PETER KALM’s TRAVELS. (continued 2)

I have likewise tried experiments of every kind with the poison tree on myself. I have spread its juice upon my hands, cut and broke its branches, peeled off its bark, and rubbed my hands with it, smelt at it, carried pieces of it in my bare hands, and repeated all this frequently, without feeling the baneful effects so commonly annexed to it; but I however once experienced that the poison of the sumach was not entirely without effect upon me. On a hot day in summer, as I was in some degree of perspiration, I cut a branch of the tree, and carried it in my hand for about half an hour together, and smelt at it now and then. I felt no effects from it, till in the evening. But next morning I awoke with a violent itching of my eye-lids, and the parts thereabouts, and this was so painful, that I could hardly keep my hands from it. It ceased after I had washed my eyes for a while, with very cold water. But my eye-lids were very stiff 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 used the same remedy against it. However it continued almost 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 ceased entirely afterwards. About the same time, I had spread the juice of the tree very thick upon my hand. Three days after they occasioned blisters, which soon went off without affecting me much. I have not experienced any thing more of the effects of this plant, nor had I any desire so to do. However I found that it could not exert its power upon me, when I was not perspiring.

I have never heard that the poison of this Sumach has been mortal; but the pain ceases after a few days duration. The natives formerly made their flutes of this tree, because it has a great deal of pith. Some people assured me, that a person suffering from its noisome exhalations, would easily recover by spreading a mixture of the wood, burnt to charcoal, and hog’s lard, upon the swelled parts. Some asserted that they had really tried this remedy. In some places this tree is rooted out on purpose, that its poison may not affect the workmen.

Few black pebbles are found in this province, which on the other hand yields many kinds of marble, especially a white one, with pale-grey bluish spots, which is found in a quarry at the distance of a few English miles from Philadelphia, and is very good for working, though it is not one of the finest kind of marbles. They make many tombstones and tables, enchase chimneys and doors, floors of marble flags in the rooms, and the like of this kind of marble. A quantity of this commodity is shipped to different parts of America.

The ladies make wine from some of the fruits of the land. They principally take white and red currants for that purpose, since the shrubs of this kind are very plentiful in the gardens, and succeed very well. An old sailor who had frequently been in New-foundland, told me that red currants grew wild in that country in great quantity. They likewise make a wine of strawberries, which grow in great plenty in the woods, but are sourer than the Swedish ones. The American blackberries, or Rubus occidentalis, are likewise made use of for this purpose, for they grow every where about the fields, almost as abundantly as thistles in Sweden, and have a very agreeable taste. In Maryland a wine is made of the wild grapes, which grow in the woods of that province. Raspberries and cherries which are planted on purpose, and taken great care of, likewise afford a very fine wine. It is unnecessary 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 21st. The common Privet, or Ligustrum vulgare, Linn. grows among the bushes in thickets and woods. But I cannot determine whether it belongs to the indigenous plants, or to those which the English have introduced, the fruits of which the birds may have dispersed every where. The enclosures and pales are generally made here of wooden planks and posts. But a few, good œconomists, having already thought of sparing the woods for future times, have begun to plant quick hedges round their fields; and to this purpose they take the above-mentioned privet, which they plant in a little bank, which is thrown up for it. The soil every where hereabouts is a clay mixed with sand, and of course very loose. The privet hedges however, are only adapted to the tameness of the cattle and other animals here; for the hogs all have a triangular yoke about their necks, and the other cattle are not very unruly. But in such places where the cattle break through the enclosures, 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 enclosed.

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

The country on both sides of the road was covered with a great forest. The trees were all with annual leaves, and I did not see a single fir or pine. Most of the trees were different sorts of oak. But we likewise saw chesnut trees, walnut trees, locust trees, apple trees, hiccory, blackberry bushes, and the like. The ground ceased to be so even as it was before, and began to look more like the English ground, diversified with hills and vallies. We found neither mountains nor great stones, and the wood was so much thinned, and the ground so uniformly even, that we could see a great way between the trees, under which we rode without any inconvenience; for there were no bushes to stop us. In some places where the soil was thrown up, we saw some little stones of that kind of which the houses here are so generally built. I intend to describe them in the sequel.

As we went on in the wood, we continually saw at moderate distances little fields, which had been cleared of the wood. Each of these was a farm. These farms were commonly very pretty, and a walk of trees frequently led from them to the high-road. The houses were all built of brick, or of the stone which is here every where to be met with. Every countryman, even though he were the poorest peasant, had an orchard with apples, peaches, chesnuts, walnuts, cherries, quinces, and such fruits, and sometimes we saw the vines climbing along them. The vallies were frequently provided with little brooks which contained a crystal stream. The corn on the sides of the road, was almost all mown, and no other grain besides maize and buckwheat was standing. The former was to be met with near each farm, in greater or lesser quantities; it grew very well and to a great length, the stalks being from six to ten foot high and covered with fine green leaves. Buckwheat likewise was not very uncommon, and in some places the people were beginning to reap it. I intend in the sequel to be more particular about the qualities and use of these kinds of corn.

After a ride of six English miles, we came to Germantown; this town has only one street, but is near two English miles long. It is for the greatest part inhabited by Germans, who from time to time come from their country to North America, and settle here, because they enjoy such privileges, as they are not possessed of any where else. Most of the inhabitants are tradesmen, and make almost every thing in such quantity and perfection, that in a short time this province will want very little from England, its mother country. Most of the houses were built of the stone which is mixed with glimmer, and found every where towards Philadelphia, but is more scarce further on. Several houses however were made of brick. They were commonly two stories high, and sometimes higher. The roofs consisted of shingles of the white cedar wood. Their shape resembled that of the roofs in Sweden, but the angles they formed at the top were either obtuse, right angled, or acute, according as the slopes were steep or easy. They sometimes formed either the half of an octogon, or the half of a dodecagon.

Many of the roofs were made in such a manner, that they could be walked upon, having a balustrade round them. Many of the upper stories had balconies before them, from whence the people had a prospect into the street. The windows, even those in the third story, had shutters. Each house had a fine garden. The town had three churches, one for the lutherans, another for the reformed protestants, and the third for the quakers. The inhabitants were so numerous, that the street was always full. The baptists have likewise a meeting-house.

September the 22d. After I had been at church, I employed the remainder of the day in conversing with the most considerable people in town, who had lived here for a long while, and I enquired into the curiosities hereabouts.

Mr. Cock had a fine spring near his country seat; it came from a sandy hill, and afforded water enough constantly to fill a little brook. Just above this spring Mr. Cock had erected a building from those above-mentioned glittering stones, into which were put many jugs, and other earthen vessels full of milk; for it kept very well in cold water during the great heat with which the summer is attended here.

I afterwards met with many houses which were situated like this on springs, and therefore were destined to keep the meat and milk fresh.

Almost all the enclosures round the corn-fields and meadows hereabouts, were made of planks fastened in a horizontal direction. I only perceived a hedge of privet in one single place. The enclosures were not made like ours, for the people here take posts from four to six feet in height, and make two or three holes into them, so that there was a distance of two feet and above between them. Such a post does the same service as two, and sometimes three poles are scarce sufficient. The posts were fastened in the ground, at two or three fathoms distance from each other, and the holes in them kept up the planks, which were nine inches, and sometimes a foot broad, and lay above each other from one post to the next. Such an enclosure therefore looked at a distance like the hurdles in which we enclose the sheep at night in Sweden. They were really no closer than hurdles, being only destined to keep out the greater animals, such as cows and horses. The hogs are kept near the farm-houses every where about Philadelphia, and therefore this enclosure does not need to be made closer on their account. Chesnut trees were commonly made use of for this purpose, because this wood keeps longest against putrefaction, and an enclosure made of it can stand for thirty years together. But where no chesnut wood was to be got, the white, and likewise the black oaks were taken for that purpose. Of all kinds of wood, that of the red cedar holds out the longest. The greatest quantity of it is brought up here; for near Philadelphia it is not plentiful enough, to be made use of for enclosures; however there are many enclosures near the town made of this wood.

The best wood for fuel in every body’s opinion is the hiccory, or a species of walnut; for it heats well; but is not good for enclosures, since it cannot well withstand putrefaction when it is in the open air. The white and black oaks are next in goodness for fuel. The woods with which Philadelphia is surrounded, would lead one to conclude, that fuel must be cheap there. But it is far from being so, because the great and high forest near the town is the property of some people of quality and fortune, who do not regard the money which they could make of them. They do not sell so much as they require for their own use, and much less would they sell it to others. But they leave the trees for times to come, expecting that wood will become much more scarce. However they sell it to joiners, coach-makers, and other artists, who pay exorbitantly for it. For a quantity of hiccory of eight foot in length, and four in depth, and the pieces being likewise four foot long, they paid at present eighteen shillings of Pensylvanian currency. But the same quantity of oak only came to twelve shillings. The people who came at present to sell wood in the market were peasants, who lived at a great distance from the town. Every body complained that fuel in the space of a few years, was risen in price to many times as much again as it had been, and to account for this, the following reasons were given: the town is encreased to such a degree, as to be four or six times bigger, and more populous than what some 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 likewise more cultivated than it used to be, and consequently great woods have been cut down for that purpose; and the farms built in those places likewise consume a quantity of wood. Lastly, they melt iron out of the ore, in several places about the town, and this work always goes on without interruption. For these reasons it is concluded in future times Philadelphia will be obliged to pay a great price for wood.

The wine of blackberries, which has a very fine taste, is made in the following manner. The juice of the blackberries is pressed out, and put into a vessel; with half a gallon of this juice, an equal quantity of water is well mixed. Three pounds of brown sugar are added to this mixture, which must then stand for a while, and after that, it is fit for use. Cherry wine is made in the same manner, but care must be taken that when the juice is pressed out, the stones be not crushed, for they give the wine a bad taste.

They make brandy from peaches here, after the following method. The fruit is cut asunder, and the stones are taken out. The pieces of fruit are then put into a vessel, where they are left for three weeks or a month, till they are quite putrid. They are then put into the distilling vessel, and the brandy is made and afterwards distilled over again. This brandy is not good for people who have a more refined taste, but it is only for the common kind of people, such as workmen and the like.

Apples yield a brandy, when prepared in the same manner as the peaches. But for this purpose those apples are chiefly taken, which fall from the tree before they are ripe.

The American Night-shade, or Phytolacca decandra, Linn. S. N. grows abundantly near the farms, on the highroad in hedges and bushes, and in several places in the fields. Whenever I came to any of these places I was sure of finding this plant in great abundance. Most of them had red berries, which grew in bunches, and looked very tempting, though they were not at all fit for eating. Some of these plants were yet in flower. In some places, such as in the hedges, and near the houses, they sometimes 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 confectioner told me, that the dyers gathered the roots of this plant and made a fine red dye of them.

Here are several species of Squirrels. The ground Squirrels, or Sciurus striatus, Linn. S. N. are commonly kept in cages, because they are very pretty: but they cannot he entirely tamed. The greater Squirrels, or Sciurus cinereus, Linn. S. N. frequently do a great deal of mischief in the plantations, but particularly destroy the maize. For they climb up the stalks, cut the ears in pieces and eat only the loose and sweet kernel which lies quite in the inside. They sometimes come by hundreds upon a maize-field, and then destroy the whole crop of a countryman in one night. In Maryland therefore every one is obliged annually to bring four squirrels, and their heads are given to the surveyor, to prevent deceit. In other provinces every body that kills squirrels, received twopence a piece for them from the public, on delivering the heads. Their flesh is eaten and reckoned a dainty. The skins are sold, but are not much esteemed. Squirrels are the chief food of the rattle-snake and other snakes, and it was a common fancy with the people hereabouts, that when the rattle snake lay on the ground, and fixed its eyes upon a squirrel, the latter would be as it were fascinated, and that though it were on the uppermost branches of a tree, yet it would come down by degrees, till it leaped into the snake’s mouth. The snake then licks the little animal several times, and makes it wet all over with its spittle, that it may go down the throat easier. It then swallows the whole squirrel at once. When the snake has made such a good meal, it lies down to rest without any concern.

The quadruped, which Dr. Linnæus in the memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences, has described by the name of Ursus cauda elongata, and which he calls Ursus Lotor, in his Systema Naturæ, is here called Raccoon. It is found very frequently, and destroys many chickens. It is hunted by dogs, and when it runs upon a tree to save itself, a man climbs upon the tree after it, and shakes it down to the ground, where the dogs kill it. The flesh is eaten, and is reputed to taste well. The bone of its male parts is made use of for a tobacco-stopper. The hatters purchase their skins, and make hats out of the hair, which are next in goodness to beavers. The tail is worn round the neck in winter, and therefore is likewise valuable. The Raccoon is frequently the food of snakes.

Some Englishmen asserted that near the river Potomack in Virginia, a great quantity of oyster shells were to be met with, and that they themselves had seen whole mountains of them. The place where they are found is said to be about two English miles distant from the sea-shore. The proprietor of that ground burns lime out of them. This stratum of oyster-shells is two fathom and more deep. Such quantities of shells have likewise been found in other places, especially in New York, on digging in the ground; and in one place, at the distance of some English miles from the sea, avast quantity of oyster-shells, and of other shells was found. Some people conjectured that the natives had formerly lived in that place, and had left the shells of the oysters which they had consumed, in such great heaps. But others could not conceive how it happened that they were thrown in such immense quantities all into one place.

Every one is of opinion that the American savages were a very good-natured people, if they were not attacked. No body is so strict in keeping his word as a savage. If any one of their allies come to visit them, they shew him more kindness, and greater endeavours to serve 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 English merchant travelling amongst the savages, in order to sell them necessaries, and to buy other goods, was secretly killed, without the murderer’s being found out. But about a year after, the savages found out the guilty person amongst themselves. They immediately took him up, bound his hands on his back, and thus sent him with a guard to the governor at Philadelphia, and sent him word, that they could no longer acknowledge this wretch (who had been so wicked towards an Englishman) as their countryman, and therefore would have nothing more to do with him, and that they delivered him up to the governor, to be punished for his villainy as the laws of England direct. 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 send their ambassadors to the English colonies, in order to settle things of consequence with the governor, they sit down on the ground, as soon as they come to his audience, and hear with great attention the governor’s demands which they are to make an answer to. His demands are sometimes many. Yet they have only a stick in their hand, and make their marks on it with a knife, without writing any thing else down. But when they return the next day to give in their resolutions, they answer all the governor’s articles in the same order, in which he delivered them, without leaving one out, or changing the order, and give such accurate answers, as if they had an account of them at full length in writing.

Mr. Sleidorn related another story, which gave me great pleasure. He said he had been at New York, and had found a venerable old American savage amongst several others in an inn. This old man began to talk with Sleidorn as soon as the liquor was getting the better of his head, and boasted that he could write and read in English. Sleidorn therefore desired leave to ask a question, which the old man readily granted. Sleidorn then asked him, whether he knew who was first circumcised? and the old man immediately answered, Father Abraham; but at the same time asked leave to propose a question in his turn, which Sleidorn granted; the old man then said, who was the first quaker? Sleidorn said it was uncertain, that some took one person for it, and some another; but the cunning old fellow told him, you are mistaken, sir; Mordecai was the first quaker, for he would not take off his hat to Haman. Many of the savages, who are yet heathens, are said to have some obscure notion of the deluge. But I am convinced from my own experience, that they are not at all acquainted with it.

I met with people here who maintained that giants had formerly lived in these parts, and the following particulars confirmed them in this opinion. A few years ago some people digging in the ground, met with a grave which contained human bones of an astonishing size. The Tibia is said to have been fourteen feet long, and the os femoris to have measured as much. The teeth are likewise said to have been of a size proportioned to the rest, But more bones of this kind have not yet been found. Persons skilled in anatomy, who have seen these bones, have declared that they were human bones. One of the teeth has been sent to Hamburgh, to a person who collected natural curiosities. Among the savages, in the neighbourhood of the place where the bones were found, there is an account handed down through many generations from fathers to children, that in this neighbourhood, on the banks of a river, there lived a very tall and strong man, in ancient times, who carried the people over the river on his back, and waded in the water, though it was very deep. Every body to whom he did this service gave him some maize, some skins of animals, or the like. In fine he got his livelyhood by this means, and was as it were the ferryman of those who wanted to pass the river.

The soil here consists for the greatest part of sand, which is more or less mixed with clay. Both the sand and the clay, are of the colour of pale bricks. To judge by appearance the ground was none of the best; and this conjecture was verified by the inhabitants of the country. When a corn-field has been obliged to bear the same 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 some years. Manure is very difficult to be got, and therefore people rather leave the field uncultivated. In that interval it is covered with all sorts of plants and trees; and the countryman in the mean while, cultivates a piece of ground which has till then been fallow, or he chuses a part of the ground which has never been ploughed before, and he can in both cases be pretty sure of a plentiful crop. This method can here be used with great convenience. For the soil is loose, so that it can easily be ploughed, and every countryman has commonly a great deal of land for his property. The cattle here are neither housed in winter, nor tended in the fields, and for this reason they cannot gather a sufficient quantity of dung.

All the cattle has been originally brought over from Europe. The natives have never had any, and at present few of them care to get any. But the cattle degenerates by degrees here, and becomes smaller. For the cows, horses, sheep, and hogs, are all larger in England, though those which are brought over are of that breed. But the first generation decreases a little, and the third and fourth is of the same size with the cattle already common here. The climate, the soil, and the food, altogether contribute their share towards producing this change.

It is remarkable that the inhabitants of the country, commonly sooner acquire understanding, but likewise grow sooner old than the people in Europe. It is nothing uncommon to see little children, giving sprightly and ready answers to questions that are proposed to them, so that they seem to have as much understanding as old men. But they do not attain to such an age as the Europeans, and it is almost an unheard of thing, that a person born in this country, should live to be eighty or ninety years of age. But I only speak of the Europeans that settled here. For the savages, or first inhabitants, frequently attained a great age, though at present such examples are uncommon, which is chiefly attributed to the great use of brandy, which the savages have learnt of the Europeans. Those who are born in Europe attain a greater age here, than those who are born here, of European parents. In the last war, it plainly appeared that these new Americans were by far less hardy than the Europeans in expeditions, sieges, and long sea voyages, and died in numbers. It is very difficult for them to use themselves to a climate different from their own. The women cease bearing children sooner than in Europe. They seldom or never have children, after they are forty or forty-five years old, and some leave off in the thirtieth year of their age. I enquired into the causes of this, but no one could give me a good one. Some said it was owing to the affluence in which the people live here. Some ascribed it to the inconstancy and changeableness of the weather, and believed that there hardly was a country on earth in which the weather changes so often in a day, as it does here. For if it were ever so hot, one could not be certain whether in twenty-four hours there would not be a piercing cold. Nay, sometimes the weather will change five or six times a day.

The trees in this country have the same qualities as its inhabitants. For the ships which are built of American wood, are by no means equal in point of strength, to those which are built in Europe. This is what nobody attempts to contradict. When a ship which is built here, has served eight or twelve years it is worth little; and if one is to be met with, which has been in use longer and is yet serviceable, it is reckoned very astonishing. It is difficult to find out the causes from whence this happens. Some lay the fault to the badness of the wood: others condemn the method of building the ships, which is to make them of trees which are yet green, and have had no time to dry. I believe both causes are joined. For I found oak, which at the utmost 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 almost entirely rotten, and like flour, so that I could rub it into powder between my fingers. How much longer will not our European oak stand before it moulders?

At night we returned to Philadelphia.

September the 23d. There are no Hares in this country, but some animals, which are a medium between our Hares and Rabbets, and make a great devastation 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 greatest part flower so late, and do not get ripe fruit before the frost overtakes them, although it appears from several accounts of travels, that the winters in Pensylvania, and more so those in New York, New England, and Canada, are full as severe as our Swedish winters, and therefore are much severer than those which are felt in England. Several men of judgment charged me for this reason to examine and enquire into this phœnomenon with all possible care. But I shall instead of an answer, 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 conclusions themselves.

1. It is true, that the winters in Pensylvania, and much more those in the more northern provinces, are frequently as severe as our Swedish winters, and much colder than the English ones, or those of the southern parts of Europe. For I found at Philadelphia, which is above twenty deg. more southerly than several provinces in Sweden, that the thermometer of professor Celsius, fell twenty-four deg. below the freezing point in winter. Yet I was assured that the winters I spent here, were none of the coldest, but only common ones, which I could likewise conclude from the Delaware’s not being frozen strong enough to bear a carriage at Philadelphia during my stay, though this often happens. On considering the breadth of the river which I have already mentioned in my description of Philadelphia, and the difference between high and low water, which is eight English feet; it will pretty plainly appear that a very intense frost is required to cover the Delaware with such thick ice.

2. But it is likewise true, that though the winters are severe here, yet they are commonly of no long duration, and I can justly say, that they do not continue above two months and sometimes even less, at Philadelphia; and it is something very uncommon when they continue for three months together, in so much that it is put into the gazettes. Nearer the pole the winters are somewhat longer, and in the quite northern parts they are as long as the Swedish winters. The daily meteorological observations which I have made during my stay in America, 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 summer is excessive, and without intermission. I own I have seen the thermometer rise to nearly the same degree at Aobo in Finland. But the difference is, that when the thermometer of professor Celsius rose to thirty deg. above the freezing point once in two or three summers at Aobo, the same thermometer did not only for three months together stand at the same degree, but even sometimes rose higher; not only in Pensylvania, but likewise in New York, Albany, and a great part of Canada. During the summers which I spent at Philadelphia, the thermometer has two or three times risen to thirty-six deg. above the freezing point. It may therefore with great certainty be said, that in Pensylvania the greatest part of April, the whole May, and all the following months till October, are like our Swedish months of June and July. So excessive and continued a heat must certainly have very great effects. I here again refer to my meteorological observations. It must likewise be ascribed to the effects of this heat that the common melons, the water melons, and the pumpions of different sorts are sown in the fields without any bells or the like put over them, and yet are ripe as early as July; further, that cherries are ripe at Philadelphia about the 25th. of May, and that in Pensylvania the wheat is frequently reaped in the middle of June.

September the 24th. We employed this whole day in gathering the seeds of plants of all kinds, and in putting scarce plants into the herbal.

September the 25th. Mr. Hesselius made me a present of a little piece of petrified wood, which was found in the ground here. It was four inches long, one inch broad, and three lines thick. It might plainly be seen that it had formerly been wood. For in the places where it had been polished, all the longitudinal fibres were easily distinguishable, so that it might have been taken for a piece of oak which was cut smooth. My piece was part of a still greater piece. It was here thought to be petrified hiccory. I afterwards got more of it from other people. Mr. Lewis Evans told me that on the boundaries of Virginia, a great petrified block of hiccory had been found in the ground, with the bark on it, which was likewise petrified.

Mr. John Bartram is an Englishman, who lives in the country about four miles from Philadelphia. He has acquired a great knowledge of natural philosophy and history, and seems to be born with a peculiar genius for these sciences. In his youth he had no opportunity of going to school. But by his own diligence and indefatigable application he got, without instruction, so far in Latin, as to understand all Latin books, and even those which were filled with botanical terms. He has in several successive years made frequent excursions into different distant parts of North America, with an intention of gathering all sorts of plants which are scarce and little known. Those which he found he has planted in his own botanical garden, and likewise sent over their seeds or fresh roots to England. We owe to him the knowledge of many scarce plants, which he first found, and which were never known before. He has shewn great judgment, and an attention which lets nothing escape unnoticed. Yet with all these great qualities, he is to be blamed for his negligence; for he did not care to write down his numerous and useful observations. His friends at London once obliged him to send them a short account of one of his travels, and they were very ready, with a good intention, though not with sufficient judgment, to get this account printed. But this book, did Mr. Bartram more harm than good; for as he is rather backward in writing down what he knows, this publication was found to contain but few new observations. It would not however be doing justice to Mr. Bartram’s merit, if it were to be judged of by this performance. He has not filled it with a thousandth part of the great knowledge, which he has acquired in natural philosophy and history, especially in regard to North America. I have often been at a loss to think of the sources, from whence he got many things which came to his knowledge. I likewise owe him many things, for he possessed that great quality of communicating every thing he knew. I shall therefore in the sequel, frequently mention this gentleman. For I should never forgive myself, if I were to omit the name of the first inventor, and claim that as my own invention, which I learnt from another person.

Many Muscle shells, or Mytili anatini, are to be met with on the north-west side of the town in the clay-pits, which were at present filled with water from a little brook in the neighbourhood. These muscles seem to have been washed into that place by the tide, when the water in the brook was high. For these clay-pits are not old, but were lately made. Poor boys sometimes go out of town, wade in the water, and gather great quantities of these shells, which they sell very easily, they being reckoned a dainty.

The Virginian Azarole with a red fruit, or Linnæus’s Cratægus Crus galli, is a species of hawthorn, and they plant it in hedges, for want of that hawthorn, which is commonly used for this purpose in Europe. Its berries are red, and of the same size, shape, and taste with those of our hawthorn. Yet this tree does not seem to make a good hedge, for its leaves were already fallen, whilst other trees still preserved theirs. Its spines are very long and sharp; their length being two or three inches. These spines are applied to some inconsiderable use. Each berry contains two stones.

Mr. Bartram assured me, that the North American oak, cannot resist putrefaction for near such a space of time, as the European. For this reason, the boats (which carry all sorts of goods down from the upper parts of the country) upon the river Hudson, which is one of the greatest in these parts, are made of two kinds of wood. That part which must always be under water, is made of black oak; but the upper part, which is now above and now under water, and is therefore more exposed to putrefaction, is made of red cedar or Juniperus Virginiana, which is reckoned the most hardy wood in the country. The bottom is made of black oak, because that wood is very tough. For the river being full of stones, and the boats frequently running against them, the black oak gives way, and therefore does not easily crack. But the cedar would not do for this purpose; because it is hard and brittle. The oak likewise is not so much attacked by putrefaction, 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 succeed well in the country.

September the 26th. The broad plantain, or Plantago major, grows on the highroads, 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 rise from the savages (who always had an extensive 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 signifies, the Englishman’s foot, for they say that where a European had walked, there this plant grew in his foot steps.

The Chenopodium album, or Goosefoot with sinuated leaves, grows in plenty in the gardens. But it is more scarce near the houses, in the streets, on dunghills and corn-fields. This seems to shew, that it is not a native of America, but has been brought over amongst other seeds from Europe. In the same manner it is thought that the Tansey (Tanacetum vulgare, Linn.) which grows here and there in the hedges, on the roads, and near houses, was produced from European seeds.

The common vervain, with blue flowers, or verbena officinalis, was shewn to me by Mr. Bartram, not far from his house in a little plain near Philadelphia. It was the only place where he had found it in America. And for this reason I suppose it was likewise sown here amongst other European seeds.

Mr. Bartram has not only frequently found oyster-shells in the ground, but likewise met with such shells and snails, as undoubtedly belong to the sea, at the distance of a hundred and more English miles from the shore. He has even found them on the ridge of mountains which separate the English plantations from the habitations of the savages. These mountains which the English call the blue mountains, are of considerable height, and extend, in one continued chain from north to south, or from Canada to Carolina. Yet in some places they have gaps, which are as it were broke through, to afford a passage for the great rivers, which roll down into the lower country.

The Cassia Chamæcrista grew on the roads the woods, and sometimes on uncultivated fields, especially when shrubs grew in them. Its leaves are like those of the Sensitive plant, or Mimosa, and have likewise the quality of contracting when touched, in common with the leaves of the latter.

The Crows in this country are little different from our common crows in Sweden. Their size is the same with that of our crows, and they are as black as jet in every part of their body. I saw 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 Linnæus’s Corvus frugilegus.

Here are different species of Mulberry trees, which grow wild in the forests of north and south America. In these parts the red mulberry trees are more plentiful than any other. However Mr. Bartram assured me that he had likewise seen the white mulberry trees growing wild, but that they were more scarce. I asked him and several other people of this country, why they did not set up silk manufactures, having such a quantity of mulberries, which succeed so easily? For it has been observed that when the berries fall upon the ground where it is not compact but loose, they soon put out several fine delicate shoots. But they replied that it would not be worth while to erect any silk manufactures here, because labour is so dear. For a man gets from eighteen pence to three shillings and upwards, for one day’s work, and the women are paid in proportion. They were therefore of opinion that the cultivation of all sorts of corn, of hemp, and of flax, would be of greater advantage, and that at the same time it did not require near so much care as the feeding of silk worms. By the trials of a governor in Connecticut, which is a more northern province than New York, it is evident however, that silk worms succeed very well here, and that this kind of mulberry trees is very good for them. The governor brought up a great quantity of silk worms in his court yard; and they succeeded so well, and spun so much silk, as to afford him a sufficient quantity for cloathing himself and all his family.

Several sorts of Vines likewise grow wild hereabouts. Whenever I made a little excursion out of town, I saw them in numerous places climbing up trees and hedges. They clasp around them, and cover them sometimes entirely, and even hang down on the sides. This has the same appearance at a distance, as the tendrils of hops climbing along trees. I enquired of Mr. Bartram why they did not plant vineyards, or press wine from the grapes of the wild vine. But they answered, that the same objection lay against it, which lies against the erection of a silk manufacture, that the necessary hands were too scarce, and it therefore was more rational to make agriculture their chief employment. But the true reason undoubtedly is, that the wine which is pressed out of most of the North American wild grapes is sour and sharp, and has not near such an agreeable taste, as that which is made from European grapes.

The Virginian Wake robin, or Arum Virginicum, grows in wet places. Mr. Bartram told me, that the savages boiled the spadix and the berries of this flower, and devoured it as a great dainty. When the berries are raw, they have a harsh, pungent taste, which they lose in great measure upon boiling.

The Sarothra Gentianoides, grows abundantly in the fields and under the bushes, in a dry sandy ground near Philadelphia. It looks extremely like our whortleberry bushes when they first begin to green, and when the points of the leaves are yet red. Mr. Bartram has sent this plant to Dr. Dillenius, but that gentleman did not know where he should range it. It is reckoned a very good traumatic, and this quality Mr. Bartram himself experienced; for being thrown and kicked by a vicious horse, in such a manner as to have both his thighs greatly hurt, he boiled the Sarothra and applied it to his wounds. It not only immediately appeased his pain, which before had been very violent, but he likewise by its assistance recovered in a short time.

Having read in Mr. Miller’s Botanical Dictionary, that Mr. Peter Collinson had a particular Larch tree from America in his garden, I asked Mr. Bartram whether he was acquainted with it, he answered, that he had sent it himself to Mr. Collinson, that it only grew in the eastern parts of New Jersey, and that he had met with it in no other English plantation. It differs from the other species of Larch trees, its cones being much less. I afterwards saw this tree in great plenty in Canada.

September the 27th. The tree which the English here call Persimon, is the Diospyros Virginiana of Linnæus. It grows for the greatest part in wet places, round the water pits. I have already mentioned that the fruits of this tree are extremely bitter and sharp before they are quite ripe, and that being eaten in that state they quite contract ones mouth, and have a very disagreeable taste. But as soon as they are ripe, which does not happen till they have been quite softened by the frost, they are a very agreeable fruit. They are here eaten raw, and seldom any other way. But in a great book, which contains a description of Virginia, you meet with different ways of preparing the Persimon, under the article of that name. Mr. Bartram, related that they were commonly put upon the table amongst the sweet-meats, and that some people made a tolerably good wine of them. Some of these Persimon fruits were dropped on the ground in his garden, and were almost quite ripe, having been exposed to a great degree of the heat of the sun. We picked up a few and tasted them, and I must own that those who praised this fruit as an agreeable one, have but done it justice. It really deserves a place among the most palatable fruit of this country, when the frost has thoroughly conquered its acrimony.

September the 28th. The meadows which are surrounded by wood, and were at present mown, have a fine lively verdure. On the contrary when they lie on hills, or in open fields, or in some elevated situation, especially so that the sun may be able to act upon them without any obstacles, their grass looks brown and dry. Several people from Virginia told me, that on account of the great heat and drought, the meadows and pastures almost always had a brown colour, and looked as if they were burnt. The inhabitants of those parts do not therefore enjoy the pleasure which a European feels at the sight of our verdant, odoriferous meadows.

The American Nightshade, or the Phytolacca decandra, grows abundantly in the fields, and under the trees, on little hills. Its black berries are now ripe. We observed to day some little birds with a blue plumage, and of the size of our Hortulans and Yellow Hammers (Emberiza Citrinella and Emberiza Hortulanus) flying down from the trees, in order to settle upon the nightshade and eat its berries.

Towards night I went to Mr. Bartram’s country seat.

September the 29th. The Gnaphalium margaritaceum, grows in astonishing quantities upon all uncultivated fields, glades, hills, and the like. Its height is different according to its different soil and situation. Sometimes it is very ramose, and sometimes very little. It has a strong, but agreeable smell. The English call it Life everlasting; for its flowers, which consist chiefly of dry, shining, silvery leaves (Folia calycina) do not change when dried. This plant is now every where in full blossom. But some have already lost the flowers, and are beginning to drop the seeds. The English ladies were used to gather great quantities of this Life everlasting, and to pluck them with the stalks. For they put them into pots with or without water, amongst other fine flowers which they had gathered both in the gardens and in the fields, and placed them as an ornament in the rooms. The English ladies in general are much inclined to have fine flowers all the summer long, in or upon the chimneys, sometimes upon a table, or before the windows, either on account of their fine appearance, or for the sake of their sweet scent. The Gnaphalium above-mentioned, was one of those, which they kept in their rooms during the winter, because its flowers never altered from what they were when they stood in the ground. Mr. Bartram told me another use of this plant. A decoction of the flowers and stalks is used to bathe any pained or bruised part, or it is rubbed with the plant itself tied up in a bag.

Instead of flax several people made use of a kind of Dog’s bane, or Linnæus’s Apocynum cannabinum. The people prepared the stalks of this plant, in the same manner as we prepare those of hemp or flax. It was spun and several kinds of stuffs were woven from it. The savages are said to have had the art of making bags, fishing-nets, and the like, for many centuries together, before the arrival of the Europeans.

I asked Mr. Bartram, whether he had observed in his travels, that the water was fallen, and that the sea had formerly covered any places which were now land. He told me, that from what he had experienced, he was convinced that the greatest part of this country, even for several miles together, had formerly been under water. The reasons which led him to give credit to this opinion, were the following.

1. On digging in the blue mountains, which are above three hundred English miles distant from the sea, you find loose oyster and other sorts of shells, and they are also likewise to be met with in the vallies formed by these mountains.

2. A vast quantity of petrified shells are found in limestone, flint, and sandstone, on the same mountains. Mr. Bartram assured me at the same time, that it was incredible what quantities of them there were in the different kinds of stones of which the mountains consist.

3. The same shells are likewise dug in great quantity, quite entire and not mouldered, in the provinces of Virginia and Maryland, as also in Philadelphia and in New York.

4. On digging wells (not only in Philadelphia, but likewise in other places) the people have met with trees, roots, and leaves of oak, for the greatest part, not yet rotten, at the depth of eighteen feet.

5. The best soil and the richest mould is to be met with in the vallies hereabouts. These vallies are commonly crossed by a rivulet or brook. And on their declivity, a mountain commonly rises, which in those places where the brook passes close to it, looks as if it were cut on purpose. Mr. Bartram believed, that all these vallies formerly were lakes; that the water had by degrees hollowed out the mountain, and opened a passage for itself through it; and that the great quantity of slime which is contained in the water, and which had subsided to the bottom of the lake, was the rich soil which is at present in the vallies, and the cause of their great fertility. But such 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 course or boundaries of New York and Pennsylvania. The people in a jest say, that this opening by the D—l, as he wanted to go out of Pennsylvania into New York.

6. The whole appearance of the blue mountains, plainly shews that the water formerly covered at part of them. For many are broken in a peculiar manner, but the highest are plain.

7. When the savages are told, that shells are found on these high mountains, and that from thence there is reason to believe that the sea must formerly have extended to them, and even in part flown over them; they answer that this is not new to them, they having a tradition from their ancestors among them, that the sea formerly surrounded these mountains.

8. The water in rivers and brooks likewise decreases. Mills, which sixty years ago were built on rivers, and at that time had a sufficient supply of water almost all the year long, have at present so little, that they cannot be used, but after a heavy rain, or when the snow melts in spring. This decrease of water in part arises from the great quantity of land which is now cultivated, and from the extirpation of great forests for that purpose.

9. The sea-shore increases likewise in time. This arises from the quantity of sand continually thrown on shore from the bottom of the sea, by the waves.

At some distance from Mr. Bartram’s country house, a little brook flowed through the wood, and likewise ran over a rock. The attentive Mr. Bartram here shewed me several little cavities in the rock, and we plainly saw that they must have been generated in the manner I before described, that is, by supposing a pebble to have remained in a cleft of the rock, and to have been turned round by the violence of the water, till it had formed such cavity in the mountain. For on putting our hands into one of these cavities, we found that it contained numerous small pebbles, whose surface was quite smooth and round. And these stones we found in each of the holes.

Mr. Bartram shewed me a number of plants which he had collected into a herbal on his travels. Among these were the following, which likewise grow in the northern parts of Europe, of which he had either got the whole plants, or only broken branches.

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

2. Betula nana. This species of birch grows in several low places towards the hills.

3. Comarum palustre, in the meadows, between the hills in New Jersey.

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

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

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

7. Potentilla fruticosa, from the swampy fields and low meadows, between the river Delaware, and the river New York.

8. Trientalis Europæa, from the cats-hills.

9. Triglochin maritimum, from the salt springs towards the country of the five nations.

Mr. Bartram shewed me a letter from East Jersey, in which he got the following account of the discovery of an Indian grave. In the April of the year 1744, as some people were digging a cellar, they came upon a great stone, like a tombstone, which was at last 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 several of the people present tasted it out of curiosity. From these circumstances it was concluded that this was a grave of a person of note among the savages. For it is their custom to bury along with the deceased, meat any other things which he liked best. The stone was eight feet long, four feet broad, and even some inches more where it was broadest, and fifteen inches thick at one end, but only twelve inches at the other end. It consisted of the same coarse kind of stone, that is to be got in this country. There were no letters nor other characters visible on it.

The corn which the Indians chiefly cultivate is the Maize, or Zea Mays, Linn. Then have little corn fields for that purpose. But besides this, they likewise plant a great quantity of Squashes, a species of pumpions or melons, which they have always cultivated, even in the remotest ages. The Europeans settled in America, got the seeds of this plant, and at present their gardens are full of it, the fruit has an agreeable taste when it is well prepared. They are commonly boiled, then crushed (as we are used to do with turneps when we make a pulse of them) and some pepper or other spice thrown upon them, and the dish is ready. The Indians likewise sow several kinds of beans, which for the greatest part they have got from the Europeans. But pease which they likewise sow, they have always had amongst them, before any foreigners came into the country. The squashes of the Indians, which now are likewise cultivated by the Europeans, belong to those kinds of gourds (cucurbita,) which ripen before any other. They are a very delicious fruit, but will not keep. I have however seen them kept till pretty laid In winter.

September the 30th. Wheat and rye are sown in autumn about this time, and commonly reaped towards the end of June, or in the beginning of July. These kinds of corn, however, are sometimes ready to be reaped in the middle of June, and there are even examples that they have been mown in the beginning of that month. Barley and oats are sown in April, and they commonly begin to grow ripe towards the end of July. Buck-wheat is sown in the middle or at the end of July, and is about this time, or somewhat later, ready to be reaped. If it be sown before the above-mentioned time, as in May, or in June, it only gives flowers, and little or no corn.

Mr. Bartram and other people assured me, that most of the cows which the English have here, are the offspring of those which they bought of the Swedes when they were masters of the country. The English themselves are said to have brought over but few. The Swedes either brought their cattle from home, or bought them of the Dutch, who were then settled here.

Near the town, I saw an Ivy or Hedera Helix, planted against the wall of a stone building, which was so covered by the fine green leaves of this plant, as almost to conceal the whole. It was doubtless brought over from Europe, for I have never perceived it any where else on my travels through North-America. But in its stead I have often seen wild vines made to run up the walls.

I asked Mr. Bartram, whether he had observed, that trees and plants decreased in proportion as they were brought further to the North, as Catesby pretends? He answered, that the question should be more limited, and then his opinion would prove the true one. There are some trees which grow better in southern countries, and become less as you advance to the north. Their seeds or berries are sometimes brought into colder climates by birds and by other accidents. They gradually decrease in growth, till at last they will not grow at all. On the other hand, there are other trees and herbs which the wise Creator destined for the northern countries, and they grow there to an amazing size. But the further they are transplanted to the south, the less they grow; till at last they degenerate so much as not to be able to grow at all. Other plants love a temperate climate, and if they be carried either south or north, they will not succeed well, but always decrease. Thus for example Pensylvania contains some trees which grow exceedingly well, but always decrease in proportion as they are carried further off either to the north, or to the south.

I afterwards on my travels, had frequent proofs of this truth. The Sassafras, which grows in Pensylvania, under forty deg. of lat. and becomes a pretty tall and thick tree, was so little at Oswego and Fort Nicholson, between forty-three. and forty-four deg. of lat. that it hardly reached the height of two or four feet, and was seldom so thick as the little finger of a full grown person. This was likewise the case with the Tulip tree. For in Pensylvania it grows as high as our tallest oaks and firs, and its thickness is proportionable to its height. But about Oswego it was not above twelve feet high, and no thicker than a man’s arm. The Sugar Maple, or Acer saccharinum, is one of the most common trees in the woods of Canada, and grows very tall. But in the southern provinces, as New Jersey and Pensylvania, it only grows on the northern side of the blue mountains, and on the steep 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 needless to mention more examples.

October the 1st. The gnats which are very troublesome at night here, are called Musquetoes. They are exactly like the gnats in Sweden, only somewhat less, and the description which is to be met with in Dr. Linnæus’s Systema Naturæ, and Fauna Suecica, fully agrees with them, and they are called by him Culex pipiens. In day time or at night they come into the houses, and when the people are gone to bed they begin their disagreeable humming, approach always nearer to the bed, and at last suck up so much blood, that they can hardly fly away. Their bite causes blisters in people of a delicate complexion. When the weather has been cool for some days, the musquetoes disappear. But when it changes again, and especially after a rain, they gather frequently in such quantities about the houses, that their numbers are astonishing. The chimneys of the English which have no valves for shutting them up, afford the gnats a free entrance into the houses. In sultry evenings, they accompany the cattle in great swarms, from the woods to the houses or to town, and when they are drove before the houses, the gnats fly in wherever they can. In the greatest heat of summer, they are so numerous in some places, that the air seems to be quite full of them, especially near swamps and stagnant waters, such as the river Morris in New Jersey. The inhabitants therefore make a fire before their houses to expell these disagreeable guests by the smoak. The old Swedes here, said that gnats had formerly been much more numerous; that even at present they swarmed in vast quantities on the sea shore near the salt water, and that those which troubled us this autumn in Philadelphia were of a more venomous kind, than they commonly used to be. This last quality appeared from the blisters, which were formed on the spots, where the gnats had inserted their sting. In Sweden I never felt any other inconvenience from their sting, than a little itching; whilst they sucked. But when they stung me here at night, my face was so disfigured by little red spots and blisters, that I was almost ashamed to shew myself.

I have already mentioned somewhat about the enclosures usual here; I now add, that most of the planks which are put horizontally, and of which the enclosures in the environs of Philadelphia chiefly consist, are of the red cedar wood, which is here reckoned more durable than any other. But where this could not be got, either white or black oak supplied its place. The people were likewise very glad if they could get cedar wood for the posts, or else they took white oak, or chesnut, as I was told by Mr. Bartram. But it seems that that kind of wood in general does not keep well in the ground for a considerable time. I saw some posts made of chesnut wood, and put into the ground only the year before, which were already for the greatest part rotten below.

The bark of this tree is used by the women here in dying worsted a fine lasting orange colour, which does not fade in the sun. They use urine instead of alum in dying, and boil the dye in a brass boiler, because in an iron vessel it does not yield so fine a colour. A woman in Virginia has successfully employed the berries of the Sassafras against a great pain in one of her feet, which for three years together she had to such a degree, that it almost hindered her from walking. She was advised to broil the berries of sassafras, and to rub the painful parts of her foot with the oil, which by this means would be got from the berries. She did so, but at the same time it made her vomit; yet this was not sufficient to keep her from following the prescription three times more, though as often as she made use thereof, it always had the same effect. However she was entirely freed from that pain, and perfectly recovered.

A black Woodpecker with a red head, or the Picus pileatus, Linn. is frequent in the Pensylvanian forests, and stays the winter, as I know from my own experience. It is reckoned among those birds which destroy the maize; because it settles on the ripe ears, and destroys them with its bill. The Swedes call it Tillkroka, but all other woodpeckers, those with gold yellow wings excepted, are called Hackspickar in the Swedish language. I intend to describe them altogether more exactly in a particular work. I only observe here, that almost all the different species of woodpeckers are very noxious to the maize, when it begins to ripen: for by picking holes in the membrane round the ear, the rain gets into it, and causes the ear with all the corn it contains to rot.

October the 3d. In the morning I set out for Wilmington, which was formerly called Christina by the Swedes, and is thirty English miles to the south west of Philadelphia. Three miles behind Philadelphia I passed the river Skulkill in a ferry, beyond which the country appears almost a continual chain of mountains and vallies. The mountains have an easy slope on all sides, and the vallies are commonly crossed by brooks with crystal streams. The greater part of the country is covered with several kinds of deciduous trees; for I scarcely saw a single tree of the fir kind, if I except a few red cedars. The forest was high, but open below, so that it left a free prospect to the eye, and no under-wood obstructed the passage between the trees. It would have been easy in some places to have gone under the branches with a carriage for a quarter of a mile, the trees standing at great distances from each other, and the ground being very level. In some places little glades opened, which were either meadows, pastures, or corn-fields; of which latter some were cultivated and others not. In a few places, several houses were built close to each other. But for the greatest part they were single. In part of the fields the wheat was already sown, in the English manner without trenches, but with furrows pretty close together. I sometimes saw the country people very busy in sowing their rye. Near every farm-house was a little field with maize. The inhabitants hereabouts were commonly either English or Swedes.

All the day long I saw a continual variety of trees; walnut trees of different sorts, which were all full of nuts; chesnut trees quite covered with fine chesnuts; mulberries, sassafras, liquidambar, tulip trees, and many others.

Several species of vines grew wild hereabouts. They run up to the summits of the trees, their clusters of grapes and their leaves covering the stems. I even saw some young oaks five or six fathoms high, whose tops were crowned with vines. The ground is that which is so common hereabouts, which I have already described, viz. a clay mixed with a great quantity of sand, and covered with a rich soil or vegetable earth. The vines are principally seen on trees which stand single in corn-fields, and at the end of woods, where the meadows, pastures, and fields begin, and likewise along the enclosures, where they cling with their tendrils round the trees which stand there. The lower parts of the plant are full of grapes, which hang below the leaves, and were now almost ripe, and had a pleasant sourish taste. The country people gather them in great quantities, and sell them in the town. They are eaten without further preparation, and commonly people are presented with them when they come to pay a visit.

The Datura Stramonium, or Thorn Apple, grows in great quantities near all the villages. Its height is different according to the soil it is in. For in a rich soil it grows eight or ten feet high, but in a hard and poor ground, it will seldom come up to six inches. This Datura, together with the Phytolacca, or American Nightshade, grow here in those places near the gardens, houses, and roads, which in Sweden are covered with nettles and goose-foot, which European plants are very scarce in America. But the Datura and Phytolacca are the worst weeds here, nobody knowing any particular use of them.

Turnep-fields are sometimes to be seen. In the middle of the highroad I perceived a dead black snake, which was four feet six inches long, and an inch and a half in thickness. It belonged to the viper kind.

Late at night a great Halo appeared round the moon. The people said that it prognosticated either a storm, or rain, or both together. The smaller the ring is, or the nearer it comes to the moon, the sooner this weather sets in. But this time neither of these changes happened, and the halo had foretold a coldness 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 reason looks quite white, and at a distance appears as it were covered with mould.

October the 4th. I continued my journey early in the morning, and the country still had the same appearance as I went on. It was a continual chain of pretty high hills, with an easy ascent on all sides, and of vallies between them. The soil consisted of a brick coloured mould, mixed with clay, and a few pebbles, I rode sometimes through woods of several sorts of trees, and sometimes amidst little fields, which had been cleared of the wood, and which at present were corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. The farm-houses stood single, sometimes near the roads, and sometimes at a little distance from them, so that the space between the road and the houses was taken up with little fields and meadows. Some of the houses were built of stone, two stories high, and covered with shingles of the white cedar. But most of the houses were wooden, and the crevices stopped up with clay, instead of moss, which we make use of for that purpose. 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 some distance from the houses, and were either under a roof, or without any covering against the weather. The fields bore partly buck-wheat, which was not yet cut, partly maize, and partly wheat, which was but lately sown; but sometimes they lay fallow. The vines climbed to the top of several trees, and hung down again on both sides. Other trees again were surrounded by the ivy (Hedera quinquefolia) which with the same flexibility ascended to a great height. The Smilax laurifolia always joined with the ivy, and together with it twisted itself round the trees. The leaves of the ivy were at this time commonly reddish, but those of the vine were still quite green. The trees which were surrounded with them, looked at a distance like those which are covered with hops in our country, (and on seeing them from afar off, one might expect to find wild hops climbing upon the trees.) Walnut and chesnut trees were common near enclosures, in woods, and on hills, and at present were loaded with their fruit. The persimon was likewise plentiful near the roads, and in the woods. It had a great quantity of fruit, but they were not yet fit for eating, since the frost had not softened them. At some distance from Wilmington, I passed a bridge over a little river, which falls north into the Delaware. The rider pays here twopence toll for himself and his horse.

Towards noon I arrived at Wilmington.

Wilmington is a little town, about thirty English miles south-west from Philadelphia. It was founded in the year 1733. Part of it stands upon the grounds belonging to the Swedish church, which annually receives certain rents, out of which they pay the minister’s salary, and employ the rest for other uses. The houses are built of stone, and look very pretty; yet they are not built close together, but large open places are left between them. The quakers have a meeting-house in this town. The Swedish church, which I intend to mention in the sequel, is half a mile out of town eastwards. The parsonage is under the same roof with the church. A little river called Christina-kill passes 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 said to be sufficiently deep, so that the greatest vessel may come quite up to the town: for at its mouth or juncture with the Delaware, it is shallowest, and yet its depth even there when the water is lowest, is from two fathoms to two and a half. But as you go higher its depth encreases to three, three and a half, and even four fathoms. The largest ships therefore may safely, and with their full cargoes come to, and from the town with the tide. from Wilmington, you have a fine prospect of a great part of the river Delaware, and the ships sailing on it. On both sides of the river Christina-kill, almost from the place where the redoubt is built to its juncture with the Delaware, are low meadows, which afford a great quantity of hay to the inhabitants. The town carries on a considerable trade, and would have been more enlarged, if Philadelphia and Newcastle, which are both towns of a more ancient date, were not so near on both sides of it.

The Redoubt upon the river Christina-kill, was erected this summer, when it was known that the French and Spanish privateers intended to sail up the river, and to attempt a landing. It stands, according to the accounts of the late Rev. Mr. Tranberg, on the same spot, where the Swedes had built theirs. It is remarkable, that on working in the ground this summer, to make this redoubt, an old Swedish silver coin of Queen Christina, not quite so big as a shilling was found at the depth of a yard, among some other things. The Rev. Mr. Tranberg afterwards presented me with it. On one side were the arms of the house of Wasa with the inscription: CHRISTINA, D. G. DE. RE. SVE. that is, Christina, by the grace of God, elected Queen of Sweden; and near this the year of our Lord 1633. On the reverse were these words: MONETA NOVA REGNI SVEC. or, a new coin of the kingdom of Sweden. At the same time a number of old iron tools, such as axes, shovels, and the like, were discovered. The redoubt, that is now erected, consists of bulwarks of planks, with a rampart on the outside. Near it is the powder magazine, in a vault built of bricks. At the erection of this little fortification it was remarkable, that the quakers, whose tenets reject even defensive war, were as busy as the other people in building it. For the fear of being every moment suddenly attacked by privateers, conquered all other thoughts. Many of them scrupled to put their own hands to the work; but forwarded, it by supplies of money, and by getting ready every thing, which was necessary.

October the 5th. It was my design to cross the Delaware, and to get into New Jersey with a view to get acquainted with the country; but as there was no ferry here to bring my horse over, I set out on my return to Philadelphia. I partly went along the high road, and partly deviated on one or the other side of it, in order to take more exact observations of the country, and of its natural history.

The maize, was sown in several places. In some its stalks were cut somewhat below the ear, dried and put up in narrow high stacks, in order to keep them as a food for the cattle in winter. The lower part of the stalk had likewise leaves, but as they commonly dry of themselves, the people do not like to feed the cattle with them, all their flavour being lost: But the upper ones are cut, whilst they are yet green.

The vallies between the hills commonly contain brooks: but they are not very broad, and require no bridges, so that carriages and horse can easily pass through them, for the water is seldom above six inches deep.

The leaves of most trees were yet quite green, such as those of oaks, chesnut trees, black walnut trees, hiccory, tulip trees, and sassafras. The two latter species are found in plenty on the sides of the little woods, on hills, on the fallow fields, near hedges, and on the road. The persimon likewise had still its leaves; however some trees of this kind had dropt them. The leaves of the American bramble were at present almost entirely red, though some of these bushes yet retained a lively green in the leaves. The Cornelian cherry likewise had already a mixture of brown and pale leaves. The leaves of the red maple were also red.

I continued my journey to Chichester, a borough upon the Delaware, where travellers pass the river in a ferry. They build here every year a number of small ships for sale. From an iron work which lies higher in the country, they carry iron bars to this place, and ship them.

Canoes are boats made of one piece of wood, and are much in use with the farmers, and other people upon the Delaware, and some little rivers. For that purpose a very thick trunk of a tree is hollowed out; the red juniper or red cedar tree, the white cedar, the chesnut tree, the white oak, and the tulip tree are commonly made use of for this purpose. The canoes made of red and white cedar are reckoned the best, because they swim very light upon the water, and last twenty years together. But of these, the red cedar canoes are most preferable. Those made of chesnut trees will likewise last for a good while. But those of white oak are hardly serviceable above six years, and also swim deep, because they are so heavy. The Liquidambar tree, or Liquidambar styraciflua, Linn. is big enough but unfit making canoes, because it imbibes the water. The canoes which are made of the tulip tree, scarce last as long as those of white oak. The size of the canoes is different, according to the purposes they are destined for. They can carry six persons; who however, must by no means be unruly, but sit at the bottom of the canoe in the quietest manner possible, lest the boat overset. The Swedes in Pensylvania and New Jersey near the rivers, have no other boats to go to Philadelphia in, which they commonly do twice a week on the market days, though they be several miles distant from the town, and meet sometimes with severe storms; yet misfortunes from the oversetting, &c; of these canoes are seldom heard of, though they might well be expected on account of the small size of this kind of boats. However a great deal of attention and care is necessary in managing the canoes, when the wind is somewhat violent; for they are narrow, round below, have no keel, and therefore may easily be overset. Accordingly when the wind is more brisk than ordinary, the people make for the land.

The common garden cresses grow in several places on the roads about Chichester, and undoubtedly come from the seeds, 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 first plants that appear on it; and I frequently observed them in such fields as are annually ploughed, and have corn sown on them. For when these bushes are once rooted, they are not easily extirpated. Such a bush runs out tendrils sometimes four fathoms off its root, and then throws a new root, so that on pulling it up, you meet with roots on both ends. On some old grounds, which had long been uncultivated, there were so many bushes of this kind, that it was very troublesome and dangerous walking in them. A wine is made of the berries, as I have already mentioned. The berries are likewise eaten when they are ripe, and taste well. No other use is made of them.

October the 6th. The Chenopodium anthelminticum is very plentiful on the road, and on the banks of the river, but chiefly in dry places in a loose sandy soil. The English who are settled here, call it Wormseed and Jerusalem Oak. It has a disagreeable scent. In Pensylvania and New Jersey its seeds are given to children, against the worms, and for that purpose they are excellent. The plant itself is spontaneous in both provinces.

The environs of Chichester, contain many gardens, which are full of apple trees, sinking under the weight of innumerable apples. Most of them are winter fruit, and therefore were yet quite sour. Each farm has a garden, and so has each house of the better sort. The extent of these gardens is likewise not inconsiderable, and therefore affords, the possessor all the year long, great supplies in his house-keeping, both for eating and drinking. I frequently was surprized at the prudence of the inhabitants of this country. As soon as one has bought a piece of ground, which is neither built upon nor sown, his first care is to get young apple trees, and to make a garden. He next proceeds to build his house, and lastly prepares the uncultivated ground to receive corn. For it is well known that the trees require many years before they arrive to perfection, and this makes it necessary to plant them first. I now perceived near the farms, mills, wheels, and other instruments which are made use of in crushing the apples, in order to prepare cyder from them afterwards.

From Chichester I went on towards Philadelphia. The oaks were the most plentiful trees in the wood. But there were several species of them, all different from the European ones. The swine 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 enclosures; and for this reason, the enclosures are made very slender, and easy to put up, and do not require much wood. No other enclosures are in use, but those which are so like sheep hurdles. A number of squirrels 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 saw beach trees; but I found them quite the same with the European ones. Their wood is reckoned very good for making joiner’s planes of.

I do not remember seeing any other than the black Ants, or Formica nigra in Pensylvania. They are as black as a coal, and of two sorts, some very little, like the least of our ants, and others of the size of our common reddish ants. I have not yet observed any hills of theirs, but only seen some running about singly. In other parts of America, I have likewise found other species of ants, as I intend to remark in the sequel.

The common Privet, or Ligustrum vulgare, is made use of in many places, as a hedge round corn-fields and gardens, and on my whole voyage, I did not see that any other trees were made use of for this purpose, though the Englishmen here, well know that the hawthorn makes a much better hedge. The privet hedges grow very thick and close, but having no spines, the hogs, and even other animals break easily through them; and when they have once made a hole, it requires a long while before it grows up again. But when the hedges consist of spinose bushes, the cattle will hardly attempt to get through them.

About noon I came through Chester, a little market-town which lies on the Delaware. A rivulet coming down out of the country, passes through this place, and discharges itself into the Delaware. There is a bridge over it. The houses stand dispersed. Most of them are built of stone, and two or three stories high; some are however made of wood. In the town is a church, and a market-place.

Wheat was now sown every where. In some places it was already green, having been sown four weeks before. The wheat fields were made in the English manner, having no ditches in them, but numerous furrows for draining the water, at the distance of four or six foot from one another. Great stumps of the trees which had been cut down, are every where seen on the fields, and this shews that the country has been but lately cultivated.

The roots of the trees do not go deep into the ground, but spread horizontally. I had opportunities of observing this in several places where the trees were dug up; for I seldom saw one, whose roots went above a foot deep into the ground, though it was a loose soil.

About two English miles behind Chester, I passed by an iron forge, which was to the right hand by the road side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was told. The ore however is not dug here, but thirty or forty miles from hence, where it is first 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 small in proportion to ours. All the machines were worked by water. The iron was wrought into bars.

To day I remarked, as I have since frequently seen on my travels in this country, that horses are very greedy of apples. When they are let into an orchard to feed upon the grass, if there are any apples on the ground, they frequently leave the fresh green grass, and eat the apples, which, however, are not reckoned a good food for them; and besides that, it is too expensive.

The red Maple, or Acer rubrum is plentiful in these places. Its proper situations are chiefly swampy, wet places, in which the alder commonly is its companion. Out of its wood they make plates, spinning-wheels, rolls, feet for chairs and beds, and all sorts of work. With the bark, they dye both worsted and linnen, giving it a dark blue colour. For that purpose it is first boiled in water; and some copperas, such as the hat-makers and shoe-makers commonly make use of, is added, before the stuff (which is to be dyed) is put into the boiler. This bark likewise affords a good black ink. When the tree is felled early in spring, a sweet juice runs out of it, like that which runs out of our birches. This juice they do not make any use of here, but in Canada, they make both treacle and sugar of it. Here is a variety of this tree which they call the curled Maple, the wood being as it were marbled within; it is much used in all kinds of joiner’s work, and the utensils made of this wood, are preferable to those made of any other sort of wood in the country, and are much dearer than those made of the wood of the wild cherry trees (Prunus Virginiana) or of black walnut trees. But the most valuable utensils were those made of curled black walnut, for that is an excessive scarce kind of wood. The curled maple was likewise very uncommon, and you frequently find trees, whose outsides are marbled, but their inside not. The tree is therefore cut very deep before it is felled, to see whether it has veins in every part.

In the evening I reached Philadelphia.

October the 7th. In the morning we crossed the Delaware in a boat to the other side which belongs to New Jersey, each person paying fourpence for his passage. The country here is very different from that in Pensylvania; for here the ground is almost mere sand, but in the other province it is mixed with a good deal of clay, and this makes the ground pretty rich. The discoveries which I made to day of insects and plants, I intend to mention in another work.

A soil like this in New Jersey, one might be led to think, could produce nothing because it is so dry and poor. Yet the maize which is planted on it grows extremely well, and we saw many fields filled with it. The earth is of that kind in which tobacco commonly succeeds, but it is not near so rich. The stalks of maize are commonly eight feet high, more or less, and are full of leaves. The maize is planted as usual in rows, in little squares, so that there is a space of five feet and six inches between each square, both in length and breadth; on each of these little hills three or four stalks come up, which were not yet cut for the cattle; each stalk again has from one to four ears, which are large and full of corn. A sandy ground could never have been better employed. In some places the ground between the maize is ploughed, and rye sown in it, so that when the maize is cut, the rye remains upon the field.

We frequently saw Asparagus growing near the enclosures, in a loose soil, on uncultivated sandy fields. It is likewise plentiful between the maize, and was at present full of berries, but I cannot tell whether the seeds are carried by the wind to the places where I saw them; it is however certain, that I have likewise seen it growing wild in other parts of America.

The Worm-seed, is likewise plentiful on the roads, in a sandy ground such as that near the ferry opposite 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 sweetened with treacle, or in any other liquor. Its effects talked of differently. Some people say it kills the worms, others again pretend that it forwards their encrease. But I know by my own experience, that this wormseed has had very good effects upon children.

The Purslain, which we cultivate in our gardens, grows wild in great abundance in the loose soil amongst the maize. It was there creeping on the ground, and its stalks were pretty thick and succulent; which circumstance very justly gave reason to wonder from whence it could get juice sufficient to supply it in such a dry ground. It is to be found plentiful in such soil, in other places of this country.

The Bidens bipinnata, is here called Spanish Needles. It grows single about farm houses, near roads, pales and along the hedges. It was yet partly in flower; but for the greatest part it was already out of blossom. When its seeds are ripe it is very disagreeable walking where it grows. For they stick to the cloaths and make them black; and it is difficult to discharge the black spots which they occasion. Each seed has three spines at its extremity; and each of these again is full of numerous little hooks, by which the seed fastens itself to the cloaths.

In the woods and along the hedges in this neighbourhood, some single red Ants, (Formica rubra) crept about, and their antennæ or feel-horns were as long as their bodies.