PETER KALM’s TRAVELS. (continued 3)

Towards night we returned to Philadelphia.

October the 9th. Pease are not much cultivated in Pensylvania at present, though formerly, according to the accounts of some old Swedes, every farmer had a little field with pease. In New Jersey and the southern parts of New York, pease are likewise not so much cultivated as they used to be. But in the northern parts of New York, or about Albany, and in all the parts of Canada which are inhabited by the French, the people sow great quantities, and have a plentiful crop. In the former colonies, a little despicable insect has obliged the people to give up so useful a part of agriculture. This little insect was formerly little known, but a few years ago it multiplied excessively. It couples in summer, about the time when the pease are in blossom, and then deposites an egg into almost every one of the little pease. When the pease are ripe, their outward appearance does not discover the worm, which, however, is found within, when it is cut. This worm lies in the pea, if it is not stirred during all the winter, and part of the spring, and in that space of time consumes the greatest part of the inside of the pea: In spring therefore little more than the mere thin outward skin is left. This worm at last changes into an insect, of the coleoptera class, and in that state creeps through a hole of its own making in the husk, and flies off, in order to look for new fields of pease, in which it may couple with its cogeneric insects, and provide food sufficient for its posterity.

This noxious insect has spread from Pensylvania to the north. For the country of New York, where it is common at present, has not been plagued with it above twelve or fifteen years ago; and before that time the people sowed pease every year without any inconvenience, and had excellent crops. But by degrees these little enemies came in such numbers, that the inhabitants were forced to leave off sowing of pease. The people complained of this in several places. The country people about Albany have yet the pleasure to see their fields of pease not infected by these beetles, but are always afraid of their approach; as it has been observed they come every year nearer to that province.

The Rhus radicans is a shrub or tree which grows abundantly in this country, and has in common with the ivy, called Hedera arborea, the quality of not growing without the support either of a tree, a wall, or a hedge. I have seen it climbing to the very top of high trees in the woods, and its branches shoot out every where little roots, which fasten upon the tree and as it were enter into it. When the stem is cut, it emits a pale brown sap of a disagreeable scent. This sap is so sharp that the letters and characters made upon linnen with it, cannot be got out again, but grow blacker the more the cloath is washed. 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 species of Sumach has the same noxious qualities as the poisonous sumach, or Poison-tree, which I have above described, being poisonous to some people, though not to every one. Therefore all that has been said of the poison tree is likewise applicable to this; excepting that the former has the stronger poison. However I have seen people who have been as much swelled from the noxious exhalations of the latter, as they could have been from those of the former. I likewise know that of two sisters, the one could manage the tree without being affected by its venom, though the other immediately felt it as soon as the exhalations of the tree came near her, or when ever she came a yard too near the tree, and even when she stood in the way of the wind, which blew directly from this shrub. But upon me this species of sumach has never exherted its power, though I made above a hundred experiments upon myself with the greatest stems, and the juice once squirted into my eye, without doing me any harm. On another person’s hand which I had covered very thick with it, the skin a few hours after became as hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled off in the following days, as if little scales fell from it.

October the 10th. In the morning I accompanied Mr. Cock to his country seat, which is about nine miles from Philadelphia to the north.

Though the woods of Pensylvania afford many oaks, and more species of them than are found further north, yet they do not build so many ships in this province as they do in the northern ones, and especially in New England. But experience has taught the people that the same kind of trees is more durable the further it grows to the north, and that this advantage decreases the more it grows in warm climates. It is likewise plain that the trees in the south grow more every year, and form thicker ringlets than those in the north. The former have likewise much greater tubes for the circulation of the sap than the latter. And for this reason they do not build so many ships in Pensylvania, as they do in New England, though more than in Virginia and Maryland; but Carolina builds very few, and its merchants get all their ships from New England. Those which are here made of the best oak, hardly are serviceable above ten, or at most twelve years; for then they are so rotten, that no body ventures to go to sea in them, Many captains of ships come over from England to North-America, in order to get ships built. But most of them choose New England, that being the most northerly province; and if they even come over in ships which are bound for Philadelphia, they frequently on their arrival set out from Pensylvania for New England. The Spaniards in the West Indies are said to build their ships of a peculiar sort of cedar, which holds out against putrefaction and wet; but it is not to be met with on the continent in the English provinces. Here are above nine different sorts of oak, but not one of them is comparable to the single species we have in Sweden, with regard to its goodness. And therefore a ship of European oak costs a great deal more than one made of American oak.

Many people who chiefly employed themselves in gardening, had found in a succession of years, that the red Beet, which grew out of the seed which was got from New York, became very sweet and had a very fine taste; but that it every year lost part of its goodness, if it was cultivated from seeds which were got here. The people were therefore obliged to get as many seeds of red beet every year from New York, as were wanted in their gardens. It has likewise been generally observed, that the plants which are produced from English seeds are always much better and more agreeable, than those which come from seeds of this country.

In the garden of Mr. Cock was a raddish which was in the loose soil, grown so big as to be seven inches in diameter. Every body that saw it, owned it was uncommon to see them of such a size.

Mr. Cock had a paper mill, on a little brook, and all the coarser sorts of paper are manufactured in it. It is now annually rented for fifty pounds Pensylvania currency.

October the 11th. I have already mentioned, that every countryman has a greater or lesser number of apple trees planted round his farm-house, from whence he gets great quantities of fruit, part of which he sells, part he makes cyder of, and part he uses in his own family for pyes, tarts, and the like. However he cannot expect an equal quantity of fruit every year. And I was told, that this year had not by far afforded such a great quantity of apples as the preceding; the cause of which they told me, was the continual and great drought in the month of May, which had hurt all the blossoms of the apple trees, and made them wither. The heat had been so great as to dry up all the plants, and the grass in the fields.

The Polytrichum commune, a species of moss, grew plentifully on wet and low meadows between the woods, and in several places quite covered them, as our mosses cover the meadows in Sweden. It was likewise very plentiful on hills.

Agriculture was in a very bad state hereabouts. When a person had bought a piece of land, which perhaps had never been ploughed since the creation, he cut down part of the wood, tore up the roots, ploughed the ground, sowed corn on it, and the first time got a plentiful crop. But the same land being tilled for several years successively, without being manured, it at last must of course lose its fertility. Its possessor therefore leaves it fallow, and proceeds to another part of his ground, which he treats in the same manner. Thus he goes on till he has changed a great part of his possessions into corn-fields, and by that means deprives the ground of its fertility. He then returns to the first field, which now is pretty well recovered; this he again tills as long as it will afford him a good crop, but when its fertility is exhausted, he leaves it fallow again, and proceeds to the rest as before.

It being customary here, to let the cattle go about the fields and in the woods both day and night, the people cannot collect much dung for manure. But by leaving the land fallow for several years together, a great quantity of weeds spring up in it, and get such strength, that it requires a considerable time to extirpate them. From hence it likewise comes, that the corn is always so much mixed with weeds. The great richness of the soil, which the first European colonists found here, and which had never been ploughed before, has given rise to this neglect of agriculture, which is still observed by many of the inhabitants. But they do not consider, that when the earth is quite exhausted, a great space of time, and an infinite deal of labour is necessary to bring it again into good order; especially in these countries which are almost every summer so scorched up by the excessive heat and drought. The soil of the corn-fields consisted of a thin mould, greatly mixed with a brick coloured clay, and a quantity of small particles of glimmer. This latter came from the stones which are here almost every where to be met with at the depth of a foot or thereabouts. These little pieces of glimmer made the ground sparkle, when the sun shone upon it.

Almost all the houses hereabouts were built either of stone or bricks; but those of stone were more numerous. Germantown, which is about two English miles long, had no other houses, and the country houses thereabouts, were all built of stone. But there are several varieties of that stone which is commonly made use of in building. Sometimes it consisted of a black or grey glimmer, running in undulated veins, the spaces between their bendings being filled up with a grey, loose, small-grained limestone, which was easily friable. Some transparent particles of quartz were scattered in the mass, of which the glimmer made the greatest part. It was very easy to be cut, and with proper tools could readily be shaped into any form. Sometimes however the pieces consisted of a black, small-grained glimmer, a white small-grained sandstone, and some particles of quartz, and the several constituent parts were well mixed together. Sometimes the stone had broad stripes of the white limestone without any addition of glimmer. But most commonly they were much blended together, and of a grey colour. Sometimes this stone was found to consist of quite fine and black pieces of glimmer, and a grey, loose and very small-grained limestone. This was likewise very easy to be cut, being loose.

These varieties of the stone are commonly found close together. They were every where to be met with, at a little depth, but not in equal quantity and goodness; and not always easy to be broken. When therefore a person intended to build a house, he enquired where the best stone could be met with. It is to be found on corn-fields and meadows, at a depth which varies from two to six feet. The pieces were different as to size. Some were eight or ten feet long, two broad, and one thick. Sometimes they were still bigger, but frequently much less. Hereabouts they lay in strata one above another, the thickness of each stratum being about a foot. The length and breadth were different, but commonly such as I have before mentioned. They must commonly dig three or four feet before they reach the first stratum. The loose ground above that stratum, is full of little pieces of this stone. This ground is the common brick coloured soil, which is universal here, and consists of sand and clay, though the former is more plentiful. The loose pieces of glimmer which shine so much in it, seem to have been broken off from the great strata of stone.

It must be observed that when the people build with this stone, they take care to turn the flat side of it outwards. But as that cannot always be done, the stone being frequently rough on all sides, it is easily cut smooth with tools, since it is soft, and not very difficult to be broken. The stones however are unequal in thickness, and therefore by putting them together they cannot be kept in such straight lines as bricks. It sometimes likewise happens that pieces break off when they are cut, and leave holes on the outside of the wall. But in order to fill up these holes, the little pieces of stone which cannot be made use of are pounded, mixed with mortar, and put into the holes; the places thus filled up, are afterwards smoothed, and when they are dry, they are hardly distinguishable from the rest at some distance. At last they draw on the outside of the wall, strokes of mortar, which cross each other perpendicularly, so that it looks as if the wall consisted wholly of equal, square stones, and as if the white strokes were the places where they were joined with mortar. The inside of the wall is made smooth, covered with mortar and whitewashed. It has not been observed that this kind of stone attracts the moisture in a rainy or wet season. In Philadelphia and its environs, you find several houses built of this kind of stone.

The houses here are commonly built in the English manner.

One of Mr. Cock’s negroes showed me the skin of a badger (Ursus Meles) which he had killed a few days ago, and which convinced me that the American badger is the same with the Swedish one. It was here called Ground Hog.

Towards night I returned to Philadelphia.

October the 12th. In the morning we went to the river Skulkill, partly to gather seeds, partly to collect plants for the herbal, and to make all sorts of observations. The Skulkill is a narrow river, which falls into the Delaware, about four miles from Philadelphia to the south; but narrow as it is, it rises on the west side of those high mountains, commonly called the blue mountains, and runs two hundred English miles, and perhaps more. It is a great disadvantage to this country, that there are several cataracts in this river as low as Philadelphia, for which reason there can be no navigation on it. To day I made some descriptions and remarks on such plants as the cattle liked, or such as they never touched.

I observed several little subterraneous 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 uncultivated fields I frequently saw these subterraneous walks, which discovered themselves by the ground thrown up above them, which when trod upon gave way, and made it inconvenient to walk in the field.

October the 13th. There is a plant here, from the berries of which they make a kind of wax or tallow, and for that reason the Swedes call it the Tallow shrub. The English call the same tree the Candleberry-tree, or Bayberry-bush; and Dr. Linnæus gives it the name of Myrica cerifera. It grows abundantly on a wet soil, and it seems to thrive particularly well in the neighbourhood of the sea, nor have I ever found it high up in the country far from the sea. The berries grow abundantly on the female shrub, and look as if flower had been strewed 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 skimmed off into a vessel; with the skimming they go on till there is no tallow left. The tallow as soon as it is congealed, looks like common tallow or wax, but has a dirty green colour; it is for that reason melted over again, and refined, by which means it acquires a fine and pretty transparent green colour: this tallow is dearer than common tallow, but cheaper than wax. In Philadelphia they pay a shilling Pensylvania currency, for a pound of this tallow; but a pound of common tallow only came to half that money, and wax costs as much again. From this tallow they make candles in many parts of this province, but they usually mix some common tallow with it. Candles of this kind, do not easily bend, nor melt in summer as common candles do; they burn better and slower, nor do they cause any smoak, but rather yield an agreeable smell, when they are extinguished. An old Swede of ninety-one years of age told me, that this sort of candles had formerly been much in use with his country men. At present they do not make so many candles of this kind, if they can get the tallow of animals; it being too troublesome to gather the berries. However these candles are made use of by poor people, who live in the neighbourhood of a place where the bushes grow, and have not cattle enough to kill, in order to supply them with a sufficient quantity of tallow. From the wax of the candleberry tree they likewise make a soap here, which has an agreeable scent, and is the best for shaving. This wax is likewise used by doctors, and surgeons, who reckon it exceeding good for plasters upon wounds. A merchant of this town once sent a quantity of these candles to those American provinces which had Roman Catholic inhabitants, thinking he would be well paid, since wax candles are made use 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 use of by the Indians, as a remedy against the tooth ach, and that he himself 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 lessened by it. Another Swede assured 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 likewise sealing-wax.

October the 14th. Penny Royal is a plant which has a peculiar strong scent, and grows abundantly on dry places in the country. Botanists call it Cunila pulegioides. It is reckoned very wholesome to drink as a tea when a person has got cold, as it promotes perspiration. I was likewise told, that on feeling a pain in any limb, this plant, if applied to it, would give immediate relief.

The goods which are shipped to London from New England are the following: all sorts of fish caught near Newfoundland and elsewhere; train-oil of several sorts; whale-bone; tar, pitch, masts; new ships, of which a great number is annually built; a few hides, and sometimes some sorts of wood. The English islands in America, as Jamaica and Barbadoes, get from New England, fish, flesh, butter, cheese, tallow, horses, cattle; all sorts of lumber, such as pails, buckets, and hogsheads; and have returns made in rum, sugar, melasses, and other produces of the country, or in cash, the greatest part of all which they send to London (the money especially) in payment of the goods received from thence, and yet all this is inefficient to pay off the debt.

October the 15th. The Alders grew here in considerable abundance on wet and low places, and even sometimes on pretty high ones, but never reached the height of the European alders, and commonly stood like a bush about a fathom or two high. Mr. Bartram, and other gentlemen who had frequently travelled in these provinces, told me that the more you go to the south, the less are the alders, but that they are higher and taller, the more you advance to the north. I found afterwards myself, that the alders in some places of Canada, are little inferior to the Swedish ones. Their bark is employed here in dying red and brown. A Swedish inhabitant of America, told me that he had cut his leg to the very bone, and that some coagulated blood had already been settled within. That he had been advised to boil the alder bark, and to wash the wound often with the water: that he followed this advice, and had soon got his leg healed, though it had been very dangerous at first.

The Phytolacca decandra was called Poke by the English. The Swedes had no particular name for it, but made use of the English, with some little variation into Paok. When the juice of its berries is put upon paper or the like, it strikes it with a high purple colour, which is as fine as any in the world, and it is pity that no method is as yet found out, of making this colour last on woollen and linen cloth, for it fades very soon. Mr. Bartram mentioned, that having hit his foot against a stone, he had got a violent pain in it; he then bethought himself to put a leaf of the Phytolacca on his foot, by which he lost the pain in a short time, and got his foot well soon after. The berries are eaten by the birds about this time. The English and several Swedes make use of the leaves in spring, when they are just come out, and are yet tender and soft, and eat them partly as green cale, and partly in the manner we eat spinnage. Sometimes they likewise prepare them in the first of these ways, when the stalks are already grown a little longer, breaking off none but the upper sprouts which are yet tender, and not woody; but in this latter case, great care is to be taken, for if you eat the plant when it is already grown up, and its leaves are no longer soft, you may expect death as a consequence which seldom fails to follow, for the plant has then got a power of purging the body to excess. I have known people, who, by eating great full grown leaves of this plant, have got such a strong dysentery, that they were near dying with it: its berries however are eaten in autumn by children, without any ill consequence.

Woollen and linen cloth is dyed yellow with the bark of hiccory. This likewise is done with the bark of the black oak, or Linnæus’s Quercus nigra, and that variety of it which Catesby in his Natural History of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 19. calls Quercus marilandica. The flowers and leaves of the Impatiens Noli tangere or balsamine, likewise dyed all woollen stuffs with a fine yellow colour.

The Collinsonia canadensis was frequently found in little woods and bushes, in a good rich soil. Mr. Bartram who knew the country perfectly well, was sure that Pensylvania, and all the parts of America in the same climate, were the true and original places where this plant grows. For further to the south, neither he nor Messrs. Clayton and Mitchel ever found it, though the latter gentlemen have made accurate observations 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 min. north of forty-three deg. The time of the year when it comes up in Pensylvania, is so late, that its seed has but just time sufficient to ripen in, and it therefore seems unlikely, that it can succeed further north, Mr. Bartram was the first who discovered it, and sent it over into Europe. Mr. Jussieu during his stay at London, and Dr. Linnæus afterwards, called it Collinsonia, from the celebrated Mr. Peter Collinson, a merchant in London, and fellow of the English and Swedish Royal Societies. He well deserved the honour of having a plant called after his name, for there are few people that have promoted natural history and all useful sciences with a zeal like his; or that have done as much as he towards collecting, cultivating, and making known all sorts of plants. The Collinsonia has a peculiar scent, which is agreeable, but very strong. It always gave me a pretty violent head-ach whenever I passed by a place where it stood in plenty, and especially when it was in flower. Mr. Bartram was acquainted with a better quality of this plant, which was that of being an excellent remedy against all sorts of pain in the limbs, and against a cold, when the parts affected are rubbed with it. And Mr. Conrad Weisser, interpreter of the language of the Indians in Pensylvania, had told him of a more wonderful cure with this plant. He was once among a company of Indians, one of which had been stung by a rattle snake, the savages gave him over, but he boiled the collinsonia, and made the poor wretch drink the water, from which he happily recovered. Somewhat more to the north and in New York they call this plant Horseweed, because the horses eat it in spring, before any other plant comes up.

October the 16th. I asked Mr. Franklin and other gentlemen who were well acquainted with this country, whether they had met with any signs, from whence they could have concluded that any place which was now a part of the continent, had formerly been covered with water? and I got the following account in answer.

1. On travelling from hence to the south, you meet with a place where the highroad is very low in the ground between two mountains. On both sides you see nothing but oyster shells and muscle shells in immense quantities above each other; however the place is many miles off the sea.

2. Whenever they dig wells, or build houses in town, they find the earth lying in several strata above each other. At a depth of fourteen feet or more, they find globular stones, which are as smooth on the outside as those which lie on the sea-shore, and are made round and smooth by the rolling of the waves. And after having dug through the sand, and reached a depth of eighteen feet or more, they discover in some places a slime like that which the sea throws up on the shore, and which commonly lies at its bottom and in rivers; this slime is quite full of trees, leaves, branches, reed, charcoal, &c.

3. It has sometimes happened that new houses have sunk on one side in a short 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 slime, wood, roots, &c.

Are not these reasons sufficient to make one suppose that those places in Philadelphia which are at present fourteen feet and more under ground, formerly were the bottom of the sea, and that by several accidents, sand, earth, and other things were carried upon it? or, that the Delaware formerly was broader than it is at present? or, that it has changed its course? This last still often happens at present; the river breaking off the bank on one side, and forming one on the other. Both the Swedes and English often shewed me such places.

October the 18th. At present I did not find above ten different kinds of plants in blossom: they were, a Gentiana, two species of Aster, the common Golden Rod, or Solidago Virga aurea, a species of Hieracium, the yellow wood Sorrel, or Oxalis corniculata, the Fox Gloves, or Digitalis purpurea, the Hamamelis Virginiana, or Witch Hazel, our common Millefoil, or Achillæa Millefolium, and our Dandelion, or Leontodon Taraxacum. All other plants had for this year laid aside their gay colours. Several trees, especially those which were to flower early in spring, had already formed such large buds, that on opening them all the parts of fructification, such as Calyx, Corolla, Stamina and Pistillum were plainly distinguishable. It was therefore easy to determine the genus to which such trees belonged. Such were the red maple, or Acer rubrum, and the Laurus æstivalis, a species of bay. Thus nature prepared to bring forth flowers, with the first mild weather in the next year. The buds were at present quite hard, and all their parts pressed close together, that the cold might by all means be excluded.

The black Walnut trees had for the greatest part dropt their leaves, and many of them were entirely without them. The walnuts themselves were already fallen off. The green peel which enclosed 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 washed ever so much.

The Cornus florida was called Dogwood by the English, and grew abundantly in the woods. It looks beautiful when it is adorned with its numerous great white flowers in spring. The wood is very hard, and is therefore made use of for weaver’s spools, joiner’s planes, wedges, &c. When the cattle fall down in spring for want of strength, the people tie a branch of this tree on their neck, thinking it will help them.

October the 19th. The Tulip tree grows every where in the woods of this country. The botanists call it Liriodendron tulipifera, because its flowers both in respect to their size, and in respect to their exterior form, and even in some measure with regard to their colour, resemble tulips. The Swedes called it Canoe tree, for both the Indians and the Europeans often make their canoes of the stem of this tree. The Englishmen in Pensylvania give it the name of Poplar. It is reckoned a tree which grows to the greatest height and thickness of any in North America, and which vies in that point with our greatest 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 see in spring, at the end of May (when it is in blossom) one of the greatest trees covered for a fortnight together with flowers, which with regard to their shape, size, and partly colour are like tulips, the leaves have likewise something peculiar, the English therefore in some places call the tree the old woman’s smock, because their imagination finds something like it below the leaves.

Its wood is here made use of for canoes, boards, planks, bowls, dishes, spoons, door posts, and all sorts of joiners work. I have seen a barn of a considerable size whose walls, and roof were made of a single tree of this kind, split into boards. Some joiners reckoned this wood better than oak, because this latter frequently is warped, which the other never does, but works very easy; others again valued it very little. It is certain, that it contracts so much in hot weather, as to occasion great cracks in the boards, and in wet weather it swells so as to be near bursting, and the people hardly know of a wood in these parts which varies so much in contracting and expanding itself. The joiners however make much use of it in their work, they say there are two species of it; but they are merely two varieties, one of which in time turns yellow within, the other is white, the former is said to have a looser texture. The bark (like Russia glass) is divisible into very thin leaves, which are very tough like bast, though I have never seen it employed as such. The leaves when crushed and applied to the forehead are said to be a remedy against the head ach. When horses are plagued with worms, the bark is pounded, and given them quite dry. Many people believe its roots to be as efficacious against the fever as the jesuits bark. The trees grow in all sorts of dry soil, both on high and low grounds, but too wet a soil will not agree with them.

October the 20th. The Beaver tree is to be met with in several parts of Pensylvania and New Jersey, in a poor swampy soil, or on wet meadows. Dr. Linnæus calls it Magnolia glauca; both the Swedes and English call it Beaver tree, because the root of this tree is the dainty of beavers, which are caught by its means, however the Swedes sometimes gave it a different name, and the English as improperly called it Swamp Sassafras, and White Laurel. The trees of this kind dropt their leaves early in autumn, though some of the young trees kept them all the winter. I have seldom found the beaver tree to the north of Pensylvania, where it begins to flower about the end of May. The scent of its blossoms is excellent, for by it you can discover within three quarters of an English mile, whether these little trees stand in the neighbourhood, provided the wind be not against it. For the whole air is filled with this sweet and pleasant scent. It is beyond description agreeable to travel in the woods about that time, especially towards night. They retain their flowers for three weeks and even longer, according to the quality of the soil on which the trees stand; and during the whole time of their being in blossom, they spread their odoriferous exhalations. The berries likewise look very fine when they are ripe, for they have a rich red colour, and hang in bunches on slender stalks. The cough, and other pectoral diseases are cured by putting the berries into rum or brandy, of which a draught every morning may be taken; the virtues of this remedy were universally extolled, and even praised for their salutary effects in consumptions. The bark being put into brandy, or boiled in any other liquor, is said not only to ease pectoral diseases, but likewise to be of some service against all internal pains and heat; and it was thought that a decoction of it could stop the dysentery. Persons who 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 cure effected by this tree: One of his relations, an old man, had an open sore in his leg, which would not heal up again, though he had had much advice and used many remedies. An Indian at last effected the cure in the following manner. He burnt some of this wood to charcoal, which he reduced to powder, mixed with the fresh fat of pork, and rubbed the open places several times. This dried up the holes, which before were continually open, and the legs of the old man were quite sound to his death. The wood is likewise made use of for joiner’s planes.

October the 22d. Upon trial it has been found that the following animals and birds, which are wild in the woods of North America, can be made nearly as tractable as domestic animals.

The wild Cows and Oxen, of which several people of distinction have got young calves from these wild cows, which are to be met with in Carolina, and other provinces to the south of Pensylvania, and brought them up among the tame cattle; when grown up, they were perfectly tame, but at the same time very unruly, so that there was no enclosure strong enough to resist them, if they had a mind to break through it; for as they possess a great strength in their neck, it was easy for them to overthrow the pales with their horns, and to get into the corn-fields; and as soon as they had made a road, all the tame cattle followed them; they likewise copulated with the latter, and by that means generated as it were a new breed. This American species of oxen is Linnæus’s Bos Bison, β.

American Deer, can likewise be tamed; and I have seen them tame myself in different places. A farmer in New Jersey had one in his possession, which he had caught when it was very young; and at present it was so tame, that in the day time it run into the wood for its food, and towards night it returned home, and frequently brought a wild deer out of the wood, giving its master an opportunity to shoot it. Several people have therefore tamed young deer, and make use of them for hunting wild deer, or for decoying them home, especially in the time of their rutting.

Beavers have been so tamed that they have gone on fishing, and brought home what they had caught to their masters. This often is the case with Otters, of which I have seen some, which were as tame as dogs, and followed their masters 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 fish. The Opossum, can likewise be tamed, so as to follow people like a dog.

The Raccoon which we (Swedes) call Siupp, can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. In the dark it creeps to the poultry, and kills in one night a whole flock. Sugar and other sweet things must be carefully hidden from it, for if the chests and boxes are not always locked up, it gets into them, eats the sugar, and licks up the treacle with its paws: the ladies therefore have every day some complaint against it, and for this reason many people rather forbear the diversion which this ape-like animal affords.

The grey and flying Squirrels are so tamed by the boys, that they sit on their shoulders, 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 superior size, and redder, though more palatable flesh. When their eggs are found in the wood, and put under tame Turkey hens, the young ones become tame; however when they grow up, it sometimes happens that they fly away; their wings are therefore commonly clipped, especially when young. But the tamed turkeys are commonly much more irascible, than those which are naturally tame. The Indians likewise employ themselves in taming them and keeping them near their huts.

Wild Geese have likewise been tamed in the following manner. When the wild geese first come hither in spring, and stop a little while (for they do not breed in Pensylvania) the people try to shoot them in the wing, which however is generally mere chance. They then row to the place where the wild goose fell, catch it, and keep it for some time at home, by this means many of them have been made so tame, that when they were let out in the morning, they returned in the evening, but to be more sure of them, their wings are commonly clipped. I have seen wild geese of this kind, which the owner assured me, that he had kept for more than twelve years; but though he kept eight of them, yet he never had the pleasure to see them copulate with the tame ones, or lay eggs.

Partridges, which are here in abundance, may likewise be so 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 same manner I have seen wild Pigeons, which were made so tame as to fly out and return again. In some winters there are immense quantities of wild pigeons in Pensylvania.

During their sucking the juice out of the flowers they never settle on it, but flutter continually like bees, bend their feet backwards, and move their wings so quick, that they are hardly visible. During this fluttering they make a humming like bees, or like that which is occasioned by the turning of a little wheel. After they have thus, without resting, fluttered for a while, they fly to a neighbouring tree or post, and resume their vigour again. They then return to their humming and sucking. They are not very shy, and I in company with several other people, have not been full two yards from the place where they fluttered about and sucked the flowers; and though we spoke and moved, yet they were no ways disturbed; but on going towards them, they would fly off with the swiftness of an arrow. When several of them were on the same bed, there was always a violent combat between them, in meeting each other at the same flower (for envy was likewise predominant amongst these little creatures) and they attacked with such impetuosity, that it would seem as if the strongest would pierce its antagonist through and through, with its long bill. During the fight, they seem to stand in the air, keeping themselves up, by the incredibly swift motion of their wings. When the windows towards the garden are open, they pursue 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; they then in a fit of anger pluck it off, and throw it on the ground, that it may not mislead them for the future. If a garden contains a great number of these little birds, they are seen to pluck off the flowers in such quantities, that the ground is quite covered with them, and it seems as if this proceeded from a motion of envy.

Commonly you hear no other sound than their humming, but when they fly against each other in the air, they make a chirping noise like a sparrow or chicken. I have sometimes walked with several other people in small gardens, and these birds have on all sides fluttered about us, without appearing very shy. They are so small that one would easily mistake them for great humming-bees or butterflies, and their flight resembles that of the former, and is incredibly swift. They have never been observed to feed on insects or fruit; the nectar of flowers, seems therefore to be their only food. Several people have caught some humming birds on account of their singular beauty, and have put them into cages, where they died for want of a proper food. However Mr. Bartram has kept a couple of them for several weeks together, by feeding them with water in which sugar had been dissolved, and I am of opinion that it would not be difficult to keep them all winter in a hot-house.

The humming bird always builds its nest in the middle of a branch of a tree, and it is so small, that it cannot be seen from the ground, but he who intends to see it must get up to the branch. For this reason it is looked upon as a great rarity if a nest is accidentally found, especially as the trees in summer have so thick a foliage. The nest is likewise the least of all; that which is in my possession is quite round, and consists in the inside of a brownish and quite soft down, which seems to have been collected from the leaves of the great mullein or Verbascum Thapsus, which are often found covered with a soft wool of this colour, and the plant is plentiful here. The outside of the nest has a coating of green moss, such as is common on old pales or enclosures and on trees; the inner diameter of the nest is hardly a geometrical inch at the top, and its depth half an inch. It is however known that the humming birds make their nests likewise of flax, hemp, moss, hair and other such soft materials; they are said to lay two eggs, each of the size of a pea.

October the 25th. I employed this day and the next in packing up all the seeds gathered this autumn, for I had an opportunity of sending them to England by the ships which sailed about this time. From England they were forwarded to Sweden.

October the 27th. In the morning I set out on a little journey to New York, in company with Mr. Peter Cock, with a view to see the country, and to enquire into the safest road, which I could take in going to Canada, through the desart or uninhabited country between it and the English provinces.

That part where we travelled at present was pretty well inhabited on both sides of the road, by Englishmen, Germans and other Europeans. Plains and hills of different dimensions were seen alternately, mountains and stones, I never saw, excepting a few pebbles. Near almost every farm was a great orchard with peach and apple trees, some of which were yet loaded with fruit.

The enclosures were in some parts low enough, for the cattle to leap over them with ease; to prevent this the hogs had a triangular wooden yoke: this custom was as I have already observed, common over all the English plantations. To the horses neck was fastened a piece of wood, which at the lower end had a tooth or hook, fastening in the enclosure, and stopping the horse, just when it lifted its fore feet to leap over; but I know not whether this be a good invention with regard to horses. They were likewise kept in bounds by a piece of wood, one end of which was fastened to one of the fore feet, and the other to one of the hind feet, and it forced them to walk pretty slowly, as at the same time it made it impossible for them to leap over the enclosures. To me it appeared that the horses were subject to all sorts of dangerous accidents from this piece of wood.

Near New Frankfurt we rode over a little stone bridge, and somewhat further, eight or nine English miles from Philadelphia we passed over another, which was likewise of stone. There are not yet any milestones put up in the country, and the inhabitants only compute the distances by guess. We were afterwards brought over a river in a ferry, where we paid threepence a person, for ourselves and our horses.

At one of the places where we stopt to have our horses fed, the people had a Mocking-bird in a cage; and it is here reckoned the best singing bird, though its plumage be very simple, and not showy at all. At this time of the year it does not sing. Linnæus calls it Turdus polyglottos, and Catesby in his Natural History of Carolina, Vol. 1. p. 27. tab. 27, has likewise described and drawn this bird. The people said that it built its nests in the bushes and trees, but is so shy, that if any body come and look at its eggs, it leaves the nest, 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, she feeds them for three or four days; but seeing no hopes of setting them at liberty, she flies away. It then often happens, that the young ones die soon after, doubtless because they cannot accustom themselves to eat what the people give them. But it is generally imagined, that the last time the mother feeds them, she finds means to poison them, in order, the sooner to deliver them from slavery and wretchedness. These birds stay all summer in the colonies, but retire in autumn to the south, and stay away all winter. They have got the name of Mocking-birds, on account of their skill in imitating the note of almost every bird they hear. The song peculiar to them is excellent, and varied by an infinite change of notes and melody; several people are therefore of opinion, that they are the best singing birds in the world. So much is certain, that few birds come up to them; this is what makes them precious: the Swedes call it by the same name as the English.

About noon we came to New Bristol, a small town in Pensylvania, on the banks of the Delaware, about fifteen English miles from Philadelphia. Most of the houses are built of stone, and stand asunder. The inhabitants carry on a small trade, though most of them get their goods from Philadelphia. On the other side of the river, almost directly opposite to New Bristol, lies the town of Burlington, in which the governor of New Jersey resides.

We had now country seats on both sides of the roads. Now we came into a lane enclosed with pales on both sides, including pretty great corn-fields. Next followed a wood, and we perceived for the space of four English miles nothing but woods, and a very poor soil, on which the Lupinus perennis grew plentifully and succeeded well. I was overjoyed to see a plant come on so well in these poor dry places, and even began to meditate, how to improve this discovery in a soil like that which it inhabited. But I afterwards had the mortification to find that the horses and cows eat almost all the other plants, but left the lupine, which was however very green, looked very fresh, and was extremely soft to the touch. Perhaps means may be found out of making this plant palatable to the cattle. In the evening we arrived at Trenton, after having previously passed the Delaware in a ferry.

October the 28th. Trenton is a long narrow town, situate at some distance from the river Delaware, on a sandy plain; it belongs to New Jersey, and they reckon it thirty miles from Philadelphia. It has two small churches, one for the people belonging to the church of England, the other for the presbyterians. The houses are partly built of stone, though most of them are made of wood or planks, commonly two stories high, together with a cellar below the building, and a kitchen under ground, close to the cellar. The houses stand at a moderate distance from one another. They are commonly built so, that the street passes along one side of the houses, while gardens of different dimensions bound the other side; in each garden is a draw-well; the place is reckoned very healthy. Our landlord told us, that twenty-two years ago, when he first settled here, there was hardly more than one house; but from that time Trenton has encreased so much, that there are at present near a hundred houses. The houses were within divided into several rooms by their partitions of boards. The inhabitants of the place carried on a small trade with the goods which they got from Philadelphia, but their chief gain consisted in the arrival of the numerous travellers between that city and New York; for they are commonly brought by the Trenton Yachts from Philadelphia to Trenton, or from thence to Philadelphia. But from Trenton further to New Brunswick, the travellers go in the waggons which set out every day for that place. Several of the inhabitants however likewise subsist on the carriage for all sorts of goods, which are every day sent 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 Brunswick they are all carried by land, and both these conveniences belong to people of this town.

For the yachts which go between this place and the capital of Pensylvania, they usually pay a shilling and six-pence of Pensylvania currency per person, and every one pays besides for his baggage. Every passenger must provide meat and drink for himself, or pay some settled fare: between Trenton and New Brunswick a person pays two shillings and sixpence, and the baggage is likewise paid for separately.

We continued our journey in the morning; the country through which we passed was for the greatest part level, though sometimes there were some long hills, some parts were covered with trees, but far the greater part of the country was without woods; on the other hand I never saw any place in America, the towns excepted, so well peopled. An old man, who lived in this neighbourhood and accompanied us for some part of the road, however assured me, that he could well remember the time, when between Trenton and New Brunswick there were not above three farms, and he reckoned it was about fifty and some odd years ago. During the greater part of the day we had very extensive corn-fields on both sides of the road, and commonly towards the south the country had a great declivity. Near almost every farm was a spacious orchard full of peaches and apple trees, and in some of them the fruit was fallen from the trees in such quantities, as to cover nearly the whole surface. Part of it they left to rot, since they could not take it all in and consume it. Wherever we passed by we were always welcome to go into the fine orchards, and gather our hats and pockets full of the choicest fruit, without the possessor’s so much as looking after it. Cherry trees were planted near the farms, on the roads, &c.

Before I proceed, I find it necessary to remark one thing with regard to the Indians, 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 almost wholly inhabited by savage or heathen nations, and they may be astonished, 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 several places, houses of stone or wood are built, round which are corn-fields, gardens, and orchards, that I am speaking of the property of the Indians; to undeceive them, I here give the following explication. The country especially all along the coasts, in the English colonies, is inhabited by Europeans, who in some places are already so numerous, that few parts of Europe are more populous. The Indians have sold the country to the Europeans, and have retired further up: in most parts you may travel twenty Swedish miles, or about a hundred and twenty English miles, from the sea shore, before you reach the first habitations of the Indians. And it is very possible for a person to have been at Philadelphia and other towns on the sea shore for half a year together, without so much as seeing an Indian. I intend in the sequel to give a more circumstantial account of them, their religion, manners, oeconomy, and other particulars relating to them: at present I return to the sequel of my journal.

About nine English miles from Trenton, the ground began to change its colour; hitherto it consisted of a considerable quantity of hazel coloured clay, but at present the earth was a reddish brown, so that it sometimes had a purple colour, and sometimes looked like logwood. This colour came from a red limestone which approached very near to that which is on the mountain Kinnekulle in West Gothland, and makes a particular stratum in the rock. The American red limestone therefore seems to be merely a variety of that I saw in Sweden, it lay in strata of two or three fingers thickness; but was divisible into many thinner plates or shivers, whose surface was seldom flat and smooth, but commonly rough: the strata themselves were frequently cut off by horizontal cracks. When these stones were exposed to the air, they by degrees shivered and withered into pieces, and at last turned into dust. The people of this neighbourhood did not know how to make any use of it; the soil above is sometimes rich and sometimes poor: in such places where the people had lately dug new wells, I perceived, that most of the rubbish which was thrown up consisted of such a species of stone. This reddish brown earth we always saw till near New Brunswick, where it is particularly plentiful. The banks of the river, shewed in many places nothing but strata of Limestone, which did not run horizontally, but dipped very much.

About ten o’clock in the morning we came to Prince-town, which is situated in a plain. Most of the houses are built of wood, and are not contiguous, so that there are gardens and pastures between them. As these parts were sooner inhabited by Europeans than Pensylvania, the woods were likewise more cut away, and the country more cultivated, so that one might have imagined himself to be in Europe.

We now thought of continuing our journey, but as it began to rain very heavily, and continued so during the whole day and part of the night, we were forced to stay till next morning,

October 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 consisted of deciduous trees: and I did not perceive a single tree of the fir kind, till I came to New Brunswick. The ground was level, and did not seem to be every where of the richest kind. In some places it had hillocks, losing themselves almost imperceptibly in the plains, which were commonly crossed by a rivulet. Almost near every farm-house were great orchards. The houses were commonly built of timber, and at some distance by themselves stood the ovens for baking, consisting commonly of clay.

On a hill covered with trees, and called Rockhill, I saw several pieces of stone or rock, so big, that they would have required three men to roll them down. But besides these there were few great stories in the country; for most of those which we saw, could easily be lifted up by a single 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 Brunswick, a pretty little town in the province of New Jersey, in a valley on the west side of the river Rareton; on account of its low situation, it cannot be seen (coming from Pensylvania) before you get to the top of the hill, which is quite close up to it: the town extends north and south along the river. The German inhabitants have two churches, one of stone and the other of wood; the English church is of the latter kind, but the presbyterians were building one of stone: the town house makes likewise a pretty good appearance. Some of the other houses are built of bricks, but most of them are made either wholly of wood, or of bricks and wood; the wooden houses are not made of strong timber, but merely of boards or planks, which are within joined by laths: such houses as consist of both wood and bricks, have only the wall towards the street of bricks, all the other sides being merely of planks. This peculiar kind of ostentation would easily lead a traveller, who passes through the town in haste, to believe that most of the houses are built of bricks. The houses were covered with shingles; before each door there was an elevation, to which you ascend by some steps from the street; it resembled a small balcony, and had some benches on both sides, on which the people sat in the evening, in order to enjoy the fresh air, and to have the pleasure of viewing those who passed by. The town has only one street lengthways, and at its northern extremity there is a street across; both of these are of a considerable length.

The river Rareton passes 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 shot; the tide comes up several miles beyond the town, the yachts were placed lengthways along the bridge; the river has very high and pretty steep banks on both sides, but near the town there are no such banks, it being situated in a low valley. One of the streets is almost entirely inhabited by Dutchmen, who came hither from Albany, and for that reason they call it Albany street: these Dutch people only keep company among themselves, and seldom or never go amongst the other inhabitants, living as it were quite separate from them. New Brunswick belongs to New Jersey; however the greatest part, or rather all its trade is to New York, which is about forty English miles distant; to that place they send corn, flour in great quantities, bread, several other necessaries, a great quantity of linseed, boards timber, wooden vessels, and all sorts of carpenters work. Several small yachts are every day going backwards and forwards between these two towns. The inhabitants likewise get a considerable profit from the travellers, who every hour pass through, on the high road.

Towards the evening we continued our journey, and were ferried over the river Rareton, together with our horses. In a very dry summer, and when the tide has ebbed, it is by no means dangerous to ride through this river. On the opposite shore the red juniper tree was pretty abundant. The country through which we now passed was pretty well inhabited, but in most places full of small pebbles.

We saw Guinea Hens in many places where we passed by. They sometimes run about the fields, at a good distance from the farm-houses.

About eight English miles from New Brunswick, the road divided. We took that on the left, for that on the right leads to Amboy, the chief sea-town in New Jersey. The country now made a charming appearance; some parts being high, others forming vallies, and all of them well cultivated. From the hills you had a prospect of houses, farms, gardens, corn-fields, forests, lakes, islands, roads, and pastures.

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

Wood-bridge is a small village in a plain, consisting of a few houses: we stopped here to rest our horses a little. The houses were most of them built of boards; the walls had a covering of shingles on the outside; these shingles were round at one end, and all of a length in each row: some of the houses had an Italian roof, but the greatest part had roofs with pediments; most of them were covered with shingles. In most places we met with wells and buckets to draw up the water.

Elizabeth-town is a small town, about twenty English miles distant from New Brunswick: we arrived there immediately after sun setting. Its houses are mostly scattered, but well built, and generally of boards, with a roof of shingles, and walls covered with the same. There were likewise some stone buildings. A little rivulet passes through the town from west to east; it is almost reduced to nothing when the water ebbs away, but with the full tide they can bring up small 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 steeple with bells, and a balustrade round it, from which there was a prospect of the country. The meeting house of the presbyterians was built of wood, but had both a steeple and bells, and was, like the other houses covered with shingles. The town house made likewise a good appearance, and had a spire with a bell. The banks of the river were red, from the reddish limestone; both in and about the town were many gardens and orchards, and it might truly be said that Elizabeth-town was situated in a garden; the ground hereabouts being even and well cultivated.

The geese, in some of the places by which we passed this day and the next, carried three or four little sticks, of the length of a foot about their necks; they were fastened crossways, to prevent them from creeping through half broken enclosures. They look extremely awkward, and it is very diverting to see them in this attire.

At night we took up our lodgings at Elizabeth-town Point, an inn about two English miles distant from the town, and the last house on this road belonging to New Jersey. The man who had taken the lease of it, together with that of the ferry near it, told us that he paid a hundred and ten pounds of Pensylvania currency to the owner.

October the 30th. We were ready to proceed on our journey at sun-rising. Near the inn where we had passed the night, we were to cross a river, and we were brought over, together with our horses, in a wretched half rotten ferry. This river came a considerable way out of the country, and small vessels could easily sail up it. This was a great advantage to the inhabitants of the neighbouring country, giving them an opportunity of sending their goods to New York with great ease; and they even made use of it for trading to the West Indies. The country was low on both sides of the river, and consisted of meadows. But there was no other hay to be got, than such as commonly grows in swampy grounds; for as the tide comes up in this river, these low plains were sometimes overflowed when the water was high. The people hereabouts are said to be troubled in summer with immense swarms of gnats or musquetoes, which sting them and their cattle. This was ascribed to the low swampy meadows, on which these insects deposite their eggs, which are afterwards hatched by the heat.

As soon as we had got over the river, we were upon Staten Island, which is quite surrounded with salt water. This is the beginning of the province of New York. Most of the people settled here were Dutchmen, or such as came hither whilst the Dutch were yet in possession of this place. But at present they were scattered among the English and other European inhabitants, and spoke English for the greatest part. The prospect of the country here is extremely pleasing, as it is not so much intercepted by woods, but offers more cultivated fields to view. Hills and vallies still continued, as usual, to change alternately.

The corn-fields were excellently situated, and either sown with wheat or rye. They had no ditches on their sides, but (as is usual in England) only furrows, drawn at greater or lesser distances from each other.

In one place we observed a water mill, so situated, 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 cross the water, in order to come to the town of New York. We left our horses here and went on board the yacht: we were to go eight English miles by sea; however we landed about eleven o’clock in the morning at New York. We saw a kind of wild ducks in immense quantities upon the water: the people called them Blue bills, and they seemed to be the same with our Pintail ducks, or Linnæus’s Anas acuta: but they were very shy. On the shore of the continent we saw some very fine sloping corn-fields, which at present looked quite green, the corn being already come up. We saw many boats in which the fishermen were busy catching oysters: to this purpose they make use of a kind of rakes with long iron teeth bent inwards; these they used either singly or two tied together in such a manner, that the teeth were turned towards each other.

October the 31st. About New York they find innumerable quantities of excellent oysters, and there are few places which have oysters of such an exquisite taste, and of so great a size: they are pickled and sent to the West Indies and other places; which is done in the following manner. As soon as the oysters are caught, their shells are opened, and the fish washed clean; some water is then poured into a pot, the oysters are put into it, and they must boil for a while; the pot is then taken off from the fire again, the oysters taken out and put upon a dish, till they are somewhat dry: then you take some mace, allspice, black pepper, and as much vinegar as you think is sufficient to give a sourish taste. All this is mixed with half the liquor in which the oysters were boiled, and put over the fire again. While you boil it great care is to be taken in scumming off the thick scum; at last the whole pickle is poured into a glass or earthen vessel, the oysters are put to it, and the vessel is well stopped to keep out the air. In this manner, oysters will keep for years together, and may be sent to the most distant parts of the world.

The merchants here buy up great quantities of oysters about this time, pickle them in the above-mentioned manner, and send them to the West Indies: by which they frequently make a considerable profit: for, the oysters, which cost them five shillings of their currency, they commonly sell for a pistole, or about six times as much as they gave for them; and sometimes they get even more: the oysters which are thus pickled have a very fine flavour. The following is another way of preserving oysters: they are taken out of the shells, fried with butter, put into a glass or earthen vessel with the melted butter over them, so that they are quite covered with it, and no air can get to them. Oysters prepared in this manner have likewise an agreeable taste, and are exported to the West Indies and other parts.

Oysters are here reckoned very wholesome, some people assured us, that they had not felt the least inconvenience, after eating a considerable quantity of them. It is likewise a common rule here that oysters are best in those months which have an r in their name, such as September, October, &c; but that they are not so good in other months; however there are poor people, who live all the year long upon nothing but oysters with bread.

The sea near New York, affords annually the greatest quantity of oysters. They are found chiefly in a muddy ground, where they lie in the slime, and are not so frequent in a sandy bottom: a rockey and a stony bottom is seldom found here. The oyster shells are gathered in great heaps, and burnt into a lime, which by some people is made use of in building houses, but is not reckoned so good as that made of limestone. On our journey to New York, we saw high heaps of oyster shells near the farm-houses, upon the sea shore; and about New York, we observed the people had carried them upon the fields which were sown with wheat. However they were entire, and not crushed.

The Indians who inhabited the coast before the arrival of the Europeans, have made oysters and other shell fish their chief food; and at present whenever they come to a salt water where oysters are to be got, they are very active in catching them, and sell them in great quantities to other Indians who live higher up the country: for this reason you see immense numbers of oyster and muscle shells piled up near such places, where you are certain that the Indians formerly built their huts. This circumstance ought to make us cautious in maintaining, that in all places on the sea shore, or higher up in the country, where such heaps of shells are to be met with, the latter have lain there ever since the time that those places were overflowed by the sea.

Lobsters are likewise plentyfully caught hereabouts, pickled much in the same way as oysters, and sent to several places. I was told of a very remarkable circumstance about these lobsters, and I have afterwards frequently heard it mentioned. The coast of New York had already European inhabitants for a considerable time, yet no lobsters were to be met with on that coast; and though the people fished ever so often, they could never find any signs of lobsters being in this part of the sea: they were therefore continually brought in great wellboats from New England, where they are plentiful; but it happened that one of these wellboats broke in pieces near Hellgate, about ten English miles from New York, and all the lobsters in it got off. Since that time they have so multiplied in this part of the sea, that they are now caught in the greatest abundance.

November the 1st. A kind of cold fever, which the English in this country call Fever and Ague, is very common in several parts of the English colonies. There are however other parts, where the people have never felt it. I will in the sequel describe the symptoms of this disease at large. Several of the most considerable inhabitants of this town, assured me that this disease was not near so common in New York, as it is in Pensylvania, where ten were seized by it, to one in the former province; therefore they were of opinion, that this disease was occasioned by the vapours arising from stagnant fresh water, from marshes, and from rivers; for which reason those provinces situated on the sea shore, could not be so much affected by it. However the carelesness with which people eat quantities of melons, watermelons, peaches, and other juicy fruit in summer, was reckoned to contribute much towards the progress of this fever; and repeated examples confirmed the truth of this opinion. The jesuit’s bark was reckoned a good remedy against it. It has however often been found to have operated contrary to expectation, though I am ignorant whether it was adulterated, or whether some mistake had been committed in the manner of taking it. Mr. Davis van Horne, a merchant, told me that he cured himself and several other people of this fever, by the leaves of the common Garden Sage, or Salvia officinalis of Linnæus. The leaves are crushed or pounded in a mortar, and the juice is pressed out of them; this is continued till they get a spoonful 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 best remedy which had as yet been found against the dysentery. It is reduced to a powder, and then taken: some people assured me that in cases where nothing would help, this remedy had given a certain and speedy relief. The people in this place likewise make use of this bark (as is usually done in the English colonies) to dye wool a brown colour, which looks like that of bohea tea, and does not fade by being exposed to the sun. Among the numerous shells which are found on the sea shore, there are some which by the English here are called Clams, and which bear some resemblance to the human ear. They have a considerable thickness, 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 vast numbers on the sea shore of New York, Long Island, and other places. The shells contain a large animal, which is eaten both by the Indians and Europeans settled here.

A considerable commerce is carried on in this article, with such Indians as live further up the country. When these people inhabited the coast, they were able to catch their own clams, which at that time made a great part of their food; but at present this is the business of the Dutch and English, who live in Long Island and other maritime provinces. As soon as the shells are caught, the fish 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 sun. When this is done, the fish is put into proper vessels, and carried to Albany upon the river Hudson; there the Indians buy them, and reckon them one of their best dishes. Besides the Europeans, many of the native Indians come annually down to the sea shore, in order to catch clams, proceeding with them afterwards in the manner I have just described.

The shells of these clams are used by the Indians as money, and make what they call their wampum; they likewise serve their women for an ornament, when they intend to appear in full dress. These wampums are properly made of the purple parts of the shells, which the Indians value more than the white parts. A traveller, who goes to trade with the Indians, and is well stocked with them, may become a considerable gainer; but if he take gold coin, or bullion, he will undoubtedly be a loser; for the Indians who live farther up the country, put little or no value upon these metals which we reckon so precious, as I have frequently observed in the course of my travels. The Indians formerly made their own wampums, though not without a deal of trouble: but at present the Europeans employ themselves that way; especially the inhabitants of Albany, who get a considerable profit by it. In the sequel I intend to relate the manner of making the wampum.

November the 2d. Besides the different sects of christians, there are many Jews settled in New York, who possess great privileges. They have a synagogue and houses, and great country seats of their own property, and are allowed to keep shops in town. They have likewise several ships, which they freight and send out with their own goods. In fine they enjoy all the privileges common to the other inhabitants of this town and province.

New York, the capital of a province of the same name is situated under forty deg. and forty min. north lat. and forty seven deg. and four min. of western long. from London; and is about ninety seven English miles distant from Philadelphia. The situation of it is extremely advantageous for trade: for the town stands upon a point which is formed by two bays; into one of which the river Hudson discharges itself, not far from the town; New York is therefore on three sides surrounded with water; the ground it is built on, is level in some parts, and hilly in others: the place is generally reckoned very wholesome.

The town was first founded by the Dutch: this, it is said, was done in the year 1623, when they were yet masters of the country: they called it New Amsterdam, and the country itself New Holland. The English, towards the end of the year 1664, taking possession of it under the conduct of Des Cartes, and keeping it by the virtue of the next treaty of peace, gave the name of New York to both the town, and the province belonging to it: in size it comes nearest to Boston and Philadelphia. But with regard to its fine buildings, its opulence, and extensive commerce, it disputes the preference with them: at present it is about half as big again as Gothenburgh in Sweden.

The streets do not run so straight as those of Philadelphia, and have sometimes considerable bendings: however they are very spacious and well built, and most of them are paved, except in high places, where it has been found useless. In the chief streets there are trees planted, which in summer give them a fine appearance, and during the excessive heat at that time, afford a cooling shade: I found it extremely pleasant to walk in the town, for it seemed quite like a garden: the trees which are planted for this purpose are chiefly of two kinds. The Water beech, or Linnæus’s Platanus occidentalis, are the most numerous, and give an agreeable shade in summer, by their great and numerous leaves. The Locust tree, or Linnæus’s Robinia Pseud-Acacia is likewise frequent: its fine leaves, and the odoriferous scent which exhales from its flowers, make it very proper for being planted in the streets near the houses, and in gardens. There are likewise lime trees and elms, in these walks, but they are not by far so frequent as the others: one seldom met with trees of the same sort next to each other, they being in general planted alternately.

Besides numbers of birds of all kinds which make these trees their abode, there are likewise a kind of frogs which frequent them in great numbers in summer, they are Dr. Linnæus’s Rana arborea, and especially the American variety of this animal. They are very clamorous in the evening and in the nights (especially when the days had been hot, and a rain was expected) and in a manner drown the singing of the birds. They frequently make such a noise, that it is difficult for a person to make himself heard.

Most of the houses are built of bricks; and are generally strong and neat, and several stories high. Some had, according to old architecture, turned the gable-end towards the streets; but the new houses were altered in this respect. Many of the houses had a balcony on the roof, on which the people used to sit in the evenings in the summer season; and from thence they had a pleasant view of a great part of the town, and likewise of part of the adjacent water and of the opposite shore. The roofs are commonly covered with tiles or shingles: the latter of which are made of the white firtree, or Pinus Strobus (Linn. sp. plant. page 1419.) which grows higher up in the country. The inhabitants are of opinion that a roof made of these shingles is as durable as one made in Pensylvania of the White Cedar, or Cupressus thyoides (Linn. spec. plant, page 1422.) The walls were whitewashed within, and I did not any where see hangings, with which the people in this country seem in general to be but little acquainted. The walls were quite covered with all sorts of drawings and pictures in small frames. On each side of the chimnies they had usually a sort of alcove; and the wall under the windows was wainscoted, and had benches placed near it. The alcoves, and all the wood work were painted with a bluish grey colour.

There are several churches in the town, which deserve some attention. 1. The English Church, built in the year 1695, at the west end of town, consisting of stone, and has a steeple with a bell. 2. The new Dutch Church, which is likewise built of stone, is pretty large and is provided with a steeple, it also has a clock, which is the only one in the town. This church stands almost due from north to south. No particular point of the compass has here been in general attended to in erecting sacred buildings. Some churches, stand as is usual from east to west, others from south to north, and others in different positions. In this Dutch church, there is neither altar, vestry, choir, sconces, nor paintings. Some trees are planted round it, which make it look as if it was built in a wood. 3. The old Dutch church, which is also built of stone. It is not so large as the new one. It was painted in the inside, though without any images, and adorned with a small organ, of which governor Burnet made them a present. The men for the most part sit in the gallery, and the women below. 4. The Presbyterian Church, which is pretty large, and was built but lately. It is of stone, and has a steeple and a bell in it. 5. The German Lutheran Church. 6. The German Reformed Church. 7. The French Church, for protestant refugees. 8. The Quaker’s Meeting house. 9. To these may be added the Jewish Synagogue, which I mentioned before.

Towards the sea, on the extremity of the promontory is a pretty good fortress, called Fort George, which entirely commands the port, and can defend the town, at least from a sudden attack on the sea side. Besides that, it is likewise secured on the north or towards the shore, by a pallisade, which however (as for a considerable time the people have had nothing to fear from an enemy) is in many places in a very bad state of defence.

There is no good water to be met with in the town itself, but at a little distance there is a large spring of good water, which the inhabitants take for their tea, and for the uses of the kitchen. Those however, who are less delicate in this point, make use of the water from the wells in town, though it be very bad. This want of good water lies heavy upon the horses of the strangers that come to this place; for they do not like to drink the water from the wells in the town.

The port is a good one: ships of the greatest burthen can lie in it, quite close up to the bridge: but its water is very salt, as the sea continually comes in upon it; and therefore is never frozen, except in extraordinary cold weather. This is of great advantage to the city and its commerce; for many ships either come in or go out of the port at any time of the year; unless the winds be contrary; a convenience, which as I have before observed, is wanting at Philadelphia. It is secured from all violent hurricanes from the south-east by Long Island which is situated just before the town: therefore only the storms from the south-west are dangerous to the ships which ride at anchor here, because the port is open only on that side. The entrance however has its faults: one of them is, that no men of war can pass through it; for though the water is pretty deep, yet it is not sufficiently so for great ships. Sometimes even merchant ships of a large size have by the rolling of the waves and by sinking down between them, slightly touched the bottom, though without any bad consequences. Besides this, the canal is narrow; and for this reason many ships have been lost here, because they may be easily cast upon a sand, if the ship is not well piloted. Some old people, who had constantly been upon this canal, assured me, that it was neither deeper, nor shallower at present, than in their youth.

The common difference between high and low water at New York, amounts to about six feet, English measure. But at a certain time in every month, when the tide flows more than commonly, the difference in the height of the water is seven feet.

New York probably carries on a more extensive commerce, than any town in the English North American provinces; at least it may be said to equal them: Boston and Philadelphia however come very near up to it. The trade of New York extends to many places, and it is said they send more ships from thence to London, than they do from Philadelphia. They export to that capital all the various sorts of skins which they buy of the Indians, sugar, logwood, and other dying woods, rum, mahogany, and many other goods which are the produce of the West Indies; together with all the specie which they get in the course of trade. Every year they build several ships here, which are sent to London, and there sold; and of late years they have shipped a quantity of iron to England. In return for these, they import from London stuffs and every other article of English growth or manufacture, together with all sorts of foreign goods. England, and especially London, profits immensely by its trade with the American colonies; for not only New York, but likewise all the other English towns on the continent, import so many articles from England, that all their specie, together with the goods which they get in other countries, must altogether go to Old England, in order to pay the amount, to which they are however insufficient. From hence it appears how much a well regulated colony contributes to the increase and welfare of its mother country.

New York sends many ships to the West Indies, with flour, corn, biscuit, timber, tuns, boards, flesh, fish, butter, and other provisions; together with some of the few fruits that grow here. Many ships go to Boston in New England, with corn and flour, and take in exchange, flesh, butter, timber, different sorts of fish, and other articles, which they carry further to the West Indies. They now and then take rum from thence, which is distilled there in great quantities, and sell it here with a considerable advantage. Sometimes they send yachts with goods from New York to Philadelphia, and at other times yachts are sent from Philadelphia to New York; which is only done, as appears from the gazettes, because certain articles are cheaper at one place than at the other. They send ships to Ireland every year, laden with all kinds of West India goods; but especially with linseed, which is reaped in this province. I have been assured, that in some years no less than ten ships have been sent to Ireland, laden with nothing but linseed; because it is said the flax in Ireland does not afford good seed. But probably the true reason is this: the people of Ireland, in order to have the better flax, make use of the plant before the seed is ripe, and therefore are obliged to send for foreign seed; and hence it becomes one of the chief articles in trade.

At this time a bushel of linseed is sold for eight shillings of New York currency, or exactly a piece of eight.

The goods which are shipped to the West Indies, are sometimes paid for with ready money, and sometimes with West India goods, which are either first brought to New York, or immediately sent to England or Holland. If a ship does not chuse to take in West India goods in its return to New York, or if no body will freight it, it often goes to Newcastle in England to take in coals for ballast, which when brought home sell for a pretty good price. In many parts of the town coals are made use of, both for kitchen fires, and in rooms, because they are reckoned cheaper than wood, which at present costs thirty Shillings of New York currency per fathom; of which measure I have before made mention. New York has likewise some intercourse with South Carolina; to which it sends corn, flour, sugar, rum, and other goods, and takes rice in return, which is almost the only commodity exported from South Carolina.

The goods with which the province of New York trades are not very numerous. They chiefly export the skins of animals, which are bought of the Indians about Oswego; great quantities of boards, coming for the most part from Albany; timber and ready made lumber, from that part of the country which lies about the river Hudson; and lastly wheat, flour, barley, oats and other kinds of corn, which are brought from New Jersey and the cultivated parts of this province. I have seen yachts from New Brunswick, laden with wheat which lay loose on board, and with flour packed up into tuns; and also with great quantities of linseed. New York likewise exports some flesh and other provisions out of its own province, but they are very few; nor is the quantity of pease which the people about Albany bring much greater. Iron however may be had more plentifully, as it is found in several parts of this province, and is of a considerable goodness; but all the other products of this country are of little account.

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