PETER KALM’s TRAVELS.

August the 5th. 1748.

I with my servant Lars Yungstrœm (who joined to his abilities as gardener, a tolerable skill in mechanics and drawing) went at Gravesend on board the Mary Gally, Captain Lawson, bound for Philadelphia; and though it was so late as six o’clock in the afternoon, we weighed anchor and sailed a good way down the Thames before we again came to anchor.

August the 6th. Very early in the morning we resumed our voyage, and after a few hours sailing we came to the mouth of the Thames, where we turned into the channel and sailed along the Kentish coast, which consists of steep and almost perpendicular chalk hills, covered at the top with some soil and a fine verdure, and including strata of flints, as it frequently is found in this kind of chalk-hills in the rest of England. And we were delighted in viewing on them excellent corn fields, covered for the greatest part with wheat, then ripening.

At six o’clock at night, we arrived at Deal, a little well known town, situate at the entrance of a bay exposed to the southern and easterly winds. Here commonly the outward bound ships provide themselves with greens, fresh victuals, brandy, and many more articles. This trade, a fishery, and in the last war the equipping of privateers, has enriched the inhabitants.

August the 7th. When the tide was out, I saw numbers of fishermen resorting to the sandy shallow places, where they find round small eminences caused by the excrements of the log worms, or sea worms, (Lumbrici marini. Linn.) who live in the holes leading to these hillocks, sometimes eighteen inches deep, and they are then dug out with a small three tacked iron fork and used as baits.

August the 9th–12th. We tided and alternately sailed down the channel, and passed Dungness, Fairlight, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, the Peninsula of Portland and Bolthead, a point behind which Plymouth lies; during all which time we had very little wind.

August the 13th. Towards night we got out of the English channel into the Bay of Biscay.

August the 14th. We had contrary wind, and this increased the rolling of the ship, for it is generally remarked that the Bay of Biscay has the greatest and broadest waves, which are of equal size with those between America and Europe; they are commonly half an English mile in length, and have a height proportionable to it. The Baltic and the German ocean has on the contrary short and broken waves.

Whenever an animal is killed on board the ship, the sailors commonly hang some fresh pieces of meat for a while into the sea, and it is said, it then keeps better.

August the 15th. The same swell of the sea still continued, but the waves began to smooth, and a foam swimming on them was said to forebode in calm weather, a continuance of the same for some days.

About noon a north easterly breeze sprung up, and in the afternoon it blew more, and this gave us a fine spectacle; for the great waves rolled the water in great sheets, in one direction, and the north easterly wind curled the surface of these waves quite in another. By the beating and dashing of the waves against one another, with a more than ordinary violence, we could see that we passed a current, whose direction the captain could not determine.

August the 16th–21st. The same favourable breeze continued to our great comfort and amazement, for the captain observed that it was very uncommon to meet with an easterly or north-easterly wind between Europe and the Azores (which the sailors call the Western Islands) for more than two days together; for the more common wind is here a westerly one: but beyond the Azores they find a great variety of winds, especially about this time of the year; nor do the westerly winds continue long beyond these isles; and to this it is owing, that when navigators have passed the Azores, they think they have performed one half of the voyage, although in reality it be but one third part. These isles come seldom in sight; for the navigators keep off them, on account of the dangerous rocks under water surrounding them. Upon observation and comparison of the journal, we found that we were in forty-three deg. twenty-four min. north lat. and thirty and a half degrees west long. from London.

August the 22d. About noon the captain assured us, that in twenty-four hours we should have a south-west wind: and upon my enquiring into the reasons of his foretelling this with certainty, he pointed at some clouds in the south-west, whose points turned towards north-east, and said they were occasioned by a wind from the opposite quarter. At this time I was told we were about half way to Pensylvania.

August the 23d. About seven o’clock in the morning the expected south-west wind sprung up, and soon accelerated our course so much, that we went at the rate of eight knots an hour.

August the 24th. The wind shifted and was in our teeth. We were told by some of the crew to expect a little storm, the higher clouds being very thin and striped and scattered about the sky like parcels of combed wool, or so many skains of yarn, which they said forebode a storm. These striped clouds ran north-west and south-east, in the direction of the wind we then had. Towards night the wind abated and we had a perfect calm, which is a sign of a change of wind.

August the 25th. and 26th. A west wind sprung up and grew stronger and stronger, so that at last the waves washed our deck.

August the 27th. In the morning we got a better wind, which went through various points of the compass and brought on a storm from north-east towards night.

Our captain told me an observation founded on long experience, viz. that though the winds changed frequently in the Atlantic ocean, especially in summer time, the most frequent however was the western, and this accounts for the passage from America to Europe commonly being shorter, than that from Europe to America. Besides this, the winds in the Atlantic during summer are frequently partial, so that a storm may rage on one part of it, and within a few miles of the place little or no storm at all may be felt. In winter the winds are more constant, extensive and violent; so that then the same wind reigns on the greater part of the ocean for a good while, and causes greater waves than in summer.

August the 30th. As I had observed the night before some strong flashes of lightening without any subsequent clap of thunder, I enquired of our captain, whether he could assign any reasons for it. He told me these phœnomena were pretty common, and the consequence of a preceding heat in the atmosphere; but that when lightenings were observed in winter, prudent navigators were used to reef their sails, as they are by this sign certain of an impendent storm; and so likewise in that season, a cloud rising from the north-west, is an infallible forerunner of a great tempest.

September the 7th. As we had the first day of the month contrary wind, on the second it shifted to the north, was again contrary the third, and fair the fourth and following days. The fifth we were in forty deg. three min. north lat. and between fifty-three and fifty-four deg. west long. from London.

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

September the 8th. We crossed by a moderate wind, a sea with the highest waves we met on the whole passage, attributed by the captain to the division between the great ocean and the inner American gulf; and soon after we met with waves greatly inferior to those we observed before.

September the 9th. In the afternoon we remarked that in some places the colour of the sea (which had been hitherto of a deep blue) was changed into a paler hue; some of these spots were narrow stripes of twelve or fourteen fathoms breadth, of a pale green colour, which is supposed to be caused by the sand, or as some say, by the weeds under water.

September the 12th. We were becalmed that day, and as we in this situation observed a ship, which we suspected to be a Spanish privateer, our fear was very great; but we saw some days after our arrival at Philadelphia the same ship arrive, and heard that they seeing us had been under the same apprehensions with ourselves.

September the 13th. Captain Lawson, who kept his bed for the greater part of the voyage, on account of an indisposition, assured us yesterday we were in all appearance very near America: but as the mate was of a different opinion, and as the sailors could see no land from the head of the mast, nor find ground by the lead, we steered on directly towards the land. About three o’clock in the morning the captain gave orders to heave the lead, and we found but ten fathom: the second mate himself took the lead and called out ten and fourteen fathoms, but a moment after the ship struck on the sand, and this shock was followed by four other very violent ones. The consternation was incredible; and very justly might it be so; for there were above eighty persons on board, and the ship had but one boat: but happily our ship got off again, after having been turned. At day break, which followed soon after (for the accident happened half an hour past four) we saw the continent of America within a Swedish mile before us: the coast was whitish, low, and higher up covered with firs. We found out, that the sand we struck on, lay opposite Arcadia in Maryland, in thirty-seven deg. fifty min. North lat.

We coasted the shores of Maryland all the day, but not being able to reach cape Hinlopen, where we intended to take a pilot on board, we cruized all night before the bay of Delaware. The darkness of the night made us expect a rain, but we found that only a copious fall of dew ensued, which made our coats quite wet, and the pages of a book, accidently left open on the deck, were in half an hours time after sun-setting likewise wet, and we were told by the captain and the sailors that both in England and in America a copious dew was commonly followed by a hot and sultry day.

September the 14th. We saw land on our larboard in the west, which appeared to be low, white, sandy, and higher up the country covered with firs, cape Hinlopen is a head of land running into the sea from the western shore, and has a village on it. The eastern shore belongs here to New Jersey, and the western to Pensylvania. The bay of Delaware has many sands, and from four to eleven fathom water.

The fine woods of oak, hiccory and firs covering both shores made a fine appearance, and were partly employed in ship-building at Philadelphia; for which purpose every year some English captains take a passage in autumn to this town, and superintend the building of new ships during winter, with which they go to sea next spring: and at this time it was more usual than common, as the French and Spanish privateers had taken many English merchant ships.

A little after noon we reached the mouth of Delaware river, which is here about three English miles broad, but decreases gradually so much, that it is scarcely a mile broad at Philadelphia.

Here we were delighted in seeing now and then between the woods some farm houses surrounded with corn fields, pastures well-stocked with cattle, and meadows covered with fine hay; and more than one sense was agreeably affected, when the wind brought to us the finest effluvia of odoriferous plants and flowers, or that of the fresh made hay: these agreeable sensations and the fine scenery of nature on this continent, so new to us, continued till it grew quite dark.

Here I will return to sea, and give the reader a short view of the various occurrences belonging to Natural-History, during our crossing the Ocean.

Of sea weeds (Fucus linn.) we saw August the 16th. and 17th. a kind which had a similarity to a bunch of onions tied together, these bunches were of the size of the fist, and of a white colour. Near the coast of America within the American gulf, September the 11th. we met likewise with several sea weeds, one species of which was called by the sailors rock-weed; another kind looked like a string of pearls, and another was white, about a foot long, narrow, every where equally wide and quite strait. From August the 24th. to September the 11th. we saw no other weeds, but those commonly going under the name of Gulf-weed, because they are supposed to come from the gulf of Florida; others call it Sargazo, and Dr. Linnæus, Fucus natans. Its stalk is very slender, rotundato-angulated, and of a dark green, it has many branches and each of them has numerous leaves disposed in a row, they are extremely thin, are serrated, and are a line or a line and a half wide, so that they bear a great resemblance to the leaves of Iceland-moss; their colour is a yellowish green. Its fruit in a great measure resembles unripe juniper berries, is round, greenish yellow, almost smooth on the outside, and grows under the leaves on short footstalks, of two or three lines length; under each leaf are from one to three berries, but I never have seen them exceed that number. Some berries were small, and when cut were quite hollow and consisted of a thin peel only, which is calculated to communicate their buoyancy to the whole plant. The leaves grow in proportion narrower, as they approach the extremities of the branches: their upper sides are smooth, the ribs are on the under sides, and there likewise appear small roots of two, three or four lines length. I was told by our mate that gulf weed, dried and pounded, was given in America to women in childbed, and besides this it is also used there in fevers. The whole ocean is as if it were covered with this weed, and it must also be in immense quantities in the gulf of Florida, from whence all this driving on the ocean is said to come. Several little shells pointed like horns, and Escharæ or Horn wracks are frequently found on it: and seldom is there one bundle of this plant to be met with, which does not contain either a minute shrimp, or a small crab, the latter of which is the Cancer minutus of Dr. Linnæus. Of these I collected eight, and of the former three, all which I put in a glass with water: the little shrimp moved as swift as an arrow round the glass, but sometimes its motion was slow, and sometimes it stood still on one side, or at the bottom of the glass. If one of the little crabs approached, it was seized by its forepaws, killed and sucked; for which reason they were careful to avoid their fate. It was quite of the shape of a shrimp; in swimming it moved always on one side, the sides and the tail moving alternately. It was capable of putting its forepaws entirely into its mouth: its antennæ were in continual motion. Having left these little shrimps together with the crabs during night, I found on the morning all the crabs killed and eaten by the shrimps. The former moved when alive with incredible swiftness in the water. Sometimes when they were quite at the bottom of the glass, with a motion something like to that of a Puceron or Podura of Linnæus; they came in a moment to the surface of the water. In swimming they moved all their feet very close, sometimes they held them down as other crabs do, sometimes they lay on their backs, but as soon as the motion of their feet ceased, they always sunk to the bottom. The remaining shrimps I preserved in spirits, and the loss of my little crabs was soon repaired by other specimens which are so plentiful in each of the floating bundles of gulf-weed. For a more minute description of which I must refer the reader to another work, I intend to publish. In some places we saw a crab of the size of the fist, swimming by the continual motion of its feet, which being at rest, the animal began immediately to sink. And one time I met with a great red crawfish, or lobster, floating on the surface of the sea.

Blubbers, or Medusæ Linn., we found of three kinds: the first is the Medusa aurita Linn.; it is round, purple coloured, opens like a bag, and in it are as if it were four white rings, their size varies from one inch diameter to six inches; they have not that nettling and burning quality which other blubbers have, such for instance as are on the coast of Norway, and in the ocean. These we met chiefly in the channel and in the Bay of Biscay.

After having crossed more than half of the ocean between Europe and America, we met with a kind of blubber, which is known to Sailors by the name of the Spanish or Portugueze man of War, it looks like a great bladder, or the lungs of a quadruped, compressed on both sides, about six inches in diameter, of a fine purple-red colour, and when touched by the naked skin of the human body, it causes a greater burning than any other kind of blubber. They are often overturned by the rolling of the waves, but they are again standing up in an instant, and keep the sharp or narrow side uppermost.

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

Of the Lepas anatifera Linn. I saw on the 30th. of August a log of wood, which floated on the ocean, quite covered. Of insects I saw in the channel, when we were in sight of the Isle of Wight several white butterflies, very like to the Papilio Brassicæ Linn. They never settled, and by their venturing at so great a distance from land they caused us just astonishment.

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

One Whale we saw at a distance, and knew it by the water which it spouted up.

A Dog-fish of a considerable size followed the ship for a little while, but it was soon out of sight, without our being able to determine to which species it belonged: this was the only cartilaginous fish we saw on the whole passage.

Of the bony fish, we saw several beyond the Azores, but never one on this side of those isles, one of them was of a large size, and we saw it at a distance; the sailors called it an Albecor, and it is Dr. Linnæus’s Scomber Thynnus.

The Dolphin of the English is the Dorado of the Portugueze, and Dr. Linnæus calls it Coryphæna Hippuris; it is about two feet and a half long, near the head six inches deep, and three inches broad; from the head the Dolphin decreases on all sides towards the tail, where its perpendicular depth is one inch and a half, and its breadth hardly one inch. The colour of the back near the head is a fine green on a silver ground, but near the tail of a deep blue; the belly is white, and sometimes mixed with a deep yellow, on the sides it has some round pale brown spots. It has six and not seven fins as was imagined; two of them are on the breast, two on the belly, one at the tail extending to the anus, and one along the whole back, which is of a fine blue: when the fish is just taken the extremities of the most outward rays in the tail were eight inches one from another. Their motion when they swam behind, or along side of the ship was very slow, and gave a fair opportunity to hit them with the harpoon, though some are taken with a hook and line, and a bait of chicken bowels, small fish, or pieces of his own species, or the flying fish, which latter are their chief food: and it is by their chasing them, that the flying fish leave their element to find shelter in one to which they are strangers. The Dolphins sometimes leap a fathom out of the water, and love to swim about casks and logs of wood, that sometimes drive in the sea. They are eaten with thick butter, when boiled, and sometimes fried, and afford a palatable food, but rather somewhat dry. In the bellies of the fish of this species which we caught, several animals were found, viz. an Ostracion; a little fish with blue eyes, which was yet alive, being just the moment before swallowed, and measuring two inches in length; another little fish; a curious marine insect, and a flying fish, all which not yet being damaged by digestion, I preserved in spirits.

We saw likewise the fish called Bonetos, (Scomber Pelamys, Linn.) they were likewise in shoals, hunting some smaller fish, which chase caused a noise like to that of a cascade, because they were all swimming close in a body; but they always kept out of the reach of our harpoons.

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

Birds are pretty frequently seen on the ocean, though Aquatic Birds are more common than Land Birds.

The Petrel (Procellaria Pelagica, Linn.) was our companion from the channel to the shores of America. Flocks of this bird were always about our ship, chiefly in that part of the sea, which being cut by the ship, forms a smooth surface, where they frequently seem to settle, though always on the wing. They pick up or examine every thing that falls accidentally from the ship, or is thrown over board: little fish seem to be their chief food; in day time they are silent, in the dark clamorous; they are reputed to forebode a storm, for which reason the sailors disliking their company, complimented them with the name of witches; but they are as frequent in fair weather, without a storm following their appearance. To me it appeared as if they stayed sometimes half an hour and longer under the waves, and the sailors assured me they did. They look like swallows, and like them they skim sometimes on the water.

The Shearwater (Procellaria Puffinus, Linn.) is another sea-bird, which we saw every where on our voyage, from the channel to the American coasts; it has much the appearance and size of the dark-grey Sea-gull, or of a Duck; it has a brown back, and commonly a white ring round its neck, and a peculiar slow way of flying. We plainly saw some of these birds feed on fish.

The Tropic bird (Phaëton æthereus, Linn.) has very much the shape of a gull, but two very long feathers, which it has in its tail, distinguish it enough from any other bird; its flight is often exceedingly high: the first of this kind we met, was at about forty deg. north lat. and forty-nine or fifty deg. west long. from London.

Common Gulls (Larus canus, Linn.) we saw, when we were opposite the Land’s End, the most westerly cape of England, and when according to our reckoning we were opposite Ireland.

Terns (Sterna hirundo, Linn.) though of a somewhat darker colour than the common ones, we found after the forty-first deg. of north lat. and forty-seventh deg. west long. from London, very plentifully, and sometimes in flocks of some hundreds; sometimes they settled, as if tired, on our ship.

Within the American gulph we discovered a sea-bird at a little distance from the ship, which the sailors called a Sea-hen.

Land-birds are now and then seen at sea, and sometimes at a good distance from any land, so that it is often difficult, to account for their appearance in so uncommon a place. August the 18th. we saw a bird which settled on our ship, and was perfectly like the great Titmouse, (Parus major, Linn.) upon an attempt to catch it, it got behind the sails, and could never be caught.

September the 1st. We observed some Land-birds flying about our ship, which we took for Sand Martins (Hirundo riparia, Linn.) sometimes they settled on our ship, or on the sails; they were of a greyish brown colour on their back, their breast white, and the tail somewhat furcated; a heavy shower of rain drove them afterwards away, September the 2d. a Swallow fluttered about the ship, and sometimes it settled on the mast; it seemed to be very tired; several times it approached our cabin windows, as if it was willing to take shelter there. These cases happened about forty deg. north lat. and between forty-seven and forty-nine deg. west long. from London, and also about twenty deg. long. or more than nine hundred and twenty sea miles from any land whatsoever.

September the 10th. within the American gulph a large bird, which we took for an Owl, and likewise a little bird settled on our sails.

September the 12th. a Wood-pecker settled on our rigging: its back was of a speckled grey, and it seemed extremely fatigued. And another land-bird of the passerine class, endeavoured to take shelter and rest on our ship.

Before I entirely take leave of the sea, I will communicate my observations on two curious phœnomena.

In the channel and in the ocean we saw at night time, sparks of fire, as if flowing on the water, especially where it was agitated, sometimes one single spark swam for the space of more than one minute on the ocean before it vanished. The sailors observed them commonly to appear during, and after a storm from the north, and that often the sea is as if it were full of fire, and that some such shining sparks would likewise stick to the masts and sails.

Sometimes this light had not the appearance of sparks, but looked rather like the phosphorescence of putrid wood.

The Thames-water which made our provision of fresh water, is reputed to be the best of any. It not only settled in the oak casks it is kept in, but becomes in a little time stinking, when stopped up; however this nauseous smell it soon looses, after being filled into large stone juggs, and exposed to the open fresh air for two or three hours together. Often the vapours arising from a cask which has been kept close and stopped up for a great while take fire, if a candle is held near them when the cask is opened, and the Thames water is thought to have more of this quality than any other; though I was told that this even happened with any other water in the same circumstances.

Now I can resume my narrative, and therefore observe that we afterwards sailed on the river with a fair wind, pretty late at night. In the dawn of the evening we passed by Newcastle, a little town on the western shore of the river Delaware. It was already so dark, that we could hardly know it, but by the light which appeared through some of the windows. The Dutch are said to have been the first founders of this place, which is therefore reckoned the most ancient in the country, even more ancient than Philadelphia. But its trade can by no means be compared with the Philadelphia trade, though its situation has more advantages in several respects; one of which is, that the river seldom freezes before it, and consequently ships can come in and go out at any time. But near Philadelphia it is almost every winter covered with ice, so that navigation is interrupted for some weeks together. But the country about Philadelphia and farther up, being highly cultivated, and the people bringing all their goods to that place, Newcastle must always be inferior to it.

I mentioned, that the Dutch laid the foundations of this town. This happened at the time, when this country was as yet subject to Sweden. But the Dutch crept in, and intended by degrees to dispossess the Swedes, as a people who had taken possession of their property. They succeeded in their attempt; for the Swedes not being able to bear with this encroachment, came to a war, in which the Dutch got the better. But they did not enjoy the fruits of their victory long: for a few years after, the English came and deprived them of their acquisition, and have ever since continued in the undisturbed possession of the country. Somewhat later at night we cast anchor, the pilot not venturing to carry the ship up the river in the dark, several sands being in the way.

September 15th. In the dawn of the morning we weighed anchor, and continued our voyage up the river. The country was inhabited almost every where on both sides. The farm-houses were however pretty far asunder. About eight o’clock in the morning we sailed by the little town of Chester, on the western side of the river. In this town, our mate, who was born in Philadelphia, shewed me the places, which the Swedes still inhabit.

At last we arrived in Philadelphia about ten o’Clock in the morning. We had not been more than six weeks, or (to speak more accurately) not quite forty one days on our voyage from Gravesend to this place, including the time we spent at Deal, in supplying ourselves with the necessary fresh provisions, &c. our voyage was therefore reckoned one of the shortest. For it is common in winter time to be fourteen, nineteen, or more weeks in coming from Gravesend to Philadelphia. Hardly any body ever had a more pleasant voyage over this great ocean, than we had. Captain Lawson affirmed this several times. Nay he assured us he had never seen such calm weather in this ocean, though he had crossed it very often. The wind was generally so favourable that a boat of a middling size might have sailed in perfect safety. The sea never went over our cabin, and but once over the deck, and that was only in a swell. The weather indeed was so clear, that a great number of the Germans on board slept on the deck. The cabin windows needed not the shutters. All these are circumstances which show the uncommon goodness of the weather.

Captain Lawson’s civility increased the pleasure of the voyage. For he shewed me all the friendship, that he could have shewn to any of his relations.

As soon as we were come to the town, and had cast anchor, many of the inhabitants came on board, to enquire for Letters. They took all those which they could carry, either for themselves or for their friends. Those, which remained, the captain ordered to be carried on shore, and to be brought into a coffee-house, where every body could make enquiry for them, and by this means he was rid of the trouble of delivering them himself. I afterwards went on shore with him. But before he went, he strictly charged the second mate, to let no one of the German refugees out of the ship, unless he paid for his passage, or some body else paid for him, or bought him.

On my leaving London I received letters of recommendation from Mr. Abraham Spalding, Mr. Peter Collinson, Dr. Mitchel, and others to their friends here. It was easy for me therefore to get acquaintance. Mr. Benjamin Franklin, to whom Pensylvania is indebted for its welfare, and the learned world for many new discoveries in Electricity, was the first, who took notice of me, and introduced me to many of his friends. He gave me all necessary instructions, and shewed me his kindness on many occasions.

I went to day accompanied by Mr. Jacob Bengtson, a member of the Swedish consistory and the sculptor Gustavus Hesselius, to see the town and the fields which lay before it. (The former is brother of the rev. Messrs. Andrew and Samuel Hesselius, both ministers at Christiana in new Sweden, and of the late Dr. John Hesselius in the provinces of Nerik and Wermeland). My new friend had followed his brother Andrew in 1711 to this country, and had since lived in it. I found that I was now come into a new world. Whenever I looked to the ground, I every where found such plants as I had never seen before. When I saw a tree, I was forced to stop, and ask those who accompanied me, how it was called. The first plant which struck my eyes was an Andropogon, or a kind of grass, and grass is a part of Botany I always delighted in. I was seized with terror at the thought of ranging so many new and unknown parts of natural history. At first I only considered the plants, without venturing a more accurate examination.

At night I took up my lodging with a grocer who was a quaker, and I met with very good honest people in this house, such as most people of this profession appeared to me, I and my Yungstrœm, the companion of my voyage, had a room, candles, beds, attendance, and three meals a day, if we chose to have so many, for twenty shillings per week in Pensylvania currency. But wood, washing and wine, if required, were to be paid for besides.

September the 16th. Before I proceed I must give a short description of Philadelphia, which I shall frequently mention in the sequel of my travels. I here put down several particulars which I marked during my stay at that place, as a help to memory.

Philadelphia, the capital of Pensylvania, a province which makes part of what formerly was called New Sweden is one of the principal towns in North-America; and next to Boston the greatest. It is situated almost in the center of the English colonies, and its lat. is thirty nine deg. and fifty min. but its west long. from London near seventy five deg.

This town was built in the year 1683, or as others say in 1682, by the well known quaker William Pen, who got this whole province by a grant from Charles the second, king of England; after Sweden had given up its claims to it. According to Pen’s plan the town was to have been built upon a piece of land which is formed by the union of the rivers Delaware and Skulkill, in a quadrangular form, two English miles long and one broad. The eastern side would therefore have been bounded by the Delaware, and the western by the Skulkill. They had actually begun to build houses on both these rivers; for eight capital streets, each two English miles long, and sixteen lesser streets (or lanes) across them, each one mile in length, were marked out, with a considerable breadth, and in strait lines. The place was at that time almost an entire wilderness covered with thick forests, and belonged to three Swedish brothers called Sven’s-Sœner (Sons of Sven) who had settled in it. They with difficulty left the place, the situation of which was very advantageous, But at last they were persuaded to it by Pen, who gave them a few English miles from that place twice the space of country they inhabited. However Pen himself and his descendants after him, have considerably lessened the ground belonging to them, by repeated mensurations, under pretence that they had taken more than they ought.

But the inhabitants could not be got in sufficient number to fill a place of such extent. The plan therefore about the river Skulkill was laid aside till more favourable circumstances should occur, and the houses were only built along the Delaware. This river flows along the eastern side of the town, is of great advantage to its trade, and gives a fine prospect. The houses which had already been built upon the Skulkill were transplanted hitherto by degrees. This town accordingly lies in a very pleasant country, from north to south along the river. It measures somewhat more than an English mile in length; and its breadth in some places is half a mile or more. The ground is flat and consists of sand mixed with a little clay. Experience has shewn that the air of this place is very healthy.

The streets are regular, fine, and most of them are fifty foot, English measure, broad; Arch-street measures sixty six feet in breadth, and Market-street or the principal street, where the market is kept, near a hundred. Those which run longitudinally, or from north to south are seven, exclusive of a little one, which runs along the river, to the south of the market, and is called Water-street. The lanes which go across, and were intended to reach from the Delaware to the Skulkill, are eight in number. They do not go quite from east to west, but deviate a little from that direction. All the streets except two which are nearest to the river, run in a straight line, and make right angles at the intersections. Some are paved, others are not; and it seems less necessary since the ground is sandy, and therefore soon absorbs the wet. But in most of the streets is a pavement of flags, a fathom or more broad, laid before the houses, and posts put on the outside three or four fathom asunder. Under the roofs are gutters which are carefully connected with pipes, and by this means, those who walk under them, when it rains, or when the snow melts, need not fear being wetted by the dropping from the roofs.

The houses make a good appearance, are frequency several stories high, and built either of bricks or of stone; but the former are more commonly used, since bricks are made before the town, and are well burnt. The stone which has been employed in the building of other houses, is a mixture of black or grey glimmer, running in undulated veins, and of a loose, and quite small grained limestone, which run scattered between the bendings of the other veins, and are of a grey colour, excepting here and there some single grains of sand, of a paler hue. The glimmer makes the greatest part of the stone; but the mixture is sometimes of another kind, as I shall relate hereafter under the article, eleventh of October. This stone is now got in great quantities in the country, is easily cut, and has the good quality of not attracting the moisture in a wet season. Very good lime is burnt every where hereabouts, for masonry.

The houses are covered with shingles. The wood for this purpose is taken from the Cupressus thyoides, Linn. or a tree which Swedes here call the white juniper-tree, and the English, the white cedar. Swamps and Morasses formerly were full of them, but at present these trees are for the greatest part cut down, and no attempt has as yet been made to plant new ones. The wood is very light, rots less than any other in this country, and for that reason is exceeding good for roofs. For it is not too heavy for the walls, and will serve for forty or fifty years together. But many people already begin to fear, that these roofs will in time be looked upon as having been very detrimental to the city. For being so very light, most people who have built their houses of stone, or bricks, have been led to make their walls extremely thin. But at present this kind of wood is almost entirely destroyed. Whenever therefore in process of time these roofs decay, the people will be obliged to have recourse to the heavier materials of tiles, or the like, which the walls will not be strong enough to bear. The roof will therefore require supports, or the people be obliged to pull down the walls and to build new ones, or to take other steps for securing them. Several people have already in late years begun to make roofs of tiles.

Among the publick buildings I will first mention churches, of which there are several, for God is served in various ways in this country.

1. The English established church stands in the northern part of the town, at some distance from the market, and is the finest of all. It has a little, inconsiderable steeple, in which is a bell to be rung when it is time to go to church, and on burials. It has likewise a clock which strikes the hours. This building which is called Christ church, was founded towards the end of the last century, but has lately been rebuilt and more adorned. It has two ministers who get the greatest part of their salary from England. In the beginning of this century, the Swedish minister the Rev. Mr. Rudmann, performed the functions of a clergyman to the English congregation for near two years, during the absence of their own clergyman.

2. The Swedish church, which is otherwise called the church of Weekacko, is on the southern part of the town, and almost without it, on the river’s side, and its situation is therefore more agreeable than that of any other. I shall have an opportunity of describing it more exactly, when I shall speak of the Swedes in particular, who live in this place.

3. The German Lutheran church, is on the north-west side of the town. On my arrival in America it had a little steeple, but that being but up by an ignorant architect, before the walls of the church were quite dry, they leaned forwards by its weight, and therefore they were forced to pull it down again in the autumn of the year 1750. About that time the congregation received a fine organ from Germany. They have only one minister, who likewise preaches at another Lutheran church in Germantown. He preaches alternately one sunday in that church, and another in this. The first clergyman which the Lutherans had in this town, was the Rev. Mr. Muhlenberg, who laid the foundations of this church in 1743, and being called to another place afterwards, the rev. Mr. Brunholz from Sleswick was his successor, and is yet here. Both these gentlemen were sent to this place from Hall in Saxony, and have been a great advantage to it by their peculiar talent of preaching in an edifying manner. A little while before this church was built, the Lutheran Germans had no clergyman for themselves, so that the every-where beloved Swedish minister at Weekacko, Mr. Dylander, preached likewise to them. He therefore preached three sermons every sunday; the first early in the morning to the Germans; the second to the Swedes, and the third in the afternoon to the English, and besides this he went all the week into the country and instructed the Germans who lived separately there. He therefore frequently preached sixteen sermons a week. And after his death, which happened in November 1741, the Germans first wrote to Germany for a clergyman for themselves. This congregation is at present very numerous, so that every sunday the church is very much crowded. It has two galleries, but no vestry. They do not sing the collects, but read them before the altar.

4. The old Presbyterian church, is not far from the market, and on the south-side of market-street. It is of a middling size, and built in the year 1704, as the inscription on the northern pediment shews. The roof is built almost hemispherical, or at least forms a hexagon. The whole building stands from north to south, for the presbyterians do not regard, as other people do, whether their churches look towards a certain point of the heavens or not.

5. The new Presbyterian church was built in the year 1750, by the New-lights in the north-western part of the town. By the name of New-lights, are understood the people who have, from different religions, become proselytes to the well known Whitefield, who in the years 1739, 1740, and likewise in 1744 and 1745 travelled through almost all the English colonies. His delivery, his extraordinary zeal, and other talents so well adapted to the intelects of his hearers, made him so popular that he frequently, especially in the two first years, got from eight thousand to twenty thousand hearers in the fields. His intention in these travels, was to collect money for an orphans hospital which had been erected in Georgia. He here frequently collected seventy pounds sterling at one sermon; nay, at two sermons which he preached in the year 1740, both an one sunday, at Philadelphia, he got an hundred and fifty pounds. The proselytes of this man, or the above-mentioned new-lights, are at present merely a sect of presbyterians. For though Whitefield was originally a clergyman of the English church, yet he deviated by little and little from her doctrines; and on arriving in the year 1744 at Boston in New England, he disputed with the Presbyterians about their doctrines, so much that he almost entirely embraced them. For Whitefield was no great disputant, and could therefore easily be led by these cunning people, whithersoever they would have him. This likewise during his latter stay in America caused his audience to be less numerous than during the first. The new-lights built first in the year 1741, a great house in the western part of the town, to hold divine service in. But a division arising amongst them after the departure of Whitefield, and besides on other accounts, the building was sold to the town in the beginning of the year 1750, and destined for a school. The new-lights then built a church which I call the new Presbyterian one. On its eastern pediment is the following inscription, in golden letters: Templum Presbyterianum, annuente numine, erectum, Anno Dom. MDCCL.

6. The old German reformed church is built in the west north-west part of the town, and looks like the church in the Ladugoordfield near Stockholm. It is not yet finished, though for several years together, the congregation has kept up divine service in it. These Germans attended the German service at the Swedish church, whilst the Swedish minister Mr. Dylander lived.—But as the Lutherans got a clergyman for themselves on the death of the last, those of the reformed church made likewise preparations to get one from Dordrecht; and the first who was sent to them, was the Rev. Mr. Slaughter, whom I found on my arrival. But in the year 1750, another clergyman of the reformed church arrived from Holland, and by his artful behaviour, so insinuated himself into the favour of the Rev. Mr. Slaughter’s congregation, that the latter lost almost half his audience. The two clergymen then disputed for several sundays together, about the pulpit, nay, people relate that the new comer mounted the pulpit on a saturday, and stayed in it all night. The other being thus excluded, the two parties in the audience, made themselves the subject both of the laughter and of the scorn of the whole town, by beating and bruising each other, and committing other excesses. The affair was inquired into by the magistrates, and decided in favour of the rev. Mr. Slaughter, the person who had been abused.

7. The new reformed church, was built at a little distance from the old one by the party of the clergyman, who had lost his cause. This man however had influence enough to bring over to his party almost the whole audience of his antagonist, at the end of the year 1750, and therefore this new church will soon be useless.

8. 9. The Quakers have two meetings, one in the market, and the other in the northern part of the town. In them are according to the custom of this people, neither altars, nor pulpits, nor any other ornaments usual in churches; but only seats and some sconces. They meet thrice every sunday in them, and besides that at certain times every week or every month. I shall mention more about them hereafter.

10. The Baptists, have their service, in the northern part of the town.

11. The Roman Catholicks, have in the south-west part of the town a great house, which is well adorned within, and has an organ.

12. The Moravian Brethren, have hired a great house, in the northern part of the town, in which they performed the service both in German and in English; not only twice or three times every sunday, but likewise every night after it was grown dark. But in the winter of the year 1750, they were obliged to drop their evening meetings; some wanton young fellows having several times disturbed the congregation, by an instrument sounding like the note of a cuckoo, for this noise they made in a dark corner, not only at the end of every stanza, but likewise at that of every line, whilst they were singing a hymn.

Those of the English church, the New-lights, the Quakers, and the Germans of the reformed religion, have each of them their burying places on one side out of town, and not near their churches, though the first of these sometimes make an exception. All the others bury their dead in their church-yards, and Moravian brethren bury where they can. The Negroes are buried in a particular place out of town.

I now proceed to mention the other publick buildings in Philadelphia.

The Town-hall, or the place where the assemblies are held, is situated in the western part of the town, it is a fine large building, having a tower with a bell in the middle, and is the greatest ornament to the town. The deputies of each province meet in it commonly every October, or even more frequently if circumstances require it, in order to consider of the welfare of the country, and to hold their parliaments or diets in miniature. There they revise the old laws, and make new ones.

On one side of this building stands the Library, which was first begun in the year 1742, on a publick spirited plan, formed and put in execution by the learned Mr. Franklin. For he persuaded first the most substantial people in town to pay forty shillings at the outset, and afterwards annually ten shillings, all in Pensylvania currency, towards purchasing all kinds of useful books. The subscribers are entitled to make use of the books. Other people are likewise at liberty to borrow them for a certain time, but must leave a pledge and pay eight-pence a week for a folio volume, six-pence for a quarto, and four-pence for all others of a smaller size. As soon as the time, allowed a person for the perusal of the volume, is elapsed, it must be returned, or he is fined. The money arising in this manner is employed for the salary of the librarian, and for purchasing new books. There was already a fine collection of excellent works, most of them English; many French and Latin, but few in any other language. The subscribers were so kind to me, as to order the librarian, during my stay here, to lend me every book, which I should want, without requiring any payment of me. The library was open every saturday from four to eight o’clock in the afternoon. Besides the books, several mathematical and physical instruments, and a large collection of natural curiosities were to be seen in it. Several little libraries were founded in the town on the same footing or nearly with this.

The Court House stands in the middle of Market street, to the west of the market, it is fine building, with a little tower in which there is a bell. Below and round about this building the market is properly kept every week.

The building of the Academy, is in the western part of the town. It was formerly as I have before mentioned, a meeting-house of the followers of Whitefield, but they sold it in the year 1750, and it was destined to be the seat of an university, or to express myself in more exact terms, to be a college, it was therefore fitted up to this purpose. The youths are here only taught those things which they learn in our common schools; but in time, such lectures are intended to be read here, as are usual in real universities.

At the close of the last war, a redoubt was erected here, on the south side of the town, near the river, to prevent the French and Spanish privateers from landing. But this was done after a very strong debate. For the quakers opposed all fortifications, as contrary to the tenets of their religion, which allow not christians to make war either offensive or defensive, but direct them to place their trust in the Almighty alone. Several papers were then handed about for and against the opinion. But the enemy’s privateers having taken several vessels belonging to the town, in the river, many of the quakers, if not all of them, found it reasonable to forward the building of the fortification as much as possible, at least by a supply of money.

Of all the natural advantages of the town, its temperate climate is the most considerable, the winter not being over severe, and its duration but short, and the summer not too hot; the country round about bringing forth those fruits in the greatest plenty, which are raised by husbandry. Their September and October are like the beginning of the Swedish August. And the first days in their February are frequently as pleasant, as the end of April and the beginning of May in Sweden. Even their coldest days in some winters have been no severer, than the days at the end of autumn are in the middlemost parts of Sweden, and the southern ones of Finland.

The good and clear water in Philadelphia, is likewise one of its advantages. For though there are no fountains in the town, yet there is a well in every house, and several in the streets, all which afford excellent water for boiling, drinking, washing, and other uses. The water is commonly met with at the depth of forty feet. The water of the river Delaware is likewise good. But in making the wells, a fault is frequently committed, which in several places of the town, spoils the water which is naturally good; I shall in the sequel take an opportunity of speaking further about it.

The Delaware is exceeding convenient for trade. It is one of the greatest rivers in the world: is three English miles broad at its mouth, two miles at the town of Wilmington, and three quarters of a mile at Philadelphia. This city lies within ninety or an hundred English miles from the sea, or from the place where the river Delaware discharges itself into the bay of that name. Yet its depth is hardly ever less than five or six fathom. The greatest ships therefore can sail quite up to the town and anchor in good ground in five fathoms of water, on the side of the bridge. The water here has no longer a saltish taste, and therefore all destructive worms, which have fastened themselves to the ships in the sea, and have pierced holes into them, either die, or drop off, after the ship has been here for a while.

The only disadvantage which trade labours under here, is the freezing of the river almost every winter for a month or more. For during that time the navigation is entirely stopped. But this does not happen at Boston, New York, and other towns which are nearer the sea.

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

The cataracts of the Delaware near Trenton, and of the Skulkill at some distance from Philadelphia, make these rivers useless further up the country, in regard to the conveyance of goods either from or to Philadelphia. Both must therefore be carried on waggons or carts. It has therefore already been thought of to make these two rivers navigable in time, at least for large boats and small vessels.

Several ships are annually built of American oak, in the docks which are made in several parts of the town and about it, yet they can by no means be put in comparison with those built of European oak, in point of goodness and duration.

The town carries on a great trade, both with the inhabitants of the country, and to other parts of the world, especially to the West Indies, South America, and the Antilles; to England, Ireland, Portugal, and to several English colonies in North America. Yet none but English ships are allowed to come into this port.

Philadelphia reaps the greatest profits from its trade to the West Indies. For thither the inhabitants ship almost every day a quantity of flour, butter, flesh and other victuals; timber, plank and the like. In return they receive either sugar, molasses, rum, indigo, mahogany, and other goods, or ready money. The true mahogany which grows in Jamaica, is at present almost all cut down.

They send both West India goods, and their own productions to England; the latter are all sorts of woods, especially black walnut, and oak planks for ships; ships ready built, iron, hides and tar. Yet this latter is properly bought in New Jersey, the forests of which province are consequently more ruined than any others. Ready money is likewise sent over to England, from whence in return they get all sorts of goods there manufactured, viz. fine and coarse cloth, linen, iron ware, and other wrought metals, and East India goods. For it is to be observed that England supplies Philadelphia with almost all stuffs and manufactured goods which are wanted here.

A great quantity of linseed goes annually to Ireland, together with many of the ships which are built here. Portugal gets wheat, corn, flour and maize which is not ground. Spain sometimes takes some corn. But all the money, which is got in these several countries, must immediately be sent to England, in payment for the goods which are got from thence, and yet those sums are not sufficient to pay all the debts.

But to shew more exactly, what the town and province have imported from England, in different years, I shall here insert an extract from the English custom-house books, which I got from the engineer, Lewis Evans, at Philadelphia, and which will sufficiently answer the purpose. This gentleman had desired one of his friends in London to send him a compleat account of all the goods shipped from England to Pensylvania in several years. He got this account, and though the goods are not enumerated in it, yet their value in money is calculated. Such extracts from the custom-house books have been made for every North-American province, in order to convince the English parliament, that those provinces have taken greater quantities of the goods in that kingdom, ever since they have turned their money into bills.

I have taken the copy from the original itself, and it is to be observed that it begins with the christmas of the year 1722, and ends about the same time of the year 1747. In the first column is the value of the foreign goods, the duty for which has already been paid in England. The second column shews the value of the goods manufactured in England and exported to Pensylvania. And in the last column these two sums are added together, but at the bottom each of the columns is cast up.

But this table does not include the goods which are annually shipped in great quantities to Pensylvania from Scotland and Ireland, among which is a great quantity of linen.

The Value of the Goods annually shipped from England to Pensylvania.

The Year, from one Christmas to another. Foreign Goods for which the duty has already been paid, & which therefore only req. receipts. English manufactured Goods. The Sums of these two preceding columns added together.

l. s. d. l. s. d. l. s. d.

1723 5199 13 5 10793 5 1 15992 19 4

1724 9373 15 8 20951 0 5 30324 16 1

1725 10301 12 6 31508 1 8 42209 14 2

1726 9371 11 6 28263 6 2 37634 17 8

1727 10243 0 7 21736 10 0 31979 10 7

1728 14073 13 3 23405 6 2 37478 19 11

1729 12948 8 5 16851 2 5 29799 10 10

1730 15660 10 11 32931 16 6 48592 7 5

1731 11838 17 4 32421 18 9 44260 16 1

1732 15240 14 4 26457 19 3 41698 13 7

1733 13187 0 8 27378 7 5 40585 8 1

1734 19648 15 9 34743 12 1 54392 7 10

1735 18078 4 3 30726 7 1 48804 11 4

1736 23456 15 11 38057 2 5 61513 18 4

1737 14517 4 3 42173 2 4 56690 6 7

1738 20320 19 3 41129 5 0 61450 4 3

1739 9041 4 5 45411 7 6 54452 11 11

1740 10280 2 0 46471 12 9 56751 14 9

1741 12977 18 10 78032 13 1 91010 11 11

1742 14458 6 3 60836 17 1 75295 3 4

1743 19220 1 6 60120 4 10 79340 6 4

1744 14681 8 4 47595 18 2 62214 6 6

1745 13043 8 8 41237 2 3 54280 10 11

1746 18103 12 7 55595 19 7 73699 12 2

1747 8585 14 11 73819 2 8 82404 17 7

Total. 343,789 16 0 969,049 1 6 1,312,838 17 6

The whole extent of the Philadelphia trade may be comprehended from the number of ships, which annually arrive at and sail from this town. I intend to insert here a table of a few years which I have taken from the gazettes of the town. The ships coming and going in one year, are to be reckoned from the twenty fifth of March of that year, to the twenty fifth of March of the next.

The Year. Ships arrived. Ships sailed.

1735 199 212

1740 307 208

1741 292 309

1744 229 271

1745 280 301

1746 273 293

But it is much to be feared that the trade of Philadelphia, and of all the English colonies, will rather decrease than encrease, in case no provision is made to prevent it. I shall hereafter plainly shew upon what foundation this decrease of trade is likely to take place.

The town not only furnishes most of the inhabitants of Pensylvania with the goods which they want, but numbers of the inhabitants of New Jersey come every day and carry on a great trade.

The town has two great fairs every year; one in May, and the other in November, both on the sixteenth days of those two months. But besides these fairs, there are every week two market days, viz. Wednesday and Saturday. On those days the country people in Pensylvania and New Jersey, bring to town a quantity of victuals, and other productions of the country, and this is a great advantage to the town. It is therefore to be wished that the like regulation might be made in our Swedish towns. You are sure to meet with every produce of the season, which the country affords, on the market-days. But on other days, they are in vain sought for.

Provisions are always to be got fresh here, and for that reason most of the inhabitants never buy more at a time, than what will be sufficient till the next market-day. In summer there is a market almost every day; for the victuals do not keep well in the great heat. There are two places in the town where these markets are kept; but that near the court-house is the principal. It begins about four or five o’clock in the morning, and ends about nine o’clock in the forenoon.

The town is not enclosed, and has no other custom-house than the great one for the ships.

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

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

In the year 1743, a society for the advancement of the sciences was erected here. Its objects would have been the curiosities of the three kingdoms of nature, mathematicks, physick, chemistry, œconomy, and manufactures. But the war, which ensued immediately, stopped all designs of this nature, and since that time, nothing has been done towards establishing any thing of this kind.

The declination of the needle was here observed on the thirtieth of October 1750, old style, to be five deg. and forty-five min. west. It was examined by the new meridian, which was drawn at Philadelphia in the autumn of the same year, and extended a mile in length. By experience it appears, that this declination lessens about a degree in twenty years time.

The greatest difference in the rising and falling of the barometer, is according to the observations made for several years together by Mr. James Logan, found at 28´´ 59 and 30´´ 78.

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

In the year 1732, on the fifth of September, old style, a little earthquake was felt here about noon, and at the same time at Boston in New England, and at Montreal in Canada, which places are above sixty Swedish miles asunder.

In the month of November of the year 1737, the well known prince from mount Lebanon, Sheich Sidi came to Philadelphia, on his travels through most of the English American colonies. And in the same year a second earthquake was felt about eleven o’clock at night, on the seventh of December. But it did not continue above half a minute, and yet, it was felt according to the accounts of the gazettes at the same hour in Newcastle, New York, New London, Boston, and other towns of New England. It had therefore likewise reached several miles.

I have not been able to find the exact number of the inhabitants of Philadelphia. In the year 1746, they were reckoned above ten thousand, and since that time their number is incredibly encreased. Neither can it be made out from the Bills of mortality, since they are not kept regularly in all the churches. I shall, however, mention some of those which appeared either in the gazettes, or in bills printed on purpose.

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

1730 227 1741 345 1745 420

1738 250 1742 409 1748 672

1739 350 1743 425 1749 758

1740 290 1744 410 1750 716

From these bills of mortality it also appears, that the diseases which are the most fatal, are consumptions, fevers, convulsions, pleuresies, hæmorrhagies, and dropsies.

The number of those that are born cannot be determined, since in many churches no order is observed with regard to this affair. The quakers, who are the most numerous in this town, never baptize their children, though they take a pretty exact account of all who are born among them.

It is likewise impossible to guess at the number of inhabitants from the dead, because the town gets such great supplies annually from other countries. In the summer of the year 1749, near twelve thousand Germans came over to Philadelphia, many of whom staid in that town. In the same year the houses in Philadelphia were counted, and found to be two thousand and seventy six in number.

The town is now quite filled with inhabitants, which in regard to their country, religion and trade, are very different from each other. You meet with excellent masters in all trades, and many things are made here full as well as in England. Yet no manufactures, especially for making fine cloth are established. Perhaps the reason is, that it can be got with so little difficulty from England, and that the breed of sheep which is brought over, degenerates in process of time, and affords but a coarse wool.

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

Every one who acknowledges God to be the Creator, preserver and ruler of all things, and teaches or undertakes nothing against the state, or against the common peace, is at liberty to settle, stay, and carry on his trade here, be his religious principles ever so strange. No one is here molested on account of the erroneous principles of the doctrine which he follows, if he does not exceed the above-mentioned bounds. And he is so well secured by the laws in his person and property, and enjoys such liberties; that a citizen of Philadelphia may in a manner be said to live in his house like a king.

On a careful consideration of what I have already said, it will be easy to conceive how this city should rise so suddenly from nothing, into such grandeur and perfection, without supposing any powerful monarch’s contributing to it, either by punishing the wicked, or by giving great supplies in money. And yet its fine appearance, good regulations, agreeable situation, natural advantages, trade, riches and power, are by no means inferior to those of any, even of the most ancient towns in Europe. It has not been necessary to force people to come and settle here; on the contrary foreigners of different languages, have left their country, houses, property and relations, and ventured over wide and stormy seas, in order to come hither. Other countries, which have been peopled for a long space of time, complain of the small number of their inhabitants. But Pensylvania, which was no better than a desart in the year 1681, and hardly contained five hundred people, now vies with several kingdoms in Europe, in number of inhabitants. It has received numbers of people which other countries, to their infinite loss, have either neglected or expelled.

A wretched old wooden building, on a hill near the river somewhat north of the Wickako church, belonging to one of the Sons of Sven, of whom, as before-mentioned, the ground was bought for building Philadelphia upon, is preserved on purpose, as a memorial of the poor state of that place, before the town was built on it. Its antiquity gives it a kind of superiority over all the other buildings in town, though in itself the worst of all. This hut was inhabited, whilst as yet stags, deers, elks, and beavers, at broad day light lived in the future streets, church-yards, and market-places of Philadelphia. The noise of a spinning wheel was heard in this house, before the manufactures now established were thought of, or Philadelphia built. But with all these advantages, this house is ready to fall down, and in a few years to come, it will be as difficult to find the place where it stood, as it was unlikely at the time of its erection, that one of the greatest towns in America, should in a short time stand close up to it.

September the 7th. Mr. Peter Cock, a merchant of this town, assured me that he had last week himself been a spectator of a snake’s swallowing a little bird. This bird, which from its cry has the name of Cat bird, (Muscicapa Carolinensis, Linn.) flew from one branch of a tree to another, and was making a doleful tune. At the bottom of the tree, but at a fathom’s distance from the stem, lay one of the great black snakes, with its head continually upright, pointing towards the bird, which was always fluttering about, and now and then settling on the branches. At first it only kept in the topmost branches, but by degrees it came lower down, and even flew upon the ground, and hopped to the place where the snake lay, which immediately opened its mouth, caught the bird and swallowed it; but it had scarce finished its repast before Mr. Cock came up and killed it. I was afterwards told that this kind of snakes was frequently observed to pursue little birds in this manner. It is already well known that the rattle snake does the same.

I walked out to day into the fields in order to get more acquainted with the plants hereabouts, I found several European and even Swedish plants among them. But those which are peculiar to America, are much more numerous.

The Virginian maple grows in plenty on the shores of the Delaware. The English in this country call it either Buttonwood, or Waterbeech, which latter name is most usual. The Swedes call it Wattenbok, or Wasbok. It is Linnæus’s Platanus occidentalis. See Catesby’s Nat. Hist. of Carolina, vol. 1. p. 56. t. 56. It grows for the greatest part in low places, but especially on the edge of rivers and brooks. But these trees are easily transplanted to more dry places, if they be only filled with good soil; and as their leaves are large and their foliage thick, they are planted about the houses and in gardens, to afford a pleasant shade in the hot season, to the enjoyment of which some seats were placed under them. Some of the Swedes had boxes, pails, and the like, made of the bark of this tree by the native Americans. They say that those people whilst they were yet settled here, made little dishes of this bark for gathering whortleberries. The bark was a line in thickness. This tree likewise grows in marshes, or in swampy fields, where ash and red maple commonly grow. They are frequently as tall and thick, as the best of our fir trees. The seed stays on them till spring, but in the middle of April the pods open and shed the seeds. Query, Whether they are not ripe before that time, and consequently sooner fit for sowing? This American maple is remarkable for its quick growth, in which it exceeds all other trees. There are such numbers of them on the low meadows between Philadelphia and the ferry at Gloucester, on both sides of the road, that in summer time you go as it were through a shady walk. In that part of Philadelphia which is near the Swedish church, some great trees of this kind stand on the shore of the river. In the year 1750, on the 15th. of May I saw the buds still on them, and in the year 1749 they began to flower on the eighth of that month. Several trees of this sort are planted at Chelsea near London, and they now in point of height vie with the tallest oak.

September the 18th. In the morning I went with the Swedish painter, Mr. Hesselius, to the country seat of Mr. Bartram, which is about four English miles to the south of Philadelphia, at some distance from the high road to Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. I had therefore the first opportunity here, of getting an exact knowledge of the state of the country, which was a plain covered with all kinds of trees with deciduous leaves. The ground was sandy, mixed with clay. But the sand seemed to be in greater quantity. In some parts the wood was cut down, and we saw the habitations of some country people, whose corn-fields and plantations were round their farm-houses. The wood was full of mulberry-trees, walnut-trees of several kinds, chesnut-trees, sassafras, and the like. Several sorts of wild vines clasped their tendrils round, and climbed up to the summits of the highest trees; and in other places they twined round the enclosures, so thick, that the latter almost sunk down under their weight. The Persimon, or Diospyros Virginiana, Linn. sp. pl. p. 1510, grew in the marshy fields, and about springs. Its little apples looked very well already, but are not fit for eating, before the frost has affected them, and then they have a very fine taste. Hesselius gathered some of them, and desired my servant to taste of the fruits of the land; but this poor credulous follow, had hardly bit into them, when he felt the qualities they have before the frost has penetrated them. For they contracted his mouth so that he could hardly speak, and had a very disagreeable taste. This disgusted him so much that he was with difficulty persuaded to taste of it during the whole of our stay in America, notwithstanding it loses all its acidity and acquires an agreeable flavour in autumn and towards the beginning of winter. For the fellow always imagined, that though he should eat them ever so late in the year, they would still retain the same disagreeable taste.

To satisfy the curiosity of those, who are willing to know, how the woods look in this country, and whether or no the trees in them are the same with those found in our forests, I here insert a small catalogue of those which grow spontaneously in the woods which are nearest to Philadelphia. But I exclude such shrubs as do not attain any considerable height. I shall put that tree first in order, which is most plentiful, and so on with the rest, and therefore trees which I have found but single, though near the town, will be last.

1. Quercus alba, the white oak in good ground.

2. Quercus rubra, or the black oak.

3. Quercus hispanica, the Spanish oak, a variety of the preceding.

4. Juglans alba, hiccory, a kind of walnut tree, of which three or four varieties are to be met with.

5. Rubus occidentalis, or American blackberry shrub.

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

7. Rhus glabra, the smooth leaved Sumach, in the woods, on high glades, and old corn-fields.

8. Vitis labrusca and Vulpina, vines of several kinds.

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

10. Quercus phellos, the swamp oak, in morasses.

11. Azalea lutea, the American upright honey-suckle, in the woods in dry places.

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

13. Vaccinium ——, a species of whortleberry shrub.

14. Quercus prinus, the chesnut oak in good ground.

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

16. Liriodendron Tulipifera, the tulip tree, in every kind of soil.

17. Prunus virginiana, the wild cherry tree.

18. Vaccinium ——, a frutex whortleberry, in good ground.

19. Prinos verticillatus, the winterberry tree in swamps.

20. Platanus occidentalis, the water-beech.

22. Liquidambar styraciflua, sweet gum tree, near springs.

23. Betula Alnus, alder, a variety of the Swedish; it was here but a shrub.

24. Fagus castanea, the chesnut tree, on corn-fields, pastures, and in little woods.

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

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

27. Acer Negundo, the ash-leaved maple, in morasses and swampy places.

28. Primus domestica, the wild plumb tree.

29. Ulmus Americana, the white elm.

30. Prunus spinosa, sloe shrub, in low places.

31. Laurus sassafras, the sassafras tree, in a loose soil mixed with sand.

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

33. Fraxinus excelsior, the ash tree in low places.

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

35. Kalmia latifolia, the American dwarf laurel, on the northern side of mountains.

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

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

38. Quercus rubra, the red oak, but a peculiar variety.

39. Hamamelis virginica, the witch hazel.

40. Diospyros virginiana, the persimon.

41. Pyrus coronaria, the anchor tree.

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

43. Laurus æstivalis, spice-wood in a wet soil.

44. Carpinus ostrya, a species of horn beam in a good soil.

45. Carpinus betulus, a horn beam, in the same kind of soil with the former.

46. Fagus sylvatica, the beech, likewise in good soil.

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

50. Cephalantus occidentalis, button wood, in wet places.

51. Pinus tæda, the New Jersey fir tree, on dry sandy heaths.

52. Cercis canadensis, the sallad tree, in a good soil.

53. Robinia pseudacacia, the locust tree, on the corn-fields.

54. Magnolia glauca, the laurel-leaved tulip tree, in marshy soil.

55. Tilia Americana, the lime tree, in a good soil.

56. Gleditsia triacanthos, the honey locust tree, or three thorned acacia, in the same soil.

57. Celtis occidentalis, the nettle tree, in the fields.

58. Annona muricata, the custard apple in a fruitful soil.

We visited several Swedes, who were settled here, and were at present in very good circumstances. One of them was called Andrew Rambo; he had a fine house built of stone, two stories high, and a great orchard near it. We were every where well received, and stayed over night with the above-mentioned countryman. We saw no other marks of autumn, than that several fruits of this season were already ripe. For besides this all the trees were yet as green, and the ground still as much covered with flowers, as in our summer. Thousands of frogs croaked all the night long in the marshes and brooks. The locusts and grasshoppers made likewise such a great noise, that it was hardly possible for one person to understand another. The trees too, were full of all sorts of birds, which by the variety of their fine plumage, delighted the eye, while the infinite variety of their tunes were continually re-echoed.

The orchards, along which we passed to-day, were only enclosed by hurdles. But they contained all kinds of fine fruit. We wondered at first very much when our leader leaped over the hedge into the orchards, and gathered some agreeable fruit for us. But our astonishment was still greater, when we saw that the people in the garden were so little concerned at it, as not even to look at us. But our companion told us, that the people here were not so exact in regard to a few fruits, as they are in other countries where the soil is not so fruitful in them. We afterwards found very frequently that the country people in Sweden and Finland guarded their turneps more carefully, than the people here do the most exquisite fruits.

September the 19th. As I walked this morning into the fields, I observed that a copious dew was fallen; for the grass was as wet as if it had rained. The leaves of the plants and trees, had contracted so much moisture, that the drops ran down. I found on this occasion that the dew was not only on the superior, but likewise on the inferior side of the leaves. I therefore carefully considered many leaves both of trees and of other plants; both of those which are more above, and of those which are nearer to the ground. But I found in all of them, that both sides of the leaves were equally bedewed, except those of the Verbascum Thapsus, or great Mullein, which though their superior side was pretty well covered with the dew, yet their inferior had but a little.

Every countryman, even a common peasant, has commonly an orchard near his house, in which all sorts of fruit, such as peaches, apples, pears, cherries, and others, are in plenty. The peaches were now almost ripe. They are rare in Europe, particularly in Sweden, for in that country hardly any people besides the rich taste them. But here every countryman had an orchard full of peach trees, which were covered with such quantities of fruit, that we could scarcely walk in the orchard, without treading upon those peaches which were fallen off; many of which were always left on the ground, and only part of them was sold in town, and the rest was consumed by the family and strangers; for every one that passed by, was at liberty to go into the orchard, and to gather as many of them as he wanted. Nay, this fine fruit was frequently given to the swine.

This fruit is however sometimes kept for winter use, and for this purpose they are prepared in the following manner. The fruit is cut into four parts, the stone thrown away, and the fruit put upon a thread, on which they are exposed to the sunshine in the open air, till they are sufficiently dry. They are then put into a vessel for winter. But this manner of drying them is not very good, because the rain of this season very easily spoils and putrifies them, whilst they hang in the open air. For this reason a different method is followed by others, which is by far the most eligible. The peaches are as before cut into four parts, are then either put upon a thread, or laid upon a board, and so hung up in the air when the sun shines. Being dried in some measure, or having lost their juice by this means, they are put into an oven, out of which the bread has but just been taken, and are left in it for a while. But they are soon taken out and brought into the fresh air; and after that they are again put into the oven, and this is repeated several times till they are as dry as they ought to be. For if they were dried up at once in the oven, they would shrivel up too much, and lose part of their flavour. They are then put up and kept for the winter. They are either baked into tarts and pyes, or boiled and prepared as dried apples and pears are in Sweden. Several people here dry and preserve their apples in the same manner as their peaches.

The peach trees, have, as I am told, been first planted here by the Europeans. But at present they succeed very well, and require even less care, than our apple and pear trees.

The orchards have seldom other fruit than apples and peaches. Pear trees are scarce in this province, and those that had any of them, had planted them in their orchards. They likewise have cherry trees in the orchards, but commonly on the sides of them towards the house, or along the enclosures. Mulberry trees are planted on some hillocks near the house, and sometimes even in the court yards of the house. The black walnut trees, or Juglans nigra, grow partly on hills, and in fields near the farm-houses, and partly along the enclosures; but most commonly in the forests. No other trees of this kind, are made use of here. The chesnuts are left in the fields; here and there is one in a dry field or in a wood.

Capsicum annuum, or Guinea pepper is likewise planted in gardens. When the fruit is ripe it is almost entirely red, it is put to a roasted or boiled piece of meat, a little of it being strewed upon it, or mixed with the broth. Besides this, cucumbers are pickled with it. Or the pods are pounded whilst they are yet tender, and being mixed with salt are preserved in a bottle; and this spice is strewed over roasted or boiled meat, or fried fish, and gives them a very fine taste. But the fruit by itself is as biting as common pepper.

This country contains many species of the plant, which Dr. Linnæus calls Rhus, and the most common is the Rhus foliis pinnatis serratis lanceolates retrinque nudis, or the Rhus glabra. The English call this plant Sumach. But the Swedes here, have no particular name for it, and therefore make use of the English name. Its berries or fruits are red. They are made use of for dying, and afford a colour like their own. This tree is like a weed in this country, for if a corn-field is left uncultivated for some few years together, it grows on it in plenty, since the berries are spread every where by the birds. And when the ground is to be ploughed the roots stop the plough very much. The fruit stays on the shrub during the whole winter. But the leaves drop very early in autumn, after they are turned reddish, like those of our Swedish mountain ash. The branches boiled with the berries afford a black ink like tincture. The boys eat the berries, there being no danger of falling sick after the repast; but they are very sour. They seldom grow above three yards high. On cutting the stem, it appears that it contains nothing but pith. I have cut several in this manner, and found that some were ten years old; but that most of them were above one year old. When the cut is made, a yellow juice comes out between the bark and the wood. One or two of the most outward circles are white, but the innermost are of a yellowish green. It is easy to distinguish them one from another. They contain a very plentiful pith, the diameter of which is frequently half an inch, and sometimes more. It is brown, and so loose that it is easily pushed out by a little stick, in the same manner as the pith of the elder tree, raspberry and blackberry bushes. This sumach grows near the enclosures, round the corn-fields, but especially on fallow ground. The wood seemed to burn well, and made no great crackling in the fire.

September the 20th. In the morning we walked in the fields and woods near the town, partly for gathering seeds, and partly for gathering plants for my herbal, which was our principal occupation; and in the autumn of this year, we sent part of our collection to England and Sweden.

A species of Rhus, which was frequent in the marshes here was called the poison tree by both English and Swedes. Some of the former gave it the name of swamp-sumach, and my country-men gave it the same name. Dr. Linnæus in his botanical works calls it Rhus Vernix. Sp. pl. 1. 380. Flora Virgin. 45. An incision being made into the tree, a whitish yellow juice, which has a nauseous smell, comes out between the bark and the wood. This tree is not known for its good qualities, but greatly so for the effect of its poison, which though it is noxious to some people, yet does not in the least affect others. And therefore one person can handle the tree as he pleases, cut it, peel off its bark, rub it, or the wood upon his hands, smell at it, spread the juice upon his skin, and make more experiments, with no inconvenience to himself; another person on the contrary dares not meddle with the tree, while its wood is fresh, nor can he venture to touch a hand which has handled it, nor even to expose himself to the smoak of a fire which is made with this wood, without soon feeling its bad effects; for the face, the hands, and frequently the whole body swells excessively, and is affected with a very accute pain. Sometimes bladders or blisters arise in great plenty, and make the sick person look as if he was infected by a leprosy. In some people the external thin skin, or cuticle, peels of in a few days, as is the case when a person has scalded or burnt any part of his body. Nay, the nature of some persons will not even allow them to approach the place where the tree grows, or to expose themselves to the wind, when it carries the effluvia or exhalations of this tree with it, without letting them feel the inconvenience of the swelling, which I have just now described. Their eyes are sometimes shut up for one, or two and more days together by the swelling. I know two brothers, one of whom could without danger handle this tree in what manner he pleased, whereas the other could not come near it without swelling. A person sometimes does not know that he has touched this poisonous plant, or that he has been near it, before his face and hands shews it by their swelling. I have known old people who were more afraid of this tree than of a viper; and I was acquainted with a person who merely by the noxious exhalations of it was swelled to such a degree, that he was as stiff as a log of wood, and could only be turned about in sheets.

On relating in the winter of the year 1750, the poisonous qualities of the swamp sumach to my Yungstrœm, who attended me on my travels, he only laughed, and looked upon the whole as a fable, in which opinion he was confirmed by his having often handled the tree the autumn before, cut many branches of it, which he had carried for a good while in his hand in order to preserve its seeds, and put many into the herbals, and all this, without feeling the least inconvenience. He would therefore, being a kind of philosopher in his own way, take nothing for granted of which he had no sufficient proofs, especially as he had his own experience in the summer of the year 1749, to support the contrary opinion. But in the next summer his system of philosophy was overturned. For his hands swelled and he felt a violent pain, and itching in his eyes as soon as he touched the tree, and this inconvenience not only attended him when he meddled with this kind of sumach, but even when he had any thing to do with the Rhus radicans, or that species of sumach which climbs along the trees, and is not by far so poisonous as the former. By this adventure he was so convinced of the power of the poison tree, that I could not easily persuade him to gather more seeds of it for me. But he not only felt the noxious effects of it in summer when he was very hot, but even in winter when both he and the wood were cold. Hence it appears that though a person be secured against the power of this poison for some time, yet that in length of time he may be affected with it as well, as people of a weaker constitution.