Chapter 6

Late at night a great Halo appeared round the moon. The people said that it prognosticated either a storm, or rain, or both together. The smaller the ring is, or the nearer it comes to the moon, the sooner this weather sets in. But this time neither of these changes happened, and the halo had foretold a coldness in the air.I saw to-day theChermesof the alder (Chermes Alni) in great abundance on the branches of that tree, which for that reason looks quite white, and at a distance appears as it were covered with mould.Octoberthe 4th. I continued my journey early in the morning, and the country still had the same appearance as I went on. It was a continual chain of pretty high hills, with an easy ascent on all sides, and of[155]vallies between them. The soil consisted of a brick coloured mould, mixed with clay, and a few pebbles, I rode sometimes through woods of several sorts of trees, and sometimes amidst little fields, which had been cleared of the wood, and which at present were corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. The farm-houses stood single, sometimes near the roads, and sometimes at a little distance from them, so that the space between the road and the houses was taken up with little fields and meadows. Some of the houses were built of stone, two stories high, and covered with shingles of the white cedar. But most of the houses were wooden, and the crevices stopped up with clay, instead of moss, which we make use of for that purpose. No valves were to be met with in the chimneys, and the people even did not know what I meant by them. The ovens were commonly built up at some distance from the houses, and were either under a roof, or without any covering against the weather. The fields bore partly buck-wheat, which was not yet cut, partly maize, and partly wheat, which was but lately sown; but sometimes they lay fallow. The vines climbed to the top of several trees, and hung down again on both sides. Other trees again were surrounded by the ivy (Hedera quinquefolia) which[156]with the same flexibility ascended to a great height. TheSmilax laurifoliaalways joined with the ivy, and together with it twisted itself round the trees. The leaves of the ivy were at this time commonly reddish, but those of the vine were still quite green. The trees which were surrounded with them, looked at a distance like those which are covered with hops in our country, (and on seeing them from afar off, one might expect to find wild hops climbing upon the trees.) Walnut and chesnut trees were common near enclosures, in woods, and on hills, and at present were loaded with their fruit. The persimon was likewise plentiful near the roads, and in the woods. It had a great quantity of fruit, but they were not yet fit for eating, since the frost had not softened them. At some distance fromWilmington, I passed a bridge over a little river, which falls north into theDelaware. The rider pays here twopence toll for himself and his horse.Towards noon I arrived atWilmington.Wilmington is a little town, about thirtyEnglishmiles south-west fromPhiladelphia. It was founded in the year 1733. Part of it stands upon the grounds belonging to theSwedishchurch, which annually receives certain rents, out of which they[157]pay the minister’s salary, and employ the rest for other uses. The houses are built of stone, and look very pretty; yet they are not built close together, but large open places are left between them. The quakers have a meeting-house in this town. TheSwedishchurch, which I intend to mention in the sequel, is half a mile out of town eastwards. The parsonage is under the same roof with the church. A little river calledChristina-killpasses by the town, and from thence falls into theDelaware. By following its banks one goes three miles before one reaches theDelaware. The river is said to be sufficiently deep, so that the greatest vessel may come quite up to the town: for at its mouth or juncture with theDelaware, it is shallowest, and yet its depth even there when the water is lowest, is from two fathoms to two and a half. But as you go higher its depth encreases to three, three and a half, and even four fathoms. The largest ships therefore may safely, and with their full cargoes come to, and from the town with the tide. fromWilmington, you have a fine prospect of a great part of the riverDelaware, and the ships sailing on it. On both sides of the riverChristina-kill, almost from the place where the redoubt is built to its juncture with theDelaware, are low meadows, which afford a great quantity of hay[158]to the inhabitants. The town carries on a considerable trade, and would have been more enlarged, ifPhiladelphiaandNewcastle, which are both towns of a more ancient date, were not so near on both sides of it.TheRedoubtupon the riverChristina-kill, was erected this summer, when it was known that theFrenchandSpanishprivateers intended to sail up the river, and to attempt a landing. It stands, according to the accounts of the late Rev. Mr.Tranberg, on the same spot, where theSwedeshad built theirs. It is remarkable, that on working in the ground this summer, to make this redoubt, an oldSwedishsilver coin of QueenChristina, not quite so big as a shilling was found at the depth of a yard, among some other things. The Rev. Mr.Tranbergafterwards presented me with it. On one side were the arms of the house ofWasawith the inscription: CHRISTINA, D. G. DE. RE. SVE. that is,Christina, by the grace of God, elected Queen of Sweden; and near this the year of our Lord 1633. On the reverse were these words: MONETA NOVA REGNI SVEC. or,a new coin of the kingdom of Sweden. At the same time a number of old iron tools, such as axes, shovels, and the like, were discovered. The redoubt, that is now erected, consists[159]of bulwarks of planks, with a rampart on the outside. Near it is the powder magazine, in a vault built of bricks. At the erection of this little fortification it was remarkable, that the quakers, whose tenets reject even defensive war, were as busy as the other people in building it. For the fear of being every moment suddenly attacked by privateers, conquered all other thoughts. Many of them scrupled to put their own hands to the work; but forwarded, it by supplies of money, and by getting ready every thing, which was necessary.Octoberthe 5th. It was my design to cross theDelaware, and to get intoNew Jerseywith a view to get acquainted with the country; but as there was no ferry here to bring my horse over, I set out on my return toPhiladelphia. I partly went along the high road, and partly deviated on one or the other side of it, in order to take more exact observations of the country, and of its natural history.The maize, was sown in several places. In some its stalks were cut somewhat below the ear, dried and put up in narrow high stacks, in order to keep them as a food for the cattle in winter. The lower part of the stalk had likewise leaves, but as they commonly dry of themselves, the people do not like to[160]feed the cattle with them, all their flavour being lost: But the upper ones are cut, whilst they are yet green.The vallies between the hills commonly contain brooks: but they are not very broad, and require no bridges, so that carriages and horse can easily pass through them, for the water is seldom above six inches deep.The leaves of most trees were yet quite green, such as those of oaks, chesnut trees, black walnut trees, hiccory, tulip trees, and sassafras. The two latter species are found in plenty on the sides of the little woods, on hills, on the fallow fields, near hedges, and on the road. The persimon likewise had still its leaves; however some trees of this kind had dropt them. The leaves of theAmericanbramble were at present almost entirely red, though some of these bushes yet retained a lively green in the leaves. TheCorneliancherry likewise had already a mixture of brown and pale leaves. The leaves of the red maple were also red.I continued my journey toChichester, a borough upon theDelaware, where travellers pass the river in a ferry. They build here every year a number of small ships for sale. From an iron work which[161]lies higher in the country, they carry iron bars to this place, and ship them.Canoes are boats made of one piece of wood, and are much in use with the farmers, and other people upon theDelaware, and some little rivers. For that purpose a very thick trunk of a tree is hollowed out; the red juniper or red cedar tree, the white cedar, the chesnut tree, the white oak, and the tulip tree are commonly made use of for this purpose. The canoes made of red and white cedar are reckoned the best, because they swim very light upon the water, and last twenty years together. But of these, the red cedar canoes are most preferable. Those made of chesnut trees will likewise last for a good while. But those of white oak are hardly serviceable above six years, and also swim deep, because they are so heavy. TheLiquidambar tree, orLiquidambar styraciflua, Linn.is big enough but unfit making canoes, because it imbibes the water. The canoes which are made of the tulip tree, scarce last as long as those of white oak. The size of the canoes is different, according to the purposes they are destined for. They can carry six persons; who however, must by no means be unruly, but sit at the bottom of the canoe in the quietest manner[162]possible, lest the boat overset. TheSwedesinPensylvaniaandNew Jerseynear the rivers, have no other boats to go toPhiladelphiain, which they commonly do twice a week on the market days, though they be several miles distant from the town, and meet sometimes with severe storms; yet misfortunes from the oversetting, &c; of these canoes are seldom heard of, though they might well be expected on account of the small size of this kind of boats. However a great deal of attention and care is necessary in managing the canoes, when the wind is somewhat violent; for they are narrow, round below, have no keel, and therefore may easily be overset. Accordingly when the wind is more brisk than ordinary, the people make for the land.The common garden cresses grow in several places on the roads aboutChichester, and undoubtedly come from the seeds, which were by chance carried out of the many gardens about that town.TheAmericanbrambles are here in great plenty. When a field is left uncultivated, they are the first plants that appear on it; and I frequently observed them in such fields as are annually ploughed, and have corn sown on them. For when these bushes are once rooted, they are not easily extirpated.[163]Such a bush runs out tendrils sometimes four fathoms off its root, and then throws a new root, so that on pulling it up, you meet with roots on both ends. On some old grounds, which had long been uncultivated, there were so many bushes of this kind, that it was very troublesome and dangerous walking in them. A wine is made of the berries, as I have already mentioned. The berries are likewise eaten when they are ripe, and taste well. No other use is made of them.Octoberthe 6th. TheChenopodium anthelminticumis very plentiful on the road, and on the banks of the river, but chiefly in dry places in a loose sandy soil. TheEnglishwho are settled here, call itWormseedandJerusalem Oak. It has a disagreeable scent. InPensylvaniaandNew Jerseyits seeds are given to children, against the worms, and for that purpose they are excellent. The plant itself is spontaneous in both provinces.The environs ofChichester, contain many gardens, which are full of apple trees, sinking under the weight of innumerable apples. Most of them are winter fruit, and therefore were yet quite sour. Each farm has a garden, and so has each house of the better sort. The extent of these gardens is[164]likewise not inconsiderable, and therefore affords, the possessor all the year long, great supplies in his house-keeping, both for eating and drinking. I frequently was surprized at the prudence of the inhabitants of this country. As soon as one has bought a piece of ground, which is neither built upon nor sown, his first care is to get young apple trees, and to make a garden. He next proceeds to build his house, and lastly prepares the uncultivated ground to receive corn. For it is well known that the trees require many years before they arrive to perfection, and this makes it necessary to plant them first. I now perceived near the farms, mills, wheels, and other instruments which are made use of in crushing the apples, in order to prepare cyder from them afterwards.FromChichesterI went on towardsPhiladelphia. The oaks were the most plentiful trees in the wood. But there were several species of them, all different from theEuropeanones. The swine now went about in great herds in the oak woods, where they fed upon the acorns which fell in great abundance from the trees. Each hog had a wooden triangular yoke about its neck, by which it was hindered from penetrating through the holes in the enclosures; and[165]for this reason, the enclosures are made very slender, and easy to put up, and do not require much wood. No other enclosures are in use, but those which are so like sheep hurdles. A number of squirrels were in the oak woods, partly running on the ground, and partly leaping from one branch to another; and at this time they chiefly fed upon acorns.I seldom saw beach trees; but I found them quite the same with theEuropeanones. Their wood is reckoned very good for making joiner’s planes of.I do not remember seeing any other than theblack Ants, orFormica nigrainPensylvania. They are as black as a coal, and of two sorts, some very little, like the least of our ants, and others of the size of our common reddish ants. I have not yet observed any hills of theirs, but only seen some running about singly. In other parts ofAmerica, I have likewise found other species of ants, as I intend to remark in the sequel.Thecommon Privet, orLigustrum vulgare, is made use of in many places, as a hedge round corn-fields and gardens, and on my whole voyage, I did not see that any other trees were made use of for this purpose, though theEnglishmenhere, well know that the hawthorn makes a much better[166]hedge. The privet hedges grow very thick and close, but having no spines, the hogs, and even other animals break easily through them; and when they have once made a hole, it requires a long while before it grows up again. But when the hedges consist of spinose bushes, the cattle will hardly attempt to get through them.About noon I came throughChester, a little market-town which lies on theDelaware. A rivulet coming down out of the country, passes through this place, and discharges itself into theDelaware. There is a bridge over it. The houses stand dispersed. Most of them are built of stone, and two or three stories high; some are however made of wood. In the town is a church, and a market-place.Wheat was now sown every where. In some places it was already green, having been sown four weeks before. The wheat fields were made in theEnglishmanner, having no ditches in them, but numerous furrows for draining the water, at the distance of four or six foot from one another. Great stumps of the trees which had been cut down, are every where seen on the fields, and this shews that the country has been but lately cultivated.The roots of the trees do not go deep[167]into the ground, but spread horizontally. I had opportunities of observing this in several places where the trees were dug up; for I seldom saw one, whose roots went above a foot deep into the ground, though it was a loose soil.About twoEnglishmiles behindChester, I passed by an iron forge, which was to the right hand by the road side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was told. The ore however is not dug here, but thirty or forty miles from hence, where it is first melted in the oven, and then carried to this place. The bellows were made of leather, and both they and the hammers, and even the hearth, but small in proportion to ours. All the machines were worked by water. The iron was wrought into bars.To day I remarked, as I have since frequently seen on my travels in this country, that horses are very greedy of apples. When they are let into an orchard to feed upon the grass, if there are any apples on the ground, they frequently leave the fresh green grass, and eat the apples, which, however, are not reckoned a good food for them; and besides that, it is too expensive.Thered Maple, orAcer rubrumis plentiful in these places. Its proper situations[168]are chiefly swampy, wet places, in which the alder commonly is its companion. Out of its wood they make plates, spinning-wheels, rolls, feet for chairs and beds, and all sorts of work. With the bark, they dye both worsted and linnen, giving it a dark blue colour. For that purpose it is first boiled in water; and some copperas, such as the hat-makers and shoe-makers commonly make use of, is added, before the stuff (which is to be dyed) is put into the boiler. This bark likewise affords a good black ink. When the tree is felled early in spring, a sweet juice runs out of it, like that which runs out of our birches. This juice they do not make any use of here, but inCanada, they make both treacle and sugar of it. Here is a variety of this tree which they call thecurled Maple, the wood being as it were marbled within; it is much used in all kinds of joiner’s work, and the utensils made of this wood, are preferable to those made of any other sort of wood in the country, and are much dearer than those made of the wood of the wild cherry trees (Prunus Virginiana) or of black walnut trees. But the most valuable utensils were those made ofcurled black walnut, for that is an excessive scarce kind of wood. The curled maple was likewise very uncommon,[169]and you frequently find trees, whose outsides are marbled, but their inside not. The tree is therefore cut very deep before it is felled, to see whether it has veins in every part.In the evening I reachedPhiladelphia.Octoberthe 7th. In the morning we crossed theDelawarein a boat to the other side which belongs toNew Jersey, each person paying fourpence for his passage. The country here is very different from that inPensylvania; for here the ground is almost mere sand, but in the other province it is mixed with a good deal of clay, and this makes the ground pretty rich. The discoveries which I made to day of insects and plants, I intend to mention in another work.A soil like this inNew Jersey, one might be led to think, could produce nothing because it is so dry and poor. Yet the maize which is planted on it grows extremely well, and we saw many fields filled with it. The earth is of that kind in which tobacco commonly succeeds, but it is not near so rich. The stalks of maize are commonly eight feet high, more or less, and are full of leaves. The maize is planted as usual in rows, in little squares, so that there is a space of five feet and six[170]inches between each square, both in length and breadth; on each of these little hills three or four stalks come up, which were not yet cut for the cattle; each stalk again has from one to four ears, which are large and full of corn. A sandy ground could never have been better employed. In some places the ground between the maize is ploughed, and rye sown in it, so that when the maize is cut, the rye remains upon the field.We frequently sawAsparagusgrowing near the enclosures, in a loose soil, on uncultivated sandy fields. It is likewise plentiful between the maize, and was at present full of berries, but I cannot tell whether the seeds are carried by the wind to the places where I saw them; it is however certain, that I have likewise seen it growing wild in other parts ofAmerica.TheWorm-seed, is likewise plentiful on the roads, in a sandy ground such as that near the ferry opposite toPhiladelphia. I have already mentioned that it is given to children, as a remedy to carry off the worms. It is then put into brandy, and when it has been in it for one hour, it is taken out again, dried and given to the children, either in beer sweetened with treacle, or in any other liquor. Its effects[171]talked of differently. Some people say it kills the worms, others again pretend that it forwards their encrease. But I know by my own experience, that this wormseed has had very good effects upon children.ThePurslain, which we cultivate in our gardens, grows wild in great abundance in the loose soil amongst the maize. It was there creeping on the ground, and its stalks were pretty thick and succulent; which circumstance very justly gave reason to wonder from whence it could get juice sufficient to supply it in such a dry ground. It is to be found plentiful in such soil, in other places of this country.TheBidens bipinnata, is here calledSpanish Needles. It grows single about farm houses, near roads, pales and along the hedges. It was yet partly in flower; but for the greatest part it was already out of blossom. When its seeds are ripe it is very disagreeable walking where it grows. For they stick to the cloaths and make them black; and it is difficult to discharge the black spots which they occasion. Each seed has three spines at its extremity; and each of these again is full of numerous little hooks, by which the seed fastens itself to the cloaths.In the woods and along the hedges in[172]this neighbourhood, some singlered Ants, (Formica rubra) crept about, and their antennæ or feel-horns were as long as their bodies.Towards night we returned toPhiladelphia.Octoberthe 8th. The shore ofPensylvaniahas a great quantity of the finest oysters. About this time the people began to bring them toPhiladelphiafor sale. They come from that part of the shore, which is near the mouth of the riverDelaware. They are reckoned as good as theNew Yorkoysters, of which I shall make more particular mention afterwards. However I thought that this latter sort of oysters was generally larger, fatter and more palatable. It is remarkable that they commonly became palatable at the time when the agues had left off their fury. Some men went with whole carts full of oysters, crying them about the streets; this is unusual here when any thing else is to be sold, but inLondonit is very common. The oyster shells are thrown away, though formerly a lime was burnt from them, which has been found unnecessary, there being stones for burning of lime in this neighbourhood, and the lime of oyster shells not being as good as this other lime. The people shewed[173]me some of houses in this town which were built of stone, and to the mason work of which the lime of oyster shells had been employed. The walls of these houses were always so wet two or three days before a rain, that great drops of water could plainly be perceived on them; and thus they were as good as Hygrometers.27Several people who had lived in this kind of houses complained of these inconveniences.Octoberthe 9th. Pease are not much cultivated inPensylvaniaat present, though formerly, according to the accounts of some oldSwedes, every farmer had a little field with pease. InNew Jerseyand the southern parts ofNew York, pease are likewise not so much cultivated as they used to be. But in the northern parts ofNew York, or aboutAlbany, and in all the parts ofCanadawhich are inhabited by theFrench, the people sow great quantities, and have a plentiful crop. In the former colonies, a little despicable insect has obliged the people to give up so useful a part of agriculture. This little insect was formerly[174]little known, but a few years ago it multiplied excessively. It couples in summer, about the time when the pease are in blossom, and then deposites an egg into almost every one of the little pease. When the pease are ripe, their outward appearance does not discover the worm, which, however, is found within, when it is cut. This worm lies in the pea, if it is not stirred during all the winter, and part of the spring, and in that space of time consumes the greatest part of the inside of the pea: In spring therefore little more than the mere thin outward skin is left. This worm at last changes into an insect, of the coleoptera class, and in that state creeps through a hole of its own making in the husk, and flies off, in order to look for new fields of pease, in which it may couple with its cogeneric insects, and provide food sufficient for its posterity.This noxious insect has spread fromPensylvaniato the north. For the country ofNew York, where it is common at present, has not been plagued with it above twelve or fifteen years ago; and before that time the people sowed pease every year without any inconvenience, and had excellent crops. But by degrees these little enemies came in such numbers, that the[175]inhabitants were forced to leave off sowing of pease. The people complained of this in several places. The country people aboutAlbanyhave yet the pleasure to see their fields of pease not infected by these beetles, but are always afraid of their approach; as it has been observed they come every year nearer to that province.I know not whether this insect would live inEurope, and I should think ourSwedishwinters must kill the worm, even if it be ever so deeply inclosed in the pea; notwithstanding it is often as cold inNew York(where this insect is so abundant) as in our country, yet it continues to multiply here every year, and proceeds always farther to the north. I was very near bringing some of these vermin intoEurope, without knowing of it. At my departure fromAmerica, I took some sweet peas with me in a paper, and they were at that time quite fresh and green. But on opening the paper after my arrival atStockholm, onAugustthe 1st. 1751; I found all the peas hollow, and the head of an infect peeping out of each. Some of these insects even crept out, in order to try the weather of this new climate; but I made haste, to shut the paper again, in order to prevent the spreading of this[176]noxious insect.28I own, that when I first perceived them, I was more frightened than I should have been at the sight of a viper. For I at once had a full view of the whole damage, which my dear country would have suffered, if only two or three of these noxious insects had escaped me. The posterity of many families, and even the inhabitants of whole provinces, would have had sufficient reason to detest me as the cause of so great a calamity. I afterwards sent some of them, though well secured, to countTessin, and to Dr.Linnæus, together with an account of their destructive qualities. Dr.Linnæushas already inserted a description of them in an Academical Dissertation, which has been drawn up under his presidency, and treats of the damages made by insects.29He there calls this insect theBruchusofNorth-America.30It[177]was very peculiar that every pea in the paper was eaten without exception.When the inhabitants ofPensylvaniasow pease procured from abroad, they are not commonly attacked by these insects for the first year; but in the next they take possession of the pea. It is greatly to be wished that none of the ships which annually depart fromNew YorkorPensylvania, may bring them into theEuropeancountries. From hence the power of a single despicable insect will plainly appear; as also, that the study of the œconomy and of the qualities of insects, is not to be looked upon as a mere pastime and useless employment.31TheRhus radicansis a shrub or tree which grows abundantly in this country, and has in common with the ivy, calledHedera arborea, the quality of not growing without the support either of a tree, a wall, or a hedge. I have seen it climbing to the very top of high trees in the[178]woods, and its branches shoot out every where little roots, which fasten upon the tree and as it were enter into it. When the stem is cut, it emits a pale brown sap of a disagreeable scent. This sap is so sharp that the letters and characters made upon linnen with it, cannot be got out again, but grow blacker the more the cloath is washed. Boys commonly marked their names on their linnen with this juice. If you write with it on paper, the letters never go out, but grow blacker from time to time.This species ofSumachhas the same noxious qualities as the poisonous sumach, orPoison-tree, which I have above described, being poisonous to some people, though not to every one. Therefore all that has been said of the poison tree is likewise applicable to this; excepting that the former has the stronger poison. However I have seen people who have been as much swelled from the noxious exhalations of the latter, as they could have been from those of the former. I likewise know that of two sisters, the one could manage the tree without being affected by its venom, though the other immediately felt it as soon as the exhalations of the tree came near her, or when ever she came a yard too near the[179]tree, and even when she stood in the way of the wind, which blew directly from this shrub. But upon me this species of sumach has never exherted its power, though I made above a hundred experiments upon myself with the greatest stems, and the juice once squirted into my eye, without doing me any harm. On another person’s hand which I had covered very thick with it, the skin a few hours after became as hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled off in the following days, as if little scales fell from it.Octoberthe 10th. In the morning I accompanied Mr.Cockto his country seat, which is about nine miles fromPhiladelphiato the north.Though the woods ofPensylvaniaafford many oaks, and more species of them than are found further north, yet they do not build so many ships in this province as they do in the northern ones, and especially inNew England. But experience has taught the people that the same kind of trees is more durable the further it grows to the north, and that this advantage decreases the more it grows in warm climates. It is likewise plain that the trees in the south grow more every year, and form thicker ringlets than those in the north. The former[180]have likewise much greater tubes for the circulation of the sap than the latter. And for this reason they do not build so many ships inPensylvania, as they do inNew England, though more than inVirginiaandMaryland; butCarolinabuilds very few, and its merchants get all their ships fromNew England. Those which are here made of the best oak, hardly are serviceable above ten, or at most twelve years; for then they are so rotten, that no body ventures to go to sea in them, Many captains of ships come over fromEnglandtoNorth-America, in order to get ships built. But most of them chooseNew England, that being the most northerly province; and if they even come over in ships which are bound forPhiladelphia, they frequently on their arrival set out fromPensylvaniaforNew England. TheSpaniardsin theWest Indiesare said to build their ships of a peculiar sort of cedar, which holds out against putrefaction and wet; but it is not to be met with on the continent in theEnglishprovinces. Here are above nine different sorts of oak, but not one of them is comparable to the single species we have inSweden, with regard to its goodness. And therefore a ship ofEuropeanoak costs a great deal more than one made ofAmericanoak.[181]Many people who chiefly employed themselves in gardening, had found in a succession of years, that the redBeet, which grew out of the seed which was got fromNew York, became very sweet and had a very fine taste; but that it every year lost part of its goodness, if it was cultivated from seeds which were got here. The people were therefore obliged to get as many seeds of red beet every year fromNew York, as were wanted in their gardens. It has likewise been generally observed, that the plants which are produced fromEnglishseeds are always much better and more agreeable, than those which come from seeds of this country.In the garden of Mr.Cockwas a raddish which was in the loose soil, grown so big as to be seven inches in diameter. Every body that saw it, owned it was uncommon to see them of such a size.That species ofConvolvuluswhich is commonly calledBatatas, has here the name ofBermudian potatoes. The common people, and the gentry without distinction planted them in their gardens. This is done in the same manner as with the common potatoes. Some people made little hillocks, into which they put these potatoes; but others only planted them in flat beds.[182]The soil must be a mixture of sand and earth, and neither too rich, nor too poor. When they are going to plant them, they cut them, as the common potatoes, taking care however that a bud or two be left upon each piece which is intended to be planted. Their colour is commonly red without, and yellow within. They are bigger than the common sort, and have a sweet and very agreeable taste, which I cannot find in the other potatoes, in artichokes or in any other root, and they almost melt in the mouth. It is not long since they have been planted here. They are dressed in the same manner ascommonpotatoes, and eaten either along with them, or by themselves. They grow very fast and very well here; but the greatest difficulty consists in keeping them over winter, for they will bear neither cold, nor a great heat, nor wet. They must therefore be kept during winter in a box with sand in a warm room. InPensylvaniawhere they have no valves in their chimnies, they are put in such a box with sand, at some distance from the fire, and there they are secured both against frost and against over great heat. It will not answer the purpose to put them into dry sand in a cellar, as is commonly done with the common sort of potatoes. For the[183]moisture which is always in cellars, penetrates the sand, and makes them putrefy. It would probably be very easy to keep them inSwedenin warm rooms, during the cold season. But the difficulty lies wholly in bringing them over toSweden. I carried a considerable number of them with me on leavingAmerica, and took all possible care in preserving them. But we had a very violent storm at sea, by which the ship was so greatly damaged, that the water got in every where, and wetted our cloaths, beds and other moveables so much, that we could wring the water out of them. It is therefore no wonder that myBermuda potatoeswere rotten; but as they are now cultivated inPortugalandSpain, nay even inEngland, it will be easy to bring them intoSweden. The drink which theSpaniardsprepare from these potatoes in theirAmericanpossessions is not usual inPensylvania.32Mr.Cockhad a paper mill, on a little brook, and all the coarser sorts of paper are manufactured in it. It is now annually rented for fifty poundsPensylvaniacurrency.[184]Octoberthe 11th. I have already mentioned, that every countryman has a greater or lesser number of apple trees planted round his farm-house, from whence he gets great quantities of fruit, part of which he sells, part he makes cyder of, and part he uses in his own family for pyes, tarts, and the like. However he cannot expect an equal quantity of fruit every year. And I was told, that this year had not by far afforded such a great quantity of apples as the preceding; the cause of which they told me, was the continual and great drought in the month ofMay, which had hurt all the blossoms of the apple trees, and made them wither. The heat had been so great as to dry up all the plants, and the grass in the fields.ThePolytrichum commune, a species of moss, grew plentifully on wet and low meadows between the woods, and in several places quite covered them, as our mosses cover the meadows inSweden. It was likewise very plentiful on hills.Agriculture was in a very bad state hereabouts. When a person had bought a piece of land, which perhaps had never been ploughed since the creation, he cut down part of the wood, tore up the roots, ploughed the ground, sowed corn on it,[185]and the first time got a plentiful crop. But the same land being tilled for several years successively, without being manured, it at last must of course lose its fertility. Its possessor therefore leaves it fallow, and proceeds to another part of his ground, which he treats in the same manner. Thus he goes on till he has changed a great part of his possessions into corn-fields, and by that means deprives the ground of its fertility. He then returns to the first field, which now is pretty well recovered; this he again tills as long as it will afford him a good crop, but when its fertility is exhausted, he leaves it fallow again, and proceeds to the rest as before.It being customary here, to let the cattle go about the fields and in the woods both day and night, the people cannot collect much dung for manure. But by leaving the land fallow for several years together, a great quantity of weeds spring up in it, and get such strength, that it requires a considerable time to extirpate them. From hence it likewise comes, that the corn is always so much mixed with weeds. The great richness of the soil, which the firstEuropeancolonists found here, and which had never been ploughed before, has given rise to this neglect of agriculture, which is[186]still observed by many of the inhabitants. But they do not consider, that when the earth is quite exhausted, a great space of time, and an infinite deal of labour is necessary to bring it again into good order; especially in these countries which are almost every summer so scorched up by the excessive heat and drought. The soil of the corn-fields consisted of a thin mould, greatly mixed with a brick coloured clay, and a quantity of small particles of glimmer. This latter came from the stones which are here almost every where to be met with at the depth of a foot or thereabouts. These little pieces of glimmer made the ground sparkle, when the sun shone upon it.Almost all the houses hereabouts were built either of stone or bricks; but those of stone were more numerous.Germantown, which is about twoEnglishmiles long, had no other houses, and the country houses thereabouts, were all built of stone. But there are several varieties of that stone which is commonly made use of in building. Sometimes it consisted of a black or grey glimmer, running in undulated veins, the spaces between their bendings being filled up with a grey, loose, small-grained[187]limestone, which was easily friable. Some transparent particles of quartz were scattered in the mass, of which the glimmer made the greatest part. It was very easy to be cut, and with proper tools could readily be shaped into any form. Sometimes however the pieces consisted of a black, small-grained glimmer, a white small-grained sandstone, and some particles of quartz, and the several constituent parts were well mixed together. Sometimes the stone had broad stripes of the white limestone without any addition of glimmer. But most commonly they were much blended together, and of a grey colour. Sometimes this stone was found to consist of quite fine and black pieces of glimmer, and a grey, loose and very small-grained limestone. This was likewise very easy to be cut, being loose.These varieties of the stone are commonly found close together. They were every where to be met with, at a little depth, but not in equal quantity and goodness; and not always easy to be broken. When therefore a person intended to build a house, he enquired where the best stone could be met with. It is to be found on corn-fields and meadows, at a depth which varies from two to six feet. The pieces[188]were different as to size. Some were eight or ten feet long, two broad, and one thick. Sometimes they were still bigger, but frequently much less. Hereabouts they lay in strata one above another, the thickness of each stratum being about a foot. The length and breadth were different, but commonly such as I have before mentioned. They must commonly dig three or four feet before they reach the first stratum. The loose ground above that stratum, is full of little pieces of this stone. This ground is the common brick coloured soil, which is universal here, and consists of sand and clay, though the former is more plentiful. The loose pieces of glimmer which shine so much in it, seem to have been broken off from the great strata of stone.It must be observed that when the people build with this stone, they take care to turn the flat side of it outwards. But as that cannot always be done, the stone being frequently rough on all sides, it is easily cut smooth with tools, since it is soft, and not very difficult to be broken. The stones however are unequal in thickness, and therefore by putting them together they cannot be kept in such straight lines as bricks. It sometimes likewise happens that pieces break off when they are cut, and[189]leave holes on the outside of the wall. But in order to fill up these holes, the little pieces of stone which cannot be made use of are pounded, mixed with mortar, and put into the holes; the places thus filled up, are afterwards smoothed, and when they are dry, they are hardly distinguishable from the rest at some distance. At last they draw on the outside of the wall, strokes of mortar, which cross each other perpendicularly, so that it looks as if the wall consisted wholly of equal, square stones, and as if the white strokes were the places where they were joined with mortar. The inside of the wall is made smooth, covered with mortar and whitewashed. It has not been observed that this kind of stone attracts the moisture in a rainy or wet season. InPhiladelphiaand its environs, you find several houses built of this kind of stone.The houses here are commonly built in theEnglishmanner.One of Mr.Cock’s negroes showed me the skin of a badger (Ursus Meles) which he had killed a few days ago, and which convinced me that theAmericanbadger is the same with theSwedishone. It was here calledGround Hog.Towards night I returned toPhiladelphia.[190]Octoberthe 12th. In the morning we went to the riverSkulkill, partly to gather seeds, partly to collect plants for the herbal, and to make all sorts of observations. TheSkulkillis a narrow river, which falls into theDelaware, about four miles fromPhiladelphiato the south; but narrow as it is, it rises on the west side of those high mountains, commonly called the blue mountains, and runs two hundredEnglishmiles, and perhaps more. It is a great disadvantage to this country, that there are several cataracts in this river as low asPhiladelphia, for which reason there can be no navigation on it. To day I made some descriptions and remarks on such plants as the cattle liked, or such as they never touched.I observed several little subterraneous walks in the fields, running under ground in various directions, the opening of which was big enough for a mole: the earth, which formed as it were a vault above it, and lay elevated like a little bank, was near two inches high, full as broad as a man’s hand, and about two inches thick. In uncultivated fields I frequently saw these subterraneous walks, which discovered themselves by the ground thrown up above them, which when trod upon gave way, and made it inconvenient to walk in the field.[191]These walks are inhabited by a kind of mole,33which I intend to describe more accurately in another work. Their food is commonly roots: I have observed the following qualities in one which was caught. It had greater stiffness and strength in its legs, than I ever observed in other animals in proportion to their size. Whenever it intended to dig, it held its legs obliquely, like oars, I laid my handkerchief before it, and it began to stir in it with the snout, and taking away the handkerchief to see what it had done to it, I found that in the space of a minute it had made it full of holes, and it looked as if it had been pierced very much by an awl. I was obliged to put some books on the cover of the box in which I kept this animal, or else it was flung off immediately. It was very irascible, and would bite great holes into any thing that was put in its way; I held a steel pen-case to it, it at first bit at it with great violence, but having felt its hardness, it would not venture again to bite at any thing. These moles do not make such hills as theEuropeanones, but only such walks as I have already described.[192]Octoberthe 13th. There is a plant here, from the berries of which they make a kind of wax or tallow, and for that reason theSwedescall it theTallow shrub. TheEnglishcall the same tree theCandleberry-tree, orBayberry-bush; and Dr.Linnæusgives it the name ofMyrica cerifera. It grows abundantly on a wet soil, and it seems to thrive particularly well in the neighbourhood of the sea, nor have I ever found it high up in the country far from the sea. The berries grow abundantly on the female shrub, and look as if flower had been strewed upon them. They are gathered late in autumn, being ripe about that time, and are then thrown into a kettle or pot full of boiling water; by this means their fat melts out, floats at the top of the water and may be skimmed off into a vessel; with the skimming they go on till there is no tallow left. The tallow as soon as it is congealed, looks like common tallow or wax, but has a dirty green colour; it is for that reason melted over again, and refined, by which means it acquires a fine and pretty transparent green colour: this tallow is dearer than common tallow, but cheaper than wax. InPhiladelphiathey pay a shillingPensylvaniacurrency, for a pound of this tallow; but a pound of common tallow[193]only came to half that money, and wax costs as much again. From this tallow they make candles in many parts of this province, but they usually mix some common tallow with it. Candles of this kind, do not easily bend, nor melt in summer as common candles do; they burn better and slower, nor do they cause any smoak, but rather yield an agreeable smell, when they are extinguished. An oldSwedeof ninety-one years of age told me, that this sort of candles had formerly been much in use with his country men. At present they do not make so many candles of this kind, if they can get the tallow of animals; it being too troublesome to gather the berries. However these candles are made use of by poor people, who live in the neighbourhood of a place where the bushes grow, and have not cattle enough to kill, in order to supply them with a sufficient quantity of tallow. From the wax of the candleberry tree they likewise make a soap here, which has an agreeable scent, and is the best for shaving. This wax is likewise used by doctors, and surgeons, who reckon it exceeding good for plasters upon wounds. A merchant of this town once sent a quantity of these candles to thoseAmericanprovinces which had Roman Catholic inhabitants, thinking he[194]would be well paid, since wax candles are made use of in the Roman Catholick churches; but the clergy would not take them. An oldSwedementioned that the root of the candleberry tree was formerly made use of by the Indians, as a remedy against the tooth ach, and that he himself having had the tooth ach very violently, had cut the root in pieces and applied it round his tooth; and that the pain had been lessened by it. AnotherSwedeassured me that he had been cured of the tooth ach, by applying the peel of the root to it. InCarolina, they not only make candles out of the wax of the berries, but likewise sealing-wax.Octoberthe 14th.PennyRoyalis a plant which has a peculiar strong scent, and grows abundantly on dry places in the country. Botanists call itCunila pulegioides. It is reckoned very wholesome to drink as a tea when a person has got cold, as it promotes perspiration. I was likewise told, that on feeling a pain in any limb, this plant, if applied to it, would give immediate relief.The goods which are shipped toLondonfromNew Englandare the following: all sorts of fish caught nearNewfoundlandand elsewhere; train-oil of several sorts; whale-bone; tar, pitch, masts; new ships, of which[195]a great number is annually built; a few hides, and sometimes some sorts of wood. TheEnglishislands inAmerica, asJamaicaandBarbadoes, get fromNew England, fish, flesh, butter, cheese, tallow, horses, cattle; all sorts of lumber, such as pails, buckets, and hogsheads; and have returns made in rum, sugar, melasses, and other produces of the country, or in cash, the greatest part of all which they send toLondon(the money especially) in payment of the goods received from thence, and yet all this is inefficient to pay off the debt.Octoberthe 15th. TheAldersgrew here in considerable abundance on wet and low places, and even sometimes on pretty high ones, but never reached the height of theEuropeanalders, and commonly stood like a bush about a fathom or two high. Mr.Bartram, and other gentlemen who had frequently travelled in these provinces, told me that the more you go to the south, the less are the alders, but that they are higher and taller, the more you advance to the north. I found afterwards myself, that the alders in some places ofCanada, are little inferior to theSwedishones. Their bark is employed here in dying red and brown. ASwedishinhabitant ofAmerica, told me that he had cut his leg to the very bone, and that some coagulated blood had[196]already been settled within. That he had been advised to boil the alder bark, and to wash the wound often with the water: that he followed this advice, and had soon got his leg healed, though it had been very dangerous at first.ThePhytolacca decandrawas calledPokeby theEnglish. TheSwedeshad no particular name for it, but made use of theEnglish, with some little variation intoPaok. When the juice of its berries is put upon paper or the like, it strikes it with a high purple colour, which is as fineasany in the world, and it is pity that no method is as yet found out, of making this colour last on woollen and linen cloth, for it fades very soon. Mr.Bartrammentioned, that having hit his foot against a stone, he had got a violent pain in it; he then bethought himself to put a leaf of thePhytolaccaon his foot, by which he lost the pain in a short time, and got his foot well soon after. The berries are eaten by the birds about this time. TheEnglishand severalSwedesmake use of the leaves in spring, when they are just come out, and are yet tender and soft, and eat them partly as green cale, and partly in the manner we eat spinnage. Sometimes they likewise prepare them in the first of these ways, when the stalks are already grown a little longer, breaking off[197]none but the upper sprouts which are yet tender, and not woody; but in this latter case, great care is to be taken, for if you eat the plant when it is already grown up, and its leaves are no longer soft, you may expect death as a consequence which seldom fails to follow, for the plant has then got a power of purging the body to excess. I have known people, who, by eating great full grown leaves of this plant, have got such a strong dysentery, that they were near dying with it: its berries however are eaten in autumn by children, without any ill consequence.Woollen and linen cloth is dyed yellow with the bark of hiccory. This likewise is done with the bark of theblack oak, orLinnæus’sQuercus nigra, and that variety of it whichCatesbyin hisNatural History of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 19. callsQuercus marilandica. The flowers and leaves of theImpatiens Noli tangereor balsamine, likewise dyed all woollen stuffs with a fine yellow colour.TheCollinsonia canadensiswas frequently found in little woods and bushes, in a good rich soil. Mr.Bartramwho knew the country perfectly well, was sure thatPensylvania, and all the parts ofAmericain the same climate, were the true and original places where this plant grows. For further[198]to the south, neither he nor Messrs.ClaytonandMitchelever found it, though the latter gentlemen have made accurate observations inVirginiaand part ofMaryland. And from his own experience he knew, that it did not grow in the northerly parts. I have never found it more than fifteen min. north of forty-three deg. The time of the year when it comes up inPensylvania, is so late, that its seed has but just time sufficient to ripen in, and it therefore seems unlikely, that it can succeed further north, Mr.Bartramwas the first who discovered it, and sent it over intoEurope. Mr.Jussieuduring his stay atLondon, and Dr.Linnæusafterwards, called itCollinsonia, from the celebrated Mr.Peter Collinson, a merchant inLondon, and fellow of theEnglishandSwedishRoyal Societies. He well deserved the honour of having a plant called after his name, for there are few people that have promoted natural history and all useful sciences with a zeal like his; or that have done as much as he towards collecting, cultivating, and making known all sorts of plants. TheCollinsoniahas a peculiar scent, which is agreeable, but very strong. It always gave me a pretty violent head-ach whenever I passed by a place where it stood in plenty, and especially when it was in[199]flower. Mr.Bartramwas acquainted with a better quality of this plant, which was that of being an excellent remedy against all sorts of pain in the limbs, and against a cold, when the parts affected are rubbed with it. And Mr.Conrad Weisser, interpreter of the language of the Indians inPensylvania, had told him of a more wonderful cure with this plant. He was once among a company of Indians, one of which had been stung by a rattle snake, the savages gave him over, but he boiled thecollinsonia, and made the poor wretch drink the water, from which he happily recovered. Somewhat more to the north and inNew Yorkthey call this plantHorseweed, because the horses eat it in spring, before any other plant comes up.Octoberthe 16th. I asked Mr.Franklinand other gentlemen who were well acquainted with this country, whether they had met with any signs, from whence they could have concluded that any place which was now a part of the continent, had formerly been covered with water? and I got the following account in answer.1. On travelling from hence to the south, you meet with a place where the highroad is very low in the ground between two mountains. On both sides you see[200]nothing but oyster shells and muscle shells in immense quantities above each other; however the place is many miles off the sea.2. Whenever they dig wells, or build houses in town, they find the earth lying in several strata above each other. At a depth of fourteen feet or more, they find globular stones, which are as smooth on the outside as those which lie on the sea-shore, and are made round and smooth by the rolling of the waves. And after having dug through the sand, and reached a depth of eighteen feet or more, they discover in some places a slime like that which the sea throws up on the shore, and which commonly lies at its bottom and in rivers; this slime is quite full of trees, leaves, branches, reed, charcoal, &c.3. It has sometimes happened that new houses have sunk on one side in a short time, and have obliged the people to pull them down again. On digging deeper, for a very hard ground to build upon, they have found a quantity of the above slime, wood, roots, &c.Are not these reasons sufficient to make one suppose that those places inPhiladelphiawhich are at present fourteen feet and more under ground, formerly were the bottom of[201]the sea, and that by several accidents, sand, earth, and other things were carried upon it? or, that theDelawareformerly was broader than it is at present? or, that it has changed its course? This last still often happens at present; the river breaking off the bank on one side, and forming one on the other. Both theSwedesandEnglishoften shewed me such places.Octoberthe 18th. At present I did not find above ten different kinds of plants in blossom: they were, aGentiana, two species ofAster, the common Golden Rod, orSolidago Virga aurea, a species ofHieracium, the yellow wood Sorrel, orOxalis corniculata, the Fox Gloves, orDigitalis purpurea, theHamamelis Virginiana, or Witch Hazel, our common Millefoil, orAchillæa Millefolium, and our Dandelion, orLeontodon Taraxacum. All other plants had for this year laid aside their gay colours. Several trees, especially those which were to flower early in spring, had already formed such large buds, that on opening them all the parts of fructification, such asCalyx,Corolla,StaminaandPistillumwere plainly distinguishable. It was therefore easy to determine the genus to which such trees belonged. Such were the red maple, orAcer rubrum, and theLaurus æstivalis, a species of bay. Thus nature prepared to[202]bring forth flowers, with the first mild weather in the next year. The buds were at present quite hard, and all their parts pressed close together, that the cold might by all means be excluded.Theblack Walnut treeshad for the greatest part dropt their leaves, and many of them were entirely without them. The walnuts themselves were already fallen off. The green peel which enclosed them, if frequently handled, would yield a black colour, which could not be got off the fingers in two or three weeks time, though the hands were washed ever so much.TheCornus floridawas calledDogwoodby theEnglish, and grew abundantly in the woods. It looks beautiful when it is adorned with its numerous great white flowers in spring. The wood is very hard, and is therefore made use of for weaver’s spools, joiner’s planes, wedges, &c. When the cattle fall down in spring for want of strength, the people tie a branch of this tree on their neck, thinking it will help them.Octoberthe 19th. TheTulip treegrows every where in the woods of this country. The botanists call itLiriodendron tulipifera, because its flowers both in respect to their size, and in respect to their exterior form,[203]and even in some measure with regard to their colour, resemble tulips. TheSwedescalled itCanoe tree, for both theIndiansand theEuropeansoften make their canoes of the stem of this tree. TheEnglishmeninPensylvaniagive it the name ofPoplar. It is reckoned a tree which grows to the greatest height and thickness of any inNorth America, and which vies in that point with our greatestEuropeantrees. The white oak and the fir inNorth America, however are little inferior to it. It cannot therefore but be very agreeable to see in spring, at the end ofMay(when it is in blossom) one of the greatest trees covered for a fortnight together with flowers, which with regard to their shape, size, and partly colour are like tulips, the leaves have likewise something peculiar, theEnglishtherefore in some places call the treethe old woman’s smock, because their imagination finds something like it below the leaves.Its wood is here made use of for canoes, boards, planks, bowls, dishes, spoons, door posts, and all sorts of joiners work. I have seen a barn of a considerable size whose walls, and roof were made of a single tree of this kind, split into boards. Some joiners reckoned this wood better than oak, because this latter frequently is warped, which[204]the other never does, but works very easy; others again valued it very little. It is certain, that it contracts so much in hot weather, as to occasion great cracks in the boards, and in wet weather it swells so as to be near bursting, and the people hardly know of a wood in these parts which varies so much in contracting and expanding itself. The joiners however make much use of it in their work, they say there are two species of it; but they are merely two varieties, one of which in time turns yellow within, the other is white, the former is said to have a looser texture. The bark (likeRussiaglass) is divisible into very thin leaves, which are very tough like bast, though I have never seen it employed as such. The leaves when crushed and applied to the forehead are said to be a remedy against the head ach. When horses are plagued with worms, the bark is pounded, and given them quite dry. Many people believe its roots to be as efficacious against the fever as the jesuits bark. The trees grow in all sorts of dry soil, both on high and low grounds, but too wet a soil will not agree with them.Octoberthe 20th. TheBeaver treeis to be met with in several parts ofPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, in a poor swampy soil,[205]or on wet meadows. Dr.Linnæuscalls itMagnolia glauca; both theSwedesandEnglishcall itBeaver tree, because the root of this tree is the dainty of beavers, which are caught by its means, however theSwedessometimes gave it a different name, and theEnglishas improperly called itSwamp Sassafras, andWhite Laurel. The trees of this kind dropt their leaves early in autumn, though some of the young trees kept them all the winter. I have seldom found the beaver tree to the north ofPensylvania, where it begins to flower about the end ofMay. The scent of its blossoms is excellent, for by it you can discover within three quarters of anEnglishmile, whether these little trees stand in the neighbourhood, provided the wind be not against it. For the whole air is filled with this sweet and pleasant scent. It is beyond description agreeable to travel in the woods about that time, especially towards night. They retain their flowers for three weeks and even longer, according to the quality of the soil on which the trees stand; and during the whole time of their being in blossom, they spread their odoriferous exhalations. The berries likewise look very fine when they are ripe, for they have a rich red colour, and hang in bunches on slender stalks. The[206]cough, and other pectoral diseases are cured by putting the berries into rum or brandy, of which a draught every morning may be taken; the virtues of this remedy were universally extolled, and even praised for their salutary effects in consumptions. The bark being put into brandy, or boiled in any other liquor, is said not only to ease pectoral diseases, but likewise to be of some service against all internal pains and heat; and it was thought that a decoction of it could stop the dysentery. Persons who had caught cold, boiled the branches of the beaver tree in water, and drank it to their great relief. ASwede, calledLars Lack, gave the following account of a cure effected by this tree: One of his relations, an old man, had an open sore in his leg, which would not heal up again, though he had had much advice and used many remedies. An Indian at last effected the cure in the following manner. He burnt some of this wood to charcoal, which he reduced to powder, mixed with the fresh fat of pork, and rubbed the open places several times. This dried up the holes, which before were continually open, and the legs of the old man were quite sound to his death. The wood is likewise made use of for joiner’s planes.[207]Octoberthe 22d. Upon trial it has been found that the following animals and birds, which are wild in the woods ofNorth America, can be made nearly as tractable as domestic animals.The wildCowsandOxen, of which several people of distinction have got young calves from these wild cows, which are to be met with inCarolina, and other provinces to the south ofPensylvania, and brought them up among the tame cattle; when grown up, they were perfectly tame, but at the same time very unruly, so that there was no enclosure strong enough to resist them, if they had a mind to break through it; for as they possess a great strength in their neck, it was easy for them to overthrow the pales with their horns, and to get into the corn-fields; and as soon as they had made a road, all the tame cattle followed them; they likewise copulated with the latter, and by that means generated as it were a new breed. ThisAmericanspecies of oxen isLinnæus’sBos Bison, β.American Deer, can likewise be tamed; and I have seen them tame myself in different places. A farmer inNew Jerseyhad one in his possession, which he had caught when it was very young; and at present it was so tame, that in the day time it[208]run into the wood for its food, and towards night it returned home, and frequently brought a wild deer out of the wood, giving its master an opportunity to shoot it. Several people have therefore tamed young deer, and make use of them for hunting wild deer, or for decoying them home, especially in the time of their rutting.Beavershave been so tamed that they have gone on fishing, and brought home what they had caught to their masters. This often is the case withOtters, of which I have seen some, which were as tame as dogs, and followed their masters wherever they went; if he went out in a boat, the otter went with him, jumped into the water, and after a while came up with a fish. TheOpossum, can likewise be tamed, so as to follow people like a dog.TheRaccoonwhich we (Swedes) callSiupp, can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. In the dark it creeps to the poultry, and kills in one night a whole flock. Sugar and other sweet things must be carefully hidden from it, for if the chests and boxes are not always locked up, it gets into them, eats the sugar, and licks up the treacle with its paws: the ladies therefore[209]have every day some complaint against it, and for this reason many people rather forbear the diversion which this ape-like animal affords.

Late at night a great Halo appeared round the moon. The people said that it prognosticated either a storm, or rain, or both together. The smaller the ring is, or the nearer it comes to the moon, the sooner this weather sets in. But this time neither of these changes happened, and the halo had foretold a coldness in the air.I saw to-day theChermesof the alder (Chermes Alni) in great abundance on the branches of that tree, which for that reason looks quite white, and at a distance appears as it were covered with mould.Octoberthe 4th. I continued my journey early in the morning, and the country still had the same appearance as I went on. It was a continual chain of pretty high hills, with an easy ascent on all sides, and of[155]vallies between them. The soil consisted of a brick coloured mould, mixed with clay, and a few pebbles, I rode sometimes through woods of several sorts of trees, and sometimes amidst little fields, which had been cleared of the wood, and which at present were corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. The farm-houses stood single, sometimes near the roads, and sometimes at a little distance from them, so that the space between the road and the houses was taken up with little fields and meadows. Some of the houses were built of stone, two stories high, and covered with shingles of the white cedar. But most of the houses were wooden, and the crevices stopped up with clay, instead of moss, which we make use of for that purpose. No valves were to be met with in the chimneys, and the people even did not know what I meant by them. The ovens were commonly built up at some distance from the houses, and were either under a roof, or without any covering against the weather. The fields bore partly buck-wheat, which was not yet cut, partly maize, and partly wheat, which was but lately sown; but sometimes they lay fallow. The vines climbed to the top of several trees, and hung down again on both sides. Other trees again were surrounded by the ivy (Hedera quinquefolia) which[156]with the same flexibility ascended to a great height. TheSmilax laurifoliaalways joined with the ivy, and together with it twisted itself round the trees. The leaves of the ivy were at this time commonly reddish, but those of the vine were still quite green. The trees which were surrounded with them, looked at a distance like those which are covered with hops in our country, (and on seeing them from afar off, one might expect to find wild hops climbing upon the trees.) Walnut and chesnut trees were common near enclosures, in woods, and on hills, and at present were loaded with their fruit. The persimon was likewise plentiful near the roads, and in the woods. It had a great quantity of fruit, but they were not yet fit for eating, since the frost had not softened them. At some distance fromWilmington, I passed a bridge over a little river, which falls north into theDelaware. The rider pays here twopence toll for himself and his horse.Towards noon I arrived atWilmington.Wilmington is a little town, about thirtyEnglishmiles south-west fromPhiladelphia. It was founded in the year 1733. Part of it stands upon the grounds belonging to theSwedishchurch, which annually receives certain rents, out of which they[157]pay the minister’s salary, and employ the rest for other uses. The houses are built of stone, and look very pretty; yet they are not built close together, but large open places are left between them. The quakers have a meeting-house in this town. TheSwedishchurch, which I intend to mention in the sequel, is half a mile out of town eastwards. The parsonage is under the same roof with the church. A little river calledChristina-killpasses by the town, and from thence falls into theDelaware. By following its banks one goes three miles before one reaches theDelaware. The river is said to be sufficiently deep, so that the greatest vessel may come quite up to the town: for at its mouth or juncture with theDelaware, it is shallowest, and yet its depth even there when the water is lowest, is from two fathoms to two and a half. But as you go higher its depth encreases to three, three and a half, and even four fathoms. The largest ships therefore may safely, and with their full cargoes come to, and from the town with the tide. fromWilmington, you have a fine prospect of a great part of the riverDelaware, and the ships sailing on it. On both sides of the riverChristina-kill, almost from the place where the redoubt is built to its juncture with theDelaware, are low meadows, which afford a great quantity of hay[158]to the inhabitants. The town carries on a considerable trade, and would have been more enlarged, ifPhiladelphiaandNewcastle, which are both towns of a more ancient date, were not so near on both sides of it.TheRedoubtupon the riverChristina-kill, was erected this summer, when it was known that theFrenchandSpanishprivateers intended to sail up the river, and to attempt a landing. It stands, according to the accounts of the late Rev. Mr.Tranberg, on the same spot, where theSwedeshad built theirs. It is remarkable, that on working in the ground this summer, to make this redoubt, an oldSwedishsilver coin of QueenChristina, not quite so big as a shilling was found at the depth of a yard, among some other things. The Rev. Mr.Tranbergafterwards presented me with it. On one side were the arms of the house ofWasawith the inscription: CHRISTINA, D. G. DE. RE. SVE. that is,Christina, by the grace of God, elected Queen of Sweden; and near this the year of our Lord 1633. On the reverse were these words: MONETA NOVA REGNI SVEC. or,a new coin of the kingdom of Sweden. At the same time a number of old iron tools, such as axes, shovels, and the like, were discovered. The redoubt, that is now erected, consists[159]of bulwarks of planks, with a rampart on the outside. Near it is the powder magazine, in a vault built of bricks. At the erection of this little fortification it was remarkable, that the quakers, whose tenets reject even defensive war, were as busy as the other people in building it. For the fear of being every moment suddenly attacked by privateers, conquered all other thoughts. Many of them scrupled to put their own hands to the work; but forwarded, it by supplies of money, and by getting ready every thing, which was necessary.Octoberthe 5th. It was my design to cross theDelaware, and to get intoNew Jerseywith a view to get acquainted with the country; but as there was no ferry here to bring my horse over, I set out on my return toPhiladelphia. I partly went along the high road, and partly deviated on one or the other side of it, in order to take more exact observations of the country, and of its natural history.The maize, was sown in several places. In some its stalks were cut somewhat below the ear, dried and put up in narrow high stacks, in order to keep them as a food for the cattle in winter. The lower part of the stalk had likewise leaves, but as they commonly dry of themselves, the people do not like to[160]feed the cattle with them, all their flavour being lost: But the upper ones are cut, whilst they are yet green.The vallies between the hills commonly contain brooks: but they are not very broad, and require no bridges, so that carriages and horse can easily pass through them, for the water is seldom above six inches deep.The leaves of most trees were yet quite green, such as those of oaks, chesnut trees, black walnut trees, hiccory, tulip trees, and sassafras. The two latter species are found in plenty on the sides of the little woods, on hills, on the fallow fields, near hedges, and on the road. The persimon likewise had still its leaves; however some trees of this kind had dropt them. The leaves of theAmericanbramble were at present almost entirely red, though some of these bushes yet retained a lively green in the leaves. TheCorneliancherry likewise had already a mixture of brown and pale leaves. The leaves of the red maple were also red.I continued my journey toChichester, a borough upon theDelaware, where travellers pass the river in a ferry. They build here every year a number of small ships for sale. From an iron work which[161]lies higher in the country, they carry iron bars to this place, and ship them.Canoes are boats made of one piece of wood, and are much in use with the farmers, and other people upon theDelaware, and some little rivers. For that purpose a very thick trunk of a tree is hollowed out; the red juniper or red cedar tree, the white cedar, the chesnut tree, the white oak, and the tulip tree are commonly made use of for this purpose. The canoes made of red and white cedar are reckoned the best, because they swim very light upon the water, and last twenty years together. But of these, the red cedar canoes are most preferable. Those made of chesnut trees will likewise last for a good while. But those of white oak are hardly serviceable above six years, and also swim deep, because they are so heavy. TheLiquidambar tree, orLiquidambar styraciflua, Linn.is big enough but unfit making canoes, because it imbibes the water. The canoes which are made of the tulip tree, scarce last as long as those of white oak. The size of the canoes is different, according to the purposes they are destined for. They can carry six persons; who however, must by no means be unruly, but sit at the bottom of the canoe in the quietest manner[162]possible, lest the boat overset. TheSwedesinPensylvaniaandNew Jerseynear the rivers, have no other boats to go toPhiladelphiain, which they commonly do twice a week on the market days, though they be several miles distant from the town, and meet sometimes with severe storms; yet misfortunes from the oversetting, &c; of these canoes are seldom heard of, though they might well be expected on account of the small size of this kind of boats. However a great deal of attention and care is necessary in managing the canoes, when the wind is somewhat violent; for they are narrow, round below, have no keel, and therefore may easily be overset. Accordingly when the wind is more brisk than ordinary, the people make for the land.The common garden cresses grow in several places on the roads aboutChichester, and undoubtedly come from the seeds, which were by chance carried out of the many gardens about that town.TheAmericanbrambles are here in great plenty. When a field is left uncultivated, they are the first plants that appear on it; and I frequently observed them in such fields as are annually ploughed, and have corn sown on them. For when these bushes are once rooted, they are not easily extirpated.[163]Such a bush runs out tendrils sometimes four fathoms off its root, and then throws a new root, so that on pulling it up, you meet with roots on both ends. On some old grounds, which had long been uncultivated, there were so many bushes of this kind, that it was very troublesome and dangerous walking in them. A wine is made of the berries, as I have already mentioned. The berries are likewise eaten when they are ripe, and taste well. No other use is made of them.Octoberthe 6th. TheChenopodium anthelminticumis very plentiful on the road, and on the banks of the river, but chiefly in dry places in a loose sandy soil. TheEnglishwho are settled here, call itWormseedandJerusalem Oak. It has a disagreeable scent. InPensylvaniaandNew Jerseyits seeds are given to children, against the worms, and for that purpose they are excellent. The plant itself is spontaneous in both provinces.The environs ofChichester, contain many gardens, which are full of apple trees, sinking under the weight of innumerable apples. Most of them are winter fruit, and therefore were yet quite sour. Each farm has a garden, and so has each house of the better sort. The extent of these gardens is[164]likewise not inconsiderable, and therefore affords, the possessor all the year long, great supplies in his house-keeping, both for eating and drinking. I frequently was surprized at the prudence of the inhabitants of this country. As soon as one has bought a piece of ground, which is neither built upon nor sown, his first care is to get young apple trees, and to make a garden. He next proceeds to build his house, and lastly prepares the uncultivated ground to receive corn. For it is well known that the trees require many years before they arrive to perfection, and this makes it necessary to plant them first. I now perceived near the farms, mills, wheels, and other instruments which are made use of in crushing the apples, in order to prepare cyder from them afterwards.FromChichesterI went on towardsPhiladelphia. The oaks were the most plentiful trees in the wood. But there were several species of them, all different from theEuropeanones. The swine now went about in great herds in the oak woods, where they fed upon the acorns which fell in great abundance from the trees. Each hog had a wooden triangular yoke about its neck, by which it was hindered from penetrating through the holes in the enclosures; and[165]for this reason, the enclosures are made very slender, and easy to put up, and do not require much wood. No other enclosures are in use, but those which are so like sheep hurdles. A number of squirrels were in the oak woods, partly running on the ground, and partly leaping from one branch to another; and at this time they chiefly fed upon acorns.I seldom saw beach trees; but I found them quite the same with theEuropeanones. Their wood is reckoned very good for making joiner’s planes of.I do not remember seeing any other than theblack Ants, orFormica nigrainPensylvania. They are as black as a coal, and of two sorts, some very little, like the least of our ants, and others of the size of our common reddish ants. I have not yet observed any hills of theirs, but only seen some running about singly. In other parts ofAmerica, I have likewise found other species of ants, as I intend to remark in the sequel.Thecommon Privet, orLigustrum vulgare, is made use of in many places, as a hedge round corn-fields and gardens, and on my whole voyage, I did not see that any other trees were made use of for this purpose, though theEnglishmenhere, well know that the hawthorn makes a much better[166]hedge. The privet hedges grow very thick and close, but having no spines, the hogs, and even other animals break easily through them; and when they have once made a hole, it requires a long while before it grows up again. But when the hedges consist of spinose bushes, the cattle will hardly attempt to get through them.About noon I came throughChester, a little market-town which lies on theDelaware. A rivulet coming down out of the country, passes through this place, and discharges itself into theDelaware. There is a bridge over it. The houses stand dispersed. Most of them are built of stone, and two or three stories high; some are however made of wood. In the town is a church, and a market-place.Wheat was now sown every where. In some places it was already green, having been sown four weeks before. The wheat fields were made in theEnglishmanner, having no ditches in them, but numerous furrows for draining the water, at the distance of four or six foot from one another. Great stumps of the trees which had been cut down, are every where seen on the fields, and this shews that the country has been but lately cultivated.The roots of the trees do not go deep[167]into the ground, but spread horizontally. I had opportunities of observing this in several places where the trees were dug up; for I seldom saw one, whose roots went above a foot deep into the ground, though it was a loose soil.About twoEnglishmiles behindChester, I passed by an iron forge, which was to the right hand by the road side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was told. The ore however is not dug here, but thirty or forty miles from hence, where it is first melted in the oven, and then carried to this place. The bellows were made of leather, and both they and the hammers, and even the hearth, but small in proportion to ours. All the machines were worked by water. The iron was wrought into bars.To day I remarked, as I have since frequently seen on my travels in this country, that horses are very greedy of apples. When they are let into an orchard to feed upon the grass, if there are any apples on the ground, they frequently leave the fresh green grass, and eat the apples, which, however, are not reckoned a good food for them; and besides that, it is too expensive.Thered Maple, orAcer rubrumis plentiful in these places. Its proper situations[168]are chiefly swampy, wet places, in which the alder commonly is its companion. Out of its wood they make plates, spinning-wheels, rolls, feet for chairs and beds, and all sorts of work. With the bark, they dye both worsted and linnen, giving it a dark blue colour. For that purpose it is first boiled in water; and some copperas, such as the hat-makers and shoe-makers commonly make use of, is added, before the stuff (which is to be dyed) is put into the boiler. This bark likewise affords a good black ink. When the tree is felled early in spring, a sweet juice runs out of it, like that which runs out of our birches. This juice they do not make any use of here, but inCanada, they make both treacle and sugar of it. Here is a variety of this tree which they call thecurled Maple, the wood being as it were marbled within; it is much used in all kinds of joiner’s work, and the utensils made of this wood, are preferable to those made of any other sort of wood in the country, and are much dearer than those made of the wood of the wild cherry trees (Prunus Virginiana) or of black walnut trees. But the most valuable utensils were those made ofcurled black walnut, for that is an excessive scarce kind of wood. The curled maple was likewise very uncommon,[169]and you frequently find trees, whose outsides are marbled, but their inside not. The tree is therefore cut very deep before it is felled, to see whether it has veins in every part.In the evening I reachedPhiladelphia.Octoberthe 7th. In the morning we crossed theDelawarein a boat to the other side which belongs toNew Jersey, each person paying fourpence for his passage. The country here is very different from that inPensylvania; for here the ground is almost mere sand, but in the other province it is mixed with a good deal of clay, and this makes the ground pretty rich. The discoveries which I made to day of insects and plants, I intend to mention in another work.A soil like this inNew Jersey, one might be led to think, could produce nothing because it is so dry and poor. Yet the maize which is planted on it grows extremely well, and we saw many fields filled with it. The earth is of that kind in which tobacco commonly succeeds, but it is not near so rich. The stalks of maize are commonly eight feet high, more or less, and are full of leaves. The maize is planted as usual in rows, in little squares, so that there is a space of five feet and six[170]inches between each square, both in length and breadth; on each of these little hills three or four stalks come up, which were not yet cut for the cattle; each stalk again has from one to four ears, which are large and full of corn. A sandy ground could never have been better employed. In some places the ground between the maize is ploughed, and rye sown in it, so that when the maize is cut, the rye remains upon the field.We frequently sawAsparagusgrowing near the enclosures, in a loose soil, on uncultivated sandy fields. It is likewise plentiful between the maize, and was at present full of berries, but I cannot tell whether the seeds are carried by the wind to the places where I saw them; it is however certain, that I have likewise seen it growing wild in other parts ofAmerica.TheWorm-seed, is likewise plentiful on the roads, in a sandy ground such as that near the ferry opposite toPhiladelphia. I have already mentioned that it is given to children, as a remedy to carry off the worms. It is then put into brandy, and when it has been in it for one hour, it is taken out again, dried and given to the children, either in beer sweetened with treacle, or in any other liquor. Its effects[171]talked of differently. Some people say it kills the worms, others again pretend that it forwards their encrease. But I know by my own experience, that this wormseed has had very good effects upon children.ThePurslain, which we cultivate in our gardens, grows wild in great abundance in the loose soil amongst the maize. It was there creeping on the ground, and its stalks were pretty thick and succulent; which circumstance very justly gave reason to wonder from whence it could get juice sufficient to supply it in such a dry ground. It is to be found plentiful in such soil, in other places of this country.TheBidens bipinnata, is here calledSpanish Needles. It grows single about farm houses, near roads, pales and along the hedges. It was yet partly in flower; but for the greatest part it was already out of blossom. When its seeds are ripe it is very disagreeable walking where it grows. For they stick to the cloaths and make them black; and it is difficult to discharge the black spots which they occasion. Each seed has three spines at its extremity; and each of these again is full of numerous little hooks, by which the seed fastens itself to the cloaths.In the woods and along the hedges in[172]this neighbourhood, some singlered Ants, (Formica rubra) crept about, and their antennæ or feel-horns were as long as their bodies.Towards night we returned toPhiladelphia.Octoberthe 8th. The shore ofPensylvaniahas a great quantity of the finest oysters. About this time the people began to bring them toPhiladelphiafor sale. They come from that part of the shore, which is near the mouth of the riverDelaware. They are reckoned as good as theNew Yorkoysters, of which I shall make more particular mention afterwards. However I thought that this latter sort of oysters was generally larger, fatter and more palatable. It is remarkable that they commonly became palatable at the time when the agues had left off their fury. Some men went with whole carts full of oysters, crying them about the streets; this is unusual here when any thing else is to be sold, but inLondonit is very common. The oyster shells are thrown away, though formerly a lime was burnt from them, which has been found unnecessary, there being stones for burning of lime in this neighbourhood, and the lime of oyster shells not being as good as this other lime. The people shewed[173]me some of houses in this town which were built of stone, and to the mason work of which the lime of oyster shells had been employed. The walls of these houses were always so wet two or three days before a rain, that great drops of water could plainly be perceived on them; and thus they were as good as Hygrometers.27Several people who had lived in this kind of houses complained of these inconveniences.Octoberthe 9th. Pease are not much cultivated inPensylvaniaat present, though formerly, according to the accounts of some oldSwedes, every farmer had a little field with pease. InNew Jerseyand the southern parts ofNew York, pease are likewise not so much cultivated as they used to be. But in the northern parts ofNew York, or aboutAlbany, and in all the parts ofCanadawhich are inhabited by theFrench, the people sow great quantities, and have a plentiful crop. In the former colonies, a little despicable insect has obliged the people to give up so useful a part of agriculture. This little insect was formerly[174]little known, but a few years ago it multiplied excessively. It couples in summer, about the time when the pease are in blossom, and then deposites an egg into almost every one of the little pease. When the pease are ripe, their outward appearance does not discover the worm, which, however, is found within, when it is cut. This worm lies in the pea, if it is not stirred during all the winter, and part of the spring, and in that space of time consumes the greatest part of the inside of the pea: In spring therefore little more than the mere thin outward skin is left. This worm at last changes into an insect, of the coleoptera class, and in that state creeps through a hole of its own making in the husk, and flies off, in order to look for new fields of pease, in which it may couple with its cogeneric insects, and provide food sufficient for its posterity.This noxious insect has spread fromPensylvaniato the north. For the country ofNew York, where it is common at present, has not been plagued with it above twelve or fifteen years ago; and before that time the people sowed pease every year without any inconvenience, and had excellent crops. But by degrees these little enemies came in such numbers, that the[175]inhabitants were forced to leave off sowing of pease. The people complained of this in several places. The country people aboutAlbanyhave yet the pleasure to see their fields of pease not infected by these beetles, but are always afraid of their approach; as it has been observed they come every year nearer to that province.I know not whether this insect would live inEurope, and I should think ourSwedishwinters must kill the worm, even if it be ever so deeply inclosed in the pea; notwithstanding it is often as cold inNew York(where this insect is so abundant) as in our country, yet it continues to multiply here every year, and proceeds always farther to the north. I was very near bringing some of these vermin intoEurope, without knowing of it. At my departure fromAmerica, I took some sweet peas with me in a paper, and they were at that time quite fresh and green. But on opening the paper after my arrival atStockholm, onAugustthe 1st. 1751; I found all the peas hollow, and the head of an infect peeping out of each. Some of these insects even crept out, in order to try the weather of this new climate; but I made haste, to shut the paper again, in order to prevent the spreading of this[176]noxious insect.28I own, that when I first perceived them, I was more frightened than I should have been at the sight of a viper. For I at once had a full view of the whole damage, which my dear country would have suffered, if only two or three of these noxious insects had escaped me. The posterity of many families, and even the inhabitants of whole provinces, would have had sufficient reason to detest me as the cause of so great a calamity. I afterwards sent some of them, though well secured, to countTessin, and to Dr.Linnæus, together with an account of their destructive qualities. Dr.Linnæushas already inserted a description of them in an Academical Dissertation, which has been drawn up under his presidency, and treats of the damages made by insects.29He there calls this insect theBruchusofNorth-America.30It[177]was very peculiar that every pea in the paper was eaten without exception.When the inhabitants ofPensylvaniasow pease procured from abroad, they are not commonly attacked by these insects for the first year; but in the next they take possession of the pea. It is greatly to be wished that none of the ships which annually depart fromNew YorkorPensylvania, may bring them into theEuropeancountries. From hence the power of a single despicable insect will plainly appear; as also, that the study of the œconomy and of the qualities of insects, is not to be looked upon as a mere pastime and useless employment.31TheRhus radicansis a shrub or tree which grows abundantly in this country, and has in common with the ivy, calledHedera arborea, the quality of not growing without the support either of a tree, a wall, or a hedge. I have seen it climbing to the very top of high trees in the[178]woods, and its branches shoot out every where little roots, which fasten upon the tree and as it were enter into it. When the stem is cut, it emits a pale brown sap of a disagreeable scent. This sap is so sharp that the letters and characters made upon linnen with it, cannot be got out again, but grow blacker the more the cloath is washed. Boys commonly marked their names on their linnen with this juice. If you write with it on paper, the letters never go out, but grow blacker from time to time.This species ofSumachhas the same noxious qualities as the poisonous sumach, orPoison-tree, which I have above described, being poisonous to some people, though not to every one. Therefore all that has been said of the poison tree is likewise applicable to this; excepting that the former has the stronger poison. However I have seen people who have been as much swelled from the noxious exhalations of the latter, as they could have been from those of the former. I likewise know that of two sisters, the one could manage the tree without being affected by its venom, though the other immediately felt it as soon as the exhalations of the tree came near her, or when ever she came a yard too near the[179]tree, and even when she stood in the way of the wind, which blew directly from this shrub. But upon me this species of sumach has never exherted its power, though I made above a hundred experiments upon myself with the greatest stems, and the juice once squirted into my eye, without doing me any harm. On another person’s hand which I had covered very thick with it, the skin a few hours after became as hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled off in the following days, as if little scales fell from it.Octoberthe 10th. In the morning I accompanied Mr.Cockto his country seat, which is about nine miles fromPhiladelphiato the north.Though the woods ofPensylvaniaafford many oaks, and more species of them than are found further north, yet they do not build so many ships in this province as they do in the northern ones, and especially inNew England. But experience has taught the people that the same kind of trees is more durable the further it grows to the north, and that this advantage decreases the more it grows in warm climates. It is likewise plain that the trees in the south grow more every year, and form thicker ringlets than those in the north. The former[180]have likewise much greater tubes for the circulation of the sap than the latter. And for this reason they do not build so many ships inPensylvania, as they do inNew England, though more than inVirginiaandMaryland; butCarolinabuilds very few, and its merchants get all their ships fromNew England. Those which are here made of the best oak, hardly are serviceable above ten, or at most twelve years; for then they are so rotten, that no body ventures to go to sea in them, Many captains of ships come over fromEnglandtoNorth-America, in order to get ships built. But most of them chooseNew England, that being the most northerly province; and if they even come over in ships which are bound forPhiladelphia, they frequently on their arrival set out fromPensylvaniaforNew England. TheSpaniardsin theWest Indiesare said to build their ships of a peculiar sort of cedar, which holds out against putrefaction and wet; but it is not to be met with on the continent in theEnglishprovinces. Here are above nine different sorts of oak, but not one of them is comparable to the single species we have inSweden, with regard to its goodness. And therefore a ship ofEuropeanoak costs a great deal more than one made ofAmericanoak.[181]Many people who chiefly employed themselves in gardening, had found in a succession of years, that the redBeet, which grew out of the seed which was got fromNew York, became very sweet and had a very fine taste; but that it every year lost part of its goodness, if it was cultivated from seeds which were got here. The people were therefore obliged to get as many seeds of red beet every year fromNew York, as were wanted in their gardens. It has likewise been generally observed, that the plants which are produced fromEnglishseeds are always much better and more agreeable, than those which come from seeds of this country.In the garden of Mr.Cockwas a raddish which was in the loose soil, grown so big as to be seven inches in diameter. Every body that saw it, owned it was uncommon to see them of such a size.That species ofConvolvuluswhich is commonly calledBatatas, has here the name ofBermudian potatoes. The common people, and the gentry without distinction planted them in their gardens. This is done in the same manner as with the common potatoes. Some people made little hillocks, into which they put these potatoes; but others only planted them in flat beds.[182]The soil must be a mixture of sand and earth, and neither too rich, nor too poor. When they are going to plant them, they cut them, as the common potatoes, taking care however that a bud or two be left upon each piece which is intended to be planted. Their colour is commonly red without, and yellow within. They are bigger than the common sort, and have a sweet and very agreeable taste, which I cannot find in the other potatoes, in artichokes or in any other root, and they almost melt in the mouth. It is not long since they have been planted here. They are dressed in the same manner ascommonpotatoes, and eaten either along with them, or by themselves. They grow very fast and very well here; but the greatest difficulty consists in keeping them over winter, for they will bear neither cold, nor a great heat, nor wet. They must therefore be kept during winter in a box with sand in a warm room. InPensylvaniawhere they have no valves in their chimnies, they are put in such a box with sand, at some distance from the fire, and there they are secured both against frost and against over great heat. It will not answer the purpose to put them into dry sand in a cellar, as is commonly done with the common sort of potatoes. For the[183]moisture which is always in cellars, penetrates the sand, and makes them putrefy. It would probably be very easy to keep them inSwedenin warm rooms, during the cold season. But the difficulty lies wholly in bringing them over toSweden. I carried a considerable number of them with me on leavingAmerica, and took all possible care in preserving them. But we had a very violent storm at sea, by which the ship was so greatly damaged, that the water got in every where, and wetted our cloaths, beds and other moveables so much, that we could wring the water out of them. It is therefore no wonder that myBermuda potatoeswere rotten; but as they are now cultivated inPortugalandSpain, nay even inEngland, it will be easy to bring them intoSweden. The drink which theSpaniardsprepare from these potatoes in theirAmericanpossessions is not usual inPensylvania.32Mr.Cockhad a paper mill, on a little brook, and all the coarser sorts of paper are manufactured in it. It is now annually rented for fifty poundsPensylvaniacurrency.[184]Octoberthe 11th. I have already mentioned, that every countryman has a greater or lesser number of apple trees planted round his farm-house, from whence he gets great quantities of fruit, part of which he sells, part he makes cyder of, and part he uses in his own family for pyes, tarts, and the like. However he cannot expect an equal quantity of fruit every year. And I was told, that this year had not by far afforded such a great quantity of apples as the preceding; the cause of which they told me, was the continual and great drought in the month ofMay, which had hurt all the blossoms of the apple trees, and made them wither. The heat had been so great as to dry up all the plants, and the grass in the fields.ThePolytrichum commune, a species of moss, grew plentifully on wet and low meadows between the woods, and in several places quite covered them, as our mosses cover the meadows inSweden. It was likewise very plentiful on hills.Agriculture was in a very bad state hereabouts. When a person had bought a piece of land, which perhaps had never been ploughed since the creation, he cut down part of the wood, tore up the roots, ploughed the ground, sowed corn on it,[185]and the first time got a plentiful crop. But the same land being tilled for several years successively, without being manured, it at last must of course lose its fertility. Its possessor therefore leaves it fallow, and proceeds to another part of his ground, which he treats in the same manner. Thus he goes on till he has changed a great part of his possessions into corn-fields, and by that means deprives the ground of its fertility. He then returns to the first field, which now is pretty well recovered; this he again tills as long as it will afford him a good crop, but when its fertility is exhausted, he leaves it fallow again, and proceeds to the rest as before.It being customary here, to let the cattle go about the fields and in the woods both day and night, the people cannot collect much dung for manure. But by leaving the land fallow for several years together, a great quantity of weeds spring up in it, and get such strength, that it requires a considerable time to extirpate them. From hence it likewise comes, that the corn is always so much mixed with weeds. The great richness of the soil, which the firstEuropeancolonists found here, and which had never been ploughed before, has given rise to this neglect of agriculture, which is[186]still observed by many of the inhabitants. But they do not consider, that when the earth is quite exhausted, a great space of time, and an infinite deal of labour is necessary to bring it again into good order; especially in these countries which are almost every summer so scorched up by the excessive heat and drought. The soil of the corn-fields consisted of a thin mould, greatly mixed with a brick coloured clay, and a quantity of small particles of glimmer. This latter came from the stones which are here almost every where to be met with at the depth of a foot or thereabouts. These little pieces of glimmer made the ground sparkle, when the sun shone upon it.Almost all the houses hereabouts were built either of stone or bricks; but those of stone were more numerous.Germantown, which is about twoEnglishmiles long, had no other houses, and the country houses thereabouts, were all built of stone. But there are several varieties of that stone which is commonly made use of in building. Sometimes it consisted of a black or grey glimmer, running in undulated veins, the spaces between their bendings being filled up with a grey, loose, small-grained[187]limestone, which was easily friable. Some transparent particles of quartz were scattered in the mass, of which the glimmer made the greatest part. It was very easy to be cut, and with proper tools could readily be shaped into any form. Sometimes however the pieces consisted of a black, small-grained glimmer, a white small-grained sandstone, and some particles of quartz, and the several constituent parts were well mixed together. Sometimes the stone had broad stripes of the white limestone without any addition of glimmer. But most commonly they were much blended together, and of a grey colour. Sometimes this stone was found to consist of quite fine and black pieces of glimmer, and a grey, loose and very small-grained limestone. This was likewise very easy to be cut, being loose.These varieties of the stone are commonly found close together. They were every where to be met with, at a little depth, but not in equal quantity and goodness; and not always easy to be broken. When therefore a person intended to build a house, he enquired where the best stone could be met with. It is to be found on corn-fields and meadows, at a depth which varies from two to six feet. The pieces[188]were different as to size. Some were eight or ten feet long, two broad, and one thick. Sometimes they were still bigger, but frequently much less. Hereabouts they lay in strata one above another, the thickness of each stratum being about a foot. The length and breadth were different, but commonly such as I have before mentioned. They must commonly dig three or four feet before they reach the first stratum. The loose ground above that stratum, is full of little pieces of this stone. This ground is the common brick coloured soil, which is universal here, and consists of sand and clay, though the former is more plentiful. The loose pieces of glimmer which shine so much in it, seem to have been broken off from the great strata of stone.It must be observed that when the people build with this stone, they take care to turn the flat side of it outwards. But as that cannot always be done, the stone being frequently rough on all sides, it is easily cut smooth with tools, since it is soft, and not very difficult to be broken. The stones however are unequal in thickness, and therefore by putting them together they cannot be kept in such straight lines as bricks. It sometimes likewise happens that pieces break off when they are cut, and[189]leave holes on the outside of the wall. But in order to fill up these holes, the little pieces of stone which cannot be made use of are pounded, mixed with mortar, and put into the holes; the places thus filled up, are afterwards smoothed, and when they are dry, they are hardly distinguishable from the rest at some distance. At last they draw on the outside of the wall, strokes of mortar, which cross each other perpendicularly, so that it looks as if the wall consisted wholly of equal, square stones, and as if the white strokes were the places where they were joined with mortar. The inside of the wall is made smooth, covered with mortar and whitewashed. It has not been observed that this kind of stone attracts the moisture in a rainy or wet season. InPhiladelphiaand its environs, you find several houses built of this kind of stone.The houses here are commonly built in theEnglishmanner.One of Mr.Cock’s negroes showed me the skin of a badger (Ursus Meles) which he had killed a few days ago, and which convinced me that theAmericanbadger is the same with theSwedishone. It was here calledGround Hog.Towards night I returned toPhiladelphia.[190]Octoberthe 12th. In the morning we went to the riverSkulkill, partly to gather seeds, partly to collect plants for the herbal, and to make all sorts of observations. TheSkulkillis a narrow river, which falls into theDelaware, about four miles fromPhiladelphiato the south; but narrow as it is, it rises on the west side of those high mountains, commonly called the blue mountains, and runs two hundredEnglishmiles, and perhaps more. It is a great disadvantage to this country, that there are several cataracts in this river as low asPhiladelphia, for which reason there can be no navigation on it. To day I made some descriptions and remarks on such plants as the cattle liked, or such as they never touched.I observed several little subterraneous walks in the fields, running under ground in various directions, the opening of which was big enough for a mole: the earth, which formed as it were a vault above it, and lay elevated like a little bank, was near two inches high, full as broad as a man’s hand, and about two inches thick. In uncultivated fields I frequently saw these subterraneous walks, which discovered themselves by the ground thrown up above them, which when trod upon gave way, and made it inconvenient to walk in the field.[191]These walks are inhabited by a kind of mole,33which I intend to describe more accurately in another work. Their food is commonly roots: I have observed the following qualities in one which was caught. It had greater stiffness and strength in its legs, than I ever observed in other animals in proportion to their size. Whenever it intended to dig, it held its legs obliquely, like oars, I laid my handkerchief before it, and it began to stir in it with the snout, and taking away the handkerchief to see what it had done to it, I found that in the space of a minute it had made it full of holes, and it looked as if it had been pierced very much by an awl. I was obliged to put some books on the cover of the box in which I kept this animal, or else it was flung off immediately. It was very irascible, and would bite great holes into any thing that was put in its way; I held a steel pen-case to it, it at first bit at it with great violence, but having felt its hardness, it would not venture again to bite at any thing. These moles do not make such hills as theEuropeanones, but only such walks as I have already described.[192]Octoberthe 13th. There is a plant here, from the berries of which they make a kind of wax or tallow, and for that reason theSwedescall it theTallow shrub. TheEnglishcall the same tree theCandleberry-tree, orBayberry-bush; and Dr.Linnæusgives it the name ofMyrica cerifera. It grows abundantly on a wet soil, and it seems to thrive particularly well in the neighbourhood of the sea, nor have I ever found it high up in the country far from the sea. The berries grow abundantly on the female shrub, and look as if flower had been strewed upon them. They are gathered late in autumn, being ripe about that time, and are then thrown into a kettle or pot full of boiling water; by this means their fat melts out, floats at the top of the water and may be skimmed off into a vessel; with the skimming they go on till there is no tallow left. The tallow as soon as it is congealed, looks like common tallow or wax, but has a dirty green colour; it is for that reason melted over again, and refined, by which means it acquires a fine and pretty transparent green colour: this tallow is dearer than common tallow, but cheaper than wax. InPhiladelphiathey pay a shillingPensylvaniacurrency, for a pound of this tallow; but a pound of common tallow[193]only came to half that money, and wax costs as much again. From this tallow they make candles in many parts of this province, but they usually mix some common tallow with it. Candles of this kind, do not easily bend, nor melt in summer as common candles do; they burn better and slower, nor do they cause any smoak, but rather yield an agreeable smell, when they are extinguished. An oldSwedeof ninety-one years of age told me, that this sort of candles had formerly been much in use with his country men. At present they do not make so many candles of this kind, if they can get the tallow of animals; it being too troublesome to gather the berries. However these candles are made use of by poor people, who live in the neighbourhood of a place where the bushes grow, and have not cattle enough to kill, in order to supply them with a sufficient quantity of tallow. From the wax of the candleberry tree they likewise make a soap here, which has an agreeable scent, and is the best for shaving. This wax is likewise used by doctors, and surgeons, who reckon it exceeding good for plasters upon wounds. A merchant of this town once sent a quantity of these candles to thoseAmericanprovinces which had Roman Catholic inhabitants, thinking he[194]would be well paid, since wax candles are made use of in the Roman Catholick churches; but the clergy would not take them. An oldSwedementioned that the root of the candleberry tree was formerly made use of by the Indians, as a remedy against the tooth ach, and that he himself having had the tooth ach very violently, had cut the root in pieces and applied it round his tooth; and that the pain had been lessened by it. AnotherSwedeassured me that he had been cured of the tooth ach, by applying the peel of the root to it. InCarolina, they not only make candles out of the wax of the berries, but likewise sealing-wax.Octoberthe 14th.PennyRoyalis a plant which has a peculiar strong scent, and grows abundantly on dry places in the country. Botanists call itCunila pulegioides. It is reckoned very wholesome to drink as a tea when a person has got cold, as it promotes perspiration. I was likewise told, that on feeling a pain in any limb, this plant, if applied to it, would give immediate relief.The goods which are shipped toLondonfromNew Englandare the following: all sorts of fish caught nearNewfoundlandand elsewhere; train-oil of several sorts; whale-bone; tar, pitch, masts; new ships, of which[195]a great number is annually built; a few hides, and sometimes some sorts of wood. TheEnglishislands inAmerica, asJamaicaandBarbadoes, get fromNew England, fish, flesh, butter, cheese, tallow, horses, cattle; all sorts of lumber, such as pails, buckets, and hogsheads; and have returns made in rum, sugar, melasses, and other produces of the country, or in cash, the greatest part of all which they send toLondon(the money especially) in payment of the goods received from thence, and yet all this is inefficient to pay off the debt.Octoberthe 15th. TheAldersgrew here in considerable abundance on wet and low places, and even sometimes on pretty high ones, but never reached the height of theEuropeanalders, and commonly stood like a bush about a fathom or two high. Mr.Bartram, and other gentlemen who had frequently travelled in these provinces, told me that the more you go to the south, the less are the alders, but that they are higher and taller, the more you advance to the north. I found afterwards myself, that the alders in some places ofCanada, are little inferior to theSwedishones. Their bark is employed here in dying red and brown. ASwedishinhabitant ofAmerica, told me that he had cut his leg to the very bone, and that some coagulated blood had[196]already been settled within. That he had been advised to boil the alder bark, and to wash the wound often with the water: that he followed this advice, and had soon got his leg healed, though it had been very dangerous at first.ThePhytolacca decandrawas calledPokeby theEnglish. TheSwedeshad no particular name for it, but made use of theEnglish, with some little variation intoPaok. When the juice of its berries is put upon paper or the like, it strikes it with a high purple colour, which is as fineasany in the world, and it is pity that no method is as yet found out, of making this colour last on woollen and linen cloth, for it fades very soon. Mr.Bartrammentioned, that having hit his foot against a stone, he had got a violent pain in it; he then bethought himself to put a leaf of thePhytolaccaon his foot, by which he lost the pain in a short time, and got his foot well soon after. The berries are eaten by the birds about this time. TheEnglishand severalSwedesmake use of the leaves in spring, when they are just come out, and are yet tender and soft, and eat them partly as green cale, and partly in the manner we eat spinnage. Sometimes they likewise prepare them in the first of these ways, when the stalks are already grown a little longer, breaking off[197]none but the upper sprouts which are yet tender, and not woody; but in this latter case, great care is to be taken, for if you eat the plant when it is already grown up, and its leaves are no longer soft, you may expect death as a consequence which seldom fails to follow, for the plant has then got a power of purging the body to excess. I have known people, who, by eating great full grown leaves of this plant, have got such a strong dysentery, that they were near dying with it: its berries however are eaten in autumn by children, without any ill consequence.Woollen and linen cloth is dyed yellow with the bark of hiccory. This likewise is done with the bark of theblack oak, orLinnæus’sQuercus nigra, and that variety of it whichCatesbyin hisNatural History of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 19. callsQuercus marilandica. The flowers and leaves of theImpatiens Noli tangereor balsamine, likewise dyed all woollen stuffs with a fine yellow colour.TheCollinsonia canadensiswas frequently found in little woods and bushes, in a good rich soil. Mr.Bartramwho knew the country perfectly well, was sure thatPensylvania, and all the parts ofAmericain the same climate, were the true and original places where this plant grows. For further[198]to the south, neither he nor Messrs.ClaytonandMitchelever found it, though the latter gentlemen have made accurate observations inVirginiaand part ofMaryland. And from his own experience he knew, that it did not grow in the northerly parts. I have never found it more than fifteen min. north of forty-three deg. The time of the year when it comes up inPensylvania, is so late, that its seed has but just time sufficient to ripen in, and it therefore seems unlikely, that it can succeed further north, Mr.Bartramwas the first who discovered it, and sent it over intoEurope. Mr.Jussieuduring his stay atLondon, and Dr.Linnæusafterwards, called itCollinsonia, from the celebrated Mr.Peter Collinson, a merchant inLondon, and fellow of theEnglishandSwedishRoyal Societies. He well deserved the honour of having a plant called after his name, for there are few people that have promoted natural history and all useful sciences with a zeal like his; or that have done as much as he towards collecting, cultivating, and making known all sorts of plants. TheCollinsoniahas a peculiar scent, which is agreeable, but very strong. It always gave me a pretty violent head-ach whenever I passed by a place where it stood in plenty, and especially when it was in[199]flower. Mr.Bartramwas acquainted with a better quality of this plant, which was that of being an excellent remedy against all sorts of pain in the limbs, and against a cold, when the parts affected are rubbed with it. And Mr.Conrad Weisser, interpreter of the language of the Indians inPensylvania, had told him of a more wonderful cure with this plant. He was once among a company of Indians, one of which had been stung by a rattle snake, the savages gave him over, but he boiled thecollinsonia, and made the poor wretch drink the water, from which he happily recovered. Somewhat more to the north and inNew Yorkthey call this plantHorseweed, because the horses eat it in spring, before any other plant comes up.Octoberthe 16th. I asked Mr.Franklinand other gentlemen who were well acquainted with this country, whether they had met with any signs, from whence they could have concluded that any place which was now a part of the continent, had formerly been covered with water? and I got the following account in answer.1. On travelling from hence to the south, you meet with a place where the highroad is very low in the ground between two mountains. On both sides you see[200]nothing but oyster shells and muscle shells in immense quantities above each other; however the place is many miles off the sea.2. Whenever they dig wells, or build houses in town, they find the earth lying in several strata above each other. At a depth of fourteen feet or more, they find globular stones, which are as smooth on the outside as those which lie on the sea-shore, and are made round and smooth by the rolling of the waves. And after having dug through the sand, and reached a depth of eighteen feet or more, they discover in some places a slime like that which the sea throws up on the shore, and which commonly lies at its bottom and in rivers; this slime is quite full of trees, leaves, branches, reed, charcoal, &c.3. It has sometimes happened that new houses have sunk on one side in a short time, and have obliged the people to pull them down again. On digging deeper, for a very hard ground to build upon, they have found a quantity of the above slime, wood, roots, &c.Are not these reasons sufficient to make one suppose that those places inPhiladelphiawhich are at present fourteen feet and more under ground, formerly were the bottom of[201]the sea, and that by several accidents, sand, earth, and other things were carried upon it? or, that theDelawareformerly was broader than it is at present? or, that it has changed its course? This last still often happens at present; the river breaking off the bank on one side, and forming one on the other. Both theSwedesandEnglishoften shewed me such places.Octoberthe 18th. At present I did not find above ten different kinds of plants in blossom: they were, aGentiana, two species ofAster, the common Golden Rod, orSolidago Virga aurea, a species ofHieracium, the yellow wood Sorrel, orOxalis corniculata, the Fox Gloves, orDigitalis purpurea, theHamamelis Virginiana, or Witch Hazel, our common Millefoil, orAchillæa Millefolium, and our Dandelion, orLeontodon Taraxacum. All other plants had for this year laid aside their gay colours. Several trees, especially those which were to flower early in spring, had already formed such large buds, that on opening them all the parts of fructification, such asCalyx,Corolla,StaminaandPistillumwere plainly distinguishable. It was therefore easy to determine the genus to which such trees belonged. Such were the red maple, orAcer rubrum, and theLaurus æstivalis, a species of bay. Thus nature prepared to[202]bring forth flowers, with the first mild weather in the next year. The buds were at present quite hard, and all their parts pressed close together, that the cold might by all means be excluded.Theblack Walnut treeshad for the greatest part dropt their leaves, and many of them were entirely without them. The walnuts themselves were already fallen off. The green peel which enclosed them, if frequently handled, would yield a black colour, which could not be got off the fingers in two or three weeks time, though the hands were washed ever so much.TheCornus floridawas calledDogwoodby theEnglish, and grew abundantly in the woods. It looks beautiful when it is adorned with its numerous great white flowers in spring. The wood is very hard, and is therefore made use of for weaver’s spools, joiner’s planes, wedges, &c. When the cattle fall down in spring for want of strength, the people tie a branch of this tree on their neck, thinking it will help them.Octoberthe 19th. TheTulip treegrows every where in the woods of this country. The botanists call itLiriodendron tulipifera, because its flowers both in respect to their size, and in respect to their exterior form,[203]and even in some measure with regard to their colour, resemble tulips. TheSwedescalled itCanoe tree, for both theIndiansand theEuropeansoften make their canoes of the stem of this tree. TheEnglishmeninPensylvaniagive it the name ofPoplar. It is reckoned a tree which grows to the greatest height and thickness of any inNorth America, and which vies in that point with our greatestEuropeantrees. The white oak and the fir inNorth America, however are little inferior to it. It cannot therefore but be very agreeable to see in spring, at the end ofMay(when it is in blossom) one of the greatest trees covered for a fortnight together with flowers, which with regard to their shape, size, and partly colour are like tulips, the leaves have likewise something peculiar, theEnglishtherefore in some places call the treethe old woman’s smock, because their imagination finds something like it below the leaves.Its wood is here made use of for canoes, boards, planks, bowls, dishes, spoons, door posts, and all sorts of joiners work. I have seen a barn of a considerable size whose walls, and roof were made of a single tree of this kind, split into boards. Some joiners reckoned this wood better than oak, because this latter frequently is warped, which[204]the other never does, but works very easy; others again valued it very little. It is certain, that it contracts so much in hot weather, as to occasion great cracks in the boards, and in wet weather it swells so as to be near bursting, and the people hardly know of a wood in these parts which varies so much in contracting and expanding itself. The joiners however make much use of it in their work, they say there are two species of it; but they are merely two varieties, one of which in time turns yellow within, the other is white, the former is said to have a looser texture. The bark (likeRussiaglass) is divisible into very thin leaves, which are very tough like bast, though I have never seen it employed as such. The leaves when crushed and applied to the forehead are said to be a remedy against the head ach. When horses are plagued with worms, the bark is pounded, and given them quite dry. Many people believe its roots to be as efficacious against the fever as the jesuits bark. The trees grow in all sorts of dry soil, both on high and low grounds, but too wet a soil will not agree with them.Octoberthe 20th. TheBeaver treeis to be met with in several parts ofPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, in a poor swampy soil,[205]or on wet meadows. Dr.Linnæuscalls itMagnolia glauca; both theSwedesandEnglishcall itBeaver tree, because the root of this tree is the dainty of beavers, which are caught by its means, however theSwedessometimes gave it a different name, and theEnglishas improperly called itSwamp Sassafras, andWhite Laurel. The trees of this kind dropt their leaves early in autumn, though some of the young trees kept them all the winter. I have seldom found the beaver tree to the north ofPensylvania, where it begins to flower about the end ofMay. The scent of its blossoms is excellent, for by it you can discover within three quarters of anEnglishmile, whether these little trees stand in the neighbourhood, provided the wind be not against it. For the whole air is filled with this sweet and pleasant scent. It is beyond description agreeable to travel in the woods about that time, especially towards night. They retain their flowers for three weeks and even longer, according to the quality of the soil on which the trees stand; and during the whole time of their being in blossom, they spread their odoriferous exhalations. The berries likewise look very fine when they are ripe, for they have a rich red colour, and hang in bunches on slender stalks. The[206]cough, and other pectoral diseases are cured by putting the berries into rum or brandy, of which a draught every morning may be taken; the virtues of this remedy were universally extolled, and even praised for their salutary effects in consumptions. The bark being put into brandy, or boiled in any other liquor, is said not only to ease pectoral diseases, but likewise to be of some service against all internal pains and heat; and it was thought that a decoction of it could stop the dysentery. Persons who had caught cold, boiled the branches of the beaver tree in water, and drank it to their great relief. ASwede, calledLars Lack, gave the following account of a cure effected by this tree: One of his relations, an old man, had an open sore in his leg, which would not heal up again, though he had had much advice and used many remedies. An Indian at last effected the cure in the following manner. He burnt some of this wood to charcoal, which he reduced to powder, mixed with the fresh fat of pork, and rubbed the open places several times. This dried up the holes, which before were continually open, and the legs of the old man were quite sound to his death. The wood is likewise made use of for joiner’s planes.[207]Octoberthe 22d. Upon trial it has been found that the following animals and birds, which are wild in the woods ofNorth America, can be made nearly as tractable as domestic animals.The wildCowsandOxen, of which several people of distinction have got young calves from these wild cows, which are to be met with inCarolina, and other provinces to the south ofPensylvania, and brought them up among the tame cattle; when grown up, they were perfectly tame, but at the same time very unruly, so that there was no enclosure strong enough to resist them, if they had a mind to break through it; for as they possess a great strength in their neck, it was easy for them to overthrow the pales with their horns, and to get into the corn-fields; and as soon as they had made a road, all the tame cattle followed them; they likewise copulated with the latter, and by that means generated as it were a new breed. ThisAmericanspecies of oxen isLinnæus’sBos Bison, β.American Deer, can likewise be tamed; and I have seen them tame myself in different places. A farmer inNew Jerseyhad one in his possession, which he had caught when it was very young; and at present it was so tame, that in the day time it[208]run into the wood for its food, and towards night it returned home, and frequently brought a wild deer out of the wood, giving its master an opportunity to shoot it. Several people have therefore tamed young deer, and make use of them for hunting wild deer, or for decoying them home, especially in the time of their rutting.Beavershave been so tamed that they have gone on fishing, and brought home what they had caught to their masters. This often is the case withOtters, of which I have seen some, which were as tame as dogs, and followed their masters wherever they went; if he went out in a boat, the otter went with him, jumped into the water, and after a while came up with a fish. TheOpossum, can likewise be tamed, so as to follow people like a dog.TheRaccoonwhich we (Swedes) callSiupp, can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. In the dark it creeps to the poultry, and kills in one night a whole flock. Sugar and other sweet things must be carefully hidden from it, for if the chests and boxes are not always locked up, it gets into them, eats the sugar, and licks up the treacle with its paws: the ladies therefore[209]have every day some complaint against it, and for this reason many people rather forbear the diversion which this ape-like animal affords.

Late at night a great Halo appeared round the moon. The people said that it prognosticated either a storm, or rain, or both together. The smaller the ring is, or the nearer it comes to the moon, the sooner this weather sets in. But this time neither of these changes happened, and the halo had foretold a coldness in the air.I saw to-day theChermesof the alder (Chermes Alni) in great abundance on the branches of that tree, which for that reason looks quite white, and at a distance appears as it were covered with mould.Octoberthe 4th. I continued my journey early in the morning, and the country still had the same appearance as I went on. It was a continual chain of pretty high hills, with an easy ascent on all sides, and of[155]vallies between them. The soil consisted of a brick coloured mould, mixed with clay, and a few pebbles, I rode sometimes through woods of several sorts of trees, and sometimes amidst little fields, which had been cleared of the wood, and which at present were corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. The farm-houses stood single, sometimes near the roads, and sometimes at a little distance from them, so that the space between the road and the houses was taken up with little fields and meadows. Some of the houses were built of stone, two stories high, and covered with shingles of the white cedar. But most of the houses were wooden, and the crevices stopped up with clay, instead of moss, which we make use of for that purpose. No valves were to be met with in the chimneys, and the people even did not know what I meant by them. The ovens were commonly built up at some distance from the houses, and were either under a roof, or without any covering against the weather. The fields bore partly buck-wheat, which was not yet cut, partly maize, and partly wheat, which was but lately sown; but sometimes they lay fallow. The vines climbed to the top of several trees, and hung down again on both sides. Other trees again were surrounded by the ivy (Hedera quinquefolia) which[156]with the same flexibility ascended to a great height. TheSmilax laurifoliaalways joined with the ivy, and together with it twisted itself round the trees. The leaves of the ivy were at this time commonly reddish, but those of the vine were still quite green. The trees which were surrounded with them, looked at a distance like those which are covered with hops in our country, (and on seeing them from afar off, one might expect to find wild hops climbing upon the trees.) Walnut and chesnut trees were common near enclosures, in woods, and on hills, and at present were loaded with their fruit. The persimon was likewise plentiful near the roads, and in the woods. It had a great quantity of fruit, but they were not yet fit for eating, since the frost had not softened them. At some distance fromWilmington, I passed a bridge over a little river, which falls north into theDelaware. The rider pays here twopence toll for himself and his horse.Towards noon I arrived atWilmington.Wilmington is a little town, about thirtyEnglishmiles south-west fromPhiladelphia. It was founded in the year 1733. Part of it stands upon the grounds belonging to theSwedishchurch, which annually receives certain rents, out of which they[157]pay the minister’s salary, and employ the rest for other uses. The houses are built of stone, and look very pretty; yet they are not built close together, but large open places are left between them. The quakers have a meeting-house in this town. TheSwedishchurch, which I intend to mention in the sequel, is half a mile out of town eastwards. The parsonage is under the same roof with the church. A little river calledChristina-killpasses by the town, and from thence falls into theDelaware. By following its banks one goes three miles before one reaches theDelaware. The river is said to be sufficiently deep, so that the greatest vessel may come quite up to the town: for at its mouth or juncture with theDelaware, it is shallowest, and yet its depth even there when the water is lowest, is from two fathoms to two and a half. But as you go higher its depth encreases to three, three and a half, and even four fathoms. The largest ships therefore may safely, and with their full cargoes come to, and from the town with the tide. fromWilmington, you have a fine prospect of a great part of the riverDelaware, and the ships sailing on it. On both sides of the riverChristina-kill, almost from the place where the redoubt is built to its juncture with theDelaware, are low meadows, which afford a great quantity of hay[158]to the inhabitants. The town carries on a considerable trade, and would have been more enlarged, ifPhiladelphiaandNewcastle, which are both towns of a more ancient date, were not so near on both sides of it.TheRedoubtupon the riverChristina-kill, was erected this summer, when it was known that theFrenchandSpanishprivateers intended to sail up the river, and to attempt a landing. It stands, according to the accounts of the late Rev. Mr.Tranberg, on the same spot, where theSwedeshad built theirs. It is remarkable, that on working in the ground this summer, to make this redoubt, an oldSwedishsilver coin of QueenChristina, not quite so big as a shilling was found at the depth of a yard, among some other things. The Rev. Mr.Tranbergafterwards presented me with it. On one side were the arms of the house ofWasawith the inscription: CHRISTINA, D. G. DE. RE. SVE. that is,Christina, by the grace of God, elected Queen of Sweden; and near this the year of our Lord 1633. On the reverse were these words: MONETA NOVA REGNI SVEC. or,a new coin of the kingdom of Sweden. At the same time a number of old iron tools, such as axes, shovels, and the like, were discovered. The redoubt, that is now erected, consists[159]of bulwarks of planks, with a rampart on the outside. Near it is the powder magazine, in a vault built of bricks. At the erection of this little fortification it was remarkable, that the quakers, whose tenets reject even defensive war, were as busy as the other people in building it. For the fear of being every moment suddenly attacked by privateers, conquered all other thoughts. Many of them scrupled to put their own hands to the work; but forwarded, it by supplies of money, and by getting ready every thing, which was necessary.Octoberthe 5th. It was my design to cross theDelaware, and to get intoNew Jerseywith a view to get acquainted with the country; but as there was no ferry here to bring my horse over, I set out on my return toPhiladelphia. I partly went along the high road, and partly deviated on one or the other side of it, in order to take more exact observations of the country, and of its natural history.The maize, was sown in several places. In some its stalks were cut somewhat below the ear, dried and put up in narrow high stacks, in order to keep them as a food for the cattle in winter. The lower part of the stalk had likewise leaves, but as they commonly dry of themselves, the people do not like to[160]feed the cattle with them, all their flavour being lost: But the upper ones are cut, whilst they are yet green.The vallies between the hills commonly contain brooks: but they are not very broad, and require no bridges, so that carriages and horse can easily pass through them, for the water is seldom above six inches deep.The leaves of most trees were yet quite green, such as those of oaks, chesnut trees, black walnut trees, hiccory, tulip trees, and sassafras. The two latter species are found in plenty on the sides of the little woods, on hills, on the fallow fields, near hedges, and on the road. The persimon likewise had still its leaves; however some trees of this kind had dropt them. The leaves of theAmericanbramble were at present almost entirely red, though some of these bushes yet retained a lively green in the leaves. TheCorneliancherry likewise had already a mixture of brown and pale leaves. The leaves of the red maple were also red.I continued my journey toChichester, a borough upon theDelaware, where travellers pass the river in a ferry. They build here every year a number of small ships for sale. From an iron work which[161]lies higher in the country, they carry iron bars to this place, and ship them.Canoes are boats made of one piece of wood, and are much in use with the farmers, and other people upon theDelaware, and some little rivers. For that purpose a very thick trunk of a tree is hollowed out; the red juniper or red cedar tree, the white cedar, the chesnut tree, the white oak, and the tulip tree are commonly made use of for this purpose. The canoes made of red and white cedar are reckoned the best, because they swim very light upon the water, and last twenty years together. But of these, the red cedar canoes are most preferable. Those made of chesnut trees will likewise last for a good while. But those of white oak are hardly serviceable above six years, and also swim deep, because they are so heavy. TheLiquidambar tree, orLiquidambar styraciflua, Linn.is big enough but unfit making canoes, because it imbibes the water. The canoes which are made of the tulip tree, scarce last as long as those of white oak. The size of the canoes is different, according to the purposes they are destined for. They can carry six persons; who however, must by no means be unruly, but sit at the bottom of the canoe in the quietest manner[162]possible, lest the boat overset. TheSwedesinPensylvaniaandNew Jerseynear the rivers, have no other boats to go toPhiladelphiain, which they commonly do twice a week on the market days, though they be several miles distant from the town, and meet sometimes with severe storms; yet misfortunes from the oversetting, &c; of these canoes are seldom heard of, though they might well be expected on account of the small size of this kind of boats. However a great deal of attention and care is necessary in managing the canoes, when the wind is somewhat violent; for they are narrow, round below, have no keel, and therefore may easily be overset. Accordingly when the wind is more brisk than ordinary, the people make for the land.The common garden cresses grow in several places on the roads aboutChichester, and undoubtedly come from the seeds, which were by chance carried out of the many gardens about that town.TheAmericanbrambles are here in great plenty. When a field is left uncultivated, they are the first plants that appear on it; and I frequently observed them in such fields as are annually ploughed, and have corn sown on them. For when these bushes are once rooted, they are not easily extirpated.[163]Such a bush runs out tendrils sometimes four fathoms off its root, and then throws a new root, so that on pulling it up, you meet with roots on both ends. On some old grounds, which had long been uncultivated, there were so many bushes of this kind, that it was very troublesome and dangerous walking in them. A wine is made of the berries, as I have already mentioned. The berries are likewise eaten when they are ripe, and taste well. No other use is made of them.Octoberthe 6th. TheChenopodium anthelminticumis very plentiful on the road, and on the banks of the river, but chiefly in dry places in a loose sandy soil. TheEnglishwho are settled here, call itWormseedandJerusalem Oak. It has a disagreeable scent. InPensylvaniaandNew Jerseyits seeds are given to children, against the worms, and for that purpose they are excellent. The plant itself is spontaneous in both provinces.The environs ofChichester, contain many gardens, which are full of apple trees, sinking under the weight of innumerable apples. Most of them are winter fruit, and therefore were yet quite sour. Each farm has a garden, and so has each house of the better sort. The extent of these gardens is[164]likewise not inconsiderable, and therefore affords, the possessor all the year long, great supplies in his house-keeping, both for eating and drinking. I frequently was surprized at the prudence of the inhabitants of this country. As soon as one has bought a piece of ground, which is neither built upon nor sown, his first care is to get young apple trees, and to make a garden. He next proceeds to build his house, and lastly prepares the uncultivated ground to receive corn. For it is well known that the trees require many years before they arrive to perfection, and this makes it necessary to plant them first. I now perceived near the farms, mills, wheels, and other instruments which are made use of in crushing the apples, in order to prepare cyder from them afterwards.FromChichesterI went on towardsPhiladelphia. The oaks were the most plentiful trees in the wood. But there were several species of them, all different from theEuropeanones. The swine now went about in great herds in the oak woods, where they fed upon the acorns which fell in great abundance from the trees. Each hog had a wooden triangular yoke about its neck, by which it was hindered from penetrating through the holes in the enclosures; and[165]for this reason, the enclosures are made very slender, and easy to put up, and do not require much wood. No other enclosures are in use, but those which are so like sheep hurdles. A number of squirrels were in the oak woods, partly running on the ground, and partly leaping from one branch to another; and at this time they chiefly fed upon acorns.I seldom saw beach trees; but I found them quite the same with theEuropeanones. Their wood is reckoned very good for making joiner’s planes of.I do not remember seeing any other than theblack Ants, orFormica nigrainPensylvania. They are as black as a coal, and of two sorts, some very little, like the least of our ants, and others of the size of our common reddish ants. I have not yet observed any hills of theirs, but only seen some running about singly. In other parts ofAmerica, I have likewise found other species of ants, as I intend to remark in the sequel.Thecommon Privet, orLigustrum vulgare, is made use of in many places, as a hedge round corn-fields and gardens, and on my whole voyage, I did not see that any other trees were made use of for this purpose, though theEnglishmenhere, well know that the hawthorn makes a much better[166]hedge. The privet hedges grow very thick and close, but having no spines, the hogs, and even other animals break easily through them; and when they have once made a hole, it requires a long while before it grows up again. But when the hedges consist of spinose bushes, the cattle will hardly attempt to get through them.About noon I came throughChester, a little market-town which lies on theDelaware. A rivulet coming down out of the country, passes through this place, and discharges itself into theDelaware. There is a bridge over it. The houses stand dispersed. Most of them are built of stone, and two or three stories high; some are however made of wood. In the town is a church, and a market-place.Wheat was now sown every where. In some places it was already green, having been sown four weeks before. The wheat fields were made in theEnglishmanner, having no ditches in them, but numerous furrows for draining the water, at the distance of four or six foot from one another. Great stumps of the trees which had been cut down, are every where seen on the fields, and this shews that the country has been but lately cultivated.The roots of the trees do not go deep[167]into the ground, but spread horizontally. I had opportunities of observing this in several places where the trees were dug up; for I seldom saw one, whose roots went above a foot deep into the ground, though it was a loose soil.About twoEnglishmiles behindChester, I passed by an iron forge, which was to the right hand by the road side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was told. The ore however is not dug here, but thirty or forty miles from hence, where it is first melted in the oven, and then carried to this place. The bellows were made of leather, and both they and the hammers, and even the hearth, but small in proportion to ours. All the machines were worked by water. The iron was wrought into bars.To day I remarked, as I have since frequently seen on my travels in this country, that horses are very greedy of apples. When they are let into an orchard to feed upon the grass, if there are any apples on the ground, they frequently leave the fresh green grass, and eat the apples, which, however, are not reckoned a good food for them; and besides that, it is too expensive.Thered Maple, orAcer rubrumis plentiful in these places. Its proper situations[168]are chiefly swampy, wet places, in which the alder commonly is its companion. Out of its wood they make plates, spinning-wheels, rolls, feet for chairs and beds, and all sorts of work. With the bark, they dye both worsted and linnen, giving it a dark blue colour. For that purpose it is first boiled in water; and some copperas, such as the hat-makers and shoe-makers commonly make use of, is added, before the stuff (which is to be dyed) is put into the boiler. This bark likewise affords a good black ink. When the tree is felled early in spring, a sweet juice runs out of it, like that which runs out of our birches. This juice they do not make any use of here, but inCanada, they make both treacle and sugar of it. Here is a variety of this tree which they call thecurled Maple, the wood being as it were marbled within; it is much used in all kinds of joiner’s work, and the utensils made of this wood, are preferable to those made of any other sort of wood in the country, and are much dearer than those made of the wood of the wild cherry trees (Prunus Virginiana) or of black walnut trees. But the most valuable utensils were those made ofcurled black walnut, for that is an excessive scarce kind of wood. The curled maple was likewise very uncommon,[169]and you frequently find trees, whose outsides are marbled, but their inside not. The tree is therefore cut very deep before it is felled, to see whether it has veins in every part.In the evening I reachedPhiladelphia.Octoberthe 7th. In the morning we crossed theDelawarein a boat to the other side which belongs toNew Jersey, each person paying fourpence for his passage. The country here is very different from that inPensylvania; for here the ground is almost mere sand, but in the other province it is mixed with a good deal of clay, and this makes the ground pretty rich. The discoveries which I made to day of insects and plants, I intend to mention in another work.A soil like this inNew Jersey, one might be led to think, could produce nothing because it is so dry and poor. Yet the maize which is planted on it grows extremely well, and we saw many fields filled with it. The earth is of that kind in which tobacco commonly succeeds, but it is not near so rich. The stalks of maize are commonly eight feet high, more or less, and are full of leaves. The maize is planted as usual in rows, in little squares, so that there is a space of five feet and six[170]inches between each square, both in length and breadth; on each of these little hills three or four stalks come up, which were not yet cut for the cattle; each stalk again has from one to four ears, which are large and full of corn. A sandy ground could never have been better employed. In some places the ground between the maize is ploughed, and rye sown in it, so that when the maize is cut, the rye remains upon the field.We frequently sawAsparagusgrowing near the enclosures, in a loose soil, on uncultivated sandy fields. It is likewise plentiful between the maize, and was at present full of berries, but I cannot tell whether the seeds are carried by the wind to the places where I saw them; it is however certain, that I have likewise seen it growing wild in other parts ofAmerica.TheWorm-seed, is likewise plentiful on the roads, in a sandy ground such as that near the ferry opposite toPhiladelphia. I have already mentioned that it is given to children, as a remedy to carry off the worms. It is then put into brandy, and when it has been in it for one hour, it is taken out again, dried and given to the children, either in beer sweetened with treacle, or in any other liquor. Its effects[171]talked of differently. Some people say it kills the worms, others again pretend that it forwards their encrease. But I know by my own experience, that this wormseed has had very good effects upon children.ThePurslain, which we cultivate in our gardens, grows wild in great abundance in the loose soil amongst the maize. It was there creeping on the ground, and its stalks were pretty thick and succulent; which circumstance very justly gave reason to wonder from whence it could get juice sufficient to supply it in such a dry ground. It is to be found plentiful in such soil, in other places of this country.TheBidens bipinnata, is here calledSpanish Needles. It grows single about farm houses, near roads, pales and along the hedges. It was yet partly in flower; but for the greatest part it was already out of blossom. When its seeds are ripe it is very disagreeable walking where it grows. For they stick to the cloaths and make them black; and it is difficult to discharge the black spots which they occasion. Each seed has three spines at its extremity; and each of these again is full of numerous little hooks, by which the seed fastens itself to the cloaths.In the woods and along the hedges in[172]this neighbourhood, some singlered Ants, (Formica rubra) crept about, and their antennæ or feel-horns were as long as their bodies.Towards night we returned toPhiladelphia.Octoberthe 8th. The shore ofPensylvaniahas a great quantity of the finest oysters. About this time the people began to bring them toPhiladelphiafor sale. They come from that part of the shore, which is near the mouth of the riverDelaware. They are reckoned as good as theNew Yorkoysters, of which I shall make more particular mention afterwards. However I thought that this latter sort of oysters was generally larger, fatter and more palatable. It is remarkable that they commonly became palatable at the time when the agues had left off their fury. Some men went with whole carts full of oysters, crying them about the streets; this is unusual here when any thing else is to be sold, but inLondonit is very common. The oyster shells are thrown away, though formerly a lime was burnt from them, which has been found unnecessary, there being stones for burning of lime in this neighbourhood, and the lime of oyster shells not being as good as this other lime. The people shewed[173]me some of houses in this town which were built of stone, and to the mason work of which the lime of oyster shells had been employed. The walls of these houses were always so wet two or three days before a rain, that great drops of water could plainly be perceived on them; and thus they were as good as Hygrometers.27Several people who had lived in this kind of houses complained of these inconveniences.Octoberthe 9th. Pease are not much cultivated inPensylvaniaat present, though formerly, according to the accounts of some oldSwedes, every farmer had a little field with pease. InNew Jerseyand the southern parts ofNew York, pease are likewise not so much cultivated as they used to be. But in the northern parts ofNew York, or aboutAlbany, and in all the parts ofCanadawhich are inhabited by theFrench, the people sow great quantities, and have a plentiful crop. In the former colonies, a little despicable insect has obliged the people to give up so useful a part of agriculture. This little insect was formerly[174]little known, but a few years ago it multiplied excessively. It couples in summer, about the time when the pease are in blossom, and then deposites an egg into almost every one of the little pease. When the pease are ripe, their outward appearance does not discover the worm, which, however, is found within, when it is cut. This worm lies in the pea, if it is not stirred during all the winter, and part of the spring, and in that space of time consumes the greatest part of the inside of the pea: In spring therefore little more than the mere thin outward skin is left. This worm at last changes into an insect, of the coleoptera class, and in that state creeps through a hole of its own making in the husk, and flies off, in order to look for new fields of pease, in which it may couple with its cogeneric insects, and provide food sufficient for its posterity.This noxious insect has spread fromPensylvaniato the north. For the country ofNew York, where it is common at present, has not been plagued with it above twelve or fifteen years ago; and before that time the people sowed pease every year without any inconvenience, and had excellent crops. But by degrees these little enemies came in such numbers, that the[175]inhabitants were forced to leave off sowing of pease. The people complained of this in several places. The country people aboutAlbanyhave yet the pleasure to see their fields of pease not infected by these beetles, but are always afraid of their approach; as it has been observed they come every year nearer to that province.I know not whether this insect would live inEurope, and I should think ourSwedishwinters must kill the worm, even if it be ever so deeply inclosed in the pea; notwithstanding it is often as cold inNew York(where this insect is so abundant) as in our country, yet it continues to multiply here every year, and proceeds always farther to the north. I was very near bringing some of these vermin intoEurope, without knowing of it. At my departure fromAmerica, I took some sweet peas with me in a paper, and they were at that time quite fresh and green. But on opening the paper after my arrival atStockholm, onAugustthe 1st. 1751; I found all the peas hollow, and the head of an infect peeping out of each. Some of these insects even crept out, in order to try the weather of this new climate; but I made haste, to shut the paper again, in order to prevent the spreading of this[176]noxious insect.28I own, that when I first perceived them, I was more frightened than I should have been at the sight of a viper. For I at once had a full view of the whole damage, which my dear country would have suffered, if only two or three of these noxious insects had escaped me. The posterity of many families, and even the inhabitants of whole provinces, would have had sufficient reason to detest me as the cause of so great a calamity. I afterwards sent some of them, though well secured, to countTessin, and to Dr.Linnæus, together with an account of their destructive qualities. Dr.Linnæushas already inserted a description of them in an Academical Dissertation, which has been drawn up under his presidency, and treats of the damages made by insects.29He there calls this insect theBruchusofNorth-America.30It[177]was very peculiar that every pea in the paper was eaten without exception.When the inhabitants ofPensylvaniasow pease procured from abroad, they are not commonly attacked by these insects for the first year; but in the next they take possession of the pea. It is greatly to be wished that none of the ships which annually depart fromNew YorkorPensylvania, may bring them into theEuropeancountries. From hence the power of a single despicable insect will plainly appear; as also, that the study of the œconomy and of the qualities of insects, is not to be looked upon as a mere pastime and useless employment.31TheRhus radicansis a shrub or tree which grows abundantly in this country, and has in common with the ivy, calledHedera arborea, the quality of not growing without the support either of a tree, a wall, or a hedge. I have seen it climbing to the very top of high trees in the[178]woods, and its branches shoot out every where little roots, which fasten upon the tree and as it were enter into it. When the stem is cut, it emits a pale brown sap of a disagreeable scent. This sap is so sharp that the letters and characters made upon linnen with it, cannot be got out again, but grow blacker the more the cloath is washed. Boys commonly marked their names on their linnen with this juice. If you write with it on paper, the letters never go out, but grow blacker from time to time.This species ofSumachhas the same noxious qualities as the poisonous sumach, orPoison-tree, which I have above described, being poisonous to some people, though not to every one. Therefore all that has been said of the poison tree is likewise applicable to this; excepting that the former has the stronger poison. However I have seen people who have been as much swelled from the noxious exhalations of the latter, as they could have been from those of the former. I likewise know that of two sisters, the one could manage the tree without being affected by its venom, though the other immediately felt it as soon as the exhalations of the tree came near her, or when ever she came a yard too near the[179]tree, and even when she stood in the way of the wind, which blew directly from this shrub. But upon me this species of sumach has never exherted its power, though I made above a hundred experiments upon myself with the greatest stems, and the juice once squirted into my eye, without doing me any harm. On another person’s hand which I had covered very thick with it, the skin a few hours after became as hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled off in the following days, as if little scales fell from it.Octoberthe 10th. In the morning I accompanied Mr.Cockto his country seat, which is about nine miles fromPhiladelphiato the north.Though the woods ofPensylvaniaafford many oaks, and more species of them than are found further north, yet they do not build so many ships in this province as they do in the northern ones, and especially inNew England. But experience has taught the people that the same kind of trees is more durable the further it grows to the north, and that this advantage decreases the more it grows in warm climates. It is likewise plain that the trees in the south grow more every year, and form thicker ringlets than those in the north. The former[180]have likewise much greater tubes for the circulation of the sap than the latter. And for this reason they do not build so many ships inPensylvania, as they do inNew England, though more than inVirginiaandMaryland; butCarolinabuilds very few, and its merchants get all their ships fromNew England. Those which are here made of the best oak, hardly are serviceable above ten, or at most twelve years; for then they are so rotten, that no body ventures to go to sea in them, Many captains of ships come over fromEnglandtoNorth-America, in order to get ships built. But most of them chooseNew England, that being the most northerly province; and if they even come over in ships which are bound forPhiladelphia, they frequently on their arrival set out fromPensylvaniaforNew England. TheSpaniardsin theWest Indiesare said to build their ships of a peculiar sort of cedar, which holds out against putrefaction and wet; but it is not to be met with on the continent in theEnglishprovinces. Here are above nine different sorts of oak, but not one of them is comparable to the single species we have inSweden, with regard to its goodness. And therefore a ship ofEuropeanoak costs a great deal more than one made ofAmericanoak.[181]Many people who chiefly employed themselves in gardening, had found in a succession of years, that the redBeet, which grew out of the seed which was got fromNew York, became very sweet and had a very fine taste; but that it every year lost part of its goodness, if it was cultivated from seeds which were got here. The people were therefore obliged to get as many seeds of red beet every year fromNew York, as were wanted in their gardens. It has likewise been generally observed, that the plants which are produced fromEnglishseeds are always much better and more agreeable, than those which come from seeds of this country.In the garden of Mr.Cockwas a raddish which was in the loose soil, grown so big as to be seven inches in diameter. Every body that saw it, owned it was uncommon to see them of such a size.That species ofConvolvuluswhich is commonly calledBatatas, has here the name ofBermudian potatoes. The common people, and the gentry without distinction planted them in their gardens. This is done in the same manner as with the common potatoes. Some people made little hillocks, into which they put these potatoes; but others only planted them in flat beds.[182]The soil must be a mixture of sand and earth, and neither too rich, nor too poor. When they are going to plant them, they cut them, as the common potatoes, taking care however that a bud or two be left upon each piece which is intended to be planted. Their colour is commonly red without, and yellow within. They are bigger than the common sort, and have a sweet and very agreeable taste, which I cannot find in the other potatoes, in artichokes or in any other root, and they almost melt in the mouth. It is not long since they have been planted here. They are dressed in the same manner ascommonpotatoes, and eaten either along with them, or by themselves. They grow very fast and very well here; but the greatest difficulty consists in keeping them over winter, for they will bear neither cold, nor a great heat, nor wet. They must therefore be kept during winter in a box with sand in a warm room. InPensylvaniawhere they have no valves in their chimnies, they are put in such a box with sand, at some distance from the fire, and there they are secured both against frost and against over great heat. It will not answer the purpose to put them into dry sand in a cellar, as is commonly done with the common sort of potatoes. For the[183]moisture which is always in cellars, penetrates the sand, and makes them putrefy. It would probably be very easy to keep them inSwedenin warm rooms, during the cold season. But the difficulty lies wholly in bringing them over toSweden. I carried a considerable number of them with me on leavingAmerica, and took all possible care in preserving them. But we had a very violent storm at sea, by which the ship was so greatly damaged, that the water got in every where, and wetted our cloaths, beds and other moveables so much, that we could wring the water out of them. It is therefore no wonder that myBermuda potatoeswere rotten; but as they are now cultivated inPortugalandSpain, nay even inEngland, it will be easy to bring them intoSweden. The drink which theSpaniardsprepare from these potatoes in theirAmericanpossessions is not usual inPensylvania.32Mr.Cockhad a paper mill, on a little brook, and all the coarser sorts of paper are manufactured in it. It is now annually rented for fifty poundsPensylvaniacurrency.[184]Octoberthe 11th. I have already mentioned, that every countryman has a greater or lesser number of apple trees planted round his farm-house, from whence he gets great quantities of fruit, part of which he sells, part he makes cyder of, and part he uses in his own family for pyes, tarts, and the like. However he cannot expect an equal quantity of fruit every year. And I was told, that this year had not by far afforded such a great quantity of apples as the preceding; the cause of which they told me, was the continual and great drought in the month ofMay, which had hurt all the blossoms of the apple trees, and made them wither. The heat had been so great as to dry up all the plants, and the grass in the fields.ThePolytrichum commune, a species of moss, grew plentifully on wet and low meadows between the woods, and in several places quite covered them, as our mosses cover the meadows inSweden. It was likewise very plentiful on hills.Agriculture was in a very bad state hereabouts. When a person had bought a piece of land, which perhaps had never been ploughed since the creation, he cut down part of the wood, tore up the roots, ploughed the ground, sowed corn on it,[185]and the first time got a plentiful crop. But the same land being tilled for several years successively, without being manured, it at last must of course lose its fertility. Its possessor therefore leaves it fallow, and proceeds to another part of his ground, which he treats in the same manner. Thus he goes on till he has changed a great part of his possessions into corn-fields, and by that means deprives the ground of its fertility. He then returns to the first field, which now is pretty well recovered; this he again tills as long as it will afford him a good crop, but when its fertility is exhausted, he leaves it fallow again, and proceeds to the rest as before.It being customary here, to let the cattle go about the fields and in the woods both day and night, the people cannot collect much dung for manure. But by leaving the land fallow for several years together, a great quantity of weeds spring up in it, and get such strength, that it requires a considerable time to extirpate them. From hence it likewise comes, that the corn is always so much mixed with weeds. The great richness of the soil, which the firstEuropeancolonists found here, and which had never been ploughed before, has given rise to this neglect of agriculture, which is[186]still observed by many of the inhabitants. But they do not consider, that when the earth is quite exhausted, a great space of time, and an infinite deal of labour is necessary to bring it again into good order; especially in these countries which are almost every summer so scorched up by the excessive heat and drought. The soil of the corn-fields consisted of a thin mould, greatly mixed with a brick coloured clay, and a quantity of small particles of glimmer. This latter came from the stones which are here almost every where to be met with at the depth of a foot or thereabouts. These little pieces of glimmer made the ground sparkle, when the sun shone upon it.Almost all the houses hereabouts were built either of stone or bricks; but those of stone were more numerous.Germantown, which is about twoEnglishmiles long, had no other houses, and the country houses thereabouts, were all built of stone. But there are several varieties of that stone which is commonly made use of in building. Sometimes it consisted of a black or grey glimmer, running in undulated veins, the spaces between their bendings being filled up with a grey, loose, small-grained[187]limestone, which was easily friable. Some transparent particles of quartz were scattered in the mass, of which the glimmer made the greatest part. It was very easy to be cut, and with proper tools could readily be shaped into any form. Sometimes however the pieces consisted of a black, small-grained glimmer, a white small-grained sandstone, and some particles of quartz, and the several constituent parts were well mixed together. Sometimes the stone had broad stripes of the white limestone without any addition of glimmer. But most commonly they were much blended together, and of a grey colour. Sometimes this stone was found to consist of quite fine and black pieces of glimmer, and a grey, loose and very small-grained limestone. This was likewise very easy to be cut, being loose.These varieties of the stone are commonly found close together. They were every where to be met with, at a little depth, but not in equal quantity and goodness; and not always easy to be broken. When therefore a person intended to build a house, he enquired where the best stone could be met with. It is to be found on corn-fields and meadows, at a depth which varies from two to six feet. The pieces[188]were different as to size. Some were eight or ten feet long, two broad, and one thick. Sometimes they were still bigger, but frequently much less. Hereabouts they lay in strata one above another, the thickness of each stratum being about a foot. The length and breadth were different, but commonly such as I have before mentioned. They must commonly dig three or four feet before they reach the first stratum. The loose ground above that stratum, is full of little pieces of this stone. This ground is the common brick coloured soil, which is universal here, and consists of sand and clay, though the former is more plentiful. The loose pieces of glimmer which shine so much in it, seem to have been broken off from the great strata of stone.It must be observed that when the people build with this stone, they take care to turn the flat side of it outwards. But as that cannot always be done, the stone being frequently rough on all sides, it is easily cut smooth with tools, since it is soft, and not very difficult to be broken. The stones however are unequal in thickness, and therefore by putting them together they cannot be kept in such straight lines as bricks. It sometimes likewise happens that pieces break off when they are cut, and[189]leave holes on the outside of the wall. But in order to fill up these holes, the little pieces of stone which cannot be made use of are pounded, mixed with mortar, and put into the holes; the places thus filled up, are afterwards smoothed, and when they are dry, they are hardly distinguishable from the rest at some distance. At last they draw on the outside of the wall, strokes of mortar, which cross each other perpendicularly, so that it looks as if the wall consisted wholly of equal, square stones, and as if the white strokes were the places where they were joined with mortar. The inside of the wall is made smooth, covered with mortar and whitewashed. It has not been observed that this kind of stone attracts the moisture in a rainy or wet season. InPhiladelphiaand its environs, you find several houses built of this kind of stone.The houses here are commonly built in theEnglishmanner.One of Mr.Cock’s negroes showed me the skin of a badger (Ursus Meles) which he had killed a few days ago, and which convinced me that theAmericanbadger is the same with theSwedishone. It was here calledGround Hog.Towards night I returned toPhiladelphia.[190]Octoberthe 12th. In the morning we went to the riverSkulkill, partly to gather seeds, partly to collect plants for the herbal, and to make all sorts of observations. TheSkulkillis a narrow river, which falls into theDelaware, about four miles fromPhiladelphiato the south; but narrow as it is, it rises on the west side of those high mountains, commonly called the blue mountains, and runs two hundredEnglishmiles, and perhaps more. It is a great disadvantage to this country, that there are several cataracts in this river as low asPhiladelphia, for which reason there can be no navigation on it. To day I made some descriptions and remarks on such plants as the cattle liked, or such as they never touched.I observed several little subterraneous walks in the fields, running under ground in various directions, the opening of which was big enough for a mole: the earth, which formed as it were a vault above it, and lay elevated like a little bank, was near two inches high, full as broad as a man’s hand, and about two inches thick. In uncultivated fields I frequently saw these subterraneous walks, which discovered themselves by the ground thrown up above them, which when trod upon gave way, and made it inconvenient to walk in the field.[191]These walks are inhabited by a kind of mole,33which I intend to describe more accurately in another work. Their food is commonly roots: I have observed the following qualities in one which was caught. It had greater stiffness and strength in its legs, than I ever observed in other animals in proportion to their size. Whenever it intended to dig, it held its legs obliquely, like oars, I laid my handkerchief before it, and it began to stir in it with the snout, and taking away the handkerchief to see what it had done to it, I found that in the space of a minute it had made it full of holes, and it looked as if it had been pierced very much by an awl. I was obliged to put some books on the cover of the box in which I kept this animal, or else it was flung off immediately. It was very irascible, and would bite great holes into any thing that was put in its way; I held a steel pen-case to it, it at first bit at it with great violence, but having felt its hardness, it would not venture again to bite at any thing. These moles do not make such hills as theEuropeanones, but only such walks as I have already described.[192]Octoberthe 13th. There is a plant here, from the berries of which they make a kind of wax or tallow, and for that reason theSwedescall it theTallow shrub. TheEnglishcall the same tree theCandleberry-tree, orBayberry-bush; and Dr.Linnæusgives it the name ofMyrica cerifera. It grows abundantly on a wet soil, and it seems to thrive particularly well in the neighbourhood of the sea, nor have I ever found it high up in the country far from the sea. The berries grow abundantly on the female shrub, and look as if flower had been strewed upon them. They are gathered late in autumn, being ripe about that time, and are then thrown into a kettle or pot full of boiling water; by this means their fat melts out, floats at the top of the water and may be skimmed off into a vessel; with the skimming they go on till there is no tallow left. The tallow as soon as it is congealed, looks like common tallow or wax, but has a dirty green colour; it is for that reason melted over again, and refined, by which means it acquires a fine and pretty transparent green colour: this tallow is dearer than common tallow, but cheaper than wax. InPhiladelphiathey pay a shillingPensylvaniacurrency, for a pound of this tallow; but a pound of common tallow[193]only came to half that money, and wax costs as much again. From this tallow they make candles in many parts of this province, but they usually mix some common tallow with it. Candles of this kind, do not easily bend, nor melt in summer as common candles do; they burn better and slower, nor do they cause any smoak, but rather yield an agreeable smell, when they are extinguished. An oldSwedeof ninety-one years of age told me, that this sort of candles had formerly been much in use with his country men. At present they do not make so many candles of this kind, if they can get the tallow of animals; it being too troublesome to gather the berries. However these candles are made use of by poor people, who live in the neighbourhood of a place where the bushes grow, and have not cattle enough to kill, in order to supply them with a sufficient quantity of tallow. From the wax of the candleberry tree they likewise make a soap here, which has an agreeable scent, and is the best for shaving. This wax is likewise used by doctors, and surgeons, who reckon it exceeding good for plasters upon wounds. A merchant of this town once sent a quantity of these candles to thoseAmericanprovinces which had Roman Catholic inhabitants, thinking he[194]would be well paid, since wax candles are made use of in the Roman Catholick churches; but the clergy would not take them. An oldSwedementioned that the root of the candleberry tree was formerly made use of by the Indians, as a remedy against the tooth ach, and that he himself having had the tooth ach very violently, had cut the root in pieces and applied it round his tooth; and that the pain had been lessened by it. AnotherSwedeassured me that he had been cured of the tooth ach, by applying the peel of the root to it. InCarolina, they not only make candles out of the wax of the berries, but likewise sealing-wax.Octoberthe 14th.PennyRoyalis a plant which has a peculiar strong scent, and grows abundantly on dry places in the country. Botanists call itCunila pulegioides. It is reckoned very wholesome to drink as a tea when a person has got cold, as it promotes perspiration. I was likewise told, that on feeling a pain in any limb, this plant, if applied to it, would give immediate relief.The goods which are shipped toLondonfromNew Englandare the following: all sorts of fish caught nearNewfoundlandand elsewhere; train-oil of several sorts; whale-bone; tar, pitch, masts; new ships, of which[195]a great number is annually built; a few hides, and sometimes some sorts of wood. TheEnglishislands inAmerica, asJamaicaandBarbadoes, get fromNew England, fish, flesh, butter, cheese, tallow, horses, cattle; all sorts of lumber, such as pails, buckets, and hogsheads; and have returns made in rum, sugar, melasses, and other produces of the country, or in cash, the greatest part of all which they send toLondon(the money especially) in payment of the goods received from thence, and yet all this is inefficient to pay off the debt.Octoberthe 15th. TheAldersgrew here in considerable abundance on wet and low places, and even sometimes on pretty high ones, but never reached the height of theEuropeanalders, and commonly stood like a bush about a fathom or two high. Mr.Bartram, and other gentlemen who had frequently travelled in these provinces, told me that the more you go to the south, the less are the alders, but that they are higher and taller, the more you advance to the north. I found afterwards myself, that the alders in some places ofCanada, are little inferior to theSwedishones. Their bark is employed here in dying red and brown. ASwedishinhabitant ofAmerica, told me that he had cut his leg to the very bone, and that some coagulated blood had[196]already been settled within. That he had been advised to boil the alder bark, and to wash the wound often with the water: that he followed this advice, and had soon got his leg healed, though it had been very dangerous at first.ThePhytolacca decandrawas calledPokeby theEnglish. TheSwedeshad no particular name for it, but made use of theEnglish, with some little variation intoPaok. When the juice of its berries is put upon paper or the like, it strikes it with a high purple colour, which is as fineasany in the world, and it is pity that no method is as yet found out, of making this colour last on woollen and linen cloth, for it fades very soon. Mr.Bartrammentioned, that having hit his foot against a stone, he had got a violent pain in it; he then bethought himself to put a leaf of thePhytolaccaon his foot, by which he lost the pain in a short time, and got his foot well soon after. The berries are eaten by the birds about this time. TheEnglishand severalSwedesmake use of the leaves in spring, when they are just come out, and are yet tender and soft, and eat them partly as green cale, and partly in the manner we eat spinnage. Sometimes they likewise prepare them in the first of these ways, when the stalks are already grown a little longer, breaking off[197]none but the upper sprouts which are yet tender, and not woody; but in this latter case, great care is to be taken, for if you eat the plant when it is already grown up, and its leaves are no longer soft, you may expect death as a consequence which seldom fails to follow, for the plant has then got a power of purging the body to excess. I have known people, who, by eating great full grown leaves of this plant, have got such a strong dysentery, that they were near dying with it: its berries however are eaten in autumn by children, without any ill consequence.Woollen and linen cloth is dyed yellow with the bark of hiccory. This likewise is done with the bark of theblack oak, orLinnæus’sQuercus nigra, and that variety of it whichCatesbyin hisNatural History of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 19. callsQuercus marilandica. The flowers and leaves of theImpatiens Noli tangereor balsamine, likewise dyed all woollen stuffs with a fine yellow colour.TheCollinsonia canadensiswas frequently found in little woods and bushes, in a good rich soil. Mr.Bartramwho knew the country perfectly well, was sure thatPensylvania, and all the parts ofAmericain the same climate, were the true and original places where this plant grows. For further[198]to the south, neither he nor Messrs.ClaytonandMitchelever found it, though the latter gentlemen have made accurate observations inVirginiaand part ofMaryland. And from his own experience he knew, that it did not grow in the northerly parts. I have never found it more than fifteen min. north of forty-three deg. The time of the year when it comes up inPensylvania, is so late, that its seed has but just time sufficient to ripen in, and it therefore seems unlikely, that it can succeed further north, Mr.Bartramwas the first who discovered it, and sent it over intoEurope. Mr.Jussieuduring his stay atLondon, and Dr.Linnæusafterwards, called itCollinsonia, from the celebrated Mr.Peter Collinson, a merchant inLondon, and fellow of theEnglishandSwedishRoyal Societies. He well deserved the honour of having a plant called after his name, for there are few people that have promoted natural history and all useful sciences with a zeal like his; or that have done as much as he towards collecting, cultivating, and making known all sorts of plants. TheCollinsoniahas a peculiar scent, which is agreeable, but very strong. It always gave me a pretty violent head-ach whenever I passed by a place where it stood in plenty, and especially when it was in[199]flower. Mr.Bartramwas acquainted with a better quality of this plant, which was that of being an excellent remedy against all sorts of pain in the limbs, and against a cold, when the parts affected are rubbed with it. And Mr.Conrad Weisser, interpreter of the language of the Indians inPensylvania, had told him of a more wonderful cure with this plant. He was once among a company of Indians, one of which had been stung by a rattle snake, the savages gave him over, but he boiled thecollinsonia, and made the poor wretch drink the water, from which he happily recovered. Somewhat more to the north and inNew Yorkthey call this plantHorseweed, because the horses eat it in spring, before any other plant comes up.Octoberthe 16th. I asked Mr.Franklinand other gentlemen who were well acquainted with this country, whether they had met with any signs, from whence they could have concluded that any place which was now a part of the continent, had formerly been covered with water? and I got the following account in answer.1. On travelling from hence to the south, you meet with a place where the highroad is very low in the ground between two mountains. On both sides you see[200]nothing but oyster shells and muscle shells in immense quantities above each other; however the place is many miles off the sea.2. Whenever they dig wells, or build houses in town, they find the earth lying in several strata above each other. At a depth of fourteen feet or more, they find globular stones, which are as smooth on the outside as those which lie on the sea-shore, and are made round and smooth by the rolling of the waves. And after having dug through the sand, and reached a depth of eighteen feet or more, they discover in some places a slime like that which the sea throws up on the shore, and which commonly lies at its bottom and in rivers; this slime is quite full of trees, leaves, branches, reed, charcoal, &c.3. It has sometimes happened that new houses have sunk on one side in a short time, and have obliged the people to pull them down again. On digging deeper, for a very hard ground to build upon, they have found a quantity of the above slime, wood, roots, &c.Are not these reasons sufficient to make one suppose that those places inPhiladelphiawhich are at present fourteen feet and more under ground, formerly were the bottom of[201]the sea, and that by several accidents, sand, earth, and other things were carried upon it? or, that theDelawareformerly was broader than it is at present? or, that it has changed its course? This last still often happens at present; the river breaking off the bank on one side, and forming one on the other. Both theSwedesandEnglishoften shewed me such places.Octoberthe 18th. At present I did not find above ten different kinds of plants in blossom: they were, aGentiana, two species ofAster, the common Golden Rod, orSolidago Virga aurea, a species ofHieracium, the yellow wood Sorrel, orOxalis corniculata, the Fox Gloves, orDigitalis purpurea, theHamamelis Virginiana, or Witch Hazel, our common Millefoil, orAchillæa Millefolium, and our Dandelion, orLeontodon Taraxacum. All other plants had for this year laid aside their gay colours. Several trees, especially those which were to flower early in spring, had already formed such large buds, that on opening them all the parts of fructification, such asCalyx,Corolla,StaminaandPistillumwere plainly distinguishable. It was therefore easy to determine the genus to which such trees belonged. Such were the red maple, orAcer rubrum, and theLaurus æstivalis, a species of bay. Thus nature prepared to[202]bring forth flowers, with the first mild weather in the next year. The buds were at present quite hard, and all their parts pressed close together, that the cold might by all means be excluded.Theblack Walnut treeshad for the greatest part dropt their leaves, and many of them were entirely without them. The walnuts themselves were already fallen off. The green peel which enclosed them, if frequently handled, would yield a black colour, which could not be got off the fingers in two or three weeks time, though the hands were washed ever so much.TheCornus floridawas calledDogwoodby theEnglish, and grew abundantly in the woods. It looks beautiful when it is adorned with its numerous great white flowers in spring. The wood is very hard, and is therefore made use of for weaver’s spools, joiner’s planes, wedges, &c. When the cattle fall down in spring for want of strength, the people tie a branch of this tree on their neck, thinking it will help them.Octoberthe 19th. TheTulip treegrows every where in the woods of this country. The botanists call itLiriodendron tulipifera, because its flowers both in respect to their size, and in respect to their exterior form,[203]and even in some measure with regard to their colour, resemble tulips. TheSwedescalled itCanoe tree, for both theIndiansand theEuropeansoften make their canoes of the stem of this tree. TheEnglishmeninPensylvaniagive it the name ofPoplar. It is reckoned a tree which grows to the greatest height and thickness of any inNorth America, and which vies in that point with our greatestEuropeantrees. The white oak and the fir inNorth America, however are little inferior to it. It cannot therefore but be very agreeable to see in spring, at the end ofMay(when it is in blossom) one of the greatest trees covered for a fortnight together with flowers, which with regard to their shape, size, and partly colour are like tulips, the leaves have likewise something peculiar, theEnglishtherefore in some places call the treethe old woman’s smock, because their imagination finds something like it below the leaves.Its wood is here made use of for canoes, boards, planks, bowls, dishes, spoons, door posts, and all sorts of joiners work. I have seen a barn of a considerable size whose walls, and roof were made of a single tree of this kind, split into boards. Some joiners reckoned this wood better than oak, because this latter frequently is warped, which[204]the other never does, but works very easy; others again valued it very little. It is certain, that it contracts so much in hot weather, as to occasion great cracks in the boards, and in wet weather it swells so as to be near bursting, and the people hardly know of a wood in these parts which varies so much in contracting and expanding itself. The joiners however make much use of it in their work, they say there are two species of it; but they are merely two varieties, one of which in time turns yellow within, the other is white, the former is said to have a looser texture. The bark (likeRussiaglass) is divisible into very thin leaves, which are very tough like bast, though I have never seen it employed as such. The leaves when crushed and applied to the forehead are said to be a remedy against the head ach. When horses are plagued with worms, the bark is pounded, and given them quite dry. Many people believe its roots to be as efficacious against the fever as the jesuits bark. The trees grow in all sorts of dry soil, both on high and low grounds, but too wet a soil will not agree with them.Octoberthe 20th. TheBeaver treeis to be met with in several parts ofPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, in a poor swampy soil,[205]or on wet meadows. Dr.Linnæuscalls itMagnolia glauca; both theSwedesandEnglishcall itBeaver tree, because the root of this tree is the dainty of beavers, which are caught by its means, however theSwedessometimes gave it a different name, and theEnglishas improperly called itSwamp Sassafras, andWhite Laurel. The trees of this kind dropt their leaves early in autumn, though some of the young trees kept them all the winter. I have seldom found the beaver tree to the north ofPensylvania, where it begins to flower about the end ofMay. The scent of its blossoms is excellent, for by it you can discover within three quarters of anEnglishmile, whether these little trees stand in the neighbourhood, provided the wind be not against it. For the whole air is filled with this sweet and pleasant scent. It is beyond description agreeable to travel in the woods about that time, especially towards night. They retain their flowers for three weeks and even longer, according to the quality of the soil on which the trees stand; and during the whole time of their being in blossom, they spread their odoriferous exhalations. The berries likewise look very fine when they are ripe, for they have a rich red colour, and hang in bunches on slender stalks. The[206]cough, and other pectoral diseases are cured by putting the berries into rum or brandy, of which a draught every morning may be taken; the virtues of this remedy were universally extolled, and even praised for their salutary effects in consumptions. The bark being put into brandy, or boiled in any other liquor, is said not only to ease pectoral diseases, but likewise to be of some service against all internal pains and heat; and it was thought that a decoction of it could stop the dysentery. Persons who had caught cold, boiled the branches of the beaver tree in water, and drank it to their great relief. ASwede, calledLars Lack, gave the following account of a cure effected by this tree: One of his relations, an old man, had an open sore in his leg, which would not heal up again, though he had had much advice and used many remedies. An Indian at last effected the cure in the following manner. He burnt some of this wood to charcoal, which he reduced to powder, mixed with the fresh fat of pork, and rubbed the open places several times. This dried up the holes, which before were continually open, and the legs of the old man were quite sound to his death. The wood is likewise made use of for joiner’s planes.[207]Octoberthe 22d. Upon trial it has been found that the following animals and birds, which are wild in the woods ofNorth America, can be made nearly as tractable as domestic animals.The wildCowsandOxen, of which several people of distinction have got young calves from these wild cows, which are to be met with inCarolina, and other provinces to the south ofPensylvania, and brought them up among the tame cattle; when grown up, they were perfectly tame, but at the same time very unruly, so that there was no enclosure strong enough to resist them, if they had a mind to break through it; for as they possess a great strength in their neck, it was easy for them to overthrow the pales with their horns, and to get into the corn-fields; and as soon as they had made a road, all the tame cattle followed them; they likewise copulated with the latter, and by that means generated as it were a new breed. ThisAmericanspecies of oxen isLinnæus’sBos Bison, β.American Deer, can likewise be tamed; and I have seen them tame myself in different places. A farmer inNew Jerseyhad one in his possession, which he had caught when it was very young; and at present it was so tame, that in the day time it[208]run into the wood for its food, and towards night it returned home, and frequently brought a wild deer out of the wood, giving its master an opportunity to shoot it. Several people have therefore tamed young deer, and make use of them for hunting wild deer, or for decoying them home, especially in the time of their rutting.Beavershave been so tamed that they have gone on fishing, and brought home what they had caught to their masters. This often is the case withOtters, of which I have seen some, which were as tame as dogs, and followed their masters wherever they went; if he went out in a boat, the otter went with him, jumped into the water, and after a while came up with a fish. TheOpossum, can likewise be tamed, so as to follow people like a dog.TheRaccoonwhich we (Swedes) callSiupp, can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. In the dark it creeps to the poultry, and kills in one night a whole flock. Sugar and other sweet things must be carefully hidden from it, for if the chests and boxes are not always locked up, it gets into them, eats the sugar, and licks up the treacle with its paws: the ladies therefore[209]have every day some complaint against it, and for this reason many people rather forbear the diversion which this ape-like animal affords.

Late at night a great Halo appeared round the moon. The people said that it prognosticated either a storm, or rain, or both together. The smaller the ring is, or the nearer it comes to the moon, the sooner this weather sets in. But this time neither of these changes happened, and the halo had foretold a coldness in the air.

I saw to-day theChermesof the alder (Chermes Alni) in great abundance on the branches of that tree, which for that reason looks quite white, and at a distance appears as it were covered with mould.

Octoberthe 4th. I continued my journey early in the morning, and the country still had the same appearance as I went on. It was a continual chain of pretty high hills, with an easy ascent on all sides, and of[155]vallies between them. The soil consisted of a brick coloured mould, mixed with clay, and a few pebbles, I rode sometimes through woods of several sorts of trees, and sometimes amidst little fields, which had been cleared of the wood, and which at present were corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. The farm-houses stood single, sometimes near the roads, and sometimes at a little distance from them, so that the space between the road and the houses was taken up with little fields and meadows. Some of the houses were built of stone, two stories high, and covered with shingles of the white cedar. But most of the houses were wooden, and the crevices stopped up with clay, instead of moss, which we make use of for that purpose. No valves were to be met with in the chimneys, and the people even did not know what I meant by them. The ovens were commonly built up at some distance from the houses, and were either under a roof, or without any covering against the weather. The fields bore partly buck-wheat, which was not yet cut, partly maize, and partly wheat, which was but lately sown; but sometimes they lay fallow. The vines climbed to the top of several trees, and hung down again on both sides. Other trees again were surrounded by the ivy (Hedera quinquefolia) which[156]with the same flexibility ascended to a great height. TheSmilax laurifoliaalways joined with the ivy, and together with it twisted itself round the trees. The leaves of the ivy were at this time commonly reddish, but those of the vine were still quite green. The trees which were surrounded with them, looked at a distance like those which are covered with hops in our country, (and on seeing them from afar off, one might expect to find wild hops climbing upon the trees.) Walnut and chesnut trees were common near enclosures, in woods, and on hills, and at present were loaded with their fruit. The persimon was likewise plentiful near the roads, and in the woods. It had a great quantity of fruit, but they were not yet fit for eating, since the frost had not softened them. At some distance fromWilmington, I passed a bridge over a little river, which falls north into theDelaware. The rider pays here twopence toll for himself and his horse.

Towards noon I arrived atWilmington.

Wilmington is a little town, about thirtyEnglishmiles south-west fromPhiladelphia. It was founded in the year 1733. Part of it stands upon the grounds belonging to theSwedishchurch, which annually receives certain rents, out of which they[157]pay the minister’s salary, and employ the rest for other uses. The houses are built of stone, and look very pretty; yet they are not built close together, but large open places are left between them. The quakers have a meeting-house in this town. TheSwedishchurch, which I intend to mention in the sequel, is half a mile out of town eastwards. The parsonage is under the same roof with the church. A little river calledChristina-killpasses by the town, and from thence falls into theDelaware. By following its banks one goes three miles before one reaches theDelaware. The river is said to be sufficiently deep, so that the greatest vessel may come quite up to the town: for at its mouth or juncture with theDelaware, it is shallowest, and yet its depth even there when the water is lowest, is from two fathoms to two and a half. But as you go higher its depth encreases to three, three and a half, and even four fathoms. The largest ships therefore may safely, and with their full cargoes come to, and from the town with the tide. fromWilmington, you have a fine prospect of a great part of the riverDelaware, and the ships sailing on it. On both sides of the riverChristina-kill, almost from the place where the redoubt is built to its juncture with theDelaware, are low meadows, which afford a great quantity of hay[158]to the inhabitants. The town carries on a considerable trade, and would have been more enlarged, ifPhiladelphiaandNewcastle, which are both towns of a more ancient date, were not so near on both sides of it.

TheRedoubtupon the riverChristina-kill, was erected this summer, when it was known that theFrenchandSpanishprivateers intended to sail up the river, and to attempt a landing. It stands, according to the accounts of the late Rev. Mr.Tranberg, on the same spot, where theSwedeshad built theirs. It is remarkable, that on working in the ground this summer, to make this redoubt, an oldSwedishsilver coin of QueenChristina, not quite so big as a shilling was found at the depth of a yard, among some other things. The Rev. Mr.Tranbergafterwards presented me with it. On one side were the arms of the house ofWasawith the inscription: CHRISTINA, D. G. DE. RE. SVE. that is,Christina, by the grace of God, elected Queen of Sweden; and near this the year of our Lord 1633. On the reverse were these words: MONETA NOVA REGNI SVEC. or,a new coin of the kingdom of Sweden. At the same time a number of old iron tools, such as axes, shovels, and the like, were discovered. The redoubt, that is now erected, consists[159]of bulwarks of planks, with a rampart on the outside. Near it is the powder magazine, in a vault built of bricks. At the erection of this little fortification it was remarkable, that the quakers, whose tenets reject even defensive war, were as busy as the other people in building it. For the fear of being every moment suddenly attacked by privateers, conquered all other thoughts. Many of them scrupled to put their own hands to the work; but forwarded, it by supplies of money, and by getting ready every thing, which was necessary.

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

The maize, was sown in several places. In some its stalks were cut somewhat below the ear, dried and put up in narrow high stacks, in order to keep them as a food for the cattle in winter. The lower part of the stalk had likewise leaves, but as they commonly dry of themselves, the people do not like to[160]feed the cattle with them, all their flavour being lost: But the upper ones are cut, whilst they are yet green.

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

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

I continued my journey toChichester, a borough upon theDelaware, where travellers pass the river in a ferry. They build here every year a number of small ships for sale. From an iron work which[161]lies higher in the country, they carry iron bars to this place, and ship them.

Canoes are boats made of one piece of wood, and are much in use with the farmers, and other people upon theDelaware, and some little rivers. For that purpose a very thick trunk of a tree is hollowed out; the red juniper or red cedar tree, the white cedar, the chesnut tree, the white oak, and the tulip tree are commonly made use of for this purpose. The canoes made of red and white cedar are reckoned the best, because they swim very light upon the water, and last twenty years together. But of these, the red cedar canoes are most preferable. Those made of chesnut trees will likewise last for a good while. But those of white oak are hardly serviceable above six years, and also swim deep, because they are so heavy. TheLiquidambar tree, orLiquidambar styraciflua, Linn.is big enough but unfit making canoes, because it imbibes the water. The canoes which are made of the tulip tree, scarce last as long as those of white oak. The size of the canoes is different, according to the purposes they are destined for. They can carry six persons; who however, must by no means be unruly, but sit at the bottom of the canoe in the quietest manner[162]possible, lest the boat overset. TheSwedesinPensylvaniaandNew Jerseynear the rivers, have no other boats to go toPhiladelphiain, which they commonly do twice a week on the market days, though they be several miles distant from the town, and meet sometimes with severe storms; yet misfortunes from the oversetting, &c; of these canoes are seldom heard of, though they might well be expected on account of the small size of this kind of boats. However a great deal of attention and care is necessary in managing the canoes, when the wind is somewhat violent; for they are narrow, round below, have no keel, and therefore may easily be overset. Accordingly when the wind is more brisk than ordinary, the people make for the land.

The common garden cresses grow in several places on the roads aboutChichester, and undoubtedly come from the seeds, which were by chance carried out of the many gardens about that town.

TheAmericanbrambles are here in great plenty. When a field is left uncultivated, they are the first plants that appear on it; and I frequently observed them in such fields as are annually ploughed, and have corn sown on them. For when these bushes are once rooted, they are not easily extirpated.[163]Such a bush runs out tendrils sometimes four fathoms off its root, and then throws a new root, so that on pulling it up, you meet with roots on both ends. On some old grounds, which had long been uncultivated, there were so many bushes of this kind, that it was very troublesome and dangerous walking in them. A wine is made of the berries, as I have already mentioned. The berries are likewise eaten when they are ripe, and taste well. No other use is made of them.

Octoberthe 6th. TheChenopodium anthelminticumis very plentiful on the road, and on the banks of the river, but chiefly in dry places in a loose sandy soil. TheEnglishwho are settled here, call itWormseedandJerusalem Oak. It has a disagreeable scent. InPensylvaniaandNew Jerseyits seeds are given to children, against the worms, and for that purpose they are excellent. The plant itself is spontaneous in both provinces.

The environs ofChichester, contain many gardens, which are full of apple trees, sinking under the weight of innumerable apples. Most of them are winter fruit, and therefore were yet quite sour. Each farm has a garden, and so has each house of the better sort. The extent of these gardens is[164]likewise not inconsiderable, and therefore affords, the possessor all the year long, great supplies in his house-keeping, both for eating and drinking. I frequently was surprized at the prudence of the inhabitants of this country. As soon as one has bought a piece of ground, which is neither built upon nor sown, his first care is to get young apple trees, and to make a garden. He next proceeds to build his house, and lastly prepares the uncultivated ground to receive corn. For it is well known that the trees require many years before they arrive to perfection, and this makes it necessary to plant them first. I now perceived near the farms, mills, wheels, and other instruments which are made use of in crushing the apples, in order to prepare cyder from them afterwards.

FromChichesterI went on towardsPhiladelphia. The oaks were the most plentiful trees in the wood. But there were several species of them, all different from theEuropeanones. The swine now went about in great herds in the oak woods, where they fed upon the acorns which fell in great abundance from the trees. Each hog had a wooden triangular yoke about its neck, by which it was hindered from penetrating through the holes in the enclosures; and[165]for this reason, the enclosures are made very slender, and easy to put up, and do not require much wood. No other enclosures are in use, but those which are so like sheep hurdles. A number of squirrels were in the oak woods, partly running on the ground, and partly leaping from one branch to another; and at this time they chiefly fed upon acorns.

I seldom saw beach trees; but I found them quite the same with theEuropeanones. Their wood is reckoned very good for making joiner’s planes of.

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

Thecommon Privet, orLigustrum vulgare, is made use of in many places, as a hedge round corn-fields and gardens, and on my whole voyage, I did not see that any other trees were made use of for this purpose, though theEnglishmenhere, well know that the hawthorn makes a much better[166]hedge. The privet hedges grow very thick and close, but having no spines, the hogs, and even other animals break easily through them; and when they have once made a hole, it requires a long while before it grows up again. But when the hedges consist of spinose bushes, the cattle will hardly attempt to get through them.

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

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

The roots of the trees do not go deep[167]into the ground, but spread horizontally. I had opportunities of observing this in several places where the trees were dug up; for I seldom saw one, whose roots went above a foot deep into the ground, though it was a loose soil.

About twoEnglishmiles behindChester, I passed by an iron forge, which was to the right hand by the road side. It belonged to two brothers, as I was told. The ore however is not dug here, but thirty or forty miles from hence, where it is first melted in the oven, and then carried to this place. The bellows were made of leather, and both they and the hammers, and even the hearth, but small in proportion to ours. All the machines were worked by water. The iron was wrought into bars.

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

Thered Maple, orAcer rubrumis plentiful in these places. Its proper situations[168]are chiefly swampy, wet places, in which the alder commonly is its companion. Out of its wood they make plates, spinning-wheels, rolls, feet for chairs and beds, and all sorts of work. With the bark, they dye both worsted and linnen, giving it a dark blue colour. For that purpose it is first boiled in water; and some copperas, such as the hat-makers and shoe-makers commonly make use of, is added, before the stuff (which is to be dyed) is put into the boiler. This bark likewise affords a good black ink. When the tree is felled early in spring, a sweet juice runs out of it, like that which runs out of our birches. This juice they do not make any use of here, but inCanada, they make both treacle and sugar of it. Here is a variety of this tree which they call thecurled Maple, the wood being as it were marbled within; it is much used in all kinds of joiner’s work, and the utensils made of this wood, are preferable to those made of any other sort of wood in the country, and are much dearer than those made of the wood of the wild cherry trees (Prunus Virginiana) or of black walnut trees. But the most valuable utensils were those made ofcurled black walnut, for that is an excessive scarce kind of wood. The curled maple was likewise very uncommon,[169]and you frequently find trees, whose outsides are marbled, but their inside not. The tree is therefore cut very deep before it is felled, to see whether it has veins in every part.

In the evening I reachedPhiladelphia.

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

A soil like this inNew Jersey, one might be led to think, could produce nothing because it is so dry and poor. Yet the maize which is planted on it grows extremely well, and we saw many fields filled with it. The earth is of that kind in which tobacco commonly succeeds, but it is not near so rich. The stalks of maize are commonly eight feet high, more or less, and are full of leaves. The maize is planted as usual in rows, in little squares, so that there is a space of five feet and six[170]inches between each square, both in length and breadth; on each of these little hills three or four stalks come up, which were not yet cut for the cattle; each stalk again has from one to four ears, which are large and full of corn. A sandy ground could never have been better employed. In some places the ground between the maize is ploughed, and rye sown in it, so that when the maize is cut, the rye remains upon the field.

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

TheWorm-seed, is likewise plentiful on the roads, in a sandy ground such as that near the ferry opposite toPhiladelphia. I have already mentioned that it is given to children, as a remedy to carry off the worms. It is then put into brandy, and when it has been in it for one hour, it is taken out again, dried and given to the children, either in beer sweetened with treacle, or in any other liquor. Its effects[171]talked of differently. Some people say it kills the worms, others again pretend that it forwards their encrease. But I know by my own experience, that this wormseed has had very good effects upon children.

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

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

In the woods and along the hedges in[172]this neighbourhood, some singlered Ants, (Formica rubra) crept about, and their antennæ or feel-horns were as long as their bodies.

Towards night we returned toPhiladelphia.

Octoberthe 8th. The shore ofPensylvaniahas a great quantity of the finest oysters. About this time the people began to bring them toPhiladelphiafor sale. They come from that part of the shore, which is near the mouth of the riverDelaware. They are reckoned as good as theNew Yorkoysters, of which I shall make more particular mention afterwards. However I thought that this latter sort of oysters was generally larger, fatter and more palatable. It is remarkable that they commonly became palatable at the time when the agues had left off their fury. Some men went with whole carts full of oysters, crying them about the streets; this is unusual here when any thing else is to be sold, but inLondonit is very common. The oyster shells are thrown away, though formerly a lime was burnt from them, which has been found unnecessary, there being stones for burning of lime in this neighbourhood, and the lime of oyster shells not being as good as this other lime. The people shewed[173]me some of houses in this town which were built of stone, and to the mason work of which the lime of oyster shells had been employed. The walls of these houses were always so wet two or three days before a rain, that great drops of water could plainly be perceived on them; and thus they were as good as Hygrometers.27Several people who had lived in this kind of houses complained of these inconveniences.

Octoberthe 9th. Pease are not much cultivated inPensylvaniaat present, though formerly, according to the accounts of some oldSwedes, every farmer had a little field with pease. InNew Jerseyand the southern parts ofNew York, pease are likewise not so much cultivated as they used to be. But in the northern parts ofNew York, or aboutAlbany, and in all the parts ofCanadawhich are inhabited by theFrench, the people sow great quantities, and have a plentiful crop. In the former colonies, a little despicable insect has obliged the people to give up so useful a part of agriculture. This little insect was formerly[174]little known, but a few years ago it multiplied excessively. It couples in summer, about the time when the pease are in blossom, and then deposites an egg into almost every one of the little pease. When the pease are ripe, their outward appearance does not discover the worm, which, however, is found within, when it is cut. This worm lies in the pea, if it is not stirred during all the winter, and part of the spring, and in that space of time consumes the greatest part of the inside of the pea: In spring therefore little more than the mere thin outward skin is left. This worm at last changes into an insect, of the coleoptera class, and in that state creeps through a hole of its own making in the husk, and flies off, in order to look for new fields of pease, in which it may couple with its cogeneric insects, and provide food sufficient for its posterity.

This noxious insect has spread fromPensylvaniato the north. For the country ofNew York, where it is common at present, has not been plagued with it above twelve or fifteen years ago; and before that time the people sowed pease every year without any inconvenience, and had excellent crops. But by degrees these little enemies came in such numbers, that the[175]inhabitants were forced to leave off sowing of pease. The people complained of this in several places. The country people aboutAlbanyhave yet the pleasure to see their fields of pease not infected by these beetles, but are always afraid of their approach; as it has been observed they come every year nearer to that province.

I know not whether this insect would live inEurope, and I should think ourSwedishwinters must kill the worm, even if it be ever so deeply inclosed in the pea; notwithstanding it is often as cold inNew York(where this insect is so abundant) as in our country, yet it continues to multiply here every year, and proceeds always farther to the north. I was very near bringing some of these vermin intoEurope, without knowing of it. At my departure fromAmerica, I took some sweet peas with me in a paper, and they were at that time quite fresh and green. But on opening the paper after my arrival atStockholm, onAugustthe 1st. 1751; I found all the peas hollow, and the head of an infect peeping out of each. Some of these insects even crept out, in order to try the weather of this new climate; but I made haste, to shut the paper again, in order to prevent the spreading of this[176]noxious insect.28I own, that when I first perceived them, I was more frightened than I should have been at the sight of a viper. For I at once had a full view of the whole damage, which my dear country would have suffered, if only two or three of these noxious insects had escaped me. The posterity of many families, and even the inhabitants of whole provinces, would have had sufficient reason to detest me as the cause of so great a calamity. I afterwards sent some of them, though well secured, to countTessin, and to Dr.Linnæus, together with an account of their destructive qualities. Dr.Linnæushas already inserted a description of them in an Academical Dissertation, which has been drawn up under his presidency, and treats of the damages made by insects.29He there calls this insect theBruchusofNorth-America.30It[177]was very peculiar that every pea in the paper was eaten without exception.

When the inhabitants ofPensylvaniasow pease procured from abroad, they are not commonly attacked by these insects for the first year; but in the next they take possession of the pea. It is greatly to be wished that none of the ships which annually depart fromNew YorkorPensylvania, may bring them into theEuropeancountries. From hence the power of a single despicable insect will plainly appear; as also, that the study of the œconomy and of the qualities of insects, is not to be looked upon as a mere pastime and useless employment.31

TheRhus radicansis a shrub or tree which grows abundantly in this country, and has in common with the ivy, calledHedera arborea, the quality of not growing without the support either of a tree, a wall, or a hedge. I have seen it climbing to the very top of high trees in the[178]woods, and its branches shoot out every where little roots, which fasten upon the tree and as it were enter into it. When the stem is cut, it emits a pale brown sap of a disagreeable scent. This sap is so sharp that the letters and characters made upon linnen with it, cannot be got out again, but grow blacker the more the cloath is washed. Boys commonly marked their names on their linnen with this juice. If you write with it on paper, the letters never go out, but grow blacker from time to time.

This species ofSumachhas the same noxious qualities as the poisonous sumach, orPoison-tree, which I have above described, being poisonous to some people, though not to every one. Therefore all that has been said of the poison tree is likewise applicable to this; excepting that the former has the stronger poison. However I have seen people who have been as much swelled from the noxious exhalations of the latter, as they could have been from those of the former. I likewise know that of two sisters, the one could manage the tree without being affected by its venom, though the other immediately felt it as soon as the exhalations of the tree came near her, or when ever she came a yard too near the[179]tree, and even when she stood in the way of the wind, which blew directly from this shrub. But upon me this species of sumach has never exherted its power, though I made above a hundred experiments upon myself with the greatest stems, and the juice once squirted into my eye, without doing me any harm. On another person’s hand which I had covered very thick with it, the skin a few hours after became as hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled off in the following days, as if little scales fell from it.

Octoberthe 10th. In the morning I accompanied Mr.Cockto his country seat, which is about nine miles fromPhiladelphiato the north.

Though the woods ofPensylvaniaafford many oaks, and more species of them than are found further north, yet they do not build so many ships in this province as they do in the northern ones, and especially inNew England. But experience has taught the people that the same kind of trees is more durable the further it grows to the north, and that this advantage decreases the more it grows in warm climates. It is likewise plain that the trees in the south grow more every year, and form thicker ringlets than those in the north. The former[180]have likewise much greater tubes for the circulation of the sap than the latter. And for this reason they do not build so many ships inPensylvania, as they do inNew England, though more than inVirginiaandMaryland; butCarolinabuilds very few, and its merchants get all their ships fromNew England. Those which are here made of the best oak, hardly are serviceable above ten, or at most twelve years; for then they are so rotten, that no body ventures to go to sea in them, Many captains of ships come over fromEnglandtoNorth-America, in order to get ships built. But most of them chooseNew England, that being the most northerly province; and if they even come over in ships which are bound forPhiladelphia, they frequently on their arrival set out fromPensylvaniaforNew England. TheSpaniardsin theWest Indiesare said to build their ships of a peculiar sort of cedar, which holds out against putrefaction and wet; but it is not to be met with on the continent in theEnglishprovinces. Here are above nine different sorts of oak, but not one of them is comparable to the single species we have inSweden, with regard to its goodness. And therefore a ship ofEuropeanoak costs a great deal more than one made ofAmericanoak.[181]

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

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

That species ofConvolvuluswhich is commonly calledBatatas, has here the name ofBermudian potatoes. The common people, and the gentry without distinction planted them in their gardens. This is done in the same manner as with the common potatoes. Some people made little hillocks, into which they put these potatoes; but others only planted them in flat beds.[182]The soil must be a mixture of sand and earth, and neither too rich, nor too poor. When they are going to plant them, they cut them, as the common potatoes, taking care however that a bud or two be left upon each piece which is intended to be planted. Their colour is commonly red without, and yellow within. They are bigger than the common sort, and have a sweet and very agreeable taste, which I cannot find in the other potatoes, in artichokes or in any other root, and they almost melt in the mouth. It is not long since they have been planted here. They are dressed in the same manner ascommonpotatoes, and eaten either along with them, or by themselves. They grow very fast and very well here; but the greatest difficulty consists in keeping them over winter, for they will bear neither cold, nor a great heat, nor wet. They must therefore be kept during winter in a box with sand in a warm room. InPensylvaniawhere they have no valves in their chimnies, they are put in such a box with sand, at some distance from the fire, and there they are secured both against frost and against over great heat. It will not answer the purpose to put them into dry sand in a cellar, as is commonly done with the common sort of potatoes. For the[183]moisture which is always in cellars, penetrates the sand, and makes them putrefy. It would probably be very easy to keep them inSwedenin warm rooms, during the cold season. But the difficulty lies wholly in bringing them over toSweden. I carried a considerable number of them with me on leavingAmerica, and took all possible care in preserving them. But we had a very violent storm at sea, by which the ship was so greatly damaged, that the water got in every where, and wetted our cloaths, beds and other moveables so much, that we could wring the water out of them. It is therefore no wonder that myBermuda potatoeswere rotten; but as they are now cultivated inPortugalandSpain, nay even inEngland, it will be easy to bring them intoSweden. The drink which theSpaniardsprepare from these potatoes in theirAmericanpossessions is not usual inPensylvania.32

Mr.Cockhad a paper mill, on a little brook, and all the coarser sorts of paper are manufactured in it. It is now annually rented for fifty poundsPensylvaniacurrency.[184]

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

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

Agriculture was in a very bad state hereabouts. When a person had bought a piece of land, which perhaps had never been ploughed since the creation, he cut down part of the wood, tore up the roots, ploughed the ground, sowed corn on it,[185]and the first time got a plentiful crop. But the same land being tilled for several years successively, without being manured, it at last must of course lose its fertility. Its possessor therefore leaves it fallow, and proceeds to another part of his ground, which he treats in the same manner. Thus he goes on till he has changed a great part of his possessions into corn-fields, and by that means deprives the ground of its fertility. He then returns to the first field, which now is pretty well recovered; this he again tills as long as it will afford him a good crop, but when its fertility is exhausted, he leaves it fallow again, and proceeds to the rest as before.

It being customary here, to let the cattle go about the fields and in the woods both day and night, the people cannot collect much dung for manure. But by leaving the land fallow for several years together, a great quantity of weeds spring up in it, and get such strength, that it requires a considerable time to extirpate them. From hence it likewise comes, that the corn is always so much mixed with weeds. The great richness of the soil, which the firstEuropeancolonists found here, and which had never been ploughed before, has given rise to this neglect of agriculture, which is[186]still observed by many of the inhabitants. But they do not consider, that when the earth is quite exhausted, a great space of time, and an infinite deal of labour is necessary to bring it again into good order; especially in these countries which are almost every summer so scorched up by the excessive heat and drought. The soil of the corn-fields consisted of a thin mould, greatly mixed with a brick coloured clay, and a quantity of small particles of glimmer. This latter came from the stones which are here almost every where to be met with at the depth of a foot or thereabouts. These little pieces of glimmer made the ground sparkle, when the sun shone upon it.

Almost all the houses hereabouts were built either of stone or bricks; but those of stone were more numerous.Germantown, which is about twoEnglishmiles long, had no other houses, and the country houses thereabouts, were all built of stone. But there are several varieties of that stone which is commonly made use of in building. Sometimes it consisted of a black or grey glimmer, running in undulated veins, the spaces between their bendings being filled up with a grey, loose, small-grained[187]limestone, which was easily friable. Some transparent particles of quartz were scattered in the mass, of which the glimmer made the greatest part. It was very easy to be cut, and with proper tools could readily be shaped into any form. Sometimes however the pieces consisted of a black, small-grained glimmer, a white small-grained sandstone, and some particles of quartz, and the several constituent parts were well mixed together. Sometimes the stone had broad stripes of the white limestone without any addition of glimmer. But most commonly they were much blended together, and of a grey colour. Sometimes this stone was found to consist of quite fine and black pieces of glimmer, and a grey, loose and very small-grained limestone. This was likewise very easy to be cut, being loose.

These varieties of the stone are commonly found close together. They were every where to be met with, at a little depth, but not in equal quantity and goodness; and not always easy to be broken. When therefore a person intended to build a house, he enquired where the best stone could be met with. It is to be found on corn-fields and meadows, at a depth which varies from two to six feet. The pieces[188]were different as to size. Some were eight or ten feet long, two broad, and one thick. Sometimes they were still bigger, but frequently much less. Hereabouts they lay in strata one above another, the thickness of each stratum being about a foot. The length and breadth were different, but commonly such as I have before mentioned. They must commonly dig three or four feet before they reach the first stratum. The loose ground above that stratum, is full of little pieces of this stone. This ground is the common brick coloured soil, which is universal here, and consists of sand and clay, though the former is more plentiful. The loose pieces of glimmer which shine so much in it, seem to have been broken off from the great strata of stone.

It must be observed that when the people build with this stone, they take care to turn the flat side of it outwards. But as that cannot always be done, the stone being frequently rough on all sides, it is easily cut smooth with tools, since it is soft, and not very difficult to be broken. The stones however are unequal in thickness, and therefore by putting them together they cannot be kept in such straight lines as bricks. It sometimes likewise happens that pieces break off when they are cut, and[189]leave holes on the outside of the wall. But in order to fill up these holes, the little pieces of stone which cannot be made use of are pounded, mixed with mortar, and put into the holes; the places thus filled up, are afterwards smoothed, and when they are dry, they are hardly distinguishable from the rest at some distance. At last they draw on the outside of the wall, strokes of mortar, which cross each other perpendicularly, so that it looks as if the wall consisted wholly of equal, square stones, and as if the white strokes were the places where they were joined with mortar. The inside of the wall is made smooth, covered with mortar and whitewashed. It has not been observed that this kind of stone attracts the moisture in a rainy or wet season. InPhiladelphiaand its environs, you find several houses built of this kind of stone.

The houses here are commonly built in theEnglishmanner.

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

Towards night I returned toPhiladelphia.[190]

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

I observed several little subterraneous walks in the fields, running under ground in various directions, the opening of which was big enough for a mole: the earth, which formed as it were a vault above it, and lay elevated like a little bank, was near two inches high, full as broad as a man’s hand, and about two inches thick. In uncultivated fields I frequently saw these subterraneous walks, which discovered themselves by the ground thrown up above them, which when trod upon gave way, and made it inconvenient to walk in the field.[191]

These walks are inhabited by a kind of mole,33which I intend to describe more accurately in another work. Their food is commonly roots: I have observed the following qualities in one which was caught. It had greater stiffness and strength in its legs, than I ever observed in other animals in proportion to their size. Whenever it intended to dig, it held its legs obliquely, like oars, I laid my handkerchief before it, and it began to stir in it with the snout, and taking away the handkerchief to see what it had done to it, I found that in the space of a minute it had made it full of holes, and it looked as if it had been pierced very much by an awl. I was obliged to put some books on the cover of the box in which I kept this animal, or else it was flung off immediately. It was very irascible, and would bite great holes into any thing that was put in its way; I held a steel pen-case to it, it at first bit at it with great violence, but having felt its hardness, it would not venture again to bite at any thing. These moles do not make such hills as theEuropeanones, but only such walks as I have already described.[192]

Octoberthe 13th. There is a plant here, from the berries of which they make a kind of wax or tallow, and for that reason theSwedescall it theTallow shrub. TheEnglishcall the same tree theCandleberry-tree, orBayberry-bush; and Dr.Linnæusgives it the name ofMyrica cerifera. It grows abundantly on a wet soil, and it seems to thrive particularly well in the neighbourhood of the sea, nor have I ever found it high up in the country far from the sea. The berries grow abundantly on the female shrub, and look as if flower had been strewed upon them. They are gathered late in autumn, being ripe about that time, and are then thrown into a kettle or pot full of boiling water; by this means their fat melts out, floats at the top of the water and may be skimmed off into a vessel; with the skimming they go on till there is no tallow left. The tallow as soon as it is congealed, looks like common tallow or wax, but has a dirty green colour; it is for that reason melted over again, and refined, by which means it acquires a fine and pretty transparent green colour: this tallow is dearer than common tallow, but cheaper than wax. InPhiladelphiathey pay a shillingPensylvaniacurrency, for a pound of this tallow; but a pound of common tallow[193]only came to half that money, and wax costs as much again. From this tallow they make candles in many parts of this province, but they usually mix some common tallow with it. Candles of this kind, do not easily bend, nor melt in summer as common candles do; they burn better and slower, nor do they cause any smoak, but rather yield an agreeable smell, when they are extinguished. An oldSwedeof ninety-one years of age told me, that this sort of candles had formerly been much in use with his country men. At present they do not make so many candles of this kind, if they can get the tallow of animals; it being too troublesome to gather the berries. However these candles are made use of by poor people, who live in the neighbourhood of a place where the bushes grow, and have not cattle enough to kill, in order to supply them with a sufficient quantity of tallow. From the wax of the candleberry tree they likewise make a soap here, which has an agreeable scent, and is the best for shaving. This wax is likewise used by doctors, and surgeons, who reckon it exceeding good for plasters upon wounds. A merchant of this town once sent a quantity of these candles to thoseAmericanprovinces which had Roman Catholic inhabitants, thinking he[194]would be well paid, since wax candles are made use of in the Roman Catholick churches; but the clergy would not take them. An oldSwedementioned that the root of the candleberry tree was formerly made use of by the Indians, as a remedy against the tooth ach, and that he himself having had the tooth ach very violently, had cut the root in pieces and applied it round his tooth; and that the pain had been lessened by it. AnotherSwedeassured me that he had been cured of the tooth ach, by applying the peel of the root to it. InCarolina, they not only make candles out of the wax of the berries, but likewise sealing-wax.

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

The goods which are shipped toLondonfromNew Englandare the following: all sorts of fish caught nearNewfoundlandand elsewhere; train-oil of several sorts; whale-bone; tar, pitch, masts; new ships, of which[195]a great number is annually built; a few hides, and sometimes some sorts of wood. TheEnglishislands inAmerica, asJamaicaandBarbadoes, get fromNew England, fish, flesh, butter, cheese, tallow, horses, cattle; all sorts of lumber, such as pails, buckets, and hogsheads; and have returns made in rum, sugar, melasses, and other produces of the country, or in cash, the greatest part of all which they send toLondon(the money especially) in payment of the goods received from thence, and yet all this is inefficient to pay off the debt.

Octoberthe 15th. TheAldersgrew here in considerable abundance on wet and low places, and even sometimes on pretty high ones, but never reached the height of theEuropeanalders, and commonly stood like a bush about a fathom or two high. Mr.Bartram, and other gentlemen who had frequently travelled in these provinces, told me that the more you go to the south, the less are the alders, but that they are higher and taller, the more you advance to the north. I found afterwards myself, that the alders in some places ofCanada, are little inferior to theSwedishones. Their bark is employed here in dying red and brown. ASwedishinhabitant ofAmerica, told me that he had cut his leg to the very bone, and that some coagulated blood had[196]already been settled within. That he had been advised to boil the alder bark, and to wash the wound often with the water: that he followed this advice, and had soon got his leg healed, though it had been very dangerous at first.

ThePhytolacca decandrawas calledPokeby theEnglish. TheSwedeshad no particular name for it, but made use of theEnglish, with some little variation intoPaok. When the juice of its berries is put upon paper or the like, it strikes it with a high purple colour, which is as fineasany in the world, and it is pity that no method is as yet found out, of making this colour last on woollen and linen cloth, for it fades very soon. Mr.Bartrammentioned, that having hit his foot against a stone, he had got a violent pain in it; he then bethought himself to put a leaf of thePhytolaccaon his foot, by which he lost the pain in a short time, and got his foot well soon after. The berries are eaten by the birds about this time. TheEnglishand severalSwedesmake use of the leaves in spring, when they are just come out, and are yet tender and soft, and eat them partly as green cale, and partly in the manner we eat spinnage. Sometimes they likewise prepare them in the first of these ways, when the stalks are already grown a little longer, breaking off[197]none but the upper sprouts which are yet tender, and not woody; but in this latter case, great care is to be taken, for if you eat the plant when it is already grown up, and its leaves are no longer soft, you may expect death as a consequence which seldom fails to follow, for the plant has then got a power of purging the body to excess. I have known people, who, by eating great full grown leaves of this plant, have got such a strong dysentery, that they were near dying with it: its berries however are eaten in autumn by children, without any ill consequence.

Woollen and linen cloth is dyed yellow with the bark of hiccory. This likewise is done with the bark of theblack oak, orLinnæus’sQuercus nigra, and that variety of it whichCatesbyin hisNatural History of Carolina, vol. i. tab. 19. callsQuercus marilandica. The flowers and leaves of theImpatiens Noli tangereor balsamine, likewise dyed all woollen stuffs with a fine yellow colour.

TheCollinsonia canadensiswas frequently found in little woods and bushes, in a good rich soil. Mr.Bartramwho knew the country perfectly well, was sure thatPensylvania, and all the parts ofAmericain the same climate, were the true and original places where this plant grows. For further[198]to the south, neither he nor Messrs.ClaytonandMitchelever found it, though the latter gentlemen have made accurate observations inVirginiaand part ofMaryland. And from his own experience he knew, that it did not grow in the northerly parts. I have never found it more than fifteen min. north of forty-three deg. The time of the year when it comes up inPensylvania, is so late, that its seed has but just time sufficient to ripen in, and it therefore seems unlikely, that it can succeed further north, Mr.Bartramwas the first who discovered it, and sent it over intoEurope. Mr.Jussieuduring his stay atLondon, and Dr.Linnæusafterwards, called itCollinsonia, from the celebrated Mr.Peter Collinson, a merchant inLondon, and fellow of theEnglishandSwedishRoyal Societies. He well deserved the honour of having a plant called after his name, for there are few people that have promoted natural history and all useful sciences with a zeal like his; or that have done as much as he towards collecting, cultivating, and making known all sorts of plants. TheCollinsoniahas a peculiar scent, which is agreeable, but very strong. It always gave me a pretty violent head-ach whenever I passed by a place where it stood in plenty, and especially when it was in[199]flower. Mr.Bartramwas acquainted with a better quality of this plant, which was that of being an excellent remedy against all sorts of pain in the limbs, and against a cold, when the parts affected are rubbed with it. And Mr.Conrad Weisser, interpreter of the language of the Indians inPensylvania, had told him of a more wonderful cure with this plant. He was once among a company of Indians, one of which had been stung by a rattle snake, the savages gave him over, but he boiled thecollinsonia, and made the poor wretch drink the water, from which he happily recovered. Somewhat more to the north and inNew Yorkthey call this plantHorseweed, because the horses eat it in spring, before any other plant comes up.

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

1. On travelling from hence to the south, you meet with a place where the highroad is very low in the ground between two mountains. On both sides you see[200]nothing but oyster shells and muscle shells in immense quantities above each other; however the place is many miles off the sea.

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

3. It has sometimes happened that new houses have sunk on one side in a short time, and have obliged the people to pull them down again. On digging deeper, for a very hard ground to build upon, they have found a quantity of the above slime, wood, roots, &c.

Are not these reasons sufficient to make one suppose that those places inPhiladelphiawhich are at present fourteen feet and more under ground, formerly were the bottom of[201]the sea, and that by several accidents, sand, earth, and other things were carried upon it? or, that theDelawareformerly was broader than it is at present? or, that it has changed its course? This last still often happens at present; the river breaking off the bank on one side, and forming one on the other. Both theSwedesandEnglishoften shewed me such places.

Octoberthe 18th. At present I did not find above ten different kinds of plants in blossom: they were, aGentiana, two species ofAster, the common Golden Rod, orSolidago Virga aurea, a species ofHieracium, the yellow wood Sorrel, orOxalis corniculata, the Fox Gloves, orDigitalis purpurea, theHamamelis Virginiana, or Witch Hazel, our common Millefoil, orAchillæa Millefolium, and our Dandelion, orLeontodon Taraxacum. All other plants had for this year laid aside their gay colours. Several trees, especially those which were to flower early in spring, had already formed such large buds, that on opening them all the parts of fructification, such asCalyx,Corolla,StaminaandPistillumwere plainly distinguishable. It was therefore easy to determine the genus to which such trees belonged. Such were the red maple, orAcer rubrum, and theLaurus æstivalis, a species of bay. Thus nature prepared to[202]bring forth flowers, with the first mild weather in the next year. The buds were at present quite hard, and all their parts pressed close together, that the cold might by all means be excluded.

Theblack Walnut treeshad for the greatest part dropt their leaves, and many of them were entirely without them. The walnuts themselves were already fallen off. The green peel which enclosed them, if frequently handled, would yield a black colour, which could not be got off the fingers in two or three weeks time, though the hands were washed ever so much.

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

Octoberthe 19th. TheTulip treegrows every where in the woods of this country. The botanists call itLiriodendron tulipifera, because its flowers both in respect to their size, and in respect to their exterior form,[203]and even in some measure with regard to their colour, resemble tulips. TheSwedescalled itCanoe tree, for both theIndiansand theEuropeansoften make their canoes of the stem of this tree. TheEnglishmeninPensylvaniagive it the name ofPoplar. It is reckoned a tree which grows to the greatest height and thickness of any inNorth America, and which vies in that point with our greatestEuropeantrees. The white oak and the fir inNorth America, however are little inferior to it. It cannot therefore but be very agreeable to see in spring, at the end ofMay(when it is in blossom) one of the greatest trees covered for a fortnight together with flowers, which with regard to their shape, size, and partly colour are like tulips, the leaves have likewise something peculiar, theEnglishtherefore in some places call the treethe old woman’s smock, because their imagination finds something like it below the leaves.

Its wood is here made use of for canoes, boards, planks, bowls, dishes, spoons, door posts, and all sorts of joiners work. I have seen a barn of a considerable size whose walls, and roof were made of a single tree of this kind, split into boards. Some joiners reckoned this wood better than oak, because this latter frequently is warped, which[204]the other never does, but works very easy; others again valued it very little. It is certain, that it contracts so much in hot weather, as to occasion great cracks in the boards, and in wet weather it swells so as to be near bursting, and the people hardly know of a wood in these parts which varies so much in contracting and expanding itself. The joiners however make much use of it in their work, they say there are two species of it; but they are merely two varieties, one of which in time turns yellow within, the other is white, the former is said to have a looser texture. The bark (likeRussiaglass) is divisible into very thin leaves, which are very tough like bast, though I have never seen it employed as such. The leaves when crushed and applied to the forehead are said to be a remedy against the head ach. When horses are plagued with worms, the bark is pounded, and given them quite dry. Many people believe its roots to be as efficacious against the fever as the jesuits bark. The trees grow in all sorts of dry soil, both on high and low grounds, but too wet a soil will not agree with them.

Octoberthe 20th. TheBeaver treeis to be met with in several parts ofPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, in a poor swampy soil,[205]or on wet meadows. Dr.Linnæuscalls itMagnolia glauca; both theSwedesandEnglishcall itBeaver tree, because the root of this tree is the dainty of beavers, which are caught by its means, however theSwedessometimes gave it a different name, and theEnglishas improperly called itSwamp Sassafras, andWhite Laurel. The trees of this kind dropt their leaves early in autumn, though some of the young trees kept them all the winter. I have seldom found the beaver tree to the north ofPensylvania, where it begins to flower about the end ofMay. The scent of its blossoms is excellent, for by it you can discover within three quarters of anEnglishmile, whether these little trees stand in the neighbourhood, provided the wind be not against it. For the whole air is filled with this sweet and pleasant scent. It is beyond description agreeable to travel in the woods about that time, especially towards night. They retain their flowers for three weeks and even longer, according to the quality of the soil on which the trees stand; and during the whole time of their being in blossom, they spread their odoriferous exhalations. The berries likewise look very fine when they are ripe, for they have a rich red colour, and hang in bunches on slender stalks. The[206]cough, and other pectoral diseases are cured by putting the berries into rum or brandy, of which a draught every morning may be taken; the virtues of this remedy were universally extolled, and even praised for their salutary effects in consumptions. The bark being put into brandy, or boiled in any other liquor, is said not only to ease pectoral diseases, but likewise to be of some service against all internal pains and heat; and it was thought that a decoction of it could stop the dysentery. Persons who had caught cold, boiled the branches of the beaver tree in water, and drank it to their great relief. ASwede, calledLars Lack, gave the following account of a cure effected by this tree: One of his relations, an old man, had an open sore in his leg, which would not heal up again, though he had had much advice and used many remedies. An Indian at last effected the cure in the following manner. He burnt some of this wood to charcoal, which he reduced to powder, mixed with the fresh fat of pork, and rubbed the open places several times. This dried up the holes, which before were continually open, and the legs of the old man were quite sound to his death. The wood is likewise made use of for joiner’s planes.[207]

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

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

American Deer, can likewise be tamed; and I have seen them tame myself in different places. A farmer inNew Jerseyhad one in his possession, which he had caught when it was very young; and at present it was so tame, that in the day time it[208]run into the wood for its food, and towards night it returned home, and frequently brought a wild deer out of the wood, giving its master an opportunity to shoot it. Several people have therefore tamed young deer, and make use of them for hunting wild deer, or for decoying them home, especially in the time of their rutting.

Beavershave been so tamed that they have gone on fishing, and brought home what they had caught to their masters. This often is the case withOtters, of which I have seen some, which were as tame as dogs, and followed their masters wherever they went; if he went out in a boat, the otter went with him, jumped into the water, and after a while came up with a fish. TheOpossum, can likewise be tamed, so as to follow people like a dog.

TheRaccoonwhich we (Swedes) callSiupp, can in time be made so tame as to run about the streets like a domestic animal; but it is impossible to make it leave off its habit of stealing. In the dark it creeps to the poultry, and kills in one night a whole flock. Sugar and other sweet things must be carefully hidden from it, for if the chests and boxes are not always locked up, it gets into them, eats the sugar, and licks up the treacle with its paws: the ladies therefore[209]have every day some complaint against it, and for this reason many people rather forbear the diversion which this ape-like animal affords.

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