Having oftentimes been urged to give an Account ofVirginia, by several of the Worthy Members of the Royal Society, I cannot but, as far forth as I am able, obey Commands whereby I'm so much honour'd, and show my Respect by my ready Compliance; tho' I am so sensible of my own Weakness and Incapacity to answer your Expectations, that before-hand I must Apologize for my self. And indeed by Sea I lost all my Books, Chymical Instruments, Glasses and Microscopes, which rendred me uncapable of making those Remarks and Observations I had designed, they were all cast away in CaptainWin's Ship, as they were to follow me; andVirginiabeing a Country where one cannot furnish ones self again with such things, I was discourag'd from making so diligent a Scrutiny as otherwise I might havedone, so that I took very few Minutes down in Writing; and therefore, since I have only my Memory to rely on, which too has the Disadvantage of it's own Weakness, and of the distance of two Years since now I left the Country, if future Relations shall in some small Points make out my Mistake, I thought this requisite to justifie my Candor; for I ever judg'd it villanous to impose in matters of Fact; but Descriptions of things that depend on Memory may be liable to Mistakes, and yet the sincerity of the Person that delivers them intire. But hereof I shall be as cautious as possible, and shall rather wave some things whereof I have some Doubts, and am uncapable now of satisfying my self, than in any sort presume too far. The method I design is, First, to give an Account of the Air, and all such Observations as refer thereto; then of the Water, the Earth and Soil; the Birds, the Beasts, the Fishes, the Plants, the Insects; and lastly, the present state of the Inhabitants: But at present I shall neither trouble you nor my self with any more than an Account of what refers to the Air alone, being conscious the Honourable Society may receive such a Glut with the Imperfection of this, as to excuse me from a farther Relation.
But before I begin, perhaps it may not be impertinent to acquaint you with some things that happen'd in our Voyage. We sail'd in the ShipJudith, CaptainTrimCommander, 'twas Fly-boat built, about 200 or 250 Tuns; she sprung a considerable Leak. When the Captain had made long and diligent Search,had tried all methods that Seamen use upon such occasions, or he could think of, all in vain, and that the Leak encreased, he came pensively to consult me. Discoursing with him about it, and understanding that the Ship was Cieled within, so that though the Leak might possibly be in the fore-part, it would fill the whole Cavity betwixt the Cieling and the Planks, and so run into the Hold at all the Crevices of the Cieling up and down: I thereupon conceive, that where it burst in betwixt the Cieling and the Planks, it must needs make some Noise. He told me, they had endeavoured to find it out that way, and according to custom had clapt Cans to their Ears to hear with; but the working of the Ship, the Tackle and the Sea made such a Noise, that they could discover nothing thereby. I happily bethought my self of the Speaking Trumpet; and having one which I had contrived for some other Conveniences, of a differing shape from the common sorts, I bid him take it and apply the broad end to the side of the Ship, the narrow end to his Ear, and it would encrease his Hearing as much as it augmented the Voice the other way, and would ward the Ear too from the confusion of foreign Noise. Upon the first application, accordingly they heard it, tho' it happened to be at a considerable distance; and when they removed the Trumpet nigher, they heard it as if it had been the Current of a mighty River, even so distinctly, as to have Apprehensions of the bigness and figure of the Hole that the Water came in at; so that cutting there the Sealing of the Ship, they immediately stopt the Leak.
In the Sea I saw many little things which the Seamen call Carvels; they are like a Jelly or Starch that is made with a cast of Blue in it; they Swim like a small Sheep's Bladder above the Water, downwards there are long Fibrous Strings, some whereof I have found near half a yard long. This I take to be a sort of Sea-Plant, and the strings its Roots growing in the Sea, as Duck-weed does in Ponds. It may be reckon'd among the Potential Cauteries; for when we were one day becalm'd, getting some to make Observations thereof, the sportful People rub'd it on one anothers Hands and Faces, and where it touch'd it would make it look very Red, and make it smart worse than a Nettle. In my return forEnglandwe struck a Hauksbill Turtle, in whose Guts I found many of these Carvels; so that it's manifest they feed thereon. 'Tis commonly asserted by the Seamen, that they can smell the Pines atVirginiaseveral Leagues at Sea before they see Land, but I could receive no Satisfaction as to this Point; I could not discern any such thing when at a moderate distance, I fear much of this may be attributed to Fancy; for one Day there came three or four full scent to tell me they were certain they smelt the Pines; but it afterwards prov'd that we were at that time 200 Leagues from the Shoar, so that I was satisfied that was therefore meer Fancy. Indeed we thought, by the general Accounts of the Ship, that we had been just on the Coast, but all were deceived by a Currentwe met with, that at that time set about South-East, or East South-East, which when once becalmed we tried thus: We hoised out a Boat, and took one of the Scuttles that cover'd one of the Hatches of the Ship, tying thereto a great Weight, and a strong long Rope, we let it sink a considerable depth, and then fastening it to the Boat, it serv'd as an Anchor, that the Boat could not drive; then with the Glass and log Line we found the Current set, as I say, Eastward, at the rate of a Mile and a half an Hour. This Current is of mischievous Consequence, it does not always run one way, but as it sets sometimes as we proved Easterly, so does it, as they say, set at other times Westerly, whereby many Ships have been lost; for then the Ships being before their Accounts, they fall in with the Land before they are aware. Thus one Year many Ships were lost on CapeHattarasse, and thereabouts.
The Cape calledCape Henry, lies in 36½ of the Northern Latitude. The Air and Temperature of the Seasons is much govern'd by Winds inVirginia, both as to Heat and Cold, Dryness and Moisture, whose Variations being very notable, I the more lamented the loss of my Barometers and Thermometers, for considerable Observations might be made thereby, there being often great and suddain Changes. The Nore and Nore-West are very nitrous and piercing,cold and clear, or else stormy. The South-East and South hazy and sultry hot: Their Winter is a fine clear Air, and dry, which renders it very pleasant: Their Frosts are short, but sometimes very sharp, that it will freeze the Rivers over three Miles broad; nay, the Secretary of State assured me, it had frozen clever overPotomackRiver, over against his House, where it is near nine Miles over: I have observed it freezes there the hardest, when from a moist South East, on a sudden the Wind passing by the Nore, a nitrous sharp Nore-West blows; not with high Gusts, but with a cutting brisk Air; and those Vails then that seem to be shelter'd from the Wind, and lie warm, where the Air is most stagnant and moist, are frozen the hardest, and seized the soonest, and there the Fruits are more subject to blast than where the Air has a free Motion. Snow falls sometimes in pretty quantity, but rarely continues there above a Day or two: Their Spring is about a Month earlier than inEngland; inAprilthey have frequent Rains, sometimes several short and suddain Gusts.MayandJunethe Heat encreases, and it is much like our Summer, being mitigated with gentle Breezes that rise about 9 of the Clock, and decrease and incline as the Sun rises and falls.JulyandAugustthose Breezes cease, and the Air becomes stagnant, that the Heat is violent and troublesome. InSeptemberthe Weather usually breaks suddenly, and there falls generally very considerable Rains. When the Weather breaks many fall Sick, this being the time of an Endemical Sickness, forSeasonings, Cachexes, Fluxes, Scorbutical Dropsies, Gripes, or the like, which I have attributed to this Reason. That by the extraordinary Heat the ferment of the Blood being raised too high, and the Tone of the Stomach relaxed, when the Weather breaks the Blood palls, and like over-fermented Liquors is depauperated, or turns eager and sharp, and there's a crude Digestion, whence the named Distempers may be supposed to ensue. And for confirmation, I have observed the Carminative Seeds, such as warm, and whose Oil sheaths the acid Humors that ever result from crude Digestions. But Decoctions that retain the Tone of the Stomach, as I suppose, by making the little Glands in the Tunicles of the Stomach, squeeze out their Juice, (for what is bitter may be as well offensive to the Stomach, as to the Palate) and then Chalibiates that raise the decayed Ferment, are no bad Practice; after which, I conceive, Armoniack Spirits might be very beneficial. But their Doctors are so Learned, that I never met with any of them that understood what Armoniack Spirits were: Two or three of them one time ran me clear down by consent, that they were Vomitive, and that they never used any thing for that purpose but Crocus Metallorum, which indeed every House keeps; and if their Finger, as the Saying is, ake but, they immediatly give three or four Spoonfuls thereof; if this fail, they give him a second Dose, then perhaps Purge them with 15 or 20 Grains of the Rosin of Jalap, afterwards Sweat them withVeniceTreacle, Powder of Snake-Root, orGascoin's Powder;and when these failconclamatum est. But to return, 'Tis wonderful what influence the Air has over Mens Bodies, whereof I had my self sad assurances; for tho' I was in a very close warm Room, where was a Fire constantly kept, yet there was not the least Alteration or Change, whereof I was not sensible when I was sick of the Gripes, of which Distemper I may give a farther account in its proper place. When a very Ingenious Gentlewoman was visited with the same Distemper, I had the opportunity of making very considerable Observations. I stood at the Window, and could view the Clouds arise: For there small black fleeting Clouds will arise, and be swiftly carry'd cross the whole Element; and as these Clouds arose, and came nigher, her Torments were encreased, which were grievous as a labouring Womans; there was not the least Cloud but lamentably affected her, and that at a considerable distance; but by her Shrieks it seemed more or less, according to the bigness and nearness of the Clouds. The Thunder there is attended often with fatal Circumstances: I was with my LordHowardofEffinghamthe Governour, when they brought Word that one Dr.A.was killed therewith, after this manner: He was Smoaking a Pipe of Tobacco, and looking out at his Window when he was struck dead, and immediately became so stiff, that he did not fall, but stood leaning in the Window, with the Pipe in his Mouth, in the same posture he was in when struck: But this I only deliver as Report, tho' I heard the same Account from several, without any contradicting it.These things are remarkable, that it generally breaks in at the Gable end of the Houses, and often kills Persons in, or near the Chimneys range, darting most fiercely down the Funnel of the Chimney, more especially if there be a Fire, (I speak here confusedly of Thunder and Lightning) for when they do any Mischief, the Crash and Lightning are at the same Instant, which must be from the nearness of the Cloud. One time when the Thunder split the Mast of a Boat atJamesTown, I saw it break from the Cloud, which it divided in two, and seem'd as if it had shot them immediatly a Mile asunder, to the Eye: It is dangerous when it Thunders standing in a narrow Passage, where there's a thorough Passage, or in a Room betwixt two Windows; tho' several have been kill'd in the open Fields. 'Tis incredible to tell how it will strike large Oaks, shatter and shiver them, sometimes twisting round a Tree, sometimes as if it struck the Tree backwards and forwards. I had noted a fine spreading Oak inJames TownIsland, in the Morning I saw it fair and flourishing, in the Evening I observed all the Bark of the Body of the Tree, as if it had been artificially peel'd off; was orderly spread round the Tree, in a Ring, whose Semidiameter was four Yards, the Tree in the Center; all the Body of the Tree was shaken and split, but its Boughs had all their Bark on; few Leaves were fallen, and those on the Boughs as fresh as in the Morning, but gradually afterwards withered, as on a Tree that is fallen. I have seen several vast Oaks and other TimberTrees twisted, as if it had been a small Willow that a Man had twisted with his Hand, which I could suppose had been done by nothing but the Thunder. I have been told by very serious Planters, that 30 or 40 Years since, when the Country was not so open, the Thunder was more fierce, and that sometimes after violent Thunder and Rain, the Roads would seem to have perfect casts of Brimstone; and 'tis frequent after much Thunder and Lightning for the Air to have a perfect Sulphurious Smell. Durst I offer my weak Reasons when I write to so great Masters thereof, I should here consider the nature of Thunder, and compare it with some Sulphurious Spirits which I have drawn from Coals, that I could no way condense, yet were inflamable; nay, would burn after they pass'd through Water, and that seemingly fiercer, if they were not over-power'd therewith. I have kept of this Spirit a considerable time in Bladders; and tho' it appeared as if they were only blown with Air, yet if I let it forth, and fired it with a Match or Candle, it would continue burning till all were spent. It might be worthy Consideration likewise, whether those frequent Thunders proceeded from the Air's being more stagnant, the motion of the Winds being impeded by the Trees, or whether the motion of the Winds being obstructed by them below, the motion might not be more violent aloft; and how far that may promote inflammability, for Stacks of Hay or Corn that ferment with moisture, never burn, unless when brisk Winds blow, that agitate and fan thelittle fermenting Sparks, and often kindle them into an actual Fire. And Observance of the Meteors there might perhaps not be Impertinent, as both what are more rare, and what are more frequent, as ofGosimorein great abundance, and of those small Cob-webs in a Morning, which some have supposed to be Meteors.Ignes fatui, tho' there be many boggy Swamps and Marshes, are seldom, if any are seen there. There be frequent little sorts of Whirl-winds, whose Diameter may be sometimes not past two or three Yards, sometimes forty, which whisking round in a Circle, pass along the Earth, according to the motion of the Cloud, from whence they issue; and as they pass along with their gyrous or circular motion, they carry aloft the dry Leaves into the Air, which fall again often in places far remote. I have seen them descend in a calm Sun-shine Day, as if they had come from the Heavens in great Showers thereof, so that all the Elements seem'd filled therewith. And I could perceive them to descend from on high as far as I could possibly discern a Leaf. I remember a roguish Expression of a Seaman, otherwise silly enough, who wondering thereat, cry'd out,Sure now 'tis manifest there is a World above!and now with them 'tis the Fall of the Leaf. But to proceed, I thought this made it manifest, whence many preternatural Showers have happen'd. I remember at SirRichard Atherton's inLancashire, some few Years ago, there fell a great number of the Seeds of Ivy-berries; at first we admir'd what they were, for they were cover'd with a thinSkin that was red, and resembled the Figure of a small Wheat Corn; but afterwards they fully manifested what they were; for many sprouted and took Root. I suppose they were carry'd aloft by some such Whirl-wind, and let fall there. I have purposely gone into the place where I perceived this Gust, which is notorious enough by the Noise it makes, with rattling the Leaves as it carries them aloft, and have found a fine sharp Breeze of Wind.
Yours, &c.