
the fever as the jefuits bark. The trees
grow in all forts of dry foil, both on high
and low grounds, but too wet a foil will not
agree with them.

OSlober the 20th. The Beaver tree is
to be met with in feveral parts of Penjyha-
nia and New Jerfey, in a poor fwampy foil,

or

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 205

or on wet meadows. Dr. hinnaus calls it
Magnolia glauca ; both the Swedes and En-
glijh call it Beaver tree, becaufe the root of
this tree is the dainty of beavers, which are
caught by its means, however the Swedes
fometimes gave it a different name, and the
Englip as improperly called it Swamp Sajja-
frasy and White Laurel. The trees of this
kind dropt their leaves early in autumn,
though fome of the young trees kept them all
the winter. I have feldom found the bea-
ver tree to the north of Penfyhania, where
it begins to flower about the end of May,
The fcent of its bloflbms is excellent, for
by it you can difcover within three quarters
of an Englijh mile, . whether thefe little
trees ftand in the neighbourhood, provided
the wind be not againft it. For the whole
air is filled with this fweet and pleafant
fcent. It is beyond defcription agreeable
to travel in the woods about that time, ef-
pecially towards night. They retain their
flowers for three weeks and even longer,
according to the quality of the foil on
which the trees fland^ and during the
whole time of their being in bloflbm, they
fpread their odoriferous exhalations. The
berries likewife look very fine when they
are ripe, for they have a rich red colour,
and hang in bunches on flender ftalks. The

cough.

^o6 OBoher 1748,

cough, and other perioral difeafes are cured
by putting the berries into rum or brandy,
of which a draught every morning may be
taken ; the virtues of this remedy w^ere uni-
verfally extolled, and even praifed for their
falutary efFedls in confumptions. The bark
being put into brandy, or boiled in any
other liquor, is faid not only to eafe pec-
toral difeafes, but likewife to be of fomc
fervice againft all internal pains and heat j
and it w^as thought that a decodion of
it could flop the dyfentery. Perfons Vi^ho
had caught cold, boiled the branches of
the beaver tree in water, and drank it to
their great relief. A Swede, called Lars
Lack, gave the following account of a cur
effeded by this tree ; One of his relations
an old man, had an open fore in his leg,"
which would not heal up again, though he
had had much advice and ufed many reme-
dies. An Indian at lad effected the cure in
the following manner. He burnt fome of
this wood to charcoal, which he reduced to
powder, mixed with the frefh fat of pork,
and rubbed the open places feveral times.
This dried up the holes, which before were
continually open, and the legs of the old
man were quite found to his death. The
wood is likewife made ufe of for joiner's
planes.

OBober

u

i

1

Penfylvanidy Philadelphia, 207

Odiober the 2 2d. Upon trial it has been
found that the following animals and birds*
which are wild in the woods oi North Ame^
rica, can be made nearly as tradtable as
domeilic animals.

The wildCoi^^'j zn^Oxen, of which feveral
people of diftinftion have got young calves
from thefe wild cows, which are to be met
with in Carolina, and other provinces to the
fouth of Penjyhania, and brought them up
among the tame cattle > when grown up,
they were perfed:ly tame, but at the fame
time very unruly, fo that there was no en-
clofureftrong enough to refift them, if they
had a mind to break through it ; for as they
pofTefs a great ftrength in their neck, it was
eafy for them to overthrow the pales with
their horns, and to get into the corn -fields 5
and as foon as they had made a road, all
the tame cattle followed them ; they like-
wife copulated with the latter, and by that
means generated as it were a new breed.
This American fpecies of oxen is Linnceus%
Bos Bifon, &.

American Deer, can likewife be
tamed; and I have feen them tame myfelf
in different places. A farmer in New Jerfey
had one in his pofTeffion, which he had
caught when it was very young -, and at
prefent it was fo tame, that in the day time it

run

2o8 OBober 1748.

run into the wood for its food, and towards
night it returned home, and frequently
brought a wild deer out of the wood, giv-
ing its mafter an opportunity to fhoot it.
Several people have therefore tamed young
deer, and make ufe of them for hunting
wild deer, or for decoying them home,
efpecially in the time of their rutting.

Beavers have been fo tamed that they
have gone on fifhing, and brought home
what they had caught to their mafters.
This often is the cafe with Otters y of which
I have feen fome, which were as tame as
dogs, and followed their mafters wherever
they went ; if he went out in a boat, the
otter went with him, jumped into the
water, and after a while came up with a
fifti. The Opojfum, can like wife be tam-
ed, fo as to follow people like a dog.

The Raccoon which we f Swedes J C2\\
Siupp, can in time be made fo tame as to
run about the ftreets like a domeftic animal ;
but it is impoflible to make it leave oif its
habit of ftealing. In the dark it creeps to
the poultry, and kills in one night a whole
ftock. Sugar and other fweet things muft
be carefully hidden from it, for if the chefts
and boxes are not always locked up, it gets
into them, eats the fugar, and licks up the
treacle with its paws : the ladies therefore

have

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 209

have every day fome complaint againft it,
and for this reafon many people rather for-
bear the diverfion which this ape-like ani-
mal affords.

The grey zndjlying Squirrels are fo tamed
by the boys, that they fit on their (boul-
ders, and follow them every where.

The Turkey Cocks and Hens run about in
the woods of this country, and differ in
nothing from our tame ones, except in
their fuperior fize, and redder, though more
palatable flefh. When their eggs are found
in the wood, and put under tame Turkey
hens, the young ones become tame ; how-
ever when they grow up, it fometimes
happens that they fly away j their wings
are therefore commonly clipped, efpecially
when young. But the tamed turkeys are
commonly much more irafcible, than thofe
which are naturally tame. The Indians
likewife employ themfelves in taming them
and keeping them near their huts.

Wild Geefe have likewife been tamed in
the following manner. When the wild
geefe firft come hither in fpring, and ftop a
little while (for they do not breed in Pen*
fyhaniaj the people try to fhoot them in
the wing, which however is generally mere
chance. They then row to the place where
O the

210 OBober 174^.

the wild goofe fell, catch it, and keep if
for fome time at home, by this means many
of them have been made fo tame, that when
they were let out in the morning, they re-
turned in the evening, but to be more fure
of them, their wings are commonly clipped.
I have feen wild gQQ^Q of this kind, which
the owner aflured me, that he had kept for
more than twelve years -, but though he
kept eight of them, yet he never had the
pleafure to fee them copulate with the tame
ones, or lay eggs.

Partridges, which are here in abun-
dance, may likewife be fo far tamed, as to
run about all day with the poultry, and to
come along with them to be fed when they
are called. In the fame manner I have
feen wild Pigeons, which were made fo
tame as to fly out and return again. In
fome winters there are immenfe quantities
of wild pigeons in Penjyhania.

OEiober the 24th. Of all the rare birds
of North America, the Humming bird is the
moft admirable, or at leaft moft worthy of
peculiar attention. Several reafons induce
me to believe that few parts of the world
can produce its equal. Dr. Linnceus calls
it 'Trochilus Colubris, The Swedes and fome
Englijhmen call it the Kings bird, but the
name of Humming bird is more common.

Catejby

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 2ii

Catejby in his Natural Hijiory of Carolina,
Vol. I. page 65, tab. 65. has drawn it, in
its natural fize, with its proper colours,
and added a defeription of it.* In fize it
is not much bigger than a large humble
bee, and is therefore the leaft of all birds,*!-
or it is much if there is a lefler fpecies in
the world. Its plumage is moft beautifully
coloured, moft of its feathers being green,
fome grey, and others forming a fhining
red ring round its neck i the tail glows
with fine feathers, changing from green
into a brafs colour. Thefe birds come
here in fpring about the time when it be^
gnis to grow very warm, and make their
nefts in fumnier, but towards autumn they
retreat again into the more fouthern coun-
tries of America. They fubfift barely upon
the nedar,or fweet juice of flowers contained
in that part, which botanifts call the uqc-
tarium, and which they fuck up with their
long bills. Of all the flowers, they like
thofe moft, which have a long tube, and I
O 2 have

* The fame Is to be met with in Edwards's Natural Hif-
fory of Birds, page 38. tab. 38. F.

/ f There is a much lefTer fpecies of humming-blfd, by
Linnaus called Trochilus minimus, being the leaft bird known j
Sir Hans Sloane's living one, weighed only twenty grains,
and Mr. Ediuardsh dry one forty-five. It is drawn In Ed-
•wards's birdst t. 1 50, in its natural fize, together with its

212 OSiober 1748.

have obferved that they have fluttered chiefi-
ly about the Impatiens Noli tangere, and the
Monarda virith crimfon flowers. An inha-
bitant of the country is fure to have a num-
ber of thefe beautiful and agreeable little
birds before his v^indow all the fummer
long, if he takes care to plant a bed with
all forts of fine flowers under them. It is
indeed a diverting fpeftacle to fee thefe lit-
tle active creatures flying about the flowers
like bees, and fucking their juices with
their long and narrow bills. The flowers
of the above-mentioned Monarda grow ver-
ticillatedy that is, at difl*erent diftances they
fijrround the ftalk, as the flowers of our
mint (Mentha) baftard hemp (Galeopfts)
mother-wort (Leonurus) and dead nettle
(Lamium). It is therefore diverting to fee
them putting their bills into every flower
in the circle. As foon as they have fucked
the juice of one flower, they flutter to the
next. One that has not feen them would
hardly believe in how {hort a fpace of time
they have had their tongues in all the flow-
ers of a plant, which when large and with
a long tube, the little bird by putting its
head into them, looks as if it crept with
half its body into them.

During their fucking the juice out of
the flowers they never fettle on it, but

flutter

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 213

flutter continually like bees, bend tbeir
feet backwards, and move their wings fo
quick, that they are hardly vifible. During
this fluttering they make a humming like
bees, or like that which is occalioned by
the turning of a little wheel. After they
have thus, without refl:ing, fluttered for a
while, they fly to a neighbouring tree or
pofl:, and refume their vigour again. They
then return to their humming and fucking.
They are not very fhy, and I in company
with feveral other people, have not been
full two yards from the place where they
fluttered about and fucked the flowers j and
though we fpoke and moved, yet they were
no ways difl:urbed -, but on going towards
them, they would fly ofl* with the fwiftnefs
of an arrow. When feveral of them were
on the fame bed, there was always a vio-
lent combat between them, in meeting
each other at the fame flower (for envy was
likewife predominant amongft thefe little
creatures) and they attacked with fuch im-
petuofity, that it would feem as if the
ftrongeft would pierce its antagonifl: through
«ind through, with its long bill. During
the fight, they feem to fl:and in the air,
keeping themfelves up, by the incredibly
fwift motion of their wings. When the
windows towards the garden are open, they
O 3 purfue

gi4 OBoher 1748.

purfue each other into the rooms, fight a
little, and flutter away again. Sometimes
they come to a flower which is withering,
and has no more juice in it i they then in a
fit of anger pluck it oflF, and throw it on
the ground, that it may not miflead them
for the future. If a garden contains a great
number of thefe little birds, they are feen
to pluck off the flowers in fuch quantities,
that the ground is quite covered with them,
and it feems as if this proceeded from a
motion of envy.

Commonly you hear no other found
than their humming, but when they fly
iagainft each other in the air, they make a
chirping noife like a fparrow or chicken. I
have fometimes walked with feveral other
people in fmall gardens, and thefe birds
have on all fides fluttered about us, with-
out appearing very fhy. They are fo fmall
that one would eafily mifl:ake them for great
humming-bees or butterflies, and theirflight
refembles that of the former, and is incre-
dibly fwift. They have never been ob^
ferved to feed on infedts or fruit -, the nec-
tar of flowers, feems therefore to be their
only food. Several people have caught fome
humming birds on account of their Angular
beauty, and have put them into cages,
where they died for want of a proper food.

Howevef

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 215

However Mr. Bartram has kept a couple of
them for feveral weeks together, by feed-
ing them with water in which fugar had
been dilTolved, and I am of opinion that it
would not be difficult to keep them all win-
ter in a hot-houfe.

. The humming bird always builds its neft
in the middle of a branch of a tree, and it
is fo fmall, that it cannot be feen from the
ground, but he who intends to fee it muft
get up to the branch. For this reafon it
is looked upon as a great rarity if a neft is
accidentally found, efpecially as the trees in
fummer have fo thick a foliage. The neft is
likewife the leaft of all -, that which is in
my pofTeffion is quite round, and confifts in
the infide of a brownifh and quite foft down,
which feems to have been colleifled from
the leaves of the great mullein or Verbafcum
Hhapfusy which are often found covered
with a foft wool of this colour, and the plant
is plentiful here. The outfide of the neft
has a coating of green mofs, fuch as is com^
mon on old pales or enclofures and on trees;
the inner diameter of the neft is hardly a
geometrical inch at the top, and its depth
half an inch. It is however known that the
humming birds make their nefts likewife
of flax, hemp, mofs, hair and other fuch foft
O 4 materials;

2i6 Odiober 1748.

materials j they are faid to lay two eggs,
each of the fize of a pea.

OSiober the 25th. I employed this day
and the next in packing up all the feeds
gathered this autumn, for I had an oppor-
tunity of fending them to England by the
{hips which failed about this time. From
E,ngland they were forwarded to Sweden.

06iober the 27th. In the morning I fet
out on a little journey to New Tork, in com-
pany with Mr. Peter Cocky with a view
to fee the country, and to enquire into
the fafeft road, which I could take in
going to Canada, through the defart or un-
inhabited country between it and tht Engli/b
provinces.

That part where we travelled at prefent
was pretty well inhabited on both fides of
the road, by Englijbmen, Germans and other
Europeans. Plains and hills of different di-
menfions were i^tn alternately, mountains
and ftones, I never faw, excepting a few
pebbles. Near almoft every farm was a
great orchard with peach and apple trees,
fome of which were yet loaded with fruit.

The enclofures were in fome parts low
enough, for the cattle to leap over them
with eafe ; to prevent this the hogs had a
triangular wooden yoke ; this cuftom was
a§ I have already obferved, common over

all

Penfyhaniay New Frankfurt. 217

ftU the Englifh plantations. To the horfes
n€ck was fattened a piece of wood, which
at the lower end had a tooth or hook, fail-
ing in the enclofure, and flopping the
horfe, juft when it lifted its fore feet to leap
over ', but I know not whether this be a
good invention with regard to horfes. They
were likewife kept in bounds by a piece of
wood, one end of which was fattened to
one of the fore feet, and the other to one
of the hind feet, and it forced them to walk
pretty flowly, as at the fame time it made
it impoflible for them to leap over the en-
clofures. To me it appeared that the horfes
were fubjed to all forts of dangerous acci^
dents from this piece of wood.

Near New Frankfurt we rode over a
little ttone bridge, and fomewhat further,
eight or nine Englifi miles from Philadel-
phia we patted over another, which was
likewife of ttone. There are not yet any
milettones put up in the country, and the
inhabitants only compute the dittances by
guefs. We were afterwards brought over
a river in a ferry, where we paid three-
I pence a perfon, for ourfelves and our horfes.
j At one of the places where we ttopt to
I have our horfes fed, the people had a
Mocking-bird in a cage ; and it is here
reckoned the beft ttnging bird, though its

plumage

\

21 8 05iober 1748,

plumage be very fimple, and not fhowy at
all. At this time of the year it does not
ling. Linnaeus calls it Turdus polyglottos,
and Catejby in his Natural Hijiory of Caro^
Una, Vol. I. p. 27. tab. 27, has likewife
defcribed and drawn this bird. The peo-
ple faid that it built its nefts in the buflies
and trees, but is fo {by, that if any body
come and look at its eggs, it leaves the
neft, never to come to it again. Its young
ones require great care in being bred up.
If they are taken from their mother and
put into a cage, fhe feeds them for three or
four days 3 but feeing no hopes of fetting
them at liberty, fhe flies away. It then
often happens, that the young ones die
foon after, doubtlefs becaufe they cannot
accuftom themfelves to eat what the people
give them. But it is generally imagined,
that the laft time the mother feeds them,
fhe finds means to poifon them, in order,
the fooner to deliver them from flavery
and wretchednefs. Thefe birds flay all
fummer in the colonies, but retire in
autumn to the fouth, and flay away all
winter. They have got the name of Mock^
ing-birds, on account of their fkill in imi-
tating the note of almofl every bird they
hear. The fong peculiar to them is excel-
lent, and varied by an infinite change of

notes

Penjyhania, New BriJioL 219

^otes and melody -, feveral people are there-
Fore of opinion, that they are the beft fing-
ing birds in the world. So much is certain,
that few birds come up to them j this is
what makes them precious : the Swedes
call it by the fame name as the Englijh.

About noon we came to New Brijiol, -a
fmall town in Penfyhania, on the banks of
the Delaware, about fifteen Englijh from
Philadelphia. Moft of the houfes are built
of ftone, and ftand afunder. The inhabi-
tants carry on a fmall trade, though moft
of th^m get their goods from Philadelphia,
On the other fide of the river, almoft di-
rectly oppofite to New BrifioU lies the town
of Burlington^ in which the governor of
New Jerfey refides.

We had now country feats on both fides
of the roads. Now we came into a lane
enclofed with pales on both fides, including
pretty great corn-fields. Next followed a
wood, and we perceived for the fpace of four
Englijh miles nothing but woods, and a very
poor foil, on which the Lupinus perennis
grew plentifully and fucceeded well. I was
overjoyed to fee a plant come on fo well in
thefe poor dry places, and even began to
meditate, how to improve this difcovery in
a foil like that which it inhabited. But I
afterwards had the mortification to find that

the

220 OBdber 1748.

the horfes and cows eat almoft all the othe?
plants, but left the lupine, which was
however very green, looked very frelh, and
was extremely foft to the touch. Perhaps
means may be found out of making this
plant palatable to the cattle. In the even-
'mg we arrived at Trenton, after having pre-
viouily paffed the Delaware in a ferry.

06lober the 28th. Trenton is a long
narrow town, fituate at fome diftance from
the river Delaware, on a fandy plain ; it
belongs to New Jerfey, and they reckon it
thirty miles from Philadelphia. It has two
fmall churches, one for the people be*
longing to the church of England, the
other for the prelbyterians. The houfes are
partly built of ftone, though moft of them
are made of wood or planks, commonly
two flories high, together with a cellar be-r
low the building, and a kitchen under
ground, clofe to the cellar. The houfes
•ftand at a moderate diftance from one ano-
ther. They are commonly built fo, th^t
the ftreet paiTes along one fide of the houf-
es, while gardens of different dimenfions
bound the other fide ; in each garden is a
-draw- well ; the place is reckoned very heal-
thy. Our landlord told us, that twenty-two
years ago, when he firft fettled here, there was
hardly more than one houfe -, but from tha^t

tim«

New Jerfey, 'Trenton, 221

time Trenton has encreafed fo much, that
there are at prefent near a hundred houfes.
The houfes were within divided into feveral
rooms by their partitions of boards. The
inhabitants of the place carried on a fmall
trade with the goods which they got from
Philadelphia, but their chief gain confifted
in the arrival* of the numerous travellers
between that city and New York -, for they
are commonly brought by the Trenton
Tachts from Philadelphia to Trenton, or
from thence to Philadelphia, But from
Trenton further to New Brunfwick, the tra-
vellers go in the waggons which fet out
every day for that place. Several of the in-
habitants however likewife fubfifb on the
carriage for all forts of goods, which are
every day fent in great quantities, either
from Philadelphia to New York, or from
thence to the former place ; for between
Philadelphia and Trenton all goods go by
water, but between Trenton and New Brunf-
wick they are all carried by land, and both
thefc conveniences belong to people of this
town.

For the yachts which go between this
place and the capital of Peiifylvania, they
ufually pay a {hilling and fix-pence of Pen-
fyhania currency per perfon, and every one
pays beiides for his baggage. Every paf-

fenger

222 OBober 1748.

fenger muft provide meat and drink foF
himfelf, or pay fome fettled fare : between
Trenton and New Brunfwick a perfon pays
two (hillings and fixpence, and the baggage
is likewife paid for feparately.

We continued our journey in the morn-
ing ', the country through which we palTed
was for the greateft part level, though
fometimes there were fome long hills, fome
parts were covered with trees, but far the
greater part of the country was without
woods ; on the other hand I never faw any
place in America, the towns excepted, fo
well peopled. An old man, who lived in
this neighbourhood and accompanied us for
fome part of the road, however afTured me,
that he could well remember the lime,
when between Trenton and New Brunfwick
there were not above three farms, and he
reckoned it was about fifty and fome odd
years ago. During the greater part of the
day we had very extenfive corn-fields on both
fides of the road, and commonly towards
the fouth the country had a great declivity.
Near almofi; every farm was a fpacious or-
chard full of peaches and apple trees, and
in fome of them the fruit was fallen from
the trees in fuch quantities, as to cover near-
ly the whole furface. Part of it they left
to rot, fince they could not take it all in

and

New Jerfey, Trenton, 223

and confume it. Wherever we pafTed by
we were always welcome to go into the
fine orchards, and gather our hats and pock-
ets full of the choiceft fruit, without the
pofleflbr's fo much as looking after it.
Cherry trees were planted near the farms,
on the roads, &c.

The barns^ had a peculiar kind of con-
ftrud:ion hereabouts, which I will give a
concife defcription of. The whole build-
ing was very great, fo as almoft to equal a
fmall church -, the roof was pretty high,
covered with wooden fhingles, declining
on both fides, but not fteep ; the walis
which fupport it, were not much higher
than a full grown man j but on the other
hand the breadth of the building was the
more confiderable : in the middle was the
threfhing floor, and above it, or in the loft
or garret they put the corn which was not
yet threflied, the ftraw, or any thing elfe,
according to the feafon : on one fide were
ftables for the horfes, and on the other for
the cows. And the fmall cattle bad like-
wife their particular ftables or ftyes ; on
both ends of the buildings were great gates,

fo

• The author feems to comprehend more by this word,
than what it commonly includes, for he defcribes it as a
building, which contains both a barn and ftables. F.

224 OSiober 1748.

fo that one could come in with a cart and
horfes through one of them, and go out a(
the other : here was therefore under on^
roof the threfhing floor, the barn, the fta-
bles, the hay loft, the coach houfe, &c.
This kind of buildings is chiefly made ufe
of by the Dutch and Germans -, for it is to
be obferved that the country between Tren-
ton and New Torky is inhabited by few
Englijhmen, but infl:ead of them by Germans
or Dutch,^ the latter of which efpecially
are numerous.

Before I proceed, I find it necefl^ary to
remark one thing with regard to the Indi-
ans, or old Americans. For this account
may perhaps meet with readers, who, like
many people of my acquaintance, may be
of opinion that all North America, was al-
mofl: wholly inhabited by favage or heathen
nations, and they may be aftonifhed, that I
do not mention them more frequently in
my account. Others may perhaps imagine,
that when I mention in my journal, that
the country is much cultivated, that in fe-
veral places, houfes of fl:one or wood are
built, round which are corn-fields, gardens,

and

* This kind of building is frequent in the north of Ger-
many, Holland, and PruJJta, and therefore it is no wonder
that it is employed by people who, were ufed to them in their
own country. F.

New yer/ey, Trenton. 225

and orchards, that I am fpeaking of the
property of the Indians -, to undeceive them,
I here give the follow^ing explication. The
country efpecially all along the coafts, in
the Englifi colonies, is inhabited by Euro-
peans, who in fome places are already (o
numerous, that few parts of Europe are
more populous. The Indians have fold the
country to the Europeans, and have retired
further up : in moft parts you may travel
twenty SwediJJj miles, or about a hundred
and twenty Englifi miles, from the fea
fhore, before you reach the firft habitations
of the Indians. And it is very poflible for
a perfon to have been at Philadelphia and
other towns on the fea ihore for half a year
together, without fo much as feeing an In-
dian. I intend in the fequel to give a more
circumftantial account of them, their reli-
gion, manners, ©economy, and other par-
ticulars relating to them : at prefent I re-
turn to the fequel of my journal.

About nine Englifli miles from Trenton,
the ground began to change its colour \
hitherto it confided of a conliderable quan-
tity of hazel coloured clay, but at prefent
the earth was a reddifh brown, fo that it
fometimes had a purple colour, and fome-
times looked like logwood. This colour
came from a red limeftone which approach-
P ed

226 OBober 1748.

ed very near to that which is on the moun*
tain Kinnekulk in Weji Gothland, and makes
a particular flratum in the rock. The
American red limeftome therefore feems to
be merely a variety of that I faw in Sweden,
it lay in ftrata of two or three fingers thick-
nefs ', but was divifible into many thinner
plates or fhivers, whofe furface was feldom
flat and fmooth, but commonly rough : the
ftrata themfelves were frequently cut off by
horizontal cracks. When thefe ftones were
expofed to the air, they by degrees Ihivered
and withered into pieces, and at laft turn-
ed into duft. The people of this neighbour-
hood did not know how to make any ufe
of it J the foil above is fometimes rich and
fometimes poor : in fuch places where the
people had lately dug new wells, I perceiv-
ed, that moft of the rubbiih which was
thrown up confided of fuch a fpecies of
ftone. This reddifti brown earth we always
faw till near New Brunfwick, where it is
particularly plentiful. The banks of the
river, Ihewed in many places nothing but
ftrata of Lhnejione, which did not run ho-
rizontally, but dipped very much.

About ten o'clock in the morning wc
came to Prince-towny which is fituated in
a plain. Moll of the houfes are built of
wood, and are not contiguous, fo that there

are

New Jerfey, Prince' town, 227

are gardens and paftures between them. As
thefe parts were fooner inhabited by Euro^
peans than Penfyhania, the woods were
likewife more cut away, and the country
more cultivated, fo that one might have
imagined himfelf to be in Europe.
. We now thought of continuing our jour-
ney, but as it began to rain very heavily, and
continued fo during the whole day and part
of the night, we were forced to ftay till
next morning.

OBober the 29th. This morning we
proceeded on our journey. The country
was pretty well peopled; however there
were yet great woods in many places : they
all confided of deciduous trees : and I did
not perceive a fingle tree of the fir kind,
till I came to New Brunfwick. The ground
was level, and did not feem to be every
where of the richeft kind. In fome places
it had hillocks, lofing themfelves almofl
imperceptibly in the plains, which were
commonly croffed by a rivulet. Almofl
near every farm-houfe were great orchards.
The houfes were commonly built of timber,
and at fome diftance by themfelves flood
the ovens for baking, confifling commonly
of clay.

On a hill covered with trees, and called

Rockhilly I faw feveral pieces of flone or

P 2 rock^

2;2& OSiober 1748.

rock, fo big, that they would have requi-;
red three men to roll them down. But
befides thefe there were few great ftones in
the country J for moft of thofe which we
faw, could eafily be lifted up by a fingle
man. In another place we perceived a
number of little round pebbles, but we did
not meet with either mountains or rocks.

About noon we arrived at New Briin-
fwick, a pretty little town in the province
oi New Jerfey, in a valley on the weft fide
of the river Rareton ; on account of its low
fituation, it cannot be feen (coming froni
Penfyhania) before you get to the top of the
hill, which is quite clofe up to it : the
town extends north and fouth along the
river. The German inhabitants have two
churches, one of ftone and the other of
wood J the Englijh church is of the latter
kind, but the prelbyterians were build-
ing one of ftone : the town houfe makes
likewife a pretty good appearance. Some of
the other houfes are built of bricks^ but
moft of them are made either wholly of
wood, or of bricks and wood ; the wooden
houfes are not made of ftrong timber, but
merely of boards or planks, which are
within joined by laths : fuch houfes as
Gonfift of both wood and bricks, have only
the wall towards the ftreet of bricks, all the
other fides being merely of planks. This

peculiar

New y^rfeyy New Brunfwick. 229

peculiar kind of oftentation would eafily
kad a traveller, who pafTes through the
town in hafte, to believe that moft of the
houfes are built of bricks. The houfes
were covered with (hingles ; before each
door there was an elevation, to which
you afcend by feme fteps from the flreet ;
it refembled a fmall balcony, and had fome
benches on both fides, on which the people
fat in the evening, in order to enjoy the
frefh air, and to have the pleafure of view-
ing thofe who paffed by. The town has
only one flreet lengthways, and at its nor-
thern extremity there is a flreet acrofs j
both of thefe are of a confiderable length.

The river Rareton pafTes hard by the
town, and is deep enough for great yachts
to come up ; its breadth near the town is
within the reach of a common gun fhot ;
the tide comes up feveral miles beyond the
town, the yachts were placed lengthways
along the bridge ; the river has very high
and pretty fleep banks on both fides, but
near the town there are no fuch banks, it
being fituated in a low valley. One of the
ftrcets is almofl entirely inhabited by Dutch-
men, who came hither from Albany, and
for that reafon they call it Albany fireet.
Thefe Dutch people only keep company
among themfelves, and feldom or never go a-
mongfl the other inhabitants, living as it were
P 3 quite

230 October 1748.

quite feparate from them. New Brunfwick
belongs to New Jerfeyy however the greateft
part, or rather all its trade is to New Tork,
which is about forty Englifh miles diftant;
to that place they fend corn, flour in
great quantities, bread, feveral other ne-
celfaries, a great quantity of linfeed, boards
timber, wooden vefTels, and all forts of
carpenters work. Several fmall yachts are
every day going backwards and forwards
between thefe two towns. The inhabitants
likewife get a confiderable profit from the
travellers, who every hour pafs through,
on the high road.

The fteep banks confift of the red lime-
ftone, which I have before defcribed. It
is here plainly vifible that the ftrata are not
horizontal, but confiderably dipping, efpe-
cially towards the fouth. The weather
and the air has in a great meafure diffolved
the ftone here : I enquired, whether it
could not be made ufe of, but was afTured,
that in building houfes it was entirely ufe-
lefs; for, though it is hard and perma-
nent under ground, yet on being dug out,
and expofed for fome time to the air, it
firft crumbles into greater, then into lefier
pieces, and at laft is converted into duft.
An inhabitant of this town, however tried
to build a houfe with this fort of ftone, but

its

New Jerfey, New Brunfwick, 231

its outfides being expofed to the air, foon
began to change lb much, that the owner
was obliged to put boards all over the wall,
to preferve it from falling to pieces. The
people however pretend that this ftone
is a very good manure, if it is fcatter-
ed upon the corn-fields in its rubbifh flate,
for it is faid to flifle the weeds : it is there-
fore made ufe of both on the fields and in
gardens.*

Towards the evening we continued our
journey, and were . ferried over the river
Rareton, together with our horfes. In a
very dry fummer, and when the tide has
ebbed, it is by no means dangerous to ride
through this river. On the oppofite fhore
the red juniper tree was pretty abundant.
The country through which we now pafT-
ed was pretty well inhabited, but in mofl
places full of fmall pebbles.

We faw Guinea Hens in many places
where we pafTed by. They fometimes run
about the fields, at a good diftance from the
farm-houfes.

About eight Englifh miles from New

Brunfwickj the road divided. We took

that on the left, for that on the right leads

P4 to

* Probably it is a ftone marJe ; a blue and reddifh fpe-
cies of this kind is ufed with good fuccefs, in the county of
Bamff'vn. Scotland.

232 OSiober 1748.

to Amboyy the chief fea-town in New Jer-
fey. The country now made a charming
appearance ; fome parts being high, others
forming vallies, and all of them well culti-
vated. From the hills you had a profped
ofhoufes, farms, gardens, corn-fields, fo-
refts, lakes, illands, roads, and paftures.

In moft of the places where we travelled
this day the colour of the ground was
reddifh. I make no doubt, but there
were flrata of the before-mentioned red
limeflone under it. Sometimes the ground
looked very like a cinnabar ore.

Wood-bridge is a fmall village in a
plain, confifting of a ftw houfes : we ftop-
ped here to reft our horfes a little. The
houfes were moft of them built of boards ;
the walls had a covering of fhingles on the
outfide ; thefe fhingles were round at one
end, and all of a length in each row : fome
of the houfes had an Italian roof, but the
greateft part had roofs with pediments 5
moft of them were covered with fhingles. In
moft places we met with wells and buckets
to draw up the water.

Elizabeth-town is a fmall town, about
twenty Englifli miles diftant from New
Brunfwick : we arrived there immediately
after fun fetting. Its houfes are moftly
fcattered, but well built, and generally

Qf

New Jerfey, Elizabeth-town, 233

of boards, with a roof of fhingles, and
walls covered with the fame. There were
likewife fome ftone buildings. A little ri-
vulet pafles through the town from weft to
eall ', it is almoft reduced to nothing when
the water ebbs away, but with the full tide
they can bring up fmall yachts. Here
were two fine churches, each of which
made a much better appearance than any
one in Philadelphia. That belonging to the
people of the church of England was built
of bricks, had a fleeple with bells, and
a baluftrade round it, from which there was
a profpedt of the country. The meeting
houfe of the prefbyterians was built of
wood, but had both a fteeple and bells,
and was, like the other houfes covered with
fhingles. The town houfe made likewife a
good appearance, and had a fpire with a
bell. The banks of the river were red,
from the reddifh limeftone ; both in and
about the town were many gardens and
orchards, and it might truly be faid that
Elizabeth-town was fituated in a garden ',
the ground hereabouts being even and well
cultivated.

The gtt(Q, in fome of the places by
which we palTed this day and the next,
carried three or four little flicks, of the
length of a foot about their necks 5 they

were

234 OSiober 1748.

were faftened crofTways, to prevent them
from creeping through half broken enclo-
fures. They look extremely awkward, and
it is very diverting to fee them in this
attire.

At night we took up our lodgings at
'Elizabeth-town Pointy an inn about two
Englijh miles diftant from the town, and
the laft houfe on this road belonging to
"New Jerfey. The man who had taken the
leafe of it, together with that of the ferry
near it, told us that he paid a hundred
and ten pounds of Penjyhania currency to
the owner.

OBober the 30th. We were ready to
proceed on our journey at fun-rifmg. Near
the inn where we had pafTed the night, we
were to crofs a river, and we were brought
over, together with our horfes, in a wretch-
ed half rotten ferry. This river came a 1
conliderable way out of the country, and "'
fmall veffels could eafily fail up it. This
was a great advantage to the inhabitants of
the neighbouring country, giving them an
opportunity of fending their goods to New
Tork with great eafe ; and they even made
ufe of it for trading to the Weft Indies, The
country was low on both fides of the river,
and confifted of meadows. But there was
no other hay to be got, than fuch as com-
monly

New Torky Sfaten JJland. 235

monly grows in fwampy grounds ; for as
the tide comes up in this river, thefe low
plains were fometimes overflowed when the
water was high. The people hereabouts
are faid to be troubled in fummer with im-
menfe fwarms of gnats or mufquetoes,
which fling them and their cattle. This
was afcribed to the low fwampy tneadows,
on which thefe infedts depofite their eggs,
which are afterwards hatched by the heat.

As foon as we had got over the river, we
were upon Staten IJland, which is quite
furrounded with fait water. This is the
beginning of the province of New Tork.
Moft of the people fettled here were Dutch-
meriy or fuch as came hither whilft the
'Dutch were yet in polfefTion of this place.
But at prefent they were fcattered among
the Engiijh and other European inhabitants,
and fpoke Englip for the greateft part.
The profpedt of the country here is ex-
tremely pleafing, as it is not fo much in-
tercepted by woods, but offers more cul-
tivated fields to view. Hills and vallies flill
continued, as ufual, to change alternately.

The farms were near each other. Mofl
of the houfes were wooden ; however fome
were built of flone. Near every farm-houfe
was an orchard with apple trees : the fruit
was already for the greatefl part gathered.

Here,

236 OBober 1748.

Here, and on the whole journey before, I
obferved a prefs for cyder at every farm-
houfe, made in different manners, by which
the people had already prefled the juice out
of the apples, or were juft bufied with that
work. Some people made ufe of a wheel
made of thick oak planks, which turned
upon a wooden axis by means of a horfe
drawing it, much in the fame manner as
the people do with woad ; * except that
here the wheel runs upon planks. Cherry
trees flood along the enclofures round corn-
fields.

The corn-fields were excellently fituated,
and either fown with wheat or rye. They
had no ditches on their fides, but (as is
ufual in England) only furrows, drawn at
greater or lefTer diflances from each other.

In one place we obferved a water mill,
fo fituated, that when the tide flowed,
the water ran into a pond : but when it
ebbed, the floodgate was drawn up, and the
mill driven by the water, flowing out of
the pond.

About eight o'clock in the morning we
arrived at the place where we were to crofs

the

• Dr. Linnausy in his Travels through Wejlrogothia, has
given a drawing of the machine by which woad is prepared,
on the 128th. page.

New York. 237

the water, in order to come to the town of
New York. We left our horfes here and
went on board the yacht : we were to go
eight Englifi miles by fea ; however we
landed about eleven o'clock in the morning
at New York, We faw a kind of wild ducks
in immenfe quantities upon the water : the
people called them Blue bills , and they
feemed to be the fame with our Pintail
ducks J or Linnceus^ Anas acuta : but they
were very fliy. On the fhore of the conti-
nent we faw fome very fine floping corn-
fields, which at prefent looked quite green,
the corn being already come up. We faw
many boats in which the fifhermen were
bufy catching oyfters : to this purpofe they
make ufe of a kind of rakes with long iron
teeth bent inwards ; thefe they ufed either
fingly or two tied together in fuch a man-
ner, that the teeth were turned towards
each other.

OBober the 31ft. About New York
they find innumerable quantities of excel-
lent oyfters, and there are few places which
have oyfters of fuch an exquifite tafte, and
of fo great a fize : they are pickled and fent
to the Weft Indies and other places ; which
is done in the following manner. As
foon as the oyfters are caught, their fliells
are opened, and the fifti waftied clean ;

fome

238 OBober 1748.

fome water is then poured into a pot, the
oyfters are put into it, and they muft boil
for a while j the pot is then taken off from
the jfire again, the oyfters taken out and put
upon a difli, till they are fome what dry :
then you take fome mace, allfpice, black
pepper, and- as much vinegar as you think
is fufficient to give a fourifti tafte. All this
is mixed with half the liquor in which the
oyfters were boiled, and put over the fire
again. While you boil it great care is to
be taken in fcumming off the thick fcum ;
at laft the whole pickle is poured into a
glafs or earthen velTel, the oyfters are put
to it, and the veffel is well ftopped to keep
out the air. In this manner, oyfters will
keep for years together, and may be fent to
the moft diftant parts of the world.

The merchants here buy up great quan-
tities of oyfters about this time, pickle them
in the above-mentioned manner, and fend
them to the JVeJl Indies : by which they fre-
quently make a confiderable profit : for,
the oyfters, which coft them five ftiillings
of their currency, they commonly fell for
a piftole, or about fix times as much as they
gave for them ; and fometimes they get
even more : the oyfters which are thus
pickled have a very fine flavour. The fol-
lowing is another way of preferving oyfters :

they

New York, 239

Ithey are taken out of the fhells, fried with
butter, put into a glafs or earthen veffel
with the melted butter over them, fo that
they are quite covered with it, and no air
can get to them. Oyfters prepared in this
manner have likewife an agreeable tafte,
and are exported to the Wefi Indies and other
parts.

Oysters are here reckoned very whole-
fome, fome people alTured us, that they
had not felt the leaft inconvenience, after
eating a confiderable quantity of them. It
is likewife a common rule here that oyfters
are beft in thofe months which have an r
in their name, fuch as September, OBober,
&c ; but that they are not fo good in other
months -, however there are poor people,
who live all the year long upon nothing but
oy iters with bread.

The fea near New Tork, affords annu-
ally the greateft quantity of oyfters. They
are found chiefly in a muddy ground, where
they lie in the flime, and are not fo fre-
quent in a fandy bottom : a rockey and a
ftony bottom is feldom found here. The
oyfler fhells are gathered in great heaps,
and burnt into a lime, which by fome
people is made ufe of in building houfes,
but is not reckoned fo good as that made of
limeilone. On our journey to New Tork, we

favv

240 05iober 1748.

faw high heaps of oyfter fhells near the
farm-houfes, upon the fea fhore ; and about
l^ew Torkt we obferved the people had car-
ried them upon the fields which were Town
with wheat. However they were entire,
and not crufhed.

The Indians who inhabited the coaft be-
fore the arrival of the Europeans, have made
oyfters and other fhell fifh their chief food;
and at prefent whenever they come to a
fait water where oyfters are to be got, they
are very ad:ive in catching them, and felli
them in great quantities to other Indians
who live higher up the country : for this
reafon you fee immenfe numbers of oyfter
and mufcle fhells piled up near fuch places,
where you are certain that the Indians for-
merly built their huts. This circumftance
ought to make us cautious in maintaining,
that in all places on the fea fliore, or higher
up in the country, where fuch heaps of fhells
are to be met vvith, the latter have lain
there ever fmce the time that thofe places
were overflowed by the fea.

Lobsters are like wife plentyfully caught
hereabouts, pickled much in the fame way
as oyfters, and fent to feveral places. I was
told of a very remarkable circumftance a-
bout thefe lobfters, and I have afterwards
frequently heard it mentioned. The coaft

of

New Tork, 241

bf New Tork had already European inhabi-
tants for a confiderable time, yet no lobfters
were to be met with on that coaft; and
though the people fifhed ever fo often, they
could never find any figns of lobfters being
in this part of the fea : they were there-
fore continually brought in great well boats
from ISIew Englandy where they are plen-
tiful ; but it happened that one of thefe
wellboats broke in pieces near Hellgate^
about ten Englijh miles from JSIew Tork,
and all the lobfters in it got off". Since
that time they have fo multiplied in this
part of the fea, that they are now caught
in the greateft abundance.

November the ift. A kind of cold fe-
ver, which the Englijh in this country call
Fever and Ague, is very common in feveral
parts of the Englijh colonies. There are
however other parts, where the people
have never felt it. I will in the fequel
defcribe the fymptoms of this difeafe at
large. Several of the moft confiderable in-
habitants of this town, aftured me that
this difeafe was not near fo common in
New Tork, as it is in Penfylvania, where
ten were feized by it, to one in the former
province ; therefore they were of opinion,
that this difeafe was occalioned by the va-
pours arifmg from ftagnant frefh water, from
Q^ mar{hes>

242 November 1748.

marfhes, and from rivers ; for which reafon
thofe provinces fituated on the fea ihore,
could not be fo much aiTedted by it. How-
ever the carelefnefs with which people eat
quantities of melons, watermelons, peach-
es, and other juicy fruit in fummer, was
reckoned to contribute much towards the
progrefs of this fever -, and repeated exam-
ples confirmed the truth of this opinion.
The jefuit's bark was reckoned a good re-
medy againft it. It has however often been
found to have operated contrary to expe<3:a-
tion, though I am ignorant whether it was
adulterated, or whether fume miftake had
been committed in the manner of takinof it.
Mr. Davis van Homey a merchant, told me
that he cured himfelf and feveral ^other
people of this fever, by the leaves of the
common Garden Sage, or Salvia officinalis of
Linnceus, The leaves are cruilied or pound-
ed in a mortar, and the juice is preiled out
of them 5 this is continued till they get a
fpoonful of the liquid, which is mixed with
lemon juice. This draught is taken about
the time that the cold fit comes on; and
after taking it three or four times, the fever,
does not come again.

The bark of the white oak was reckoned
the beft remedy which had as yet been found
againft the dyfentery. It is reduced to a

powder.

New Tork, 243

powder, and then taken : fome people af-
fured me that in cafes where nothing would
help, this remedy had given a certain and
fpeedy relief. The people in this place
likewife make ufe of this bark (as is ufually
done in the Englip colonies) to dye wool
a brown colour, which looks like that
of bohea tea, and does not fade by being
expofed to the fun. Among the nume-
rous fhells which are found on the fea
fhore, there are fome which by the Englifl?
here are called Clams ^ and which bear fome
refemblance to the human ear. They have
a confiderable thicknefs, and are chiefly
white, excepting the pointed end, which
both without and within has a blue colour,
between purple and violet. They are met
with in vaft numbers on the fea fliore oi New
Tork, Long IJland, and other places. The
£hells contain a large animal, which is eat-
en both by the Indians and Europeans fettled
here.

A CONSIDERABLE commcrcc is carried
on in this article, with fuch Indians as live
further up the country. When thefe peo-
ple inhabited the coaft, they were able to
catch their own clams, which at that time
made a great part of their food; but at
prefent this is the bufinefs of the Dutch and
Englijh, who live in Long IJland and other
0^2 maritime

244 Novemlfer 1748.

maritime provinces. As foon as the (hells
are caught, the fifh is taken out of them,
drawn upon a wire, and hung up in the
open air, in order to dry by the heat of the
fun. When this is done, the flelh is put
into proper veffels, and carried to Albany
upon the river Hud/on ; there the Indians
buy them, and reckon them one of their
beft dillies. Befides the Europeans, many
of the native Indians come annually down
to the fea fhore, in order to catch clams,
proceeding with them afterwards in the
manner I have juft defcribed.

The fhells of thefe clams are ufed by the
Indians as money, and make what theyj
call their wampum; they likewife ferve'
their women for an ornament, when they
intend to appear in full drefs. Thefe wam-
pums are properly made of the purple parts
of the (hells, which the Indians value more
than the white parts. A traveller, who
goes to trade with the Indians, and is well
flocked with them, may become a confide-
Table gainer ; but if he take gold coin, or
bullion, he will undoubtedly be a lofer j j
for the Indians who live farther up the |
country, put little or no value upon thefe |
metals which we reckon fo precious, as I
have frequently obferved in the courfe of
my travels. The Indians formerly made

their

¥■

New Tork, 245

their own wampums, though not without a
deal of trouble : but at f refent the Euro-
peans employ themfelves that way -, efpeci-
ally the inhabitants of Albany, who get a
confiderabie profit by it. In the fequel I
intend to relate the manner of making the
wampum.

Nove?nber the 2d. Besides the different
feds of chriftians,' there are many Jews fet-
tled in New Tork, who poffefs great privi-
leges. They have a fynagogue and houfes,
and great country feats of their own pro-
perty, and are allowed to keep fhops in
town. They have likewife feveral fhips,
which they freight and fend out with their
own goods. In fine they enjoy all the pri-
vileges common to the other inhabitants of
this town and province.

During my refidence at New Tork, this
time and in the two next years, I was fre-
quently in company with Jews. I was in-
formed among other things, that thefe peo-
ple never boiled any meat for themfelves
on faturday, but that they always did it the
day before ; and that in winter they kept a
fire during the whole faturday. They com-
monly eat no pork ; yet I have been told
by feveral men of credit, that many of them
(efpecially among the young Jews) when
travelling, did not not make the leaft diffi-

246 Nevember 1748.

culty about eating this, or any other meat
that was put before them -, even though they
were in company with chriftians. I was in
their fynagogue laft evening for the firft
time, and this day at noon I vifited it again,
and each time I was put into a particular feat
which was fet apart for ftrangers or chrifti-
ans. A young i^^.^/^/read the divine fervice,
"which was partly in Hebrew, and partly in
the Rabinical diakft. Both men and wo-
men were dreffed entirely in the Englijh'
fafhion -, the former had all of them their
hats on, and did not once take them off
during fervice. The galleries, I obferved,
were appropriated to the ladies, while the
men fat below. During prayers the men
fpread a white cloth over their heads ; which
perhaps is to reprefent fack cloth. But I
obferved that the wealthier fortof people had
a much richer cloth than the poorer ones.
Many of the men had Hebrew books, in
which they fang and read alternately. The
Kabbi flood in the middle of the fynagogue,
and read with his face turned towards the
eaft ', he fpoke however fo faft, as to make
it almoft impoffible for any one to under-
ftand what he faid.*

Nev7

• As there are no Jews in Siueden^ Prof. KaJm was an ot-
ter ftranger to their manners and religious cuftoms, and
therefore relates them as a kind of novelty, F.

New York,

'47

New York, the capital of a province of
the fame name is fituated under forty deg.
and forty min. north lat. and forty {^s^n
di^^, and four min. of weftern long, from
London ; and is about ninety ftven Engli/b
miles diftant from Philadelpfoia, The Situ-
ation of it is extremely advantageous for
trade : for the town ftands upon a point
which is formed by two bays ; into one of
which the river Hudfon difcharges itfelf,
not far from the town ; New Tork is there-
fore on three lides furrounded with water :
the ground it is built on, is level in fome
parts, and hilly in others : the place is
generally reckoned very wholefome.

The town was firft founded by theZ)z^/<:/6:
this, it is faid, was done in the year 1623,
when they were yet maflers of the country :
they called it New Amfterdamy and the coun-
try itfelf New Holland, ThQEnglifiy towards
the end of the year 1664, taking polTeffion
of it under the condud: of Des Cartes, and
keeping it by the virtue of the next treaty
of peace, gave the name of New Tork to
both the town, and the province belong-
ing to it : in fize it comes neareft to Bojlon
and Philadelphia, But with regard to its
fine buildings, its opulence, and extenfive
commerce, it difputes the preference with
0^4 them J

24^ November 1748.

them : at prefent it is about half as big
again as Gothenburgh in Sweden.

The flreets do not run fo ftraight as thofe
of Philadelphia, and have fometimes confi-
derable bendings : however they are very
fpacious and well built, and moft of them
are paved, except in high places, where it
has been found ufelefs. In the chief ftreets
there are trees planted, which in fummer
give them a fine appearance, and during
the exceflive heat at that time, afford a
cooling (hade : I found it extremely pleafant
to walk in the town, for it feemed quite
like a garden: the trees which are planted
for this purpofe are chiefly of two kinds.
The fFater beech, or Linnceus's Plat anus
occidentalism are the moft numerous, and give
an agreeable fhade in fummer, by their
great and numerous leaves. The Locufi
tree, or Linnceus's Robinia Pfeud-Acacia is
likewife frequent : its fine leaves, and the
odoriferous fcent which exhales from its
flowers, make it very proper for being
planted in the flreets near the houfes, and
in gardens. There are likewife lime trees
and elms, in thefe walks, but they are not
by far fo frequent as the others ; one feldom
met with trees of the fame fort next to each
other, they being in general planted alter-
nately.

Besides

New York, 249

Besides numbers of birds of all kinds
which make thefe trees their abode, there
are likewife a kind of frogs which frequent
them in great numbers in fummer, they are
Dr. Linnceus*^ Rana arbor'eay and efpecially
the American variety of this animal. They
are very clamorous in the evening and in
the nights (efpecially when the days had
been hot, and a rain was expedled) and in
a manner drown the finging of the birds.
They frequently make fuch a noife, that it
is difficult for a perfon to make himfelf
heard.

Most of the houfes are built of bricks ;
and are generally ftrong and neat, and feveral
flories high. Some had, according to old
architedure, turned the gable-end towards
the ftreets ; but the new houfes were alter-
ed in this refped:. Many of the houfes
had a balcony on the roof, on which the
people ufed to fit in the evenings in the fum-
mer feafon -, and from thence they had a
pleafant view of a great part of the town,
and likewife of part of the adjacent water
and of the oppofite fhore. The roofs are
commonly covered with tiles or fhingles :
the latter of which are made of the white
iirtree, or Finns Strobus (Linn. fp. plant,
page 1419.) which grows higher up in the
country. The inhabitants arc of opinion

that

250 November 1748.

that a roof made of thefe fhingles is as
durable as one made in Petifyhania of the
White Cedar, or Cuprejjus thyoides (Linn*
fpec. plant, page 1422.) The walls were
whitewflflied within, and I did not any
where fee bangi?igs, with which the people
in this country feem in general to be but
little acquainted. The walls were quite
covered with all forts of drawings and pic-
tures in fmall frames. On each fide of the
chimnies they had ufually a fort of alcove -,
and the wall under the windows was wain-
fcoted, and had benches placed near it.
The alcoves, and all the wood work were
painted with a bluifli grey colour.

There are feveral churches in the town,
which deferve fome attention. i. 'The
Englifi Church, built in the year 1695, at
the weft end of town, confiding of ftone,
and has a fteeple with a bell. 2. The
new Dutch Church, which is likewife built
of ftone, is pretty large and is provided
with a fteeple, it alfo has a clock, which
is the only one in the town. This church
ftands almoft due from north to fouth.
No particular point of the compafs has
here been in general attended to in erec-
ting facred buildings. Some churches,
ftand as is ufual from eaft to weft, others
from fouth to north, and others in different

pofitions.

New Tork. 251

portions. In this Dutch church, there is
neither altar, veflry, choir, fconces, nor
paintings. Some trees are planted round
it, which make it look as if it was built in
a wood. 3. The old Dutch churchy which
is alfo built of flone. It is not fo large as
the new one. It was painted in the infide,
though without any images, and adorned
with a fmall organ, of which governor
Burnet made them a prefent. The men
for the moft part fit in the gallery, and the
women below. 4. The Frefiyterian Churchy
which is pretty large, and was built but
lately. It is of ftone, and has a lleeple and a
bell in it. 5. The German Lutheran Church.
6. The German Reformed Church. 7. The
French Churchy for proteftant refugees. 8.
The ^aher% Meeting houfe, 9. To thefe
may be added the Jewifi Synagogue, which
I mentioned before.

Towards the fea, on the extremity of
the promontory is a pretty good fortrefs,
called Fort George, which entirely com-
mands the port, and can defend the town,
at leafl from a fudden attack on the fea
lide. Befides that, it is likewife fecured on
the north or towards the ihore, by a palli-
fad.e, which however (as for a conliderable
time the people have had nothing to fear

from

252 November 1748.

from an enemy) is in many places in a very
bad ftate of defence.

There is no good water to be met with
in the town itfelf, but at a little diftance
there is a large fpring of good water, which
the inhabitants take for their tea, and for the
ufes of the kitchen. Thofe however, who are
lefs delicate in this point, make ufe of the
water from the wells in town, though it be
very bad. This want of good water lies
heavy upon the horfes of the Grangers that
come to this places for they do not like to
drink the water from the wells in the
town.

The port is a good one : (hips of the
greateft burthen can lie in it, quite clofe up
to the bridge : but its water is very fait, as
the fea continually comes in upon it ; and
therefore is never frozen, except in extra-
ordinary cold weather. This is of great
advantage to the city and its commerce j for
many (hips either come in or go out of the
port at any time of the year, unlefs the
winds be contrary; a convenience, which
as I have before obferved, is wanting at
Philadelphia. It is fecured from all violent
hurricanes from the fouth-eaft hy Long IJland
which is fituated juft before the town:
therefore only the ftorms from the fouthweft
»re dangerous to the Ihips which ride at

anchor

New Tork, 253

anchor here, becaufe the porj^is open only
on that fide. The entrance however has its
faults : one of them is, that no men of
war can pafs through it ; for though the
water is pretty deep, yet it is not fufficient-
ly fo for great fhips. Sometimes even mer-
chant fhips of a large fize have by the roll-
ing of the waves and by finking down be-
tween them, flightly touched the bottom,
though without any bad confequences.
Befides this, the canal is narrow; and for
this reafon many fhips have been loft here,
becaufe they may be eafily caft upon a fand,
if the ihip is not well piloted. Some old
people, who had conftantly been upon this
canal, afTured me, that it was neither
deeper, nor Ihallovver at prefent, than in
their youth.

The common difference between high
and low water at New Tork, amounts to
about fix feet, Englifi meafure. But at a
certain time in every month, when the tide
flows more than commonly, the difference
in the height of the water is feven feet.

New York probably carries on a more
extenfive commerce, than any town in the
Englijh North American provinces ; at leafl
it may be faid to equal them : Bofton and
Philadelphia however come very near up to
it. The trade of New Tork extends to

many

%

254 November 1748.

many places, and it is faid they fend more
fhips from thence to London, than they do
from Philadelphia, They export to that
capital all the various forts of fkins which
they buy of the Indians, fugar, logwood,
and other dying woods, rum, mahogany,
and many other goods which are the pro-
duce of the JVeJi Indies 'y together with all
the fpecie which they get in the courfe of
trade. Every year they build feveral fhips
here, which are fent to London, and there
fold ', and of late years they have fhipped a
quantity of iron to England. In return
for thefe, they import from London fluffs
and every other article of Englijh growth
or manufad:ure, together with all forts
of foreign goods. England, and efpecial-
ly London, profits immenfely by its trade
with the American colonies ; for not only
"New York, but likewife all the other En-
glijh towns on the continent, import fo
many articles from England, that all their
fpecie, together with the goods which they
get in other countries, mufl altogether go
to Old England, in order to pay the amount,
to which they are however infufficient.
From hence it appears how much a well
regulated colony contributes to the increafe
and welfare of its mother country.

New York fends many fhips to the Weft

Indies

New York, 255

Indies, with flour, corn, bifcuit, timber,
tuns, boards, flefh, fifh, butter, and other
jrovifions j together with fome of the few
fruits that grow here. Many fhips go to
Bofion in New England, with corn and
flour, and take in exchange, fleflj, butter,
timber, diflferent forts of fi{h, and other
articles, which they carry further to the
Weji Indies. They now and then take rum
from thence, which is diftilled there in
great quantities, and fell it here with a
confiderable advantage. Sometimes they
fend yachts with goods from New Tork to
Philadelphia, and at other times yachts are
fent from Philadelphia to New Tork -, which
is only done, as appears from the gazettes,
becaufe certain .articles are cheaper at one
place than at the other. They fend fhips
to Ireland every year, laden with all kinds
of WeJi India goods ; but efpecially with
linfeed, which is reaped in this province. I
have been allured, that in fome years no
lefs than ten fhips have been fent to Ireland,
laden with nothing but linfeed ; becaufe it
is faid the flax in Ireland does not afford
good feed. But probably the true reafon is
this : the people of Ireland, in order to
have the better flax, make ufe of the plant
before the feed is ripe, and therefore are
obliged to fend for foreign feed -, and hence

it

256 November 1748.

it becomes one of the chief articles Itl
trade.

At this time a bufhel of linfeed is fold
for eight fhillings of New Tork currency,
or exadily a piece of eight.

The goods which are (hipped to the
Wejl Indies, are fometimes paid for with
ready money, and fometimes with Wefi
India goods, which are either firfl brought
to New Tork, or immediately fent to Eng-
land or Holland. If a fhip does not chufe to
take inWeJi India goods in its return to New
Tork, or if no body will freight it, it often
goes to Newcaftle in England to take in coals
forballaft, which when brought home fell for
a pretty good price. In many parts of the
town coals are made ufe of, both for kitch-
en fires, and in rooms, becaufe they are
reckoned cheaper than wood, which at
prefent cofts thirty fhillings of New Tork
currency per fathom -, of which meafure I
have before made mention. New Tork has
likewife fome intercourfe with South Caro^
Una ', to which it fends corn, flour, fugar,
rum, and other goods, and takes rice in re-
turn, which is almofl the only commodity
exported from South Carolina,

The goods with which the province of
New Tork trades are not very numerous.
They chiefly export the fkins of animals,

which

New Tork, 257

llvhich are bought of the Indians about
Pfwego 'y great quantities of boards, coming
jfor the mofl part from Albany ; timber and
;ready made lumber, from that part of the
icountry which lies about the river Hudfon^,
;and laftly wheat, flour, barley, oats and
jother kinds of corn, which are brought
jfrom New Jerfey and the cultivated parts
jof this province. I have feen yachts from
\New Brunjwicky laden with wheat which
lay loofe on board, and with flour packed
up into tuns; and alfo with great quanti-
ties of linfeed. New York llkewife exports
fome fleih and other proviiions out of its
own province, but they are very few ; nor
lis the quantity of peafe which the people
iabout Albany bring much greater. Iron
however may be had more plentifully, as it
is found in feveral parts of this province,
and is of a confiderable goodnefs , but all
the other produdts of this country are of lit-
tle account.

Most of the wine, which is drank here
and in the other colonies is brought from
the Ifle of Madeira and is very ftrong and
fiery.

No manufactures of note have as yet

been eflablifhed here ; at prefent they get

all manufactured goods, fuch as woollen

R and

258 November 1748.

and linen cloth, &c. from England, and
efpecially from London.

The river Hud/on is very convenient for
the commerce of this city j as it is naviga-.
ble for near a hundred and fifty Englijh,
miles up the country, and falls into the;
bay not far from the tow^n, on its weftern
fide. During eight months of the year
this river is full of yachts, and other great-
er and lefTer veffels, either going to New
Tork or returning from thence, laden ei-
ther with inland or foreign goods.

I CANNOT make a juft eftimate of the
fhips that annually come to this town on
fail from it. But I have found by the Pen-
fyhania gazettes that from the firft of De-
cember in 1729, to the fifth of December in
the next year, 211 fhips entered the port of
New Torky and 222 cleared it ; and fince
that time there has been a great increafe
of trade here.

The country people come to market in
New Tork, twice a week much in the famfr
manner, as they do at Philadelphia -, with
this difference, that the markets are here
kept in feveral places.

The governor of the province of New
Tork, refides here, and has a palace in th©
fort. Among thofe who have been entrufl-
ed with this pofl, William Burnet deferves

New Tork, 259

to be had in perpetual remembrance. He
was one of the fons of Dr. Thomas Burnet
(fo celebrated on account of his learning)
and feemed to have inherited the know-
ledge of his father. But his great 'afiiduity
in promoting the welfare of this province,
is what makes the principal merit of his
charader. The people of New Tork there-
fore ftill reckon him the beft governor they
ever had, and think that they cannot praife
his fervices too much. The many agro-
nomical obfervations which he made in
thefe parts, are inferted in feveral Englijh
works. In the year 1727, at the acceffion
of king George the II. to the throne of
Great Britairiy he was appointed gover-
nor of New England. In confequence of
this he left New Torky and went to Bojion^
where he died univerfally lamented, on the
7th. oi September 1729.

An affembly of deputies from all the
particular diftridts of the province of Ne'W
Tork, is held at New Tork once or twice
every year. It may be looked upon as a
parliament or dyet in miniature. Every
thing relating to the good of the province
is here debated. The governor calls the
aflembly, and diffolves it at pleafure : this
is a power which he ought only to make
«ife of, either when no farther debates are
R 2 neceflary,'

26o November 1748.

neceflary, or when the members are not
fo unanimous in the fervice of their king
and country as is their duty : it frequently
however happens, that, led alide by ca-
price or by interefted views, he exerts it to
the prejudice of the province. The colony
has fometimes had a governor, whofe quar-
rels with the inhabitants, have induced
their reprefentatives, or the members of
the affembly, through a fpirit of revenge,
to oppofe indifferently every thing he pro-
pofed, whether it was beneficial to the
country or not. In fuch cafes the govern-
or has made ufe of his powers diffolving
the affembly, and calling another foon af-
ter, which however he again diffolved upon
the leaft mark of their ill humour. By this
means he fo much tired them, by the many
expences which they were forced to bear in
fo fhort a time, that they were at laft glad
to unite with him, in his endeavours for
the good of the province. But there have
likewife been governors who have called
affemblies and dilTolved them foon after,
merely becaufe the reprefentatives did not
adt according to their whims, or would not
give their alTent to propofals which were
perhaps dangerous or hurtful to the com-
mon welfare.

The king appoints the governor accord-
ing

New Tork. 261

ing to his royal pleafure ; but the inhabi-
tants of the province make up his excel-
lency's falary., Therefore a man entrufted
with this place has greater or lefTer reve-
nues, according as he knows how to gain
the confidence of the inhabitants. There
are examples of governors in this, and other
ipvovmct^ of North Am eric a y who by their
diflenfions with the inhabitants of their
refpedive governments, have loft their
whole falary, his Majefty having no power
to make them pay it. If a governor had
no other refource in thefe circumftances, he
would be obliged either to refign his office,
or to be content with an income too fmall
for his dignity ; or elfe to conform himfelf
in every thing to the inclinations of the in-
habitants : but there are feveral ftated pro-
fits, which in fome meafure make up for
this. I. No one is allowed to keep a pub-
lic houfe without the governor's leave ;
which is only to be obtained by the pay-
ment of a certain fee, according to the cir-
cumftances of the perfon. Some governors
therefore, when the inhabitants refufed to
pay them a falary, have hit upon the expe-
dient of doubling the number of inns in
their province. 2. Few people who intend
to be married, unlefs they be very poor,
will have their banns publifhed from the
R 3 pulpit I

262 November 1748.

pulpit ; but inftead of this they get licences
from the governor, which impower any mi-
nifter to marry them. Now for fuch a li-
cence the governor receives about half a
guinea, and this collected throughout the
whole province, amounts to a confiderable
fum. 3. The governor figns all paflports,
and efpecially of fuch as gotofea; and this
gives him another means of fupplying his
expences. There are feveral other advan-
tages allowed to him, but as they are very
trifling, I (hall omit them.

At the above aflembly the old laws are
reviewed and amended, and new ones are
made : and the regulation and circulation
of coin, together with all other affairs of
that kind are there determined. For it is
to be obferved that each Engli/h colony in
North America is independent of the other,
and that each has its proper laws and coin,
and mav be looked upon in feveral lights,
as a ftate by itfelf. From hence it hap^
pens, that in time of war, things go on
very flowly and irregularly here : for not
only the fenfe of one province is fometimes
directly oppofite to that of another; but
frequently the views of the governor, and
thofe of the affembly of the fame province,
are quite different : fo that it is eafy to fee,
that, while the people are quarrelling about

the

New Tork, 263

the beft and cheapeft manner of carrying
on the war, an enemy has it in his power
to take one place after another. It has
commonly happened that whilft fome pro-
vinces have been fuffering from their ene-
mies, the neighbouring ones were quiet
and inadive, and as if it did not in the leaft
concern them. They have frequently ta-
ken up two or three years in confidering
whether they fhould give affiftance to an
opprefled fifter colony, and fometimes they
have exprefly declared themfelves againft it.
There are inftances of provinces who were
not only neuter in thefe circumflances, but
who even carried on a great trade with the
power which at that very time was attack-
ing and laying wafte fome other provinces.
The French in Canada, who are but an
inconfiderable body, in comparifon with
the Englifl) in America, have by this pofition
of affairs been able to obtain great Advan-
tages in times of war; for if we judge
from the number and power of the Englijh,
it would feem very eafy for them to get
the better of the French in America.^

R4 It

* This has really happened by a greater union and exer-
tion of power from the colonies and the mother country ; io
that Canada has been conquered and its pofleflion has been
confirmed to Great Britain in the laft peace. F.

264 November 1748.

It is however of great advantage to the
crown of Engla7id^ that the North Ameri-
can colonies are near a country, under the
government of the French^ like Canada.
There is reafon to believe that the king
never was earneft in his attempts to expel
the French from their polleffions there ;
though it might have been done with little
difficulty. For the Efiglifi colonies in this
part of the world have encreafed fo much
in their number of inhabitants, and in
their riches, that they almoft vie with Old
England. Now in order to keep up the
authority and trade of their mother country,
and to anfwer feveral other pupofes, they
are forbid to eflabliih new maimfadlures,
which would turn to the diladvantage of
the Britijh commerce : they are not allowed
to dig for any gold or lilver, unlefs they
fend them to England immediately : they
have not the liberty of trading to any parts
that do not belong to the Britijlj dominions,
excepting fome fettled places, and foreign
traders are not allowed to fend their (hips to
them. Thefe and fome other reftridions,
occafion the inhabitants of the Englijh colo-
nies to grow lefs tender for their mother
country. This coldnefs is kept up by the
many foreigners fuch as Germans, Dutch
and French fettled here, and living among

the

New Tork, 265

the EhgUJhy who commonly have no par-
ticular attachment to Old England -y add to
this like wife that many people can never
be contented with their poffeffions, though
they be ever fo great, and will always be
defirous of getting more, and of enjoying
the pleafure which arifes from changing ;
and their over great liberty, and their luxury
often lead them to licentioufnefs.

I HAVE been told by Englijhmen, and
not only by fuch as were born in America^
but even by fuch as came from Europe^
that the Engllfi colonies in North-America^
in the fpace of thirty or fifty years, would
be able to form a Hate by themfclves, en-
tirely independent on Old England. But
as the whole country which lies along the
fea (hore, [is unguarded, and on the land
lide is harraffed bv the Eronchy in times of
war thefe dangerous neighbours are futiici-
ent to prevent the connection of the colo-
nies with their mother country from being
quite broken off. The Englijh government
has therefore fufficient reafon to confider
the French in North- America, as the beft
means of keeping the colonies in their due
fubmifiion. But, I am almoft gone too far
from my purpofe ; I will therefore finifh
my obfervations on New Tork.

The declination of the magnetic needle,

in

266 November 1748.

in this town was obferved by Philip Wells,
the chief engineer of the province of New
Tork, in the year 1686, to be eight deg.
and forty-five min. to the weftward. But
in 1723, it was only feven deg. and twenty
min. according to the obfervations of go-
vernor Burnet.

From hence we may conclude that in
thirty-eight years the magnet approaches
about one deg. and twenty five min. nearer
to the true north ; or, which is the fame
thing, about two min. annually. Mr.
Alexander, a man of great knowledge in
aftronomy and in mathematics, aflured me
from feveral obfervations, that in the year
1750, on the eighteenth of September the
deviation was to be reckoned fix deg. and
twenty two min.

There are two printers in the town, and
every week fome Englijh gazettes are pub-
lished, which contain news from all parts
of the world.

The winter is much more fevere here,
than in Penfyhania ; it being nearly as cold
as in fome of the provinces of Sweden : its
continuance however is much fhorter than
with us : their fpring is very early and their
autumn very late, and the heat in fummer
is exceflive. For this reafon, the melons
fown in the fields are ripe at the beginning

of

New York. 267

[of Augujl ', whereas we can hardly bring
Ithem fo foon to maturity under glafles and
on hot beds. The cold of the winter, I
cannot juftly determine, as the meteorolo-
gical obfervations which were communicat-
ed to me, were all calculated after ther-
mometers, which were fo placed in the
houfes, that the air could not freely come at
them. The fnow lies for fome months to-
gether upon theground; and fledges are made
ufe of here as in Sweden, but they are rather
too bulky. The river Hudfon is about an
Englifli mile and a half broad at its mouth:
the difference between the higheft flood and
the lowefl: ebb is between flx and i^v^n
feet, and the water is very brackifh : yet
the ice {lands in it not only one but even
feveral months : it has fometimes a thick-
nefs of more than two feet.

The inhabitants are fometimes greatly
troubled with Miifquitoes. They either
follow the hay which is made near the
town, in the low meadows which are quite
penetrated with fait water ; or they accom-
pany the cattle at night when it is brought
home. I have myfelf experienced, and have
obferved in others, how much thefe little
animalcules can disfigure a perfon's face dur-
ing a Angle night; for the fl^in is fometimes

fo

268 November 1748.

fo covered over with little blifters from their
ilings, that people are afhamed to appear in
public. The water melons which are culti-
vated near the town grow very large : they
are extremely delicious, and are better than
in other parts, of North America, though
they are planted in the open fields and
never in a hot-bed. I faw a water melon
at Governor Clintons in September 1750,
which weighed forty feven Englifh pounds,
and at a merchant's in town another of forty
two pounds weight : however they were
reckoned the biggefl ever (qqu. in this coun-
try.

In the year 17 10, five kings, ov Sachems
of the Iroquois went from hence to Engla?id,
in order to engage ^een Anne to make an
alliance with them againft the French,
Their names, drefs, reception at court,
fpeeches to the Queen, opinion of England
and of the European manners, and feveral
other particulars about them are fufficiently
known from other writings j it would there-
fore be here unneceiTary to enlarge about
them. The kings or Sachems of the Indi-
ans, have commonly no greater authority
over their fubje(5ts than conftables in a meet-
ing of the inhabitants of a parifh, and hard-
ly fo much. On my travels through the
country of thefe Indians, I had never any

occafion

New Tork, 269

occafion to go and wait upon the Sachems ;
for they always came into my habitation
without being afked : thefe vifits they com-
monly paid in order to get a glafs or two
of brandy, which they value above any
thing they know. One of the five Sachems
mentioned above, died in Engla?id', the
others returned fafe.

The firft colon ifts in New York were
Dutchmen : when the town and its territo-
ries were taken by the Eng/i/h, and left
them by the next peace in exchange for
Surinam, the old inhabitants were allowed
either to remain at New York, and to enjoy
all the priviledges and immunities which
they were polTefied of before, or to leave
the place with all their goods : moft of them
chofe the former ^ and therefore the inha-
bitants both of the town and of the pro-
vince belonging to it, are yet for the great-
eft part Dutchmen-, who ftill, efpecially the
old people, fpeak their mother tongue.

They begin however by degrees to change
their manners and opinions j chiefly indeed
in the tov/n and in its neighbourhood : for
moft of the young people now fpeak prin-
cipally Englijh, and go only to the Engiifi
church ', and would even take it amifs, if
they were called Dutchmen and not Englijh'
men.

Though

270 November 1748.

Though the province of New York hag
been inhabited by Europeansy much longef
than Penjyhaniat yet it is not by far fo po-
pulous as that colony. This cannot be af-
cribed to any particular difcouragement a-
rifing from the nature of the foil ; for that
.is pretty good : but I was told of a very
different reafon, which I will mention here^
In the reign of ^leen Anne about the year
1709, many Germans came hither, who
got a tradt of land from the government on
which they might fettle. After they had
lived there for fome time, and had built
houfes and churches, and made corn-fields
and meadows, their liberties and privileges
were infringed, and under feveral pretences"
they were repeatedly deprivedofpartsof their
land. This at lafl rouzed the Germans ; they
returned violence for violence, and beat thofe
who thus robbed them of their poffeffions.
But thefe proceedings were looked upon in
a very bad light by the government : the
mod adive people among the Germans be-
ing taken up, they were very roughly treated,
and punifhed with the utmoft rigour of the
law. This however fo far exafperated the
reft, that the greater part of them left their
houfes and fields, and went to fettle in Pen-
fylvania : there they were exceedingly well
received, got a confiderable trad; of land,

and

New York,

271

and were indulged in great privileges which
were given them forever. The Germans
not fatisfied with being themfelves removed
from New Tork, wrote to their relations
and friends and advifed them, if ever they
intended to come to America, not to go to
New York, where the government had
ihewn itfelf fo unequitable. This advice
had fuch influence, that the Germansy who
afterwards went in great numbers to North
America, conftantly avoided Ne%v York and
always went to Penfyhania. It fometimes
happened that they were forced to go on.
board fuch fhips as were bound to New
York ; but they were fcarce got on fhore,
when they haftened on to Penfyhania in
light of all the inhabitants of New York,

But the want of people in this province
may likewife be accounted for in a different
manner. As the Dutch, who firft culti-
vated this country, obtained the liberty of
flaying here by the treaty with England,
and of enjoying all their privileges and ad-
vantages without the leaft limitation, each
of them took a very large piece of ground
for himfelf, and many of the more power-
ful heads of families made themfelves the
poffeffors and mailers of a country of as
great an extent as would be fufficient to form
a middling and even a great parifh. Moft

of

272 November 1748.

of them being very rich, their envy of the
Engli/h led them not to fell them any land,
but at an exceffive rate ; a pradtice which
is ftill punctually obferved among their
defcendants. The Englifh therefore as well
as people of different nations, have little
encouragement to fettle here. On the other
hand they have fufficient opportunity in the
other provinces, to purchafe land at a more
moderate price, and with more fecurity to
themfelves. It is not then to be wondered,
that fo many parts of New York are ftill
unculiivated, and have entirely the appear-
ance of defarts. This infcance may teach
us how much a fmall miftake in a govern-
ment will injure population.

November the 3d. About noon we fet
out from New Tork on our return, and
continuing our journey, we arrived at Fhi-
ladelphia on the fifth of November.

In the neighbourhood of this capital (of
Penjyhania) the people had a month ago
made their cyder, which they were obliged
to do, becaufe their apples were fo ripe as
to drop from the trees. But on our journey
through xVfw Tork we obferved the people
ftill employed in preffing out the cyder.
This is a plain proof that in Penjyhania
the apples are fooner ripe than in New
Tork', but whether this be owing to the

nature

Americai^ Pole-Cat.

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. ^73

nature of the foil, or a greater heat of the
fummer in Fhiladelphia, or to fome other
caufe I know not^ However there is not
the leaft advantage in making cyder fo early:
for long experience had taught the hufband-
men that it is worfe for being made early
in the year ; the great heat in the begin-
ning of autumn being faid to hinder the fer-
mentation of the juice.

There is a certain quadruped which
is pretty common not only in Penjyhania,
but likewife in other provinces both of
^outh and North Americay and goes by the
name of Polecat among the Englijlj. In
New Tork they generally call it Skunk.
The Swedes here by way of nickname
called it Fijkatta^ on account of the horrid
flench it fometimes caufes as I ihall prefent-
ly fhow. The French in Canada, for the
fame reafon call it Bete puante or ftinking
animal, and Enfant du diable or child of
the devil. Some of them likewife call it
Pekan : Catejby in his Natural Hijiory of
Carolina, has defcribed it in Vol. 2. p. 62.
by the name of Putorius Americanus Jiriatus
and drawn it plate 62. Dr. Linnceus calls it
Fiverra Putorius.* This animal, which is
S very

* Of this animal and of the above-mentioned Racoon is a
reprefentation given plate 2. both from original drawings;
the German and the Snjoedijh edition Of Prof. KrI»C% work
being both without this plate, F«

2/4 November 1748.

very fimilar to the Marten, is of about the
fame fize and commonly black : on the back
k has a longitudinal white ftripe and two
others on each fide, parallel to the former.
Sometimes but very feldom, fome are feen
which are quite white. On our return to
Philadelphia we faw one of thefe animals
not far from town near a farmer's houfe,
killed by dogs. And afterwards I had dur-
ing my flay in thefe parts feveral oppor-
tunities of feeing it and of hearing its qua-
lities. It keeps its young ones in holes in
the ground and in hollow trees ; for it
does not confine itfelf to the ground, but
climbs up trees with the greatefl agility :
it is a great enemy to birds 3 for it breaks
their eggs and devours their young ones ;
and if it can get into a hen rooft it foon def-
troys all its inhabitants.

This animal has a particular quality by
which it is principally known i when it is
purfued by men or dogs it runs at firfl as
fafl as it can, or climbs upon a tree^ but
if it is fo befet by its purfuers, as to have
no other way of making its efcape, it fquirts
its urine upon them. This according to
fome it does by wetting its tail with the
urine whence by a fudden motion it fcatters
it abroad 3 but others believe, that it could
fend its urine equally far without the help
of its tail; I find the former of thefe accounts

to

Penjylvaniai Philadelphia, 275

to be the moft likely. For, fome credible
people alTured me, that they have had their
faces wetted with it all over ; though they
flood above eighteen feet off from the ani-
mal. The urine has fo horrid a flench that
nothing can equal it : it is fomething like
that of the Crane/bill or Linnceus\ Geranium
robertianumy but infinitely ftronger. If you
come near a polecat when it fpreads its
ftench, you cannot breathe for a while,
and it feems as if you were flifled ; and
in cafe the urine comes into the eyes, a
perfon is likely to be blinded. Many dogs
that in a chace purfue the polecat very
eagerly, run away as faft as they can when
they are wetted : however, if they be of
the true breed, they will not give over the
purfuit till they have caught and killed the
polecat; but they are obliged now and then
to rub their nofes in the ground in order to
relieve themfelves.

Clothes which have been wetted by this
animal retain the fmell for more than a
month; unlefs they be covered with freOi foil,
and fuffered to remain under it for twenty
four hours together ; when it will in a great
meafure be removed. Thofe likewife who
have got any of this urine upon their face
and hands, rub them with loofe earth ; and
fome even hold their hands in the ground
for an hour; as walhingwill not help thcmr
S 2 fo

276 'November 1748.

fo foon. A certain man of rank who had
by accident been wetted by the polecat,
ftunk fo ill, that on going into a houfe,
the people either ran away, or on his open-
ing the door, rudely denied him entrance.
Dogs that have hunted a polecat are fo
offcnfive for fome days afterwards, that they
cannot be borne in the houfe. At Phila-
delphia I once faw a great number of people
on a market day throwing at a dog that
was fo unfortunate as to have been engaged
with a polecat juft before, and to carry
iabout him the tokens of its difpleafure. Per-
fons when travelling through ^a foreft are
often troubled with the flink which this
creature makes ; and fometimes the air is
fo much infedted that it is neceffary to hold
ones nofe. If the wind blows from the
place where the polecat has been, or if it
be quite calm, as at night, the fmell is^
more ftrong and difagreeable.

In the winter of 1749, a polecat tempt-
ed by a dead lamb, came one night near'
the farm houfe where I then llept. Being
immediately purfued by fome dogs, it had
recourfe to its ufual expedient in order ttf
get rid of them. The attempt fucceeded,
the dogs not chooling to continue the
purfuit : the flink was fo extremely great
that, though I was at fome diftance it
siffcded me in the fame manner as if I

had

j Penfytvania, Philadelphia, 277

had been ftifled -, and it was fo difagrceable
to the cattle that it made them roar very
loudly : however, by degrees it vanifhed.
Towards the end of the lame year one of
thefe animals got into our cellar, but no
flench was obferved, for it only vents that
when it is purfued. The cook however
found for feveral days together that fome
of the meat which was kept there was eaten;
I and fufpedting that it was done by the cat
fhe (hut up all avenues, in order to prevent
their getting at it. But the next night be-
ing awoke by a noife in the cellar, flie went
down, and though it was quite dark, faw an
animal with two fhining eyes, which feem-
ed to be all on fire -, fhe however refolutely
killed it, but not before the polecat had
filled the cellar with a moil dreadful flench.
The maid was fick of it for feveral days ; and
all the bread, flefh, and other provifions kept
in the cellar were fo penetrated with it,
that we could not make the leafl ufe of
them, and were forced to throw them all
away.

From an accident that happened at New
York to one of my acquaintances, I conclude
that the polecat either is not always very
fhy, or that it fleeps very hard at night.
This man coming home out of a wood in a
fummer evening, thought that he faw a plant
S 3 flandin^

I

278 November 1748.

landing before him ; flooping to pluck it,
he was to his coft convinced of his miftake,
by being all on a fudden covered with the
urine of a polecat, whofe tail as it flood up-
right, the good man had taken for a plant:
the creature had taken its revenge fo effec-
tually that he was much at a lofs how to
get rid of the flench.

However though thefe animals play
fuch difagreeable tricks, yet the Englifh, the
Swedes, the French, and the Indians in thefe
parts tame them. They follow their maf-
ters like domeflic animals, and never make
ufe of their urine, except they be very
much beaten or terrified. When the Indi-
ans kill fuch a polecat, they always eat its
flefh, but when they pull off its fkin, they
take care to cut away the bladder, that the
flefli may not get a tafle from it. I have
fpoken with both Englifimen and French-
men, who afTared me that they had eaten of
it, and found it very good meat, and not
much unlike the flefh of a pig. The fkin
which is pretty coarfe, and has long hair,
is not made ufe of by the Europeans -y but
the Indians prepare it with the hair on, and
make tobacco pouches of it, which they
carry before them.

November the 6th. In the evening I
went out of town to Mr. Bar tram, I found

a man 1

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 279

a man with him, who lived in Carolina and
I obtained feveral particulars about that
province from him 3 a few of which I will
here mention.

Tar, pitch and rice are the chief pro-
ducts of Carolina. The foil is very fandy,
and therefore many pines and firs grow in
it, from which they make tar : the firs
which are taken for this purpofe are com-
monly fuch as are dried up of themfelves;
the people here in general not knowing
how to prepare the firs by taking the bark
off on one, or on feveral fides, as they do
in OJirobothnia, In fome parts of Carolijia
they likewife make ufe of the branches. The
manner of burning or boiling, as the man
defcribes it to me, is entirely the fame as in
Finland. The pitch is thus made : they
dig a hole into the ground and fmear the
infide well with clay, into which they
pour the tar, and make a fire round it,
which is kept up till the tar has got thq
confiftence of pitch. They make two kinds
of tar in the North American colonies : one
is the common tar, which 1 have above
defcribed, and which is made of the fi:ems,
branches, and roots of fuch firs, as were
already confiderably dried out before j which
is the moft common way in this country.
The other way in peeling the bark from
S 4 the

^8o November 1748.

the firs on one fide, and afterwards letting
them fland another year ; during which the
relin comes out between the cracks of the
ftem. The tree is then felled and burnt
for tar; and the tar thus made is called
green tar, not that there is that difference of
colour in it, for in this refpedt they are both
pretty much alike ; but the latter is called
fo from being made of green and frefh trees 3
whereas common tar is made of dead trees :
the burning is done in the fame manner as
yd Finland. They ufe only black firs; for
the white firs will not ferve this purpofe,
though they are excellent for boards, mafts,
&c. green tar is dearer than common tar.
It is already a pretty general complaint that
the fir woods are almoft wholly deftroyed
)by this pradice.

Rice is planted in great quantity in Ca-
rolina : it fucceeds befl in marfhy and
fwampy grounds, which may be laid un-
der water, and Ijkewife ripens there the
fooneft. Where thefe cannot be had, they
mud choofe a dry foil ; but the rice pro-
duced here will be much inferior to the
other : the land on which it is cultivated
mufl never be manured. In Carolina they
fow it in the middle of April, and it is ripe
m September: it is planted in rows like peafe,
and commonly fifteen inches fpace is left

between

Penjyhaniat Philadelphia, 28 j

between the rows ; as foon as the plants
are come up, the field is laid under water.
This not only greatly forwards the growth
of the rice, but likewife kills all weeds, fo
as to render weeding unnecefTary. The flraw
of rice is faid to be excellent food for cat-
tle, who eat it very greedily. Rice requires
a hot climate, and therefore it will not
fucceed well in Virginia, the fummer there
being too fhort, and the winter too cold 5
and much lefs will it grow in Penfylvania,,
They are as yet ignorant in Carolina of the
art of making arrack from rice : it is chief-
ly South Carolina that produces the greatefl
quantity of ricej and on the other hand
they make the moft tar in North Carolina^
November the 7th. The flranger from
Carolina whom I have mentioned before,
had met with many oyfter fhells at the bot-
tom of a well, feventy Englifh miles dif-
tant from the fea, and four from a river :
they lay in a depth of fourteen Englilh feet
from the furface of the earth : the water in
the well was brackifli ; but that in the river
was frelli. The fame man, had at the
building of a faw-mill, a mile and a half
from a river, found, firft fand, and then
clay filled with oyfter fhells. Under thefe
he found feveral bills of fea birds as he call-
ed them, which were already quite petri^-
iied : they were probably Glojfopetrce.

There

ft82 November 1748.

There are two fpecies of foxes in the
Englifi colonies, the one grey, and the
other red : but in the fequel I fhall fliew
that there are others which fometimes ap-
pear in Canada. The grey foxes are here con-
flantly, and are very common in Penfyha-
nia and in the fouthern provinces : in the
northern ones they are pretty fcarce, and
the French in Canada, call them Virginian
Foxes on that account : in fize they do not
quite come up to our foxes. They do no
harm to lambs -, but they prey upon all forts
of poultry, whenever they can come at
them. They do not however feem to be
looked upon as animals that caufe a great
deal of damage ; for there is no reward
given for killing them : their fkin is great-
ly fought for by hatters, who employ the
hair in their work. People have their
clothes lined with it fometimes : the greafe
is ufed againfl all forts of rheumatic pains.
Thefe foxes are faid to be lefs nimble than
the red ones : they are fometimes tamed ;
though they be not fuffered to run about
but are tied up. Mr. Catejby has drawn
and defcribed this fort of foxes in his Na-
tural hijlory of Carolina, by the name of the
grey American fox, vol. 2. p. 78. tab. 78.
A Ikin of it was fold in Philadelphia for two
fhillings and fix-pence in Penfylvanian cur-
rency. The

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 283

[ The red Foxes are very fcarce here : they
[are entirely the fame with the European
I fort. Mr. Bartrajn, and feveral others
aflured me, that according to the unani-
mous teftimony of the Indians, this kind of
foxes never was in the country, before the
Europeans fettled in it. But of the m?n-
ner of their coming over I have two dif-
ferent accounts : Mr. Bartram and feveral
other people were told by the Indians, that
thefe foxes came into America foon after
the arrival of the Europeans, after an extra-
ordinary cold winter, when all the fea to
the northward was frozen : from hence
they would infer, that they could perhaps
get over to America upon the ice from
Greenland or the northern parts of Europe
and Afia. But Mr. Evans, and fome others
allured me that the following account was
ftill known by the people. A gentleman
of fortune in New England, who had a
great inclination for hunting, brought over
a great number of foxes from Europe, and
let them loofe in his territories, that he
might be able to indulge his paffion for
hunting.* This is faid to have happened

almofl

•Neither of thefe accounts appear to be fatlsfaftory;
and therefore I am inclined to believe that thefe red foxes
originally came over from Afia, (moft probably from Kam-

icbatia

2% November 1748.

almoft at the very beginning of New Engr
land's being peopled with European inha-;
bitants. Thefe foxes were believed to have"
fo multiplied, that all the red foxes in the
country were their offspring. At prefent
they are reckoned among the noxious crea-
tures in thefe parts; for they are not content-
ed, as the grey foxes with killing fowl 3 but
they likewife devour the lambs. In Pen-
fyhania therefore there is a reward of two
Shillings for killing an old fox, and of one
fhilling for killing a young one. And in
all the other provinces there are likewife
rewards offer'd for killing them. Their
fkin is in great requeft, and is fold as dear
as that of the grey foxes, that is two fhil-

lings

tchatka where this fpecies is common, fee Miller's Account
cfthe Navigations of the RuJJians, &c.) though in remote
times, and thus fpread over North America, It is perhaps
true that the Indians never took notice of them till the
Europeans were fettled among them ; this, however, was
becaufe they never had occafion to ufe their fkins : but when
there was a demand for thefe they began to hunt them, and,
as they had not been much accuftomed to them before,
they efteemed them as a novelty. What gives additional com-
firraation to this is, that when the RuJJians under Commo-
dore Bering landed on the weftern coaft o^ America, they faw
five red foxes which were quite tame, and feemed not to be
in the leaft afraid of men : now this might very well have
been the cafe if we fuppofe them to have been for many
generations in a place where no body difturbed them ; but
we cannot account for it, if we imagine that they had been
ufed to a country where there were many inhabitants, or
whg-e they had been much hunted. F.

Penjylvantai 'Philadelphia, 285

ings and iix-pence, in Fenfylvanian cur-
rency.

They have two varieties of Wolves here,
which however feem to be of the fame
fpecies. For fome of them are yellowilh,
or almoft pale grey; and others are black
or dark brown. AH the old Swedes related,
that during their childhood, and ftill more
at the arrival of their fathers, there were
exceffive numbers of wolves in the country,
and that their howling and yelping might
be heard all night. They likewife fre-
quently tore in pieces, fheep, hogs, and
other young and fmall cattle. About that
time or foon after, w^hen the Swedes and
the E}iglijh were quite fettled here, the
Indians were attacked by the fmall pox :
this difeafe they got from the Europeans,
for they knew nothing of it before : it
killed many hundreds of them, and moft
of the Indians of the country^ then called
New Sweden died of it. The wolves then
came, attradled by the ftench of fo many
corpfes, in fuch great numbers that they
devoured them all, and even attacked the
poor fick Indians in their huts, fo that the
few healthy ones had enough to do, to drive
them away. But lince that time they have
difappeared, fo that they are now feldoraf
ieen, and it is very rarely that they commit

any

286 November 1784.

any diforders. This is attributed to the
greater cultivation of the country, and to
their being killed in great numbers. But
further up the country, where it is not yet
fo much inhabited, they are ftill very abun-
dant. On the coafts of Penfyhania and
New Jerfey, the fheep ftay all night in the
fields, without the people's fearing the
wolves : however to prevent their multi-
plying too much, there is a reward of twen-
ty fhillings in Fenfylvania, and of thirty in
New Jerfey, for delivering in a dead wolf,
and the perfon that brings it may keep the
Ikin. But for a young wolf the reward is
only ten (hillings of the Penfylvan'ian cur-
rency. There are examples of thefe wolves
being made as tame as dogs.

The wild Oxen have their abode princi-
pally in the woods of Carolinay which are
far up in the country. The inhabitants
frequently hunt them, and fait their flefh
like common beef, which is eaten by fer-
vants and the lower clafs of people. But
the hide is of little ufe, having too large
pores to be made ufe of for fhoes. How-
ever the poorer people in Carolina^ fpread
thefe hides on the ground inftead of beds.
. li^n-E Vif cum filament of um, oi Fibrous mijle^
toe, is found in abundance in Carolina -, the
inhabitants make ufe of it as ftraw in their

beds.

Penfylvanicif Philadelphia. 287

[beds, and to adorn their houfes ; the cat-
Itle are very fond of it : it is likewife em-
jployed in packing goods.
I The Spartium fcoparium grew in Mr.
\'Bartram^ garden from Englijh feeds ; he
ifaid that he had feveral bufhes of it, but
that the froft in the cold winters here had
killed moft of them : they however grow
fpontaneoufly in Sweden,

Mr. Bartram had (ouiq 'Truffles ^ or Lin-
naiis^ Ly coper don Tuber y which he had got
out of a fandy foil in New Jerfeyy where
they are abundant. Thefe he iliewed to
his friend from Carolina, and alked him
whether they were the Tuckahoo of the In-
dians. But the ftranger denied it, and ad-
ded that though thefe truffles were likewife
very common in Carolina, yet he had never
feen them ufed any other way but in milk,
againft the dyfentery; and he gave us the
following defcription of the Tiickahoo, It
grows in feveral fwamps and marllies, and
is commonly plentiful. The hogs greedily
dig up its roots with their nofes in fuch
places ; and the Indians in Carolina likewife
gather them in their rambles in the woods,
dry them in the fun (hine, grind them and
bake bread of them. Whilft the root is
frcfti it is harfh and acrid, but being dried
it lofes the greateft part of its acrimony.

To

^88 November 1748.

To judge by thefe qualities the Tuckahod
may very likely be the Arum Virginianum,
Compare with this account, what fhall be
related in the fequel of the ^Tahim and
^Tuckah.

After dinner I again returned to town.

November the 8th. Several Englijh and
SwediJJo oeconomifts kept bee-hives, which
afforded their poffeflbrs profit : for bees fuc-
ceed very well here^: the wax was for the
moft part fold to tradefmen : but the honey
they made ufe of in their own families, in
different ways. The people were unani-
mous, that the common bees were not in
North America before the arrival of the
"Europeans -, but that they were firft brought
over by the Englifi who fettled here. The
Indians likewife generally declare, that their
fathers had never feen any bees either in
the woods or any where elfe, before the
Europeans had been feveral years fettled
here. This is further confirmed by the
name which the Indians give them : for
having no particular name for them in their
language, they call them Englijh fies, be-
caufe the Englijh firft brought them over :
but at prefent they fly plentifully about the
woods of North America. However it has
been obferved that the bees always when
they fwarm, fpread to the fouthward, and

never

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 2 80

never to the northward. It feems as if they
do not find the latter countries fo good for
their conftitution : therefore they cannot
flay in Canada, and all that have been car-
ried over thither, died in winter. It feem-
ed to me as if the bees in America were
fomewhat fmaller than ours in Sweden.
They have not yet been found in the woods
on the other fide of the Blue Mountains ^
which confirms the opinion of their being
brought to America of late. A man told
Mr. Bartram, that on his travels in the
woods of North America, he had found
another fort of bees, which, inftead of fe-
parating their wax and honey, mixed it
both together in a great bag. But this ac-
count wants both clearing up and confirm-
ing.

November the 9th. All the old Swedes
and Englijhmen born in America whom I
ever queftioned, afierted that there were not
near fo many birds fit for eating at prefent,
as there ufed to be when they were chil-
dren, and that their decreafe was vifible.
They even faid, that they had heard their
fathers complain of this, in whofe child-
hood the bays, rivers and brooks were
quite covered with all forts of water fowl,
fuch as wild gt&(&, ducks, and the like.
But at prefent there is fometimes not a
T finglc

290 'November 1^^%,.

iingle bird upon them ; about fixty or fe-
venty years ago, a fingle perfon could kill
eighty ducks in a morning ; but at prefent
you frequently wait in vain for a iingle
one. A Swede above ninety years old,
afTured me that he had in his youth killed
twenty-three ducks at a fhot. This good
luck no body is likely to have at prefent,
as you are forced to ramble about for a
whole day, without getting a fight of more
than three or four. Cranes * at that time
came hither by hundreds in the fpring : at
prefent there are but very few. The W/^
Turkeys, and the birds which the Swedes
in this country call Partridges and Hazel-
hens were in whole flocks in the woods.
But at this time a perfon is tired with
walking before he can ftart a fingle bird.

The caufe of this diminution is not dif-
ficult to find. Before the arrival of the
Europeans, the country was uncultivated,
and full of great forells. The few Indians
that lived here feldom diflurbed the birds.
They carried on no trade among themfelves,
iron and gun powder were unknown to

them.

• When Captain Amadas, the firft Ehglijhman that ever
landed in North America, fet foot on Ihore (to ufe his own
words) fuch aflocke of Cranes (the moji part •white) arofe under
us ivith/uch a cry, redoubled by manj echoes, as if an armie of
men had Routed altogether .

Penjyhania, Philadelphia. 29 1

them. One hundredth part of the fowl
which at that time wer© fo plentiful here,
would have fufficed to feed the few inhabi-
tants ; and confidering that they cultivated
their fmall maize fields, caught fifh, hunt-
ed flags, beavers, bears, wild cattle, and
other animals whofe flefli was delicious to
them, it will foon appear how little they
difturbed the birds. But fince the arrival
of great crouds of Europeans, things are
greatly changed : the country is well peo-
pled, and the woods are cut down : the
people increafing in this country, they have
by hunting and (hooting in part extirpated
the birds, in part feared them away : in
fpring the people ftill take both eggs, mo-
thers and young indifferently, becaufe no
regulations are made to the contrary. And
if any had been made, the fpirit of freedom
which prevails in the country would not
fuffer them to be obeyed. But though the
eatable birds have been diminiflied greatly,
yet there are others, which have rather in-
creafed than decreafed in number, fince the
arrival of the Europeans: this can mofl
properly be faid of a fpecies of daws which
the Englijh call Blackbirds * and the Swedes
Maize thieves. Dr. Linnceus calls them Gra-
T 2' cula

* Properly pining blackbirds,.

±gt November 1748.*

cula ^ifcula. And together with then1>
the feveral forts oi Squirrels among the qua-
drupeds have fpread : for thefe and the for-
mer, live chiefly upon maize, or at leaft
they are moft greedy of it. But as popula-
tion increafes, the cultivation of maize in-
creafes, andofcourfe the food of the above-
mentioned animals is more plentiful : to this
it is to be added, that thefe latter are rarely
^aten, and therefore they are more at liberty
to multiply their kind. There are likewife
other birds which are not eaten, of which at
prefent there are nearly as many as there
were before the arrival of the Europeans,
On the other hand I heard great com-
plaints of the great decreafe of eatable fowl,
not only in this province, but in all the parts
of North America y where I have been.
' Aged people had experienced that with
the fifh, which I have juft mentioned of the
birds : in their youth, the bays, rivers, and
brooks, had fuch quantities of fifh that at
one draught in the morning, they caught
as many as a horfe was able to carry home.
But at prefent things are greatly altered ;
and they often work in vain all the night
long, with all their fifhing tackle. The
caufes of this decreafe of fifh, are partly
the fame with thofe of the diminution of
the number of birds ; being of late caught

by

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia. 293

by a greater variety of contrivances, and
in different manners than before. The nu-
imerous mills on the rivers and brooks like-
Iwife contribute to it in part : for it has
(been obferved here, that the fi{h go up the
I river in order to fpawn in a fhallow water;
but when they meet with works that pre-
vent their proceeding, they turn back, and
never come again. Of this I was affured by
a man of fortune at Bojion : his father
was ufed to catch a number of herrings
throughout the winter and almoft always in
fummer, in a river, upon his country feat :
but he having built. a mill with a dyke in
this water, they were loft. In this man-
ner they complained here and every where
of the decreafe of fifh. Old people afferted
the fame in regard to oyfters at New York -,
for though they are ftill taken in conliderable
quantity, and are as big and as delicious as
can be wifhed, yet all the oyfter-catchers
own, that the number diminifhes greatly
every year : the moft natural caufe of it, is
probably the immoderate catching of theni
at all times of the year.

Mr. Franklin told me that in that part
of New England, where his father lived,
two rivers fell into the fea, in one of which,
they caught great numbers of herring, and
in the other not one. Yet the places where
T 3 thefe

294 November 1748.

thefe rivers difcharged themfelves into the
fea, were not far afunder. They had ob-
ferved that when the herrings came in fpring
to depofit their fpawn, they always fwam
up the river where tliey ufed to catch them,
but never came into the other. This cir-
cumftance led Mr. Franklins father who
was fettled between the two rivers, to try
whether it was not poflible to make the
herrings likewife live in the other river.
For that purpofe he put out his nets, as
they were coming up for fpawning, and he
caught fome. He took the fpawn out of
them, and carefully carried it acrofs the
Jand into the other river. It was hatched,
and the confequence was, that every year
afterwards they caught more herrings in
that river j and this is ftill the cafe. This
leads one to believe that the fifh always
like to fpawn in the fame place where they
were hatched, and from whence they firft
put out to fea i being as it were accuftomed
to it.

The following is another peculiar obfer-
vation. It has never formerly been known
that codfifli were to be caught at cape Hin-
lopen : they were always caught at the
mouth of the Delaware : but at prefent they
are numerous in the former place. From
hence it may be concluded that fifh likewife

change

Penjyhaniat Philadelphia, 295

Ij changs their places of abode, of their own
Ij accord.

|| A CAPTAIN of a fhip who had been in
j 'Greenland, alTerted from his own experi-
I ence, that on paffing the feventieth deg.
I of north lat. the fummer heat was there
much greater, than it is below that degree.
From hence he concluded, that the fum-
mer heat at the pole itfelf, muft be ftill
more exceffive, fmce the fun fhines there
for fuch a long fpace of time, without ever
fetting. The fame account with fimilar
confequences drawn from thence, Mr.
Franklin had heard of the fhip captains in
Bojion, who had failed to the moft northern
parts of this hemifphere. But flill more
aftonifhing is the account he got from cap-
tain Henry Atkins, who ftill lives at Bojion,
He had for fome time been upon the fifli-
ery along the coafts of New England. But
not catching as much as he wifhed, he
failed north, as far as Greenland. At lafl he
went fo far, that he difcovered people, who
had never feen Europeans before (and what
is more aftonifhing) who had no idea of the
ufe of fire, which they had never employed ;
and if they had known it, they could have
made no ufe of their knowledge, as there
were no trees in the country. But they eat
t;he birds and firti which they caught quite
T 4 raw.

296 November 1748.

raw. Captain Atkins got fome very fcarco
fkins in exchange for fome trifles.

It is already known from feveral ac-
counts of voyages, that to the northward
neither trees nor buflies, nor any ligneous
plants are to be met with, fit for burning.
But is it not probable that the inhabitants
of fo defolate a country, like other northern
nations which we know, burn the train oil
of fifhes, and the fat of animals in lamps,
in order to boil their meat, to warm their
fubterraneous caves in winter, and to light
them in the darkeft feafon of the year? elfe
their darknefs would be infupportable.

November the nth. In feveral writings
"we read of a large animal, which is to be
met with in New England and other parts
of North America. They fometimes dig
very long and branched horns out of the
ground in Ireland, and no body in that
country or any where elfe in the world,
knows an animal that has fuch horns. This
has induced many people to believe that
it is the Moofe-deer fo famous in North
America^ and that the horns found, were
of animals of this kind, which had former-
ly lived in that ifland, but were gradually
deftroyed. It has even been concluded,
that Ireland, \xi diftant ages either was con-
nedled with North America^ or that a num-
ber

Penfylvanta, Philadelphia, 297

ber of little iflands, which are loft at pre-
fent, made a chain between them. This
led me to enquire, whether an animal with
fuch exceffive great horns, as are afcribed
to the Moofe-deer, had ever been feen in
any part of this country. Mr. Bartram
told me, that notwithftanding he had care-
fully enquired to that purpofe, yet there
was no perfon who could give him any in-
formation, which could be relied upon,
and therefore he was entirely of opinion,
that there was no fuch an animal in North
America. Mr. Franklin related that he had,
when a boy, feen two of the animals which
they call Moofe-deer, but he well remembred
that they were not near of fuch a fize as
they muft have been, if the horns found in
Ireland were to fit them : the two animals
which he faw, were brought to Bojion in
order to be fent to England to Queen
Ann. The height of the animal up to
the back was that of a pretty tall horfe ;
but the head and its horns were ftill high-
er : Mr. Dudley has given a defcription of
the Moofe-deer which is found in North
America. On my travels in Canada, I of-
ten enquired of the Frenchmen, whether
there had ever been feen fo large an animal
in this country, as fome people fay there
is in North America j and with fuch great

horns

29B November 1748.

horns as are forhetimes dug out in Ireland.
But I was always told, that they had never
heard of it, and much lefs feen it : fome
added, that if there was fuch an animal, they
certainly muft have met with it, in fome of
their excurfions in the woods. There are
elks here, which are either of the fame
fort with the Swedt/h 'Ouqs, or a variety of
them : of thefe they often catch fome which
are larger than common, whence perhaps
the report of the very large animal with ex-
ceflive horns in North America firft had its
rife. Thefe elks are called Original's by
the French in Canada, which name they
hav6 borrowed from the Indians : perhaps
Dudley, in defcribing the Moofe-deer, meant
no other animals, than thefe large elks.*

Mr. Franklin gave me a piece of a ftone,
which on account of its indeftru6tibility in
the fire, is made ufe of in New England for
making melting furnaces and forges.

It

* What gives fUU more weight, to Mr. Kalm^s opinion j
of the Elk being the Moofe-deer, is the name Mu/u which
the Algonkins give to the elk, as Mr. Kalm himfelf obferves
io the fequel of his work ; and this circumftance is the more
remarkable, as the Algonkins before the Irokeefe ox five nati-
ons got fo great a power in America, were the moft powerful
nation in the northern part of this continent ; in fo much,
that though they be now reduced to an inconfiderable num-
ber, their language is however a kind of univerfal language
in North America ; fo that there is no doubt, th^t the elk is
the famous Moofe-deer. F.

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 299

It confifts of a mixture of Lapis Ollaris
or Serpentine ftone, and oi AJbeJi, The
greateft part of it is a grey Serpentine
ftone, which is fat and fmooth to the touch,
and is eafily cut and worked. Here and
there are fome glittering fpeckles of that
fort of afbeft, whofe fibres come from a
center like rays, or Star Ajbefi. This ftone
is not found in ftrata or folid rocks, but
here and there fcattered on the fields.

Another ftone is called Soapjiojte by
many of the Swedes, being as fmooth as
foap on the outfide. They make ufe of it
for rubbing fpots out of their cloaths.
It might be called Saxum talcofum parti^
cuius fpataceis, granatifque immixtis, or a
talc with mixed particles of fpar and gar-
nets. A more exaift defcription I referve
for another work. At prefent I only add
that the ground colour is pale green, with
fome dark fpots, and fometimes a few of a
greenifh hue. It is very fmooth to the
touch, and runs always waved. It is like-
wife eafily fawed and cut, though it is not
very fmooth. I have feen large flones of it,
which were a fathom and more long, pro-
portionably broad, and commonly fix inches
or a foot deep. But I cannot determine any
thing of their original fize, as I have not been
at the place where they are dug, and have

only

300 November I J ^^,

only feen the ftones at Philadelphiay which
are brought there ready cut. The particles
of talc in this ftone are about thirty times
as many as thofe of fpar and garnet. It is
found in many parts of the country, for
example in the neighbourhood of Chejler in
Fenfylvania, The Englijh likewife call it
Soapjloney^ and it is likely that the Swedes
have borrowed that name from them.

This ftone was chiefly employed in the
following manner. Firft, the people took
fpots out of their cloaths with it. But for
this purpofe the whole ftone is not equally
ufeful, for it includes in its clear particles
fome dark ones which conlift wholly of fer-
pentine ftone, and may eaiily be cut with a
knife ; fome of the loofe ftone is fcraped off
like a powder, and ftrewed upon a greafy
fpot, in filk or any other ftuff ; this im-
bibes the greafe, and after rubbing off the
powder the fpot difappears : and as this ftone
is likewife very durable in the fire, the
country people make their hearths with it,
efpecially the place where the fire lies, and
where the heat is the greateft, for the ftone

ftands

• It feems to be either the fubftance commonly called
French Chalky or perhaps the Soap-rock, which is common in
Cornivall near the Lizard point., and which confifts.befides of
fome particles of talc, chiefly of an earth like magnefia,
which latter with acid of vitriol, yields an earthy vitriolic
fait, ox Epfcm/ah, F.

Penfyhanta, Philadelphia. 301

ilands the flrongeft fire. If the people
can get a fufficicnt quantity of this ftone,
they lay the fteps before the houfes with it,
inflead of bricks, which are generally ufed
for that purpofe.

The walls round the court yards, gar-
dens, burying places, and thofe for the
floping cellar doors towards the flreet,
which are all commonly built of brick, are
covered with a coping of this ftone j for it
holds excellently againft all the effeds of
the fun, air,' rain and ftorm, and does not
decay but fecures the bricks. On account
of this quality, people commonly get the
door pofts in which their hinges are fatten-
ed made of this ftone : and in feveral pub-
lick buildings, fuch as the houfe of af-
fembly for the province, the whole lower
wall is built of it, and in other houfes the
corners are laid out with it.

The Salt which is ufed in the Englifli
North American colonies is brought from
the Wejl Indies. The Indians have in fome
places fait fprings from which they get fait
by boiling. I fhall in the fequel have oc-
cafion to defcribe fome of them. Mr.
Franklin was of opinion that the people in
Penfyhania could eafier make good fait of
fea water, than in New England, where
fometimes fait is made of the fea water on

their

302 November 1748.

their coaft -, though their fituation is more
northerly. Lead-ore has been 'difcovered in
Penfyhania, but as it is not to be met
with in quantity, no body ever attempted to
ufe it. Loadjiones of confiderable goodnefs
have likev^ife been found ; and I myfelf
poffefs feveral pretty pieces of them.

Iron is dug in fuch great quantities in
Penfyhania and in the other American pro-
vinces of the Englifi, that they could
provide with that commodity not only
Englandy but almoft all Europe, and per-
haps the greater part of the globe. The
ore is here commonly infinitely ealier got
in the mines, than our Swedifi ore. For in
many places with a pick ax, a crow-foot and
a wooden club, it is got with the fame eafe
with which a hole can be made in a hard foil :
in many places the people know nothing of
boring, Ijlafting and firing ; and the ore is
likewife very fufible. Of this iron they get
fuch quantities, that not only the numerous
inhabitants of the colonies themfelves have
enough of it, but great quantities, are fent
to the Weft Indies, and they have lately be-
gan even to trade to Europe with it. This
iron is reckoned better for fhip building
than our Swedijh iron, or any other, becaufe
fait water does not corrode it fo much.
Some people believed that without reckon-

iiig

Penfyhania, Philadelphia^ 303

ing the freight, they could fell their iron
in England at a lower rate than any other
nation; efpecially when the country be-
comes better peopled and labour cheaper.

The mountain jiax,'^ or that kind of
Hone, which Bifhop Browallius calls Atni^
ant us Jibris feparabilibus molliufculis , in his
ledures on mineralogy which were pub-
lished in 1739, or the amiant with foft fibres
which can eaiily be feparated, is found a-
bundantly in Penfylvania. Some pieces are
very fofr, others pretty tough : Mr. Frank-
lin told me that twenty and fome odd years
ago, when he made a voyage to Eiigland^
he had a little purfe with him, made of
the mountain flax of this country, which
he prefented to Sir Hans Sloatie. I have
likewife feen paper made of this ftone: and
1 have likewife received fome fmall pieces
of it, which I keep in my cabinet. Mr.
Franklin had been told by others that 011
exposing this mountain flax to the open
air in winter, and leaving it in the cold and
wet, it would grow together, and more fit
for fpinning. But he did not venture to

deter-

* Amiemtm (AJbeftus) fibrofus, fibrls feparabilibus flexili-
bus tenacibus, Linn. Syft. nat. ?• 55.

Amiantus fibris mollibus parallelis facile feparabilibus.
Wall. Min. 140.

Mountain Flax, Linum montanumt For/ier*i Mineralogy,
p. 17. F.

304 November 1748,

determine how far this opinion was ground-
■ed. On this occalion he related a very
pleafant accident, which happened to him
with this mountain flax : he had, feveral
years ago, got a piece of it, which he gave
to one of his journeymen printers, in order
to get it made into a fheet at the paper mill.
As foon as the fellow brought the paper,
Mr. Franklin rolled it up, and threw it in-
to the fire, telling the journeyman he would
fee a miracle, a fheet of paper which did
not burn : the ignorant fellow alTerted the
contrary, but was greatly aftonifhed, upon
feeing himfelf convinced. Mr. Franklin
then explained him, though not very clear-
ly, the peculiar qualities of the paper. As
foon as he was gone, fome of his acquaint-
ance came in, who immediately knew the
paper. The journeyman thought he would
fhew them a great curiofity and aftonifli
them. He accordingly told them that he
had curioufly made a iheet of paper, which
would not burn, though it was thrown in-
to the fire. They pretended to think it
impofiible, and he as ftrenuoully maintain-
ed his affertion. At lafl: they laid a wager
about it ; but whilft he was bufy with flir-
ring up the fire, the others flyly befmeared
the paper with fat : the journeyman, who
was not aware of it, threw it into the fire,

and

Penjyhaniay Philadelphia, 30^

and that moment it was all in flames : this
aftonifhed him fo much, that he was almoft
fpeechlefs ; upon which they could not help
laughing, and fo difcovered the whole arti-
fice.

In feveral houfes of the town, a number
of little ^w/j- run about, living underground
and in holes in the wall. The length of
their bodies is one geometrical line. Their
colour is either black or dark red : they
have the cuftom of carrying ofFfweet things,
if they can come at them, in common with
the ants of other countries. Mr. Franklin
was much inclined to believe that thefe lit-
tle infe6ls could by fome means commu-
nicate their thoughts or defires to each
other, and he confirmed his opinion by fome
examples. When an ant finds fome fugar,
it runs immediately under ground to its
hole, where having flayed a little while,
a whole army comes out, unites and march-
es to the place where the fugar is, and
carries it off by pieces : or if an ant meets
with a dead fly, which it cannot carry
' alone, it immediately haftens home, and
foon after fome more come out, creep to
the fly and carry it away. Some time ago
Mr. Franklin ^Mt a little earthen pot with
treacle into a clofet. A number of ants got
into the pot, and devoured the treacle very
U quietly.

306 'November 1748.

quitely. But as he obferved it he fhook them
out, and tied the pot with a thin ftring to a
nail which he had faftened in the ceiling ; fo
that the pot hung down by the ftring. A
lingle ant by chance remained in the pot :
this ant eat till it was fatisfied ; but when
it wanted to get offj it was under great con-
cern to find its way out : it ran about the
bottom of the pot, but in vain : at laft it
found after many attempts the way to get
to the ceiling by the ftring. After it was
come there, it ran to the wall, and from
thence to the ground. It had hardly beerii
away for half an hour, when a great fwarm
of ants came out, got up to the ceiling,
and crept along the ftring into the potj
and began to eat again : this they continued
till the treacle was all eaten : in the mean
time one fwarm running down the ftring,
and the other up.

November the 12th. A man of fortune
who has long been in this province afterted,
that, by twenty years experience, he had
found a confirmation of what other people
have obferved with regard to the weather^
viz. that the weather in winter was com-
monly foretold by that on the firft of No-
vember, old ftile, or twelfth new ftile ; if
that whole day be fair, the next winter
will bring but little rain and fnow along

with

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 307

with it : but if the firft half of the day be
clear, and the other cloudy, the beginning
of winter would accordingly be fair, but its
end and fpring would turn out rigorous and
difagreeable : of the fame kind were the
other prefages. I have likewife in other
places heard of fimilar figns of the weather ;
but as a mature judgment greatly leflens the
confidence in them, fo the meteorological
obfervations have fufficiently (liewn, how
infinitely often thefe prophecies have failed.

Pensylvania abounds in fprings, and
you commonly meet with a fpring of clear
water on one or the other, and fometimes
on feveral fides of a mountain. The people
near fuch fprings, ufe them for every purpofe
of a fine fpring water. They alfo condud:
the water into a little ftone building near
the houfe, where they can confine it, and
bring frefh fupplies at pleafure. In fummer
they place their milk, bottles of wine and
other liquors in this building, where they
keep cool and frefli. In many country
houfes, the kitchen or buttery was fo fitu-
ated, that a rivulet ran under it, and had
the water near at hand.

Not only people of fortune, but even
others that had fome pofiTeflions, common-
ly had fifli ponds in the country near their
houfes. They always took care that frefli
U 2 water

308 November 1748.

water might run into their ponds, which is
very falutary for the fi{h : for that purpofe
the ponds were placed near a fpring on a
hill.

November the 13th. I saw in feveral
parts of this province a ready method of
getting plenty of grafs to grow in the mea-
dows. Here muft be remembered what I
have before mentioned about the fprings,
which are fometimes found on the fides of
hills and fometimes in vallies. The mea-
dows lie commonly in the vallies between
the hills : if they are too fwampy and wet,
the water is carried off by feveral ditches.
But the fummer in Penfylvania is very hot -,
and the fun often burns the grafs fo much,
that it dries up entirely. The hufbandmen
therefore have been very attentive to pre-
vent this in their meadows : to that pur-
pofe they look for all the fprings in the
neighbourhood of a meadow; and as the
rivulets flowed before by the fhorteft way
into the vallies, they raife the water as
much as poffible and neceirar)^ to the
higher part of the meadow, and make feve-
ral narrow channels from the brook, down
into the plain, fo that it is entirely wa-
tered by it. When there are fome deep-
er places, they frequently lay wooden gut-
ters acrofs them, through which the water

flow*

Penfyhania, near Germantown. 309

flows to the other fide ; and from thence
it is again by very narrow channels car-
ried to all the places where it feems ne-
celTary. To raife the water the higher, and
in order to fpread it more, there are high
dykes built near the fprings, between which
the water rifes till it is fo high as to run
down where the people want it. Indus-
try and ingenuity went further : when a
brook runs in a wood, with a dire<flion not
towards the meadow, and it has been found
by levelling, and taking an exad furvey of
the land between the meadow and the ri-
vulet, that the latter can be condudled
towards the former; a dyke is made,
which hems the courfe of the brook,
and the water is led round the meadow
over many hills, fometimes for the fpace of
an Englijh mile and further, partly acrofs
vallies in wooden pipes, till at laft it is
brought where it is wanted, and where
it can be fpread as above-mentioned. One
that has not feen it himfelf, cannot believe
how great a quantity of grafs there is in
fuch meadows, efpecially near the little
channels ; whilft others, which have not
been thus managed look wretchedly. The
meadows commonly lie in the vallies, and
one or more of their fides have a declivity.
The water can therefore eafily be brought to
U 3 run

3 1 o Npvember 1 748 .

run down in them. Thefe meadows which
are fo carefully watered, are commonly
mowed three times every fummer. But it
is likewife to be obferved, that fummer
continues feven months here. The inha-
bitants feldom fail to employ a brook or
fpring in this manner, if it is not too far
from the meadows to be led to them.

The leaves were at prefent fallen from
all the trees ; both from oaks, and from all
thofe which have deciduous leaves, and
they covered the ground in the woods fix
inches deep. The great quantity of leaves
which drop annually, would neceflarily feem
to encreafe the upper black mould greatly.
However, it is not above three or four
inches thick in the woods, and under it lays
a brick coloured clay, mixed with a fand of
the fame colour. It is remarkable, that a
foil which in all probability has not been
ilirred, fhould be covered with fo little
black mould : but I ihall fpeak of this in
the fequel.

November the 14th. The Squirrels which
run about plentifully in the woods are of
different fpecies j I here intend to defcribe
the moft common forts, more accurately.

The grey Squirrels are very plentiful in
Penjylvania and in the other provinces of
North America. Their fhape correfponds

with

Penjyhania, near Germantown, 3 1 1

with that of our Swedijh fquirrel ; but they
differ from them, by keeping their grey
colour all the year long, and in lize being
fomething bigger. The woods in all thefe
provinces, and chiefly in Penfyhania, con-
fift of trees with deciduous leaves, and in
fuch thefe fquirrels like to live. Ray in his
Synopjis ^adrupedum, p. 215, and Catejby
in his Natural Hijiory of Carolina , Vol. 2.
p. 74, tab. 74, call it the Virginian greater
grey Squirrel -, and the latter has added a
figure after life. The Swedes call it grao
Ickorn, which is the fame as the Englifh
grey Squirrel. Their nefts are commonly
in hollow trees, and are made of mofs,
ftraw, and other foft things : their food is
chiefly nuts -, as hazel nuts, chinquapins,
chefnuts, walnuts, hiccory nuts, and the
acorns of the different forts of oak which
grow here ; but maize is what they are
mofl greedy of. The ground in the woods
is in autumn covered with acorns, and all
kinds of nuts which drop from the nume-
rous trees : of thefe the fquirrels gather
great flores for winter, which they lay up
in holes dug by them for that purpofe :
they likewife carry a great quantity of them
into their nefts.

As foon as winter comes, the fnow

and cold confines them to their holes

U 4 for

XI z November 1748.

holes for feveral days, efpecially when the
weather is very rough. During this time
they confume the little ftore, which they
have brought to their nefts : as foon there-
fore as the weather grows milder, they
creep out, and dig out part of the ftore
which they have laid up in the ground : of
this they eat fome on the fpot, and carry
the reft into their nefts on the trees. We
frequently obferved that in winter, at the
eve of a great froft, when there had been
fome temperate weather, the fquirrels, a
/day or two before the froft, ran about the
woods in greater numbers than common,
partly in order tojeat their fill, and partly
to ftore their nefts with a new provifion for
the enfuing great cold, during which they
(did not venture to come out, but lay fnug
in their nefts : therefore feeing them run in
the woods in greater numbers than ordina-
ry, was a fafe prognoftic of an enfuing cold.
The /jogs which are here droven into the
woods, whilft there is yet no fnow in them,
often do confiderable damage to the poor
fquirrels, by rooting up their ftore-holes,
and robbing their winter provifions. Both
the Indians, and the European Americans,
take great pains to find out thefe ftore-
holes, whether in trees or in the ground,
as all the nuts they contain are choice, and

not

Penjyhania, near Germantown, 313

not only quite ripe, but likewife not pierc-
ed by worms. The nuts and acorns which
the Dormice, or Mus Cricetus, Linn, ftore
up in autumn, are all in the fame conditi-
on. The Swedes relate, that in the long
winter, which happened here in the year
1 74 1, there fell fuch a quantity of fnow,
that the fquirrels could not get to their
ilore, and many of them were ftarved to
death.

The damage which thefe animals do in
the maize fields, I have already defcribed :
they do the more harm, as they do not eat
all the corn, but only the inner and fweet
part, and as it were take ofFthe hulks. In
fpring towards the end of April, when the
oaks were in full flower, I once obferved a
number of fquirrels on them, fometimes
five, fix, or more in a tree, who bit off the
flower fl:alks a little below the flowers, and
dropt them on the ground : whether they
eat any thing oflf them, or made ufe of them
for fome other purpofe I know not ; but
the ground was quite covered with oak
flowers, to which part of the ftalk adhered.
For this reafon the oaks do not bear fo
much fruit by far, to feed hogs and other
animals, as they would otherwife do.

Of all the wild animals in this country^
the fquirrels are fome of the eafiefl: to tame^

efpecially

314 November 1 748 .

efpecially when they are taken young for
that purpofe. I have feen them tamed fo
far, that they would follow the boys into
the woods and run about every where, and
when tired would fit on theif Ihoulders.
Sometimes they only ran a little way into
the wood, and then returned home again
to the little hole that had been fitted up for
them. When they eat, they fit almoft up-
right, hold their food between their fore-
feet and their tail bent upwards. When
the tame ones got more than they could
eat at a time, they carried the remainder to
their habitations, and hid it amongft the
wool which they lay upon. Such tame
fquirrels fhewed no fear of ftrangers, and
would fuffer themfelves to be touched by
every body, without ofifering to bite. They
fometimes would leap upon fl:ranger's
cloaths and lie fliill on them, in order to
fleep. In the farm houfes where they were
kept, they played with cats and dogs : they
likewife eat bread.

The wild grey fquirrels likewife hold up
their tails when fitting. As foon as they
perceive a man, they continually wag their
tails and begin to gnafh with their teeth, and
make a great noife, which they do not rea-^
dily give over. Thofe who go a fhooting
birds and other animals, are therefore very

angry

J

Penfyhania, near Germantown, 315

angry at them, as this noife difcovers them,
and alarms the game. Though a grey
fquirrel does not feem to be very {hy, yet it
is very difficult to kill -, for when it per-
ceives a man, it climbs upon a tree, and
commonly chufes the higheft about it. It
then tries to hide itfelf behind the trunk,
fo that the fhooter may not fee it, and
though he goes ever fo faft round the tree,
yet the fquirrel changes its place as quick-
ly, if not quicker: if two boughs bend to-
wards each other, the fquirrel lies in the
middle of them, and prelTes itfelf fo clofe,
that it is hardly vifible. You may then
fhake the tree, throw flicks and ftones to
the place where it lies, or fhoot at it, yet
it will never ftir. If three branches join, it
takes refuge between them, and lies as
clofe to them as poffible, and then it is fuf-
ficiently fafe. Sometimes it efcapes on a
tree where there are old nefts of fquirrels, or
of large birds : it flips into fuch, and can-
not be got out, either by fhooting, throw-
ing, or any thing elfe ^ for the grey fquir-
rels feldom leap from one tree to ano-
ther, except extreme danger compels them.
They commonly run diredly up the trees
and down the fame way, with their head
ftraight forward. Several of them which

I (hot

$i6 November 1748.

I fhot in the woods, had great numbers of
fleas.

I HAVE already mentioned that thefe
fquirrels are among the animals, which at
prefent are more plentiful than they for-
merly were, and that the infinitely greater
cultivation of maize, which is their favou-
rite food, is the caufe of their multiplica-
tion. However it is peculiar, that in fome
years a greater number of fquirrels come
down from the higher countries into Pen-
fyhania, and other Englijh colonies. They
commonly come in autumn, and are then
very bufy in the woods gathering nuts and
acorns, which they carry into hollow trees
or their ftore-holes, in order to be fuffici-
ently provided with food for winter. They
are fo diligent in floring up of provifions,
that though the nuts have been extremely
plentiful that year, yet it is difficult to get
a confiderable quantity of them. The peo-
ple here pretended from their own experi-
ence to know, that when the fquirrels came
down in fuch numbers from the higher parts
of the country, the winter enfuing was un-
commonly rigorous and cold, and for that
reafon they always look upon their coming
down, as a fure fign of fuch a winter. Yet
this does not always prove true, as I experi-
enced in the autumn of the year 1749: at that

time

Penjylvaniai near Germantown. 3 1 7

time a great number of fquirrels came down
into the colonies, yet the winter was very
mild and nocolder than common. But it ap-
peared that their migration was occafioned
by the fcarcity of nuts and acorns, which
happened that year in the higher parts of
the country, and obliged them to come
ihither for their food. Therefore they ge-
inerally return the next year to the place
from which they came.

Some people reckon fquirrel flefh a great
dainty, but the generality make no account
!of it. The fkin is good for little, yet fmall
ftraps are fometimes made of it, as it is very
tough : others ufe it as a furr lining, for
want of a better. Ladies flioes are like-
wife fometimes made of it.

The Rattle fnake often devours the
fquirrels, notwithftanding all their agi-
lity. This unwieldy creature, is faid to
catch fo agile an one, merely by fafcination.
I have never had an opportunity of feeing
how it is done : but fo many credible peo-
ple affured me of the truth of the fadl, and
alTerted that they were prefent, and paid
peculiar attention to it, that I am almoft
forced to believe their unanimous accounts.
The fafcination is effedted in the following
manner : the fnake lies at the bottom of
the tree upon which the fquirrel fits j its

eyes

318 November 1784.

eyes are fixed upon the little animal, and
from that moment it cannot efcape; it be-
gins a doleful outcry, which is fo well
known, that a perfon paffing by, on hear-
ing it, immediately knows that it is charm-
ed by a fnake. The fquirrel runs up the
tree a little way, comes downwards again,
then goes up, and now comes lower again.
On that occafion it has been obferved, that
the fquirrel always goes down more than
it goes up. The fnake ftill continues at
the root of the tree, with its eyes fixed on
the fquirrel, with which its attention is fo
entirely taken up, that a perfon accidental-
ly approaching, may make a confiderable
noife, without the fnake's fo much as turn-
ing about. The fquirrel as before-men-
tioned comes always lower, and at laft leaps
down to the fnake, whofe mouth is already
wide open for its reception. The poor lit-
tle animal" then with a piteous cry runs in-
to the fnake's jaws, and is fwallowed at
once, if it be not too bigj but if its fize
will not allow it to be fwallowed at once,
the fnake licks it feveral times with its
tongue, and fmoothens it, and by that
means makes it fit for fwallowlng. Every
thing elfe remarkable at this enchantment,
I have defcribed in a treatife inferted in the
Memoirs of the Royal Swedijh Academy of

Sciences^

Penfyhania, near Germantown. 319

Sciences, in the Volume for the year 1753,
I therefore am not fo circumftantial here.
The fame power of enchanting is afcribed
to that kind of fnake, which is commonly
called the black fnake in America^ and it is
faid to catch and devour fquirrels in the
fame manner as the former.*

But thefe little animals do confiderable
damage to the maize, not only whilil: it is
upon the ftalk, as I have before obferved,
but even when it is brought home into the
barns : for if they can come at it without
any obftacle, they can in a few nights bring
a whole bulhel away into their lurking
holes. The government in moil; of the
North American colonies, has therefore
been obliged to offer a certain premium, to
be paid out of the common treafury, for the
head of a fquirrel. it feems inconceivable
what a fum of money has been paid for
grey and black fquirrel's heads, in the pro-
vince

• It has been obferved, that only fuch fquirrels and birds
as have their nefts near the place where fuch fnakes come to,
make this pitiful noife, and are fo bufy in running up and
down the tree and the neighbouring branches, in order to
draw ofF the attention of the fnake from their brood, and of-
ten they come fo very near in order, to fly away again, that
being within reach of the fnakes, they are at laft bit, poi-
foned and devoured ; and this will, I believe, perfectly
account for the powers of fafcinatLng birds and fra all creatures
in the fnakes. F.

j20 November 1748.

vince of Penfyhania only, from the firft of
January 1749, to the firft of 'January 1750 j
for when the deputies from the feveral dif-
tridls of the province met, in order to deli-
berate upon the affairs of the province,
each of them complained that their treafu-
ries were exhaufted by paying fo much for
fquirrels : for at that time the law had ap-
pointed a reward of three-pence for each
fquirrel's head. So far extended the ven-
geance taken upon thefc little creaturesy
i. e. upon the grey and black fquirrels. It
was found, by cafting up accounts, that in
that one year eight thoufand pounds of Fen-
Jyhania currency, had been expended in
paying thefe rewards : this I was affured of
by a man who had looked over the accounts
himfelf.

Many people, efpecially young men,
left all other employment, and went into
the woods to (hoot fquirrels : but the go-
vernment having experienced how much
three-pence per head took out of the trea-
fury, fettled half that fum upon each fquir-
rel's head.

Flying Squirrels are a peculiar kind,
which feem to be the fame with thofe which
inhabit Finland^ and which Dr. Linnaus
in his Fauna Svecica, No. 38. calls Sciurus
volans. The American flying fquirrel at the

utmofl

Penjyhania, near Germantown. 321

titmoft is only a variety of that which we
have in Finland. Catejby in his Natural
Hijiory of Carolinay Vol. 2, p. 76, 'jjf
has defcribed it, and tab. 76, j^j^ drawn
it after life. He likewife calls it Schirus
volans, Edwards in his Natural Hijiory
of Birds reprcfents it, t. 191. They are
met with in the woods, but not very
frequently. They are fcarce ever feen in
the day time, unlefs they are forced out by
men who have difcovered their nefts : for
they fleep in the day time, but as foon as
it grows dark, they come out and run about
almoft all night. They live in hollow trees,
and by cutting one down, feven or more
flying fquirrels are frequently found in it.
By the additional fkin with which Provi-
dence has provided them on both fides,
they can fly from one tree to another. They
expand their flcins like wings, and contra(5t
them again as foon as they can get hold of
the oppofite tree. Some people fay that
they fly in a horizontal line ; but others af-
ferted that they firfl: went a little down-
wards, and then rofe up again, when
they approached the tree to which they
would fly : they cannot fly further than
four or five fathoms. Among all the fquir-
rels in this country, thefe are the moft ea-
fily tamed. The boys carry them to fchool,
X or

322 ISIovember 1748.

or wherever they go, without their ever at-
tempting to efcape : if even they put their
fquirrel afide, it leaps upon them again im-
jnediately, creeps either into their bofom,
or their fleeve, or any fold of the clothes,
and lies down to fleep : its food is the fame
with that of the grey fquirrel.

There is a fmall fpecies of fquirrels
abounding in the woods, which the Rnglijh
call ground Squirrels. Catejby has defcribed
and drawn them from life, in the 2d. Vol.
of his Natural Hiflory of Carolinay p. y^^_
tab. 'j^j and Edwards in his Natural Htf-
tory of Birds y t. 181.* He and Dr. Lin-
nceus call it Sciurus Jiriatus, or the freaked
Squirrel. Thefe do not properly live in
trees, as others of this genus, but dig holes
in the ground (much in the fame manner
as rabbets) in which they live, and whither
they take refuge when they perceive any
danger. Their holes go deep, and com-
monly further inwards divide into many
branches. They are alfo cunning enough

to

- f As Catejby and Ednuardt have both reprefented the Jiying
Squirrel in a fitting attitude, I have given here, plate I a fi-
gure of one with the expanded membrane, and joined to it on
Si^, farne plate, a more accurate figure of the ground Squirrel.
It is nor yet made out with certainty, whether the Ameri-
tan flyincr fquirrel, and that fotfnd in Finland and in the
north of Eurofe and Ajta^ be the fame animal. The Ameri-
t^n kind has a flat pennated tail,' but the Eutepean kind a
roind one, which affords a very diftinguifhing charafter. F.

PaSS^^.Pl:/.

Flyixo S auiRRE L. .

Penjyhania, near Gennantown, 323

to make fometimes an opening or hole to
the furface of the ground from one of thefe
branches. The advantage they have from
hence, is that v/htn they ftroll about for
food, and the hole is ftopt up through
which they went out, they may not expofe
themlelves to be caught, but prefently find
the other hole, into which they may re-
treat : but in autumn, when the leaves fall
from the trees, or fometime after, it is di-
verfion to fee the conflernation they are
Sometimes in when purfued ; for their holes
being ealily covered with the great fall of
leaves, or by the wind, they have a great
deal to do, to find them on a fudden : they
then run backwards and forwards, as if
they had loft their way : they feem to know
the places where they have made their fub-
terraneous walks, but cannot conceive where
the entrances are. If they be then purfued,
and one claps his hands, they know no
other refuge than that of climbing upon a
tree -, for it is to be obferved that thefe
fquirrels always live under ground, and ne-
ver climb upon trees unlefs purfued, and'
i;nable in the hurry to find their holesi
This kind of fquirrels is much more nume-
rous in Penfyhaniay than in any other pro-
vince of North America through which I
have travelled^ ; Its length is commonly fix
- . ; ; v;! V. Xa: inches^*

..ol

324 November 1748.

inches, without the curved tail -, and it i^
very narrow. The fkin is ferruginous, or
of a reddifh brown, and marked with five
black ilreaks, one of which runs along the
back, and two on each fide. Their food
confifts of all forts of corn, as rye, barley,
wheat, maize, and of acorns, nuts, &c.
They gather their winter provifions in au-
tumn, like the common grey fquirrels, and
keep them in their holes under ground. If
they get into a granary, they do as much
mifchief as mice and rats. It has often
been obferved that if, after eating rye,
they come to fome wheat, they throw up
the former, which they do not like fo well
as the wheat, in order to fill their belly
with the latter. When the maize is
reaped in the fields, they are very bufy in
biting off the ears, and filling the pouches
in their mouth with corn, fo that their
cheeks are quite blown up. With this
booty they haften into the holes which they
have made in the ground.

As a Swede was making a mill-dyke, pret-
ty late in autumn, he employed for that
purpofe the foil of a neighbouring hill,
and met with a hole on a fubterraneous
walk belonging to thefe fquirrels : he
followed it for fome time, and difcover-
ed a walk on one fide like a branch, parting
from the chief flem : it was near two feet

long.

Penfyhaniat near Germantown, 325

long, and at its end was a quantity of
choice acorns of the white oak, which the
little careful axiimal had ftored up for win-
ter. Soon after he found another walk on
the fide like the former, but containing a
fine ftore of maize : the next had hiccory
nuts, and the laft and moft hidden one con-
tained fome excellent chefnuts, which
might have filled two hats.

In winter thefe fquirrels are feldom feen,
for during that feafon they live in their
fubterraneous holes upon the provifions,
which they have ftored up there. How-
ever on a very fine and clear day^hey fome-
times come out. They frequently dig through
the ground, into cellars in which the coun-
try people lay up their apples, which they
partly eat, and partly fpoil, fo that the
mafter has little or nothing left. They
handle the maize ftores full as roughly as
the apples. But the cats are their great
enemies, who devour them and bring them
home to their young ones : their flefti is
not eaten by men, and their fkin is not
made ufe of.

Of all the fquirrels in the country, thefe
are the moft difficult to be tamed ; for,
though they be caught very young, yet it
is dangerous to touch them with naked
hands, as they bite very fharp when one is
X 3 not

326 November 1748.

not aware of them. Many boys, who had
Joft a deal of time in trying to tame thefe
fquirrels, owned that they knew of no art
to make them quite tame ; at leaft they are
never fo far tamed as the other fpecies. In
order to do any thing towards taming them
they muft be caught when they are very
fmall. Some people kept them in that ftate
in a cage, becaufe they looked very pretty.

I SHALL take an other opportunity of
fpeaking of the black and ferruginous fquir-
rels, which likewife inhabit this country.

November the 15th. In the morning I
returned to Philadelphia. Mr. Cock told
me to day, and on fome other occafions af-
terwards, an accident which happed to him,
gnd which feemed greatly to confirm a pe-
culiar fign of an imminent hurricane. He
failed to the Weji hidies in a fmall yacht,
and had an old man on board, who had for
a conliderable time failed in this fea. The
old man founding the depth, called to the
mate to tell Mr. Cock to launch the boats
immediately, and to put a fufficient num-
ber of men into them, in order to tow the
yacht during the calm, that they might
reach the ifland before them, as foon as
poflible, as within twenty-four hours there
would be a flrong hurricane. Mr. Cock
aiked him what reafons he had to think fo,

the

Penfylvania, Philadelphia. 327

the old man replied, that on founding, he
faw the lead in the water at a diftance of
many fathoms more than he had feen it be-
fore ', that therefore the water was become
clear all of a fudden, which he looked up-
on as a certain fign of an impending hur-
ricane in the fea. Mr. Cock likewife faw
the excefTive clearnefs of the water. He
therefore gave immediate orders for launch-
ing the boat, and towing the yacht, fo that
they arrived before night in a fafe harbour.
But before they had quite reached it the
waves began to rife more and more, and
the water was as it were boiling, though
no wind was perceptible. In the enfuing
night the hurricane came on, and raged
with fuch violence, that not only many
fhips were loft, and the roofs were torn off
from the houfes, but even Mr. Cock's yacht
and other fhips, though they were in fafe
harbours, were by the wind, and the vio-
lence of the fea, waftied fo far on iliore,
that feveral weeks elapfed, before they could
be got off.

An old Dutch fkipper faid, that he had
once caught a dogfifh in the bay of New
Torky which being cut open, had a quan-
tity of eels in his ftomach.

November the 1 8th. Mr. Bartram fhewed

me an earthen pot, which had been found

X 4 ia

328 November 1748.

in a place, where the Indians formerly liv-
ed. He, who firft dug it out, kept greafe
and fat in it to fmear his fhoes, boots and
all forts of leather with : Mr. Bartram
bought the pot of that man -, it was yet
entire and not damaged : I could perceive
no glaze or colour upon it, but on the out-
fide it was very much ornamented and up-
on the whole well made. Mr. Bartram
{hewed me feveral pieces of broken earthea
velTels which the Indians formerly made ufe
of. It plainly appeared in all thefe that
they were not made of mere clay ; but that
different materials had been mixed with it,
according to the nature of the places where
they were made. Thofe Indians ^ for exam-
ple, who lived near the fea fliore, pounded
the fhells of fnails and mufcles, and mixed
them with the clay. Others who lived
further up in the country, where mountain
cryftals could be found, pounded them and
mixed them with their clay ; but how they
proceeded in making the vefTels, is entirely
unknown : it was plain, that they did not
burn them much, for they were fo foft
that they might be cut in pieces with a
knife : the workmanftiip however feems to
have been very good ; for at prefent they
find whole vefTels or pieces in the ground,
which are not damaged at all, though they

have

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 329

have lain in the ground above a century.
Before the Europeans fettled in North Ame-
ricay the Indians had no other veflels to
boil their meat in, than thefe earthen pots
of their own making : but lince their arri-
val, they have always bought pots, kettles,
and other neceflary veffels of the Europeans^
and take no longer the pains of making
fome, by which means this art is entirely
loft among them. Such veflels of their own
conftrudtion are therefore a great rarity even
among xht Indians. I have feen fuch old
pots and pieces of them, confifting of a kind
of Serpentine Jione, or Linnceus^ Talcum,
Syft. nat. 3. p. 52.

Mr. Bartram like wife fhewed me little
pieces of a black Jlate, which is plentifully
found in fome parts of the river Skullkill,
There are pieces to be found, which are
four feet and above fquare : the colour and
configuration is the fame as in the Table
Jlate fSchiJius tabularis, Linn. J Syft. nat. 3.
p. 37. except that this is a little thicker.
The inhabitants of the country thereabouts
(in the neighbourhood of the Skullkill) cover
their roofs with it j Mr. Bartram aflTurcd
me, that he had feen a whole roof com-
pofed of four fuch flates. The rays of the
fun, heat, cold, and rain do not adt upon
the ftone.

Mr.

330 November 1748.

Mr. Bartram further related, that in fe-
veral parts of the country, caves or holes
were to be met with, going deep into the
mountains : he had been in feveral of them
and had often found a number of Stala£iitesy
Linnaus'% StalaSiites Jiillatitiusy Syft. nat. 3.
p. 183. of different dimcnfions at the top;
they differed in colour, but the greateft
curiofity was, that in fome of the caves
Mr. Bartram had found StalaBites, whofe
outward fide was as it were wreathed from
top to bottom i he had fent fome pieces of
it to London, and had none at prefent.

November the 20th. This morning I
fet out in company of a friend, on a jour-
ney to Racoon in New Jerfey, where many
Swedes live, who have their own church.
We had three miles to go before we came
to the ferry which was to bring us over the
Delaware. The country here was very low
in fome places : the plains on the banks of
the river, were overflowed at every high
water or flowing of the tide, and at the eb-
bing they were left dry again. However
the inhabitants of the country hereabouts,
made ufe of this plain : for that purpofe
they had in feveral places thrown up walls
or dykes of earth towards the river, to pre-
vent its overflowing the plains, which they

made

Penfyhaniay Philadelphia, 331

made ufe of as meadows. On them the
Water-beeches (Plat anus occidentalism Linn.)
were planted in great numbers on both (ides
the road, quite clofe together : thele in
fummer afford a pleafant fhade, en ac-
count of the abundance and lize of their
leaves, and make the road extremely de-
lightful, as it refembles a fine {hady walk.
The Delaware has nearly the fame breadth
here, which it has near Philadelphia. Near
the place where the ferry is to be met with,
feveral pretty houfes were built on both
fides, where travellers might get all kinds
of refrefhment. On our journey from Pen-
fyhania to New Jerfey, we were brought
over the Delaware in a ferry belonging to,
and kept in repair by the Penfylvania-men ;
but on our return we were obliged to take
the ferry belonging to the New Jerfey fide.
As foon as we had croffed the river, we
were in a different province, for the Dela^
ware makes the divifion between Penfyha-
nia and New Jerfeyy fo that every thing to
the weft of it belongs to the former, and
all to the eaft, to the latter province. Both
thefe provinces h^ve in moft things differ-
ent laws, and their peculiar coin.

We now purfued our journey further,
and foon obferved that the country on this
fide appeared very different from that on

the

332 November 1748.

the other; for in Penfyhania the ground;
confifts of more clay and black mould, andi
is very fertile -, but in New Jerfey it is more
fandy and very poor, fo that the horfes
went very deep in fand in feveral parts of
the road. Near the place where we were
brought over, and a little way along the
fhore was a thick firwood : the trees were
not very high, but in their greateft vigour;
between them appeared now and then a
low bufh of oak. But after travelling about
three Englifli miles, the firwood ended, and
we faw no more trees of this kind till we came
to the church in Raccoon. In all the parts of
Penfyhania where I have been, I have found
few firwoods ; on the other hand, they are
abundant in New Jerfey, and efpecially in
the lower part of that province. We af-
terwards found all the day long no other
trees, than fuch as have deciduous leaves ;
moft of thefe were oaks of different forts,
and of confiderable height, but they flood
every where far enough afunder, to admit
a chaife to pafs through the wood without
any inconvenience, there being feldom any
fhrubs or underwood between the trees, to
obftrudt the way. The leaves were all
fallen, and covered the ground more than a
hand's breadth : this had an appearance of
cncreafing the upper black foil greatly. In

feveral

New Jerfey, near Gloucejler, 333

feveral places flowed a fmall rivulet. The
country was commonly plain, but fome-
times formed a few hills with an eafy de-
clivity, though no high mountains appear-
ed, and in a few places we found fome
fmall ftones not bigger than a fift. Single
farm houfes were fcattered in the country,
and in one place only was a fmall village :
the country was yet more covered with fo-
refts than cultivated, and we were for the
greateft part always in a wood.

This day and the next we pafled feveral
Kills^ or fmall rivulets which flowed out of
the country into the Delaware with no great
defcent nor rapidity. When the tide came
up in the Delaware, it likewife rofe in fome
of thefe rivulets a good way ; formerly they
muft have fpread to a confiderable breadth
by the flowing of the tide, but at prefent
there were meadows on their banks, form-
ed, by throwing up ilrong dykes as clofe
as poflible to the water, to keep it from
overflowing. Such dykes were made along
all rivers here to confine their water ; there-*
fore when the tide was higheft, the water
in the rivers was much higher than the
meadows : in the dykes were gates through
which the water can be drawn from, or
led into the meadows; they were fometimes
placed on the outward lidc of the wall, fo

that

334 November 1748.

that the water in the meadows forced it
open, but the river water fhut it.

In the evening we came into the houfe
of a Swede called Peter Rambo, and we ftaid
the night at his houfe.

The pines which we had feen to day, and
which I have mentioned before, were of
that kind which has double leaves and ob-
long cones covered with aculeated fcales.
The Englijh to diftinguifh it call it the
yerfey Pine: commonly there were only
two fpines or leaves in one fafcicle, as in-
cur common Swedijh pines, but fometimes
three J the cones had long fpines, fo that
they were difficult to be touched. Thefe
pines look at a diftance wholly like the
Swedi/h ones, fo that if the cones were not
regarded, they might eafily be taken for
the fame fpecies. Of thefe pines they make
a great quantity of tar, of which I fhall
fpeak in the fequel ; but as moft of them
are but fmall, they are good for nothing
elfe J for if they be employed as pofts, or
poles in the ground, they are in afhorttime
rendered ufelefs by rotting : as foon as they
are cut down the worms are very greedy of
them ', they foon eat through the wood, an^
only a few weeks after it is cut down^how-
^ver it is made ufe of as fuel where no other
CI . . :v/ -M io-^uii w-j^v^iiio o:;: v: ;WOod

New Jerfey, Racoon, 335

wood is to be got, in feveral places they
make charcoal of it, as I intend to mention
in the fequel. There is another thing
which deferves notice, in regard to thefe
trees, and which feveral people, befides
myfelf, have experienced. In the great
heat of the fummer, the cattle like to ftand
in the fliade of thefe trees, preferably to
that of the oak, hiccory, walnut, water-
beech and other trees of this kind, whofe
foliage is very thick ; and when the cattle
find the latter with the former, they always
choofe to ftand under the firs and pines,
though the other trees with annually deci-
duous leaves could afford a better Hiade :
and if there be but a fingle pine in a wood,
as many cattle from the herd as can ftand
under it, throng to it. Some people
would infer from hence, that the refinous
exhalations of thefe trees, were beneficial
to the cattle, and which made them more
inclined to be near firs and pines, than any
other trees.

The Spoon tree, which never grows to
a great height, we faw this day in feveral
places. The Swedes here have called it
thus, becaufe the Indians who formerly
lived in thefe provinces, ufed to make their
fpoons and trowels of the wood of this tree.
In ttly cabinet of natural curiofities, I have

a fpoon

33^ November 1748.

a fpoon made of this wood by an Indian,
who has killed many flags and other ani-
mals on the very fpot where Philadelphia af-
terwards was built ', for in his time that
fpot was yet covered with trees and fhrubs.
The Engliih call this tree a Laurely becaufe
its leaves refemble thofe of the Laurocera-
fus. Dr. Linnceus, conformable to the pe-
culiar friendfhip and goodnefs which he has
always honoured me with, has been pleafed
to call this tree, Kalmia foliis ovatis , corym-
bis terminalibus, or Kalmia latifolia. It Suc-
ceeds beft on the fide of hills, efpecially on
the north fide, where a brook palles by 3
therefore on meeting with fome fteep places
(on hills) towards a brook, or with a fleep
fide of a hill towards a marfh, you are fure
to find the Kalmia, But it frequently flands
mixed among beech trees. The higher the
Kalmias ftand on the north fide of a moun-
tain, the lefs they grow : I have feen them
not only in Penfyhania and New Jerfey,
but even in New Torky but there they arc
more fcarce : I never found them beyond
the forty-fecond deg. of north lat. though I
took ever fo great care to look for them :
they have the quality of preferving their
fine green leaves throughout winter, fo
that when all other trees have lofl their
Grnam^ents, and fland quite naked, thefe

chear

[

New yerfeyt Raccoon, 337

chear the woods with their green follagei
About the month of May they begin to
ilower in thefe parts, and then their beauty
rivals that of moft of the known trees in na-^
ture : the flowers are innumerable, and fit
in great bunches. Before they open, they
have a fine red colour, but as they are ex-
panded, the fun bleaches them, fo that
fome are quite white ; many preferve the
colour of rofes. Their lliape is fingular,
for they refemble a crater of the ancients :
their fcent however is none of the mofl
agreeable. In fome places it was cuftomary
to adorn the churches on chriftmas day or
new-years day with the fine branches of this
tree, which are then thick covered with
leaves.

But thefe trees are known for another
remarkable quality -, their leaves are poifon
to fome animals, and food for others : ex-
perience has taught the people that when
fheep eat of thefe leaves, they either die
immediately, or fall very fick, and recover
with great difficulty. The young and more
tender fheep are killed by a fmall portion,
but the elder ones can bear a ftronger dofe.
Yet this food will likewife prove mortal to
them, if they take too much of it : the
Ikme noxious eiFe^t it fhews in regard to
calves which £at too much of the leaves :
Y they

338 November 1748.

they either die, or do not recover eafily. I
can remember, that in the autumn of the
year 1748, fome calves eat of the leaves,
but fell very lick, fwelled, foamed at the
mouth, and could hardly ftand, however
they were cured by giving them gunpowder
and other medicines: the fheep are moft
expofed to be tempted by thefe leaves in
winter -, for after having been kept in ftables,
for fome months they are greedy of all
greens efpecially if the fnow ftill lies upon
the fields, and therefore the green but
poifonous leaves of the Kalmia, are to them
very tempting. Horfes, oxen and cows
which have eaten them, have likewife been
very ill after the meal, and though none of
them ever died of eating thefe leaves, yet
moft people believed, that if they took too
great a portion of them, death would cer-
tainly be the refult. For it has been ob-
ferved that when thefe animals only cat
fmall quantities, yet they fuffer great pains.
On the other hand the leaves of the Kalmia
are the food of ftags, when the fnow covers
the ground, and hides all other provifions
from them. Therefore, if they be fhot in
winter, their bowels are found filled with
thefe leaves ; and it is very extraordinary,
that if thofe bowels are given to dogs, they
become quite ftupid and as it were drunk,

and

New Jefey, Raccoon. 339

and often fall fo lick, that they feem to be
at the point of death, but the people, who
have eaten the venifon, have not felt the
leaft indifpofition. The leaves of the Kal-
mia are likewife the winter food of thofe
birds, which the Swedes in North America
call Hazel-hensy and which ftay here all
winter, for when they are killed, their
crop is found quite filled with them.

The wood of the Kalmia is very hard,
and fome people on that account, make the
axis of their pullies of it. Weavers fhuttles
are chiefly made of it, and the weavers are
of opinion, that no wood in this country is
better for this purpofe, for it is compadt,
may be made very fmooth, and does not
eafily crack, or burft. The joiners and
turners here, employ it in making all kinds
of work, which requires the beft wood ;
they chiefly ufe the root becaufe it is quite
yellow J the wood has a very fuitable hard-
nefs and finenefs, and from the center, fpread
as it were fmall rays, which are at fome
diftance from each other. When the leaves
of the Kalmia are thrown into the fire, they
make a crackling like fait. The chimney
fweepers make brooms in winter of the
branches with the leaves on them, fince
they cannot get others in that feafon. In
the fummer of the year 1750, a certain
Y 2 kind

340 'November 1748.

Isind df HMorms, devoured the Ifea'Ves of al-
moft -all the trees in Penjyhania -, yet they
did not venture to attack the leaves of the
Kalmia. Some people afferted, that when.
a fire happened in the woods, it never went
further, as foon as it came to the Kalmias,
or Spoon trees.

November the 2rft. The Swedes ^viA all
the other inhabitants of the country plant
great quantities of maize, both for them-
felves and for their cattle. It was afferted
that it is the beft food for hogs, becaufe it
makes them very fat, and gives their flefh
an agreeable flavour, preferable to all Other
meat. I have given in two diflertations up-
on this kind of corn to the Swedijh Royal
Academy of Sciences y which ftand in their
Memoirs, one in the Volume for the year

175 1, in the laft quainter, and the other iti
the firft quarter of the Volume for the yfcir

1752, and thither I refer my readers.
The wheels of the carts which are here

made ufe of, are compofed of two different
kinds of v^ood. The fdloes were made of
what is called the- Spdnijh oak, and the
fpOkes of the white oak.

TkE Sajj'afras tree grows every where
iii this place. I have already abferv-
ed feveral particulars in regard to it,
and intend to add a few more here. On

throwing

New Jerfty, Raccoon, 341

throwing fome of the wood into the fire,
it caufes a crackling as fait does. The wood
is made ufe of for pofts belonging to the
enclofures, for it is faid to lafl a long time
in the ground : but it is likewife faid, that
there is hardly any kind of wood, which is
more attacked by worms than this, when it
is expofed to the air without cover, and
that in a fhort time it is quite worm-eaten
through and through. The Swedes related,
that the Indians who formerly inhabited
thefe parts, made bowls of it. On cutting
fome part of the faffafras tree, or its (hoots,
and holding it to the nofe, it has a flrong
but pleafant fmell. Some people peel the
root, and boil the peel with the beer which
they are brewing, becaufe they believe it
wholefome for the fame reafon. The peel
is put into brandy, either whilft it is diftil-
ling, or after it is made.

An old Swede remembered that his mo-
ther cured many people of the dropfy, by
a decodtion of the root of faffafras in water
drank every morning : but fhe ufed, at the
fame time to cup the patient on the feet.
The old man affured me, he had often
feen people cured by this means, who had
been brought to his mother wrapped up in
flieets.

Y 3 When

342 November 1748.

When a part of a wood is deftined for
cultivation, the faffafras trees are commonly
left upon it, becaufe they have a very
thick foliage, and afford a cool (hade to
the cattle, during the great heats. Several
of the Swedes, W2i{h and fcour the veffels
in which they intend to keep cyder, beer
or brandy, with water m which the fafl'a-
fras root or its peel has been boiled ; which
they think renders all thofe liquors more
wholefome. Some people get their bed-
pofts made of faffafras wood, in order to
expel the bugs ; for its flrong fcent it is
faid prevents thofe vermin from fettling in
them. For two or three years together
this has the defired effed j or about as long
as the wood keeps its flrong aromatic fmell;
but after that time it has been obferved to
lofe it effeft. A joiner fbewed me a bed,
which he had made for himfelf, the pofls of
which were of faffafras wood, but as it was
ten or twelve years old, there were fo many
bugs in it, that it feemed likely, they
would not let him fleep peaceably. Some
EngUJhmen related, that fome years ago it
had been cuflomary in London, to drink a
kind of tea of the flowers of faffafras, be-
caufe it was looked upon as very falutary ;
but upon recolledting that the fame potion
'Vvas much ufed agaiiifl the venereal difeafe,

it

New Jerfeyt Raccoon, 343

it was foon left off, left thofe that ufed it,
fhould be looked upon as infedted with that
difeafe. In Penfyhania fome people put
chips of faflafras into their chefts, where
they keep all forts of woollen ftufFs, in or-
der to expel the moths (or Larv^y or ca-
terpillars of moths or tinies) which com-
monly fettle in them in fummer. The root
keeps its fmell for a long while : I have
feen one which had lain five or fix years in
the drawer of a table, and ftill preferved the
ftrength of its fcent.

A SWEDE named Ramboy related that the
Indians formerly dyed all forts of leather
red with the bark of the chefnut oak.

Some old people remembered that in the
year 1697, there had been fo rigorous a
winter, that the ice in the river Delaware
was two feet thick.

November the 22d. Aoke Helm was
one of the moft confidcrable Swedes in this
place, and his father came over into this
country along with the Swedijh governor
Prince ; he was upwards of feventy years of
age. This old man told us, that in his
youth there was grafs in the woods, which
grew very clofe, and was every where two
feet high ; but, that it was fo much lefTened
at prefent, that the cattle hardly find food
enough, and that therefore four cows now
give no more milk than one at that time ;
Y4 but

344 November 1748.

but the caufes of this alteration ar€ eafy to
find. In the younger years of old Helm,
the country was little inhabited, and hardly
the tenth part of the cattle kept which is
at prefent -, a cow had therefore as much
food at that time, as ten now have. Fur-
ther, moft kinds of grafs here are annual,
and do not for feveral years together fhoot
up from the fame root, as our Swedijh
graffes : they muft fow themfelves every
year, bccaufe the laft year's plant dies away
every autumn. The great numbers of cat-
tle hinder this fowing, as the grafs is eaten
before it can produce flowers and fruit. We
need not therefore wonder that the grafs is
fo thin on fields, hills, and paftures in
thefe provinces. This is likewife the reafon
yihy travellers in New Jerjey, Penfyhania,
and Marylandy find many difficulties, efpe-
cially in winter, to get forwards with their
own horfes, for the grafs in thefe provinces
is not very abundant, becaufe the cattle eat
it before it can bring feeds : but more to
^he north, as in Canada, are a fufficient
quantity of perennial grafles -, fo wifely haS
the Creator regulated every thing. The
pold parts of the earth, naturally bring forth
a more durable grafs, becaufe the inhabi-
tants want more hay to feed their cattle
with, pn account of the length of the win-
ter.

New Jerfeyt Raccoon. 345

ter. The fouthern provinces again have
lefs perennial grafs, as the cattle may be
in the fields all the winter. However care-
ful oeconomifts have got feeds of perennial
graffes from England, and other European
ftates, and fowed it in their meadows,
where they feem to thrive exceedingly well.
The Perfimon fDiofpyros Virginiana) was
pretty common here ; I have already men-
tioned it before, but I intend now to add
fome more particulars. Some of its fruits
began to ripen and to become fit for eating
about this time, for they always ripen very
late in autumn, and then the people eat
them like other fruit : they are very fweet
and glutinous, yet have a little aftringency;
I frequently ufed to eat -a great quantity of
them, without feeling the leaft inconve-
nience. From the perfimon feveral En-
glijhmen and Swedes brew a very palatable
liquor in the following manner. As foon
as the fruit is ripe, a fufficient quantity is
gathered, which is very eafy, as each tree
is well flocked with them. Thefe perfimon
apples are put into a dough of wheat or
other flour, formed into cakes, and put into
an oven, in which they continue till they are
quite baked, and fufficiently dry, when they
are taken out again : then, in order to brew
the liquor, a pot full of water is put on the

fire

34^ November 1748.

fire and fome of the cakes are put in : thefe
become foft by degrees as the water grows
warm, and crumble in pieces at laft j the
pot is then taken from the fire, and the
water in it well ftirred about, that the cakes
may mix with it : this is then poured into
another vefTel, and they continue to fteep
and break as many cakes as are neceffary for a
brewing ; the malt is then infufed, and they
proceed as ufual with the brewing. Beer
thus prepared is reckoned much preferable
to other beer. They likewife make brandy
of this fruit in the following inannner :
having colledled a fufficient quantity of per-
fimons in autumn, they are altogether put
into a velTcl, where they lie for a week till
they are quite foft. Then they pour water
on them, and in that ftate they are left to
ferment of themfelves, without promoting
the fermentation by any addition. The
brandy is then made in the common way,
and is faid to be very good, efpecially if
grapes (in particular of the fweet fort)
which are wild in the woods, be mixed
with the perfimon fruit. Some perfimons
are ripe at the end of September ^ but moft
of them later, and fome not before Novem^
her and December, when the cold firft over-
comes their acrimony. The wood of this
tree is very good for joiner's inftruments,

fuch

New yerfey. Raccoon, 347

fuch as planes, handles to chifels, &c. but
if after being cut down, and lain expofed to
funfhine and rain, it is the firft wood which
rots, and in a year's time there is nothing
left but what is ufelefs. When the perfi-
mon trees get once into a field, they are
not eafily got out of it again, as they fpread
fo much. I was told, that if you cut off
a branch and put it into the ground, it
ftrikes root, but in very flrong winters,
thefe trees often die by froft, and they, to-
gether with the peach trees, bear cold the
leaft of any.

November the 23d. Several kinds of
gourds and melons are cultivated here :
they have partly been originally cultivated
by the Indians, and partly brought over by
Europeans, Of the gourds there was a kind
which were crooked at the end, and oblong
in general, and therefore they were called
crooked necks (Crocknacksj) they keep al-
moft all winter. There is yet another fpe-
cies of gourds which have the fame quality :
others again are cut in pieces or (lips, drawn
upon thread and dried ; they keep all the
year long, and are then boiled or ftewed.
All forts of gourds are prepared for eating
in different manners, as is likewife cufto-
mary in Sweden. Many farmers have a
whole field of gourds.

Squashes

3^4^ * Novemher 174S.

Sc>ti ASHES are a kind of gourds, which the
Europeans got from the Indians, and I have
already mentioned them before. They are
eaten boiled, either with flefh or by them-
felves. In the firft cafe, they are put on
the edge of the difh round the meat ; they
require little care, for into whatever ground
they are fown, they grow in it and fucceed
well. If the feed is put into the fields in
autumn, it brings fquafhes next fpring,
though during winter it has fufFered from
froft, fnow and wet.

The C^/tf/^^/?>^j are likewife gourds, which
are planted in quantities hy the Swedes and
other inhabitants, but they are not fit for
eating, and are made ufe of for making all
forts of vefTels ; they are more tender than
the fquafhes, for they do not always ripen
here, and only when the weather is very
warm. In order to make vefTels of them,
they are firfl dried well : the feeds, toge-
ther with the pulpy and fpungy matter in
which they lie, are afterwards taken out
and thrown away. The fhells are fcraped
very clean within, and then great fpoons or
ladles, funnels, bowls, difhes and the like
may be made of them ; they are particular-
ly fit for keeping feeds of plants in, which
are to be fent over fea, for they keep their
power of vegetating much longer, if they

be

New Jerfey, Raccoon. 34-9

be put in caiabaflies, than by any other
■means. Some people fcrape the outfide of
the calabafhes before they are opened, dry
ithem afterwards and then clean them with-
in ; this makes them as hard as bones 4
they are fometimes wafhed, fo that they al-
ways keep their white colour.

Most of the farmers in this country,
fow Buck-wheaty in the middle of July^
it muft not be fown later, for in that cafe
■the froft rains it, but if it be fown before
July, it flowers all the fummer long, but
the flowers drop, and no feed lis generated.
'Some peopl-e, plough the ground twice
where they intend to fow buck*- wheat';
^others plough it only once, about two
weeks before they fow it. As foon as it
is fown the field is harrowed. It has been
found by experience, that in a wet year
buck- wheat is moft likdy to fucceed : it
ftands on the fields till the frofl: comes on.
When the crop is fdvourable, they get
twenty, thirty and even forty bu£hels from
one. The SwediJ}:)<:h\xvch'W2ird^n Ragnil^
fin, in whofehoofe we were at this ^tim^,
had -got fuch a crop : they make bu<:k»-
-wheat cak^ and pudding. The cakes are
xomiBonly made in the morning, and are
»baked in a frying pan, or on a Sone:: ai3e
battered 'and ithmi eaten (with tea :x3r colF«e»

inftead

35^ November 1748.

inftead of toafted bread with butter, ortoaf^,
which the Englifh commonly eat at break-
faft. The buck-wheat cakes are very good,
and are likewife ufual at Philadelphia and
in other Englijlo colonies, efpecially in win-
ter. Buck- wheat is an excellent food for
fowls J they eat it greedily, and lay more
eggs, than they do with other food : hogs
are likewife fattened with it. Buck-wheat
ftraw is of no ufe ; it is therefore left upon
the field, in the places where it has been
thrafhed, or it is fcattered in the orchards,
in order to ferve as a manure by putrify-
ing. Neither cattle nor any other animal
will eat of it, except in the greateft ne-
cefTity, when the fnow covers the ground
and nothing elfe is to be met with. But
though buck-wheat is fo common in the
Englijlo colonies, yet the French had no
right notion of it in Canada, and it was
never cultivated among them.

Towards night we found fome Glow
Worms in the wood, their body was linear,
confifting of eleven articulations, a little
.pointed before and behind ; the length from
head to tail was five and a half geometrical
lines ', the colour was brown and the arti-
culations joined in the fame manner as in
the onifci or woodlice. The antennas or
feel horns were fhort and filiform, or thread-

fhaped 5

New Jerfey, Raccoon. 351

ihaped ', and the feet were faftened to the
foremoft articulations of the body : when
ttie infedl creeps, its hindmofl articulations
are dragged on the ground, and help its
motion. The extremity of the tail con-
tain a matter which (hines in the dark,
with a green light : the infed: could draw
it in, fo that it was not vifible. It had
rained confiderably all day, yet they crept
in great numbers among the buflies, fo that
the ground feemed as it were fown with
itars. I fhall in the fequel have occafion
to mention another kind of infers or flies
which fhine in the dark, when flying in
the air.

November the 24th. Holly, or Ilex
Aquifoiiumt grows in wet places, fcattered
in the forefl:, and belongs to the rare trees ;
its leaves are green both in fummer and in
winter. The Swedes dry its leaves, bruife
them in a mortar, boil them in fmall beer,
and take them againfl: the pleurify.

Red is dyed with brafil wood, and like-
wife with a kind of mofs, which grows on
the trees here : blue is dyed with Indigo^ but
to get a black colour, the leaves of the
common field forrel (Rumex Acetofella) are
boiled with the ftuflf to be dyed, which is
then dried, and boiled again with log-wood
and copperas : the black colour thus produ-
ced.

352 November, 1748.

ced, is faid to be very durable. The pco*
pie fpin and weave a great part of their every
day's apparel, and dye them in their houfes.
Flax is cultivated by many people, and
fucceeds very well, but the ufe of hemp is
not very common.

Rye, wheat, and buck-wheat are cut
with the fickle, but oats are mown with a
fcythe. The fickles which are here made
ufe of are long and narrow, and their fharp
edges have clofe teeth on the inner fide.
The field lies fallow during a year, and in
that time the cattle may graze on it.

All the inhabitants of this place from
the higheft to the loweft, have each their
orchard, which is greater or lefs according
to their wealth. The trees in it are chiefly
peach trees, apple trees and cherry trees ;
compare with this what I have already faid
upon this fubjed: before.

A LITTLE before noon, we left this
place and continued our journey, paft the
iwedijh church in Raccoon, to Peils groves,
.The country, on the fides of this road, is
-very fandy in many places and pretty near
level. Here and there appear fingle farms,
yet they are very fcarce, and large exteniive
pieces of ground are ftill covered with fo-
refts, which chiefly confifl of feveral fpecies
-of oak and hiccory. However we could

go

New Jerfey, Raccoon. 353

go with eafe through thefe woods, as there
are few bufhes (or under-wood) and ftones
to be met with. It was not only eafy to
ride in every part of the wood on horfe-
back, but even in moft places there was
fufficient room for a fmall coach or a cart.
Sometimes a few lying trees which had
been thrown on the ground by a hurricane,
or had fallen down through great age, cauf-
ed fome hindrance.

November the 25 th. During my ft ay at
Raccoon, ^X. this time and all the enfuing win-
ter, I endeavoured to get the moft informa-
tion from the old Swedes relating to the in-
creafe of land, and the decreafe of water in
thefe parts ; 1 fhall therefore infert the an-
fwers here, which I have received to my
queftions. They are as I got them, and I
Ihall only throw in a few remarks which
may ferve to explain things : the reader
therefore is left at liberty to draw his own
inferences and conclufions.

One of the Swedes, called King, who
was above fifty years of age, was convinced,
that about this time the little lakes, brooks,
fprings and rivers had much lefs water,
than they had when he was a boy. He
could mention feveral lakes on which the
people went in large boats in his youth,
and had fufficient water even in the hotteft
Z fummersj

354 November 1748.

fummers ; but now, they were either en-
tirely dried up, or for the greateft part;
and in the latter cafe, all the water was loft
in fummer. He had himfelf feen the fifh
dying in them, and he was apt to believe that
at this time it did not rain fo much in fum-
mer, as it did when he was young. One
of his relations, who lived about eight
miles from the river Delaware, on a hill
near a rivulet, had got a well, dug in his
court yard : at the depth of forty feet, they
found a quantity of fhells of oyfters and
mufcles, and likewife a great quantity of
reed, and pieces of broken branches,
afked, to what caufes they afcribed what
they had difcovered ? and I was anfwered,
that fome people believed thefe things had
lain there ever fince the deluge, and others,
that the ground increafed.

Peter Rambo, a man who was near fixty
years of age, aflured me that in feveral-
places at Raccoon, where wells had been
dug, or any other work carried deep into
the ground, he had feen great quantities of
mufcle fhells and other marine animals.
On digging wells, the people have fome-
times met with logs of wood at the depth
of twenty feet, fome of which were putri-
fied, and others as it were burnt. They
once found a great fpoon in the ground,

at

New Jerfey, Ractoon. 3j<f

at this depth. Query, Is it not probable,
that the burnt wood which has been thus
dug up, was only blackened by a fubterra-
neous mineral vapour ? People however
have concluded from this, that America
has had inhabitants before the deluge. This
man (Peter RamboJ further told me, that
bricks had been found deep in the ground j
but may not the brickcoloured clay (of which
the ground here chiefly confifts, and which
is a mixture of clay and fand) in a hard ftate
have had the appearance of bricks ? I have
feen fuch hardened clay, which at flrft fight
is eafily miftaken for brick. He like wife
aflerted, that the water in rivers was flill as
high as it ufed to be, as far back as memory
could reach -, but little lakes, ponds, and
waters in marilies are vifibly decreafed, and
many of them dried up.

Maons Keen, a Swede above feventy
years old, afferted, that on digging a v/ell
he had feen at the depth of forty feet, a
great piece of chefnut wood, together with
roots and ftalks of reed, and a clayey earth
like that which commonly covers the fhores
of fait water bays and coves. This clay
had a fimilarfmell and a faline tafte. Maons
Keen and feveral other people inferred from
hence, that the whole country where Rac-
coon ^ndPenns neck are fituated, was ancient-
Z2 ly

356 November 1748.

ly quite overflowed by the fea. They like-
wife knew, that at a great depth in the
ground, fuch a trowel as the Indians make
ufe of, had been found.

SvEN Lock, and William Cobby both
above fifty years of age agreed, that in
many places hereabouts, where wells had
been dug, they had feen a great quantity of
reed, moftly rotten, at the depth of twenty
or thirty feet and upwards.

As Cobb made a well for himfelf, the
workmen after digging twenty feet deep, j
came upon fo thick a branch, that they
could not get forwards, till it was cut in
two places -, the wood was ftill very hard. 1
It is very common to find near the furface 1
of the earth, quantities of all forts of leaves
not quite putrified. On making a dyke
fome years ago, along the river on which
the church at Raccoon ftands , and for that
purpofe cutting through a bank, it was
found quite full of oyfterfhells, though this
place is above a hundred and twenty Englifli
miles from the neareft fea fhore. Thefe
men, and all the inhabitants of Raccoon,
concluded from this circumftance (of their
own accord, and without being led to the
thought) that this tradt of land was a part
of the fea many centuries ago. They like-
wife afferted that many little lakes, which

in

New Jerfey, Raccoon. 2S7

in their youth were full of water, even in
the hotteft feafon, now hardly formed a
narrow brook in fummer, except after
heavy rains ; but it did not appear to them
that the rivers had loft any water.

AoKE Helm, found (on digging a well)
firft fand and little ftones, to the depth of
eight feet; next a pale coloured clay, and
then a black one. At the depth of fifteen
feet he found a piece of hard wood, and
feveral pieces of mundick or pyrites. He
told me that he knew feveral places in the
Delaware, where the people went in boats,
when he was young j but which at prefent
were changed into little iflands, fome of
which were near an Englijh mile in length.
Thefe iflands derive their origin from a fand
or bank in the river ^ on this the water
wafhes fome clay, in which ru£hes come
up, and thus the reft is generated by de-
grees.

On a meeting of the oldeft Swedes \n the
parifti of Raccoon, I obtained the following
anfwers to the queftions which I afked them
on this account. Whenever they dig a well
in this neighbourhood, they always find at
the depth of twenty or thirty feet, great
numbers of oyftcr fliells and clams ; the
latter are, as was above-mentioned, a kind
Z3 of

35^ November, 1748.

of large fhells, which are found In bays,
and of which the Indians make their mo-'
ney. In many places, on digging wells a
quantity of rufhes and reeds have been found
almoft wholly undamaged; and once on
fuch an occafion a whole bundle of flax was
brought up, found between twenty and
thirty feet under ground j it feemed as lit-
tle damaged as if it had been lately put
under ground ; all looked at it with afto-
nifliment, as it was beyond conception how
it could get there i but I believe the good
people faw fome American plants, fuch as j
the wild Virginian flax, or Linum Virginia- '
num, Sind the Antirrhinum CanaJenJe, which
look very like common flax, yet it is re-
markable that the bundle was really tied
together. The Europeans on their arrival |
in America, found our common flax neither *
growing wild nor cultivated by the Indians,
how then could this bundle get into the ;
ground ? Can it be fuppofed, that paft \
ages have feen a nation here, fo early ac-
quainted with the ufe of flax ? I would ra-
ther abide by the opinion, that the above
American plants, or other flmilar ones, have
been taken for flax. Charcoal and fire-
brands have often been found under ground:
The Swedijh churchwarden, Eric Ragnilfon,
told me that he had feen a quantity of them,

which

New Jerfey, Raccoon. 359

which had been brought up at the digging
of a well : on fuch occafions, people have
often found (at the depth of between twen-
ty and fifty feet) great branches and blocks.
There were fome fpots where twenty feet
under the furface of the earth, the people
had found fuch trowels as the Indians uie :
from thefe obfervations they all concluded,
that this tra6t of land had formerly been
the bottom of the fea. It is to be obferved,
that moft of the wells which have hitherto
been made, have been dug in new fettle-
ments, where the wood was yet (landing,
and had probably flood for centuries toge-
ther. From the obfervations which have
hitherto been mentioned, and to which I
fhall add fimilar ones in the fequel, we
may, with a confiderable degree of certain-
ty conclude, that a great part of the pro-
vince of New Jerfeyj in ages unknown to
poflerity, was part of the bottom of the
fea, and was afterwards formed by the
flime and mud, and the many other things
which the river Delaware carries down
along with it, from the upper parts of the
country : however Cape May feems to give
fome occafion for doubts, of which I fhall
fpeak in the fequel.

Z 4 Novem-^

^6o 'November 1748.

November the 27th. The American ever-
greens are

1 . Ilex Aquifoliumj holly.

2. Kalmia latifolia, the fpoon tree.

3. Kalmia anguftHoliay anotherfpecies of it.

4. Magnolia glauca, the beaver tree.
The young trees of this kind only keep
their leaves, the others drop them.

5. Vifcum alburn^ or mifletoe j this com-
monly grows upon the Nyjfa aquatica, or
tupelo tree, upon the Liqmdamhar fiyraci-

Jlua, or fweet gum tree, the oak and lime
tree, fo that their whole fummits were fre-
quently quite green in winter.

6. Myj'ica cerifera, or the candleberry
tree ; of this however only fome of the
youngeft fhrubs preferve fome leaves, but
mofl of them had already loft them.

7. Pinus AbieSi the pine.

8. Pinus fylvejlr is t the fir.

9. Ciiprejjus thyoidesy the white cedar,
i o. yuniperus Virginiana, the red cedar.
Several oaks and other trees dropt

their leaves here in winter, which however
keep them ever green, a little more to the
fouth, and in Carolina.

November the 30th. It has been ob-
ferved, that the Europeans in North Ame^
ricay whether they were born in Sweden,

England,

New Jerfey, Raccoon, 361

England, Germany or Holland', or In North
America, oi European parents, always loft
their teeth much fooner than common;
the women efpecially were fuhjedt to this
difagreeable circumftance, the men did not
fuffer fo much from it. Girls not above
twenty years old, frequently had loft half
of their teeth, without any hopes of getting
new ones : I have attempted to penetrate
into the caufes of this early fhedding of
the teeth, but I know not, whether I have
hit upon a true one. Many people were
of opinion that the air of this country hurt
the teeth : fo much is certain that the
weather can no where be fubjecfl to more
frequent and fudden changes -, for the end
of a hot day, often turns out piercing cold,
and 'Dice 'uerfa. Yet this change of wea-
ther, cannot be looked upon as having any
efFetfl upon the fhedding of the teeth, for
the India?2s prove the contrary : they live
in the fame air, and always keep fine, en-
tire white teeth ; this I have feen myfelf,
and have been a flu red of by every body:
others afcribe it to the great quantities of
fruit and fweet meats which are here eaten.
But I have known many people, vvho never
eat any fruit, and neverthelefs had hardly a
tooth left.

I THEN began to fufpedl the tea, which

is

362 November 1748.

is drank here in the morning and afternoon,
efpecially by women, and is fo common at
prefent, that there is hardly a farmer's wife
or a poor woman, who does not drink tea
in the morning : 1 was confirmed in this
opinion when I took a journey through
fome parts of the country which were ftill
inhabited by Indians. For Major General
John/on told me at that time, that feveral
of the Indians who lived clofe to the Euro^
pean fettlements, had learnt to drink tea.
And it has been obferved, that fuch of the
Indian women, as ufed themfelves too much
to this liquor, had in the fame manner as
the European women, loft their teeth pre-
maturely, though they had formerly been
quite found. Thofe again, who had not
ufed tea preferved their teeth ftrong and
found to a great age.

I AFTERWARDS fouud, that the ufe of
tea could not entirely caufe this accident.
Several young women who lived in this
country, but were born in Europe, com-
plained that they loft moft of their teeth
after they came to America : I afked, whe-»
ther they did not think that it arofe from
the frequent ufe of tea, as it was known,
that ftrong tea, as it were enters into and
corrodes the teeth j but they anfwered,
that they had loft their teeth before they

had

New Jerfey, Raccoon, 363

had began to drink tea, but continuing my
enquiries, I found at laft a fufficient caufe,
to account for the lofs of their teeth : each
of thefe women owned, that they were ac-
cuflomed to eat every thing hot, and no-
thing was good in their opinion, unlefs they
could eat it as faft as it came from the fire.
This is Hkewife the cafe with the women in
the country who lofe their teeth much fooner
and more abundantly than the men. They
drink tea in greater quantity and much
oftener, in the morning, and even at noon,
when the employment of the men will not
allow them to fit at the tea-table. Befides
that, tht Englijhmen care very little for tea,
and a bowl of punch is much more agree-
able to them. When the Englijh women
drink tea, they never pour it out of the cup
into the faucer, but drink it hot as it is out
of the former. The Indian women in imi-
tation of them, fwallow the tea in the fame
manner. On the contrary thofe Indians
whofe teeth are found, never eat any thing
hot, but take their meat either quite cold,
or only juft milk warm.

I ASKED the Swedijh churchwarden in
Philadelphia, Mr. Bengtfon, and a number
of old Swedes, whether their parents and
countrymen had likewife loft their teeth
^s foon as the American colonifts i but they

told

364 November 1748.

told me that they had preferved them to a
very great age. Bengtfon afTured me, that
his father at the age of feventy, cracked
peach ftones and the black walnuts with
his teeth, notwithftanding their great hard-
nefs, which at this time no body dares to
venture at that age. This confirms what I
have before faid, for at that time the ufe of
tea was not yet known in North America.

No difeafe is more common here, than
that which the Englijh call fever and ague,
which is fometimes quotidian, tertian^ or
quartan. But it often happens, that a per-
fon who has had a tertian ague, after lofing
it for a week or two, gets a quotidian ague
in its Aead, which after a while again
changes into a tertian. The fever com-
monly attacks the people at the end of Au-
guji, or beginning of September, and com-
monly continues during autumn and win-
ter till towards fpring, when it ceafes en-
tirely.

Strangers who arrive here, common-
ly are attacked by this ficknefs the firft or
fecond year after their arrival ; and it is
more violent upon them, than upon the
natives, fo that they fometimes die of it 5
but if they efcape the firft time, they have
the advantage of not being vifited again the
next year, or perhaps never any more. It is

commonly

New y^rfey. Raccoon. 365

commonly faid here, that ftrangers get the
fever to accuftom them to the cUmate. The
natives of European offspring, have annual
fits of this ague in fome parts of the coun-
try : fome however are foon delivered from
it, with others on the contrary it continues
for fix months together, and others are
afflided with it till they die. The Indi-
ans alfo fuffer it, but not fo violently as the
Europeans. No age is fecured againfl: it :
in thole places where it rages annuall)%
you fee old men and women attacked with
it J and even children in the cradle, fome-
times not above three weeks old : it is
likewife quotidian, tertian or quartan w^ith
them. This autumn the ay;ue was more
violent here, than it commonly ufed to be.
People who are afflicHied with it, look as
pale as death, and are greatly weakened,
but in general are not prevented from doing
their work in the intervals. It is remark-
able, that every year there are great parts
of the country where this fever rages, and
others where fcarce a fingle perfon has
been taken ill. It likewife is worth notice,
that there are places where the people can-
not remember that it formerly prevailed in
their country, though at prefent it begins
to grow more common : yet there was no
other vilible difference between the feveral

places

366 November 1748.

places. All the old Swedes, Englijhmetti
Germans, &c. unanimoufly afferted, that
the fever had never been fo violent, and of
fuch continuance when they were boys, as
it is at prefent. They were likewife ge-
nerally of opinion, that about the year
1 680, there virere not fo many people af-
flided with it, as about this time. How-
ever others equally old, were of opinion
that the fever was proportionably as com-
mon formerly, as it is at prefent ; but that
it could not at that time be fo fenfibly per-
ceived, on account of the fcarcity of inha-
bitants, and the great diftance of their fet-
tlements from each other ; it is therefore
probable that the effeds of the fever have
at all times been equal.

It would be difficult to determine the
true caufes of this difeafe j they feem to be
numerous, and not always alike : fome-
times, and I believe commonly feveral of
them unite. I have taken all poffible care
to found the opinions of the phyficians here
on that head, and I here offer them to the
reader.

Some of them think that the peculi-
ar qualities of the air of this country caufe
this fever; but moft of them afTert that
it is generated by the {landing and putrid
water, which it feems is confirmed by ex-
perience.

New Jerfey, Raccoon, 367

perience. For it has been obferved in this
country, that fuch people as live in the
neighbourhood of Morafles or Swamps, or
in places where a ftagnant, {linking water
is to be met with, are commonly infefted
with the fever and ague every year, and
get it more readily than others. And this
chiefly happens at a time of the year when
thofe ftagnant waters are moft evaporated
by the exceffive heat of the fun, and the
air is filled with the moft noxious vapors.
The fever likewife is very violent in all
places which have a very low fituation, and
where fait water comes up with the tide
twice in twenty four hours, and unites with
the ftagnant, frefti water in the country.
Therefore on travelling in fummer over
fuch low places where frefti and fait water
unite, the naufeous ftench arifing from
thence often forces the traveller to ftop his
nofe. On that account moft of the inhabi-
tants of Pernios necky and Salem in New Jer-
fey, where the ground has the above-men-
tioned quality, are annually infefted with
the fever to a much greater degree, than
the inhabitants of the higher country. If
an inhabitant of the higher part of the
country, where the people are free from the
fever, removes into the lower parts, he may
be well aftured that the fever will attack

him

368 November 1748.

him at the ufual time, and that he will get
it again every year, as long as he continues
in that country. People of the liveliefl
complexion on coming into the low parts
of the country, and continuing there for
fome time, have entirely loft their colour
and become quite pale. However this can-
not be the fole caufe of the fever, as I have
been in feveral parts of the country which
had a low fituation and had ftagnant waters
near them, where the people declared they
feldom fufFered from this ficknefs : but thefe
places were about two or three degrees more
northerly.

Others were of opinion that diet did
very much towards it, and chiefly laid the
blame upon the inconfiderate and intem-
perate confumption of fruit. This is par-
ticularly the cafe with the Europeans, who
come into AmericUy and are not ufed to its
climate and its fruit -, for thofe who are
born here can bear more, yet are not en-
tirely free from the bad effedis of eating too
much. I have heard many EngliJJDmen,
Germans, and others fpeak from their own
experience on this account -, they owned,
that they had often tried, and were certain
that after eating a water melon once or
twice before they had breakfafted, they
would have the fever and ague in a fev7

days

New Jerfey, Raccoon. 369

days after. Yet it is remarkable, that the
French in Canada told me that fevers were
lefs common in that country, though they
confumed as many water melons as the
Englifi colonies, and that it had never been
obferved that they occalioned a fever ; but
that on coming in the hot feafon to the
Illinois, an Indian nation which is nearly in
the fame latitude with Penjyhania and ISfew
yerfey, they could not eat a water melon
without feeling the fhaking fits of an ague,
and that the Indians therefore warned them
not to eat of fo dangerous a fruit. Query,
Does not this lead us to think that the
greater heat in Penjyhania, and the country
of the Illinois, which are both five or fix
degrees more foutherly than Canada, makes
fruit in fome meafure more dangerous ? In
the EngliJJj North American colonies, every
countryman plants a number of water me-
lons, which are eaten whilft the people
make hay, or during the harveft when they
have nothing upon their flomachs, in order
to cool them during the great heat, as that
juicy fruit feems very proper to give re-
frefhment. In the fame manner melons,
cucumbers, gourds, fquafiies, mulberries,
apples, peaches, cherries, and fuch like
fruit are eaten here in fummer, and altoge-
ther contribute to the attacks of the ague.
A a But

2yo November 1748^.

But that the manner of living contributes
greatly towards it, may be concluded from
the unanimous accounts of old people, con-
cerning the times of their childhood; ac-
cording to which, the inhabitants of thefe
parts, were at that time not fubjedt to fo
many difeafes as they are at prefent, and
people were feldom fick. All the old
Swedes likewife agreed, that their country-
men, who firfl came into North America^
attained to a great age, and their children
nearly to the fame ; but that their grand
children, and great grand children did not
reach the age of their anceftors, and their
health was not near fo vigorous and durable.
But the Swedes v/ho firft fettled in America^
lived very frugally ; they were poor, and
could not buy rum, brandy, or other ftrong
liquors, which they feldom diftilled them-
felves, as few of them had a diftilling vef-
fel. However they fometimes had a good
ftrong beer. They did not underftand the
art of making cyder, which is now fo com-
mon in the country : tea, coffee, choco^
late, which are at prefent even the country
people's daily breakfaft, were wholly un-
known to them : moft of them had never
tafted fugar or punch. The tea which is
now drank, is either very old, or mixed
with all forts of herbs, fo that it no longer

deferves

New Jerfeyy Raccoon. 371

deferves the name of tea : therefore it can-
not have any good effedt upon thofe who
ufe it plentifully ; beiides, it cannot fail
of relaxing the bowels, as it is drank both
in the morning and in the afternoon quite
boiling hot. The Indians, the offspring of
the firft inhabitants of this^ country, are a
proof of what I have faid. It is well known
that their anceftors, at the time of the firft
arrival of the Europeans y lived to a very
great age. According to the common ac-
counts, it was then not uncommon to find
people among the Indians, who were above
a hundred years old : they lived frugally,
and drank pure water : brandy, rum, wine,
and all the other flrong liquors, were utter-
ly unknown to them j but fince the chrif-
tians have taught them to drink thefe li-
quors, and the Indians have found them
too palatable, thofe who cannot refifl: their
appetites, hardly reach half the age of their
parents.

Lastly, fome people pretended that
the lofs of many odoriferous plants, with
which the woods were filled at the arrival
of the Europeans^ but which the cattle has
now extirpated, might be looked upon as
a caufe of the greater progrefs of the fever
at prefent. The number of thofe ftrong
plants occafioncd a pleafant fcent to rife in
A a 2 the

372 November 1748.

the woods every morning and evening. It
is therefore not unreafonable to think that
the noxioufnefs of the effluvia from putrify-
ing fubftances was then prevented, fo that
they were not fo dangerous to the inhabi-
tants.

Several remedies are employed againft
this difeafe: the jefuit's bark was formerly a
certain one, but at prefent it has not always
this effedt, though they fell it genuine, and
for the very beft. Many people accufed it
of leaving fomething noxious in the body.
Yet it was commonly obferved, that when
the bark was good, and it was taken as foon
as the fever made its appearance, and before
the body was weakened, it was almoft
fure to conquer the fever, fo that the cold
fits never returned, and no pain or ftiffnefs
remained in the limbs ; but when the di-
feafe is rooted in, and has confiderably weak-
ened the patients, or they are naturally very
weak, the fever leaves them after ufing the
jefuit's bark, but returns again in a fort-
night's time, and obliges them to take the
bark again -, but the confequence frequently
is a pain and a ftiffnefs in their limbs, and
fometimes in their bowels, which almoft |
hinders them from walking : this pain con- 1
tinues for feveral years together, and even
accompanies fome to the grave. This bad

efFedl

Neiv Jerfey, Raccoon, 373

efFe(ft is partly attributed to the bark, which
can feldom be got genuine here, and partly
to the little care which the patients take in
ufing the bark. A man of my acquaintance
was particularly dexterous in expelling the
ague by the ufe of the jefuit's bark. His
manner of proceeding was as follows : when
it was poffible, the patient muft ufe the re-
medy as foon as the fever begun, and be-
fore it was fettled in his body : but before
he took the medicine, he was to take a dia-
phoretic remedy, as that had been found
very falutary ; and as the fever is frequent-
ly of fuch a nature here, as not to make
the patient fweat, even when the hot fit is
upon him, a perfpiration was to be brought
about by fome other means. To that pur-
pofe the patient took his dofe on the day
when he had his cold fit, and was not al-
lowed to eat any thing at night. The next
morning he continued in a warm bed, drank
a quantity of tea, and was well covered that
he might perfpire plentifully. He conti-
nued fo till the perfpiration ceafed, and
then left the bed in a hot room, and walli-
ed his body with milk warm water, in or-
der to cleanfe it from the impurities that
fettled on it from the perfpiration, and to
prevent their flopping up of the pores. The
patient was then dried again, and at laft he
A a 3 took

374 November 1748.

took the bark feveral times in one day.
This was repeated twice or thrice on the
days after he had the ague, and it com-
monly left him without returning, and moft
people recover fo well, that they do not
look pale after their ficknefs.

The bark of the root of the Ti'ulip tree,
or Liriodendron Tulipifera, taken in the fame
manner as the jefuit's bark, fometimes had
a fimilar effedl.

Several people peeled the roots of the
Cornus Jloridd, or Dog woodf and gave this
peel to the patients -, and even fome people,
who could not be cured by the jefuit's bark,
have recovered by the help of this. I have
likewife feen people cured of the fever, by
taking brimftone reduced to powder, and
mixed with fugar every night before they
went to bed, and every morning before they
got up : they took it three or four times in
the intervals-, and at each time drank fome
warm liquor, to wa(h the powder down.
However others that tried the fame remedy
did not find much relief from it.

Some people collected the yellow bark of
the peach tree, efpecially that which is on
the root and boiled it in water, till half of
it was evaporated by boiling. Of this de-
codlion the patient took every morning
about a wine glafs full, before he had eaten

any

New Jerfiyy Raccoon. 375

any thing. This liquor has a difagreeable
tall€, and contrads the mouth and tongue
like alum 5 yet feveral perfons at Raccoon
who had tried many remedies in"vain, were
cured by this.

Others boiled the leaves of the Poten-
tilla reptans, or of the Potentilla canadenjisy
in water, and made the patients drink it
before the ague fit came on, and it is well
known that feveral perfons have recovered
by this means.

The people who are fettled upon the
river Mohawk in New York, both Indians
and Europeans collecfl the root of the
Geum rivale, and pound it. This powder
fome of them boil in water till it is a pret-
ty ftrong decodion : others only infufe
cold water on it and leave it fo for a day j
others mix it with brandy. Of this me-
dicine the patient is to take a wine glafs
full on the morning of the day when the
fever does not come, before he has eat-
en any thing. I was afTured that this was
one of the fureft remedies, and more cer-
tain than the jefuit's bark.

The people who live near the iron
mines, declared that they v/ere feidom or
never vifited by the fever and ague ; but
when they have the fever, they drink the
water of fuch fountains, as arife from the
A a ^ iron

376 November 1748.

iron mines, and have a ftrong chalybeat
tafte ; and they aflured me that this remedy
was infallible. Other people therefore who
did not live very far from fuch fprings,
went to them for a few days, when they
liad the fever, in order to drink the water,
which commonly cured them.

I HAVE already fhown above, that fage
mixed with lemon juice, has been found
very falutary againfl the ague.

It was however univerfally remarkable,
that that which cures one perfon of it, has
no effed upon another.

The pleurify is likewife a difeafe which
the people of this country are much fubje<5t
to. The Swedes in this province call it
jlitches and burnings and they always mean
the pleurify whenever they mention thofe
words. Many of the old Swedes told me
that they had heard very little of it when
they were young, and that their parents
had known ftill lefs of it in their childhood ;
but that it was fo common now, that many
people died every year of it : yet it has
been obferved, that in fome years this di-
feafe has been very moderate, and taken
few people away with it, whilft in other
years it makes great havock : it likewife is
more violent in fome places than in others.
In the autumn of the year 1728, it fwept

away

New Jerfiyy Raccoon. 375?

away many at Penn*s neck, a place below
Raccoon, and nearer to the Delaware, where
a nunftber of Swedes are fettled. Almoft all
the Swedes there died of it, though the^
were very nurtierous. From hence it haji-*'
pened that their children who were left iii
a very tender age, and grew up amon^
the Englifh childi^en, forgot their mother
tongue, fo that few of them underftand it
at prefent. Since that time, though the
pleurify has every year killed a few people
at Penns neck, yet it has not carried off any
confiderable numbers. It refted as it wei»e
till the autumn of the year 1748, but then
it began to make dreadful havock, and every
week fix or ten of the old people died.
The difeafe was fo violent, that when it at-
t-acked a perfon, he feldom lived above two
or three days j and of thofe who were takfefi
ill with it, very few recovered. When the
pleurify was got into a houfe, it killed moft
of the old people in it : it was a true pleu-
rify, but it had a peculiarity with it, for it
commonly began with a great fwelling un-
der the throat and in the neck, and with a
difficulty of fwallowing. Some people look-
ed upon it as contagious -, and others feri-
oufly declared, that when it came into a fa-
mily, not only thofe who lived in the famfe
houfe fuffered from it, but even fuch rela-
tions

2y^ November 1748.

tions ^s lived far off. There have been fe-
veral people at Penn's necky who, withont
vifiting their fick friends, have got the
pleurify and died of it : I do not difpute the
truth of this, though I do not agree to the
cpnclufion. The pleurify w^as the moft vio-
lent in November 'y yet fome old people died
of it even in the next winter; but children
were pretty free from it. The phyficians
did not know what to make of it, nor how
to remedy it.

It is difficult to determine the caufes of
fuch violent difeafes. An old Engli/h fur-
geon who lived here gave the following
reafon. The inhabitants of this country
drink great quantities of punch and other
ftrong liquors in fummer, when it is very
hot ; by that means the veins in the dia-
phragm contract, and the blood grows thick.
Towards the end of OBober and the begin-
ning of November, the weather is apt to
alter very fuddenly, fo that heat and cold
change feveral times a day. When the
people during this changeable weather are
in the open air, they commonly get this
difeafe. It is likewife certain that the air
is more unwholefome one year, than ano-
ther, which depends upon the heat, and
other circumftances : this peculiar quality
of the air muft of courfe prodi^ce a pleurify.

It

'Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 379

It is remarkable, that both in the year
1728, and in the prefent, when fo many
people died at Penns neck, few died at
Raccoon y though the two places are near
each other, and feem to have the fame foil
and climate. But there is this difference
that Penn's neck lies remarkably low, and
Raccoon pretty high. The people in the
former place have fettled between marfhes
and fwamps, in which the water ftagnates
and putrifies ; and moft of thefe places are
covered with trees, by which means the
wet is fhut up ftill more, and near fuch
marfhes, are the houfes. Laftly the water
at Penn% neck is not reckoned fo good as
that in Raccoon^ but has fome tafte. It
likewife becomes brackilh in feveral little
rivers when the Delaware during the tide
rifes very high, and runs up into them. On
the banks of thefe rivulets live many of
the Swedes, and take water for common
ufe from them.

December the 3d. This morning I fet
out for Philadelphia, where I arrived in the
evening.

Wild grapes are very abundant in the
woods, and of various kinds -, a fpecies of
them which are remarkable for their fize,
grow in the marfhes, and are greedily eaten
by the Raccoon : they are therefore called

marjh

380 Decembtr 1748.

marjh grapes, but the Englijh call them/o^
grapes : they have not an agreeable flavour,
and are feldom eaten by the inhabitants of
this country, who make ufe of a fmall kind
of wild grapes, which grow on a dry foil ;
pretty late in autumn when they are qwite
ripe, they are eaten raw, and have a very
good flavour, being a mixture of fweet
and acid. Some people dry thefe grapes
when gathered and bake them in tarts, &c.
they like wife make ufe of them as dried
fweetmeats. The Swedes formerly made a
pretty good wine from them j but have
now left it off. However fome of the En-
glifh ftill prefs an agreeable liquor from
thefe grapes, which they aflfured me was as
good as the bed claret, and that it would
keep for feveral years.

The manner of preparing this fort of
wine has been defcribed at large in an al-
manack of this country, for the year 1743,
and is as follows : the grapes are colledied
from the twenty firft o^ September to about
the eleventh of November, that is as they
grow ripe : they mufl: be gathered in dry
weather, arid after the dew is gone off:
the grapes are cleared of the cobwebs, dry
leaves, and other things adhering to them.
Next a great hoglhead is prepared which has
cither had treacle or brandy in ; it is wafhcd

very

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 381

very clean, one of the bottoms beat out,
and the other placed on a (land for the pur-
pofe, or on pieces of wood in the cellar, or
elfe in a warm room, about two feet above
the ground : the grapes are put into this
hogfhead, and as they fink lower in three
or four days time more are added. A man
with naked feet gets into the hogfliead and
treads the grapes, and in about half an
hour's time the juice is forced out ; the man
then turns the loweft grapes uppermoft,
and treads them for about a quarter of
an hour : this is fufficient to fqueeze the
good juice out of them : for an additio-
nal prelTure would even crufli the unripe
grapes, and give the whole a difagreea-
ble flavour. The hogfliead is then co-
vered with a thick blanket -, but if there
is no cellar, or it is very cold, two are fpread
over it. Under this covering the juice is
left to ferment for the firft time, and in the
next four or five days it ferments and works
very ftrongly. As foon as the fermentation
ceafes, a hole is made about fix inches from
the bottom, andfomeof the juice is tapped
off about twice in a day. As foon as this
is clear and fettled, it is poured into an
anker of a middling fize j for from twenty
bufliels of grapes, they get about as many
gallons of juice : the anker remains un-
touched

382 December 1748.

touched and the muft in it ferments a ie-
cond time : at this time it is neceffary that
the anker be quite full , the fcum which
fettles at the bunghole, muft be taken off,
and the anker always filled up with more
muft, which is kept ready for that pur-
pofe : this is continued till chriftmas, when
the anker may be flopped up ; at laft the
wine is ready in February and bottled. It
is likewife ufual here, to put fome of the
ripe grapes into a veflel in order to make a
vinegar, and that which is got by this
means is very good. Several people made
brandy from thefe grapes which has a very
pleafant tafte, but is ftill more pleafant,
if the fruits of the perfimon are mixed
with it. The wood of thefe vines is of no
ufe, it is fo brittle that it cannot be ufed
for flicks : on cutting into the ftem, a
white, infipid refin comes out a few hours
after the wound is made. In many gardens
vines are planted for the purpofe of making
arbours fOr which they are indeed excellent;
as their large and plentiful leaves form a
very clofe cover againft the fcorching heat of
the fun. When the vines flower here in
May and June, the flowers exhale a ftrong,
but exceeding pleafant and refrefhing fmell,
which is perceptible even at a great dif-
tance. Therefore on coming into the woods

about

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 383

about that time, you may judge from the
fweet perfume in the air, arifing from the
flowers of the vines, that you are near them,
though you do not fee them. Though the
winters be ever fo fevere, yet they do not
afFe<fl the vines. Each grape is about the
lize of a pea, but further fouthward they
are faid to be of the lize of common raifins,
and of a finer flavour. Further up in the
country, during a part of autumn, they are
the chief fc-d of bears, who climb up the
trees in order to pluck them. People are
of opinion that if the wild vines were cul-
tivated with more care, the grapes would
grow larger, and more palatable.

December the 5th. I shall here men-
tion two prognofticks of the weather, which
were greatly valued here. Some people
pretended to foretel that the enfuing winter
would not be a fevere one : this they con-
jedured from having feen wild ^tt(t and
other migratory birds go to the fouth in
OBobevy but return a few days ago in great
numbers, and even pafs on further to the
north. Indeed the enfuing winter was one
of the mofl: temperate ones.

Several perfons likewife aflured us that
we fhould have rain before to morrow night.
The reafon they gave for this conjecture
was, that this morning at fun rifing, from

their

384 December 1748.

their windows they had feen every thing
very plainly on the other fjde of the river,
fo that it appeared much nearer than ufual,
and that this commonly foreboded rain.
This prefagc w^s likewife pretty exactly
fulfilled.

The Indians before the arrival of the
]S.uropeans, had no notion of the ufe of iron,
though that metal was abundant in their
country. However they knew in fome
meafure how to make ufe of copper. Some
Dutchmen who lived here, flill preferved
the old account among them, that their
anceftors on their firft fettling in New Tork
had met with many of the Indians, who
had tobacco pipes of copper, and who made
them underftand by figns, that they got
them in the neighbourhood: afterwards the
fine copper mine was difcovered, upon the
fecond river between Elizabeth-town and
New Tork, On digging in this mine, the
people met with holes worked in the moun-
tain, out of which fome copper had been
taken, and they found even fome tools,
which the Indians probably made ufe of,
when they endeavoured to get the metal for
their pipes. Such holes in the mountains
have likewife been found in fome parts of
Penfyhaniat viz. below Newcajiie towards
the fea fide, and always fome marks of a

copper

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 385

copper ore along with them. Some peo-
ple have conjed:ured, that the Spaniards,
after difcovering Mexico, failed along the
coafts of North America, and landed now
and then, in order to enquire whether any
gold or filver was to be met with, and that
they perhaps made thefe holes in the moun-
tains : but fuppoling them to have made
fuch a voyage along the coafts, they could
not immediately have found out the copper
mines j and they probably did not flop to
blaft this ore, as they were bent only upon
gold and filver j it is therefore almoft un-
doubted that the Indians dug thefe holes :
or may we be allowed to fufpedt that our
old Normans, long before the difcoveries of
Columbus, came into thefe parts and met
with fuch veins of copper, when they fail-
ed to what they called the excellent Wine^
land,^ of which our ancient traditional re-
cords called Sagor fpeak, and which un-
doubtedly was North America. But in re-
gard to this, I fhall have occafion in the
fequcl better to explain rny fentiments. It
was remarkable, that in all thofe places
where fuch holes have lately been found in
the mountains, which manifeftly feem to
B b have

* See for this opinion the fcarce and curious work intitled,
Torfai htftorta Vinlandia antiquee feu partis America feptentri-
onalis, Jiafnia 171s* 4^0* F»

386 December 1748,

have been dug by tnen, they were always
covered with a great quantity of earth, as if
they were intended to remain hidden frona
ftrangers.

December the 6th. On long voyages the
failors fometimes catch fuch fi(h as are
known to none of the fhip's company ; but
as they are very greedy after frefh provifi-
ons, they feldom abftain from eating th^m*
however it proves often venturing too much,
experience having fhown, that their want of
caution has often coft them their lives, for
fometimes poifonous fifh are caught. But
there is a method of finding them out, as I
have heard from feveral captains of fhips :
it is ufual when fuch unknown fi(h are boil-
ed, to put a filver button, or any piece of
lilver into the kettle, which if the fi{h be
poifonous, will turn quite black, but if it
be not, it will not change : fome of th€
feamen referred to their own repeated expe-
rience.*

Mr. Franklin and feveral other gentle-
men frequently told me, that a powerful

Indian,

• This experimentivith the filver, fuppofes that the broth
©f the fifh would be fo ftrong as to aft as a folvent upon the
filver ; but there may be poifons, which would not afFeft the
filver, and however prove fatal to men ; the fiireft way there-
fore would be to fupprefs that appethe, which nay become
fatal not only to a few men of the crew, but alfo endamger
the whole fhip, by the lofs of necei&iy hands. F.

Penjylvania, Philadelphia, 387

Indian, who poffeffed Rhode IJland had fold
it to the Englijh for a pair of fpedtacles : it
is large enough for a prince's domain, and
makes a peculiar government at prefent.
This Indian knew to fet a true value upon
a pair of fpeftacles : for undoubtedly if
thofe glalTes were not fo plentiful, and only
a few of them could be found, they would
on account of their great ufe, bear the fame
price with diamonds.

The fervants which are made ufe of in
the Eng/i/h American colonies are either free
perfons, or Haves, and the former are again
of two different forts.

I. Those who are quite free ferve by
the year, they are not only allowed to leave
their fervice at the expiration of their year,
but may leave it at any time when they do
not agree with their mafters. However in
that cafe they are in danger of lofing their
wages, which are very confiderable. A
man fervant who has fome abilities, gets
between lixteen and twenty pounds in Pen-
jylvania currency, but thofe in the country
do not get fo much. A fervant maid gets
eight or ten pounds a year : thefe fervants
have their food befides their wages, but
muft buy their own clothes, and what they
get of thefe they muil thank their mailer's
goodnefs for.

B b 2 2. The

388 December 1748.

2. The fecond kind of free fervants COii-
fift of fuch perfons as annually come from
Germany, England and other countries, in
order to fettle here. Thefe new comers are
very numerous every year : there are old and
young ones, and of both fexes ; fome of
them ' have fled from oppfelTion, under
which they fuppofed themfelves to have
laboured. Others have been driven from
their country by perfecutiofi on account
of religion ; but moft of them are poor,
and have not money enough to pay their
pafTage, which is between fix and eight
pounds fterling for each perfon ; therefore
they agree with the captain that they will
fuffer themfelves to be fold for a few years,
on their arrival. In that cafe the perfon
who buys them, pays the freight for them,
but frequently very old people come over,
who cannot pay their paiTage, they there-
fore fell their children, fo that they ferve
both for themfelves and for their parents :
there are likewife fome who pay part of
their paiTage, and they are fold only for a
Ihort time. From thefe circumftances it
appears, that the price of the poor foreigners
who come over to North America is not
equal, and that fome of them ferve longer
than others : when their time is expired,
they get a new fuit of clothes from their

mailer

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 389

mafter, and fome other things : he is like-
wife obliged to feed and clothe them
during the years of their fervitude. Many
oi t\\Q Germans who come hither, bring
money enough with them to pay their paf-
fage, but rather fuffer themfelves to be fold,
with a view that during their fervitude they
may get fome knowledge of the language
and quality of the country, and the like,
that they may the better be able to confider
what they fhall do when they have got their
liberty. Such fervahts are taken preferable
to all others, becaufe they are not fo dear;
for to buy a Negroe or black flave, requires
too much money at once ; and men or
maids who get yearly wages, are likewife
too dear; but this kind of fervants may be
got for half the money, and even for lefs;
for they commonly pay fourteen pounds,
Penjylvania currency, for a perfon who is
to ferve four years, and fo on in proportion.
Their wages therefore are not above three
pounds Penjylvania currency per ann. This
kind of fervants, the Englijh call fervings.
When a perfon has bought fuch a fervant
for a certain number of years, and has an
intention to fell him again, he is at liberty
to do fo ; but he is obliged, at the expira-
tion of the term of the fervitude to provide
the ufual fuit of cloaths for the fervant, un-
B b 3 lefs

39 o December 1748.

lefs he has made that part of the bargain
with the purchafer. The Englijh and
Irijh commonly fell themfelves for four
years, but the Germans frequently agree
with the captain before they fet out, to
pay him a certain fum of money, for a cer-
tain number of perfons 5 as foon as they ar-
rive in America, they go about and try to
get a man who will pay the pafTage for
them. In return they give according to
the circumftances one, or feveral of their
children to ferve a certain number of years,
at laft they make their bargain with the
higheft bidder.

3. The Negroes or Blacks make the third
kind. They are in a manner Haves 5 for
when a Negro is once bought, he is the
purchafer's fervant as long as he lives, un-
iefs he gives him to another, or makes him
free. However it is not in the power of
the mafter to kill his Negro for a fault, but
he mufl: leave it to the magiftrates to pro-
ceed according to the laws. Formerly the
Negroes were brought over from Africa,
and bought by almoft every one who could
afford it. The quakers alone fcrupled to
have Haves ; but they are no longer fo nice,
and they have as many Negroes as other
people. However many people cannot con-
quer the idea of its being contrary to the

laws

Penjyhania, Philadelphia, 391

laws of chriftianity to keep flaves. There
are likewife feveral free Negroes in town,
who have been lucky enough to get a very
zealous quaker for their mafter, who gave
them their liberty, after they had faithfully
ferved him for fome time.

At prefent they feldom bring over any
Negroes to the Englijh colonies, for thofe
which were formerly brought thither have
multiplied confiderably. In regard to their
marriage they proceed as follows : in cafe
you have not only male but likewife fe-
male Negroes, they muft intermarry, and
then the children are all your flaves ; but
if you poflefs a male Negro only, and he
has an inclination to marry a female belong-
ing to a different mafter, you do not hinder
your Negro in fo delicate a point -, but it is
no advantage to you, for the children be-
long to the mafter of the female; it is
therefore advantageous to have Negro-
women. A man who kills his Negro muft
fufFer death for it : there is not however an
example here of a white man's having been
executed on this account. A few years
ago it happened that a mafter killed his
flave ; his friends and even the magiftrates
fecretly advifed him to leave the country,
as otherwife they could not avoid taking
him prifoner, and then he would be con-
B b 4 demned

392 December 1748.

demned to die according to the laws of the
country, without any hopes of faving him.
This lenity was employed towards him,
that the Negroes might not have the faiif-
fadiion of feeing a mafter executed for kill-
ing his flave ; for this would lead them to
all forts of dangerous defigns againft their
mafters, and to value themfelves too much.
The Negroes were formerly brought from
Africa, as I mentioned before j but now
this feldom happens, for they are bought
in the Wejl Indies, or American Ijlands, whi-
ther they were originally brought from their
own country : for it has been found that
on tranfporting the Negroes from Africa,
immediately into thefe northern countries,
they have not fuch a good ftate of health,
as when they gradually change places, and
are firft carried from Africa to the Weft In^
dies, and from thence to North America,
It has frequently been found, that the Ne-
groes cannot (land the cold here fo well as
the Europeans or whites ; for whilft the
latter are not in the leaft affeded by the
cold, the toes and fingers of the former are
frequently frozen. There is likewife a ma-
terial difference among them in this pointy
for thofe who come immediately from Afri^
ca, cannot bear the cold fo well as thofe
who are either born in this country, or

have

Penfyhania, Philadelphia. 393

have been here for a conliderable time ; for
the frofl eafily hurts the hands or feet of
the Negroes which come from Africa, or
occalions violent pains iti their whole body,
or in fome parts of it, though it does not
at all affedt thofe who have been here for
fome time. There are frequent examples
that the Negroes on their paiTage from
Africa, i£ \i happens in winter, have fome
of their limbs deftroyed by froft on board the
fhip, when the cold is but very inconfiderable
and the failors are fcarce obliged to cover
their hands. I was even affured, that fome
Negroes have been feen here, who have had
an exceffive pain in their legs, which after-
wards broke in the middle, and dropt en-
tirely from the body, together with the flefh
on them. Thus it is the fame cafe with
men here, as with plants which are brought
from the fouthern countries, and cannot ac-
cuftom themfelves to a colder climate. ; •
The price of Negroes differs according
to their age, health and abilities. A full
grown Negro cofts from forty pounds and
upwards to a hundred oi Penfyhania cur-
rency. There are even examples that a
gentleman has paid hundred pounds for a
black Have at Philadelphia , and refufed to
fell him again for the fame money.: A Ne-
gro boy, or girl, of two or three years old,
can hardly be got for lefs than eight or

fourteen

394 December 1748.

fourteen pounds in Penfylvanian currency.
Not only the quakers, but likewife feveral
chriilians of other denominations fometinies
fpt their Negroes at liberty. This is done
in the following manner : when a gentle-
man has a faithful Negro who has done
him great fervices, he fometimes declares
him independent at his death. This is
however very expeniive ; for they are oblig-
ed to make a provifton for the Negro thus
fct at liberty, to afford him fubfiftence
when he is grown old, that he may not
be driven by neceflity to wicked a<ltions,
or that he may be at any body's charge,
for thefe free Negroes become very lazy and
indolent afterwards. But the children which
tjle free Negro has begot during his fervi-
tude are all flaves, though their father be
free. On the other hand thofe Negro chil-
dren are free whofe parents are at liberty.
The Negroes in the North American colo-
nies are treated more mildly, and fed better
than thofe in the Wejl Indies, They have
as good food as the reft of the fervants, and
they poUefs equal advantages in all things,
except their being obliged to ferve their
whole life time, and get no other wages
than what their mafter's goodnefs allows
them : they are likewife clad at their
mafter's expence. On the contrary, in the
JVeJi Indies, and efpecially in the Spanip

IJlands

Penfyhania, Philadelphia, 39^;

IJlands they are treated very cruelly 5 there*
fore no threats make more impreflion upon
a Negro here, than that of fending him
over to the Weji Indies, in cafe he would
not reform. It has likewife been frequent-
ly found by experience, that when you
fhow too much remiffnefs to thefe Negroes,
they grow fo obftinated, that they will no
longer do any thing but of their own ac^
cord : therefore a ftridt difcipline is very
neceffary, if their mailer expe<Sts to be fa-
tisfied with their fervices.

In the year 1620, fome Negroes were
brought to North America in a Dutch fhip,
and in Virginia they bought twenty of them.
Thefe are faid to have been the iirft that
came hither. When the Indians who were
then more numerous in the country than at
prefent, faw thefe black people for the firft
time, they thought they were a true breed
of Devils, and therefore they called them
Manitto for a great while : this word in
their language fignifies not only God, but
likewife the Devil. Some time before that,
when they faw the firft European Ihip on
their coafts, they were perfe(ftly perfuaded
that God himfelf was in the fhip. This
account I got from fome Indians, who pre-^
ferved it among them as a tradition which
they had received from their aJiceilors :
therefore the arrival of the Negroes feemed

to

396 '''I)ecetnber 1748.

to them to' have confufed every things but
fince that time, they have entertained lefs
difagreeable notions of the Negroes, for at
prefent many live among them, and they
even fometimes intermarry, as I myfelf
have feen.

The Negroes have therefore been up-
wards of a hundred and thirty years in this
country : but the winters here efpecially in
New England 2in6. New Tor k, are as fevere
as our Swedijh winters. I therefore very
carefully enquired whether the cold had
not been obferved, to afFe6t the colour of
the Negroes, and to change it, fo that the
third or fourth generation from the firft that
came hither, were not fo black as their an-
ceftors. But I was generally anfwered, that
there was not the leaft difference of colour
to be perceived; and that a Negro born
here of parents which were likewife born
in this country, and whofe anceftors both
men and women had all been blacks born
in this country, up to the third or fourth
generation, was not at all different in co-
lour, from thofe Negroes who are brought
diredlly over from Africa, From hence
many people conclude, that a Negro or his
pofterity do not change colour, though they
continue ever fo long in a cold climate ; but
the mixing of a white man with a Negro
woman, or of a Negro with a white woman

has

Penfyjlvamay Philadelphia* 397

has a difFerent effedt, therefore to prevent
any difagreeable mixtures of the white peo-
ple and Negroes, and that the Negroes may
not form too great an opinion of them-
felves, to the difadvantage of their mafters,
I am told there is a law made prohibiting
the whites of both fexes to marry Negroes,
under pain of death, and deprivation of the
clergyman who marries them : but that
the whites and blacks fometimes mix, ap-
pears from children of a mixed complexion,
which are fometimes born.

It is likewife greatly to be pitied, that
the mafters of thefe Negroes in moft of the
Englijh colonies take little care of their
fpiritual welfare, and let them live on in
their pagan darknefs. There are even fame,
who would be very ill pleafed at, and would
by all means hinder their Negroes from be-
ing inftrudted in the dodlrines of chriftianity,
to this they are partly led by the conceit
of its being fhameful, to have a fpiritual
brother or lifter among fo defpicable a peo-
ple, partly by thinking that they Ihould not
be able to keep their Negroes fo meanly
afterwards ; and partly through fear of the
Negroes growing too proud, on feeing
themfelves upon a level with their mafters
in religious matters.

Several writings are well known, which
mentipn, that the Negroes in South Ame-
rica

598 Decemher 1748;

rica have a kind of poifon with which they
kill each other, though the effect is not
fudden, but happens a long time after the
perfon has taken it : the fame dangerous art
of poifoning is known by the Negroes in
North America, as has frequently been expe-
rienced. However only a few of them know
the fecret, and they likewife know the re-
medy againft it, therefore when a Negro
feels himfelf poifoned and can recoiled the
enemy, who might poflible have given him
the poifon, he goes to him, and endeavours by
money and entreaties to move him to deliver
him from the poifon -, but if the Negro is
malicious, he does not only deny that he
ever poifoned him, but likev/ife that he
knows a remedy againft it : this poifon
does not kill immediately, for fometimes
the fick perfon dies fome years after. But
from the moment he has the poifon be falls
into a confumption and enjoys few days of
good health : fuch a poor wretch often knows
that he is poifoned, the moment he gets the
poifon. The Negroes commonly employ
it on fuch of their brethren as behave well,
are beloved by their mailers, and feparate
as it were from their countrymen, or do
not like to converfe with them. They have
likewife often other reafons for their enmi-
ty; but there are few examples of their

having

Penfyhaniaf Philadelphia, 3^9

having poifoned their mafters. Perhaps the
mild treatment they receive, keeps them
from doing it, or perhaps they fear that they
may be difcovered, and that in fuch 'a cafe,
the fevereft punifhments would be inflidted
on them.

They never difeover what the polfort
Gonfifls of, and keep it fecret beyond eon*,
ception. It is probable that it is a very
common thing which may be got all th^
world over, for wherever they are they can
always eafily procure it. Therefore it can^
not be a plant, as feveral learned men
have thought; for that is not to be met
with every where. I have heard many ac-
counts here of Negroes who have been
killed by this poifon. 1 fhall only mention
one incident which happened during my
flay in this country. A man here had a
Negro who was exceedingly faithful to him,
and behaved fo well, that he would not
have given him for twenty other Negroes.
His mafter likewife fliewisd him a peculiar
kindnefs, and the Have's condud: equalled
that of the beft chriftian fervant j h« like-
wife converfed as little as poflible with the
other Negroes 5 on that account they hated
him to excefsj but as he was fearce ev^r in
company with them, they had no opportu-
nity of conveying the poifon to him, which

they

40O December iy^^\

they had often tried. However on coming
to town during the fair (for he lived in the
country) fome other Negroes invited him
to drink with them. At firft he would
not, but they prelTed him till he was obli-
ged to comply. As foon as he came into
the room, the others took a pot from the
wall and pledged him, defiring him to drink
likewife : he drank, but when he took the
pot from his mouth, he faid what beer is
this ? It is full of ******. I purpofely
omii what he mentioned, for it feems un-
doubtedly to have been the name of the
poifon with which malicious Negroes do fo
much harm, and which is to be met with
almoft every where. It might be too much
employed to wicked purpofes, and it is
therefore better that it remains unknown.
The other Negroes and Negro- women fell
a laughing at the complaints of their hated
countryman, and danced and fung as if they
had done an excellent ad:ion, and had at
laft obtained the point fo much wifhed for.
The innocent Negro went away immedi-
ately, and when he got home, faid that the
other Negroes had certainly poifoned him :
he then fell into a confumption, and no
remedy could prevent his death.

End of Vol, I.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE whole Sheet Map of a
great Part of North America,
intended for the Illuftration
of thefe Travels, could not be got rea-
dy in Time for the firfl: Volume, on
Account of its Size and the great many-
Names of Places brought into it, which
muft give it a Superiority above any
Map hitherto publifhed of this Part of
the World : but the Tranflator hopes,
the Public will the more readily excufe
this Omiffion, as it will greatly tend to
make the Map more perfe6l, and as
the fecond Volume will foon appear,
where itfhall undoubtedly be inferted.
At the fame Time he intreats the
Encouragers of this Work to compleat
the Subfcriptions for the fecond Vo-
lume, and to favour him with the
Lifts of Subfcribers as foon as poffible;
and if any more Gentlemen will favour
him with their Subfcriptions, he will
look upon it as an incentive the more
vigor ou fly to go on with the reft of
the Publication.

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HO^nasxiid JO Axis^3AiN:n