New Jersey, Raccoon.Decemberthe seventh, 1748.In the morning I undertook again a little journey, toRaccoon, inNew Jersey.It does not seem difficult to find out the reasons, why the people multiply more here than inEurope. As soon as a person is old enough, he may marry in these provinces, without any fear of poverty; for there is such a tract of good ground yet uncultivated, that a new-married man can, without difficulty, get a spot of ground, where he may sufficiently subsist with his wife and children. The taxes are very low, and he[4]need not be under any concern on their account. The liberties he enjoys are so great, that he considers himself as a prince in his possessions. I shall here demonstrate by some plain examples, what effect such a constitution is capable of.Maons Keen, one of theSwedesinRaccoon, was now near seventy years old: he had many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; so that, of those who were yet alive, he could muster up forty-five persons. Besides them, several of his children and grandchildren died young, and some in a mature age. He was, therefore, uncommonly blessed. Yet his happiness is not comparable to that which is to be seen in the following examples, and which I have extracted from thePhiladelphiagazette.In the year 1732,Januarythe 24th, died atIpswich, inNew England, Mrs.Sarah Tuthil, a widow, aged eighty-six years. She had brought sixteen children into the world; and from seven of them only, she had seen one hundred and seventy-seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren.In the year 1739,Maythe 30th, the children, grand and great-grandchildren, of Mr.Richard Buttington, in the parish ofChester, inPensylvania, were assembled in[5]his house; and they made together one hundred and fifteen persons. The parent of these children,Richard Buttington, who was born inEngland, was then entering into his eighty-fifth year: and was at that time quite fresh, active, and sensible. His eldest son, then sixty years old, was the firstEnglishmanborn inPensylvania.In the year 1742, on the 8th ofJanuary, died atTrenton, inNew Jersey, Mrs.Sarah Furman, a widow, aged ninety-seven years. She was born inNew England; and left five children, sixty-one grandchildren, one hundred and eighty-two great-grandchildren, and twelve great-great-grandchildren, who were all alive when she died.In the year 1739, on the 28th ofJanuary, died atSouth Kingston, inNew England, Mrs.Maria Hazard, a widow, in the hundredth year of her age. She was born inRhode Island, and was a grandmother of the then vice-governor of that island, Mr.George Hazard. She could count altogether five hundred children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. When she died, two hundred and five persons of them were alive; a grand-daughter of hers had already been grandmother near fifteen years.In this manner, the usual wish or blessing in our liturgy, that the new-married couple[6]may see their grandchildren, till the third and fourth generation, has been literally fulfilled in regard to some of these persons1.Decemberthe 9th. In every country, we commonly meet with a number of insects; of which many, though they be ever so small and contemptible, can do considerable damage to the inhabitants. Of these dangerous insects, there are likewise some inNorth America: some are peculiar to that country, others are common toEuropelikewise.I have already, in the preceding volume, mentioned theMosquitoes, as a kind of disagreeable gnats; and another noxious insect, theBruchus Pisi, which destroys whole fields with pease. I shall here add some more.There are a kind ofLocustswhich about every seventeenth year come hither in incredible numbers. They come out of the ground in the middle ofMay, and make, for six weeks together, such a noise in the trees and woods, that two persons who meet in such places, cannot understand each other, unless they speak louder than the locusts can chirp. During that time, they make, with the sting in their tail, holes into the soft bark of the little branches on the trees, by which means these branches are[7]ruined. They do no other harm to the trees or other plants. In the interval between the years when they are so numerous, they are only seen or heard single in the woods.There is likewise a kind ofCaterpillarsin these provinces, which eat the leaves from the trees. They are also innumerable in some years. In the intervals there are but few of them: but when they come, they strip the trees so entirely of their leaves, that the woods in the middle of summer are as naked as in winter. They eat all kinds of leaves, and very few trees are left untouched by them; as, about that time of the year the heat is most excessive. The stripping the trees of their leaves has this fatal consequence, that they cannot withstand the heat, but dry up entirely. In this manner, great forests are sometimes entirely ruined. TheSwedeswho live here shewed me, here and there, great tracts in the woods, where young trees were now growing, instead of the old ones, which, some years ago, had been destroyed by the caterpillars. These caterpillars afterwards change into moths, orphalænæ, which shall be described in the sequel, in their proper places.In other years theGrass-wormsdo a great deal of damage in several places, both in the meadows and corn-fields. For the[8]fields are at certain times over-run with great armies of these worms, as with the other insects; yet it is very happy that these many plagues do not come all together. For in those years when the locusts are numerous, the caterpillars and grass-worms are not very considerable, and it happens so with the latter kinds, so that only one of the three kinds comes at a time. Then there are several years when they are very scarce. The grass-worms have been observed to settle chiefly in a fat soil; but as soon as careful husbandmen discover them, they draw narrow channels with almost perpendicular sides quite round the field in which the worms are settled; then by creeping further they all fall into the ditch, and cannot get out again. I was assured by many persons that these three sorts of insects followed each other pretty closely; and that the locusts came in the first year, the caterpillars in the second, and the grass-worms in the last: I have likewise found by my own experience that this is partly true.Moths, orTineæ, which eat the clothes, are likewise abundant here. I have seen cloth, worsted gloves, and other woollen stuffs, which had hung all the summer locked up in a shrine, and had not been[9]taken care of, quite cut through by these worms, so that whole pieces fell out: Sometimes they were so spoiled that they could not be mended again. Furs which had been kept in the garret were frequently so ruined by worms, that the hair went off by handfuls. I am however not certain whether these worms were originally in the country, or whether they were brought over fromEurope.Fleasare likewise to be found in this part of the world. Many thousands were undoubtedly brought over from other countries; yet immense numbers of them have certainly been here since time immemorial. I have seen them on the grey squirrels, and on the hares which have been killed in such desart parts of this country, where no human creature ever lived. As I afterwards came further up into the country, and was obliged to lie at night in the huts and beds of theIndians, I was so plagued by immense quantities of fleas, that I imagined I was put to the torture. They drove me from the bed, and I was very glad to sleep on the benches below the roof of the huts. But it is easy to conceive that the many dogs which theIndianskeep, breed fleas without end. Dogs and men lie promiscuously in the[10]huts; and a stranger can hardly lie down and shut his eyes, but he is in danger of being either squezed to death, or stifled by a dozen or more dogs, which lie round him, and upon him, in order to have a good resting place. For I imagine they do not expect that strangers will venture to beat them or throw them off, as their masters and mistresses commonly do.The noisyCrickets(Gryllus domesticus) which are sometimes to be met with in the houses inSweden, I have not perceived in any part ofPensylvaniaorNew Jersey, and other people whom I have asked, could not say that they had ever seen any. In summer there are a kind ofblack Crickets2in the fields, which make exactly the same chirping noise as our house crickets. But they keep only to the fields, and were silent as soon as winter or the cold weather came on.They say it sometimes happens that these field crickets take refuge in houses, and chirp continually there, whilst it is warm weather, or whilst the rooms are warm; but as soon as it grows cold they are silent. In some parts of the province ofNew York, and inCanada, every[11]farm-house and most of the houses in the towns, swarm with so many, that no farm-house in our country can be better stocked with them. They continue their music there throughout the whole winter.Bugs (Cimex lectularius) are very plentiful here. I have been sufficiently tormented by them, in many places inCanada: But I do not remember having seen any with theIndians, during my stay atFort Frederic. The commander there, Mr.de Lousignan, told me, that none of theIllinoisand otherIndiansof the western parts ofNorth Americaknew any thing of these vermin. And he added, that he could with certainty say this from his own experience, having been among them for a great while. Yet I cannot determine whether bugs were first brought over by theEuropeans, or whether they have originally been in the country. Many people looked upon them as natives of this country, and as a proof of it said, that under the wings of bats the people had often found bugs, which had eaten very deep into the flesh. It was therefore believed that the bats had got them in some hollow tree, and had afterwards brought them into the houses, as they commonly fix themselves close to the walls, and creep into the little chinks which[12]they meet with. But as I have never seen any bugs upon bats, I cannot say any thing upon that subject. Perhaps a louse or a tick (Acarus) has been taken for a bug. Or, if a real bug has been found upon a bat’s wing, it is very easy to conceive that it fixed on the bat, whilst the latter was sitting in the chinks of a house stocked withEuropeanbugs.As the people here could not bear the inconvenience of these vermin, any more than we can inSweden, they endeavoured to expel them by different means. I have already remarked in the preceding volume, that the beds to that purpose were made ofSassafraswood, but that they were only temporary remedies. Some persons assured me that they had found from their own experience, and by repeated trials, that no remedy was more effectual towards the expulsion of bugs, than the injecting of boiling water into all the cracks where they are settled, and washing all the wood of the beds with it; this being twice or thrice repeated, the bugs are wholly destroyed. But if there are bugs in neighbouring houses, they will fasten toone’sclothes, and thus be brought over into other houses.I cannot say whether these remedies are[13]good or no, as I have not tried them; but by repeated trials I have been convinced that sulphur, if it be properly employed, entirely destroys bugs and their eggs in beds and walls, though they were ten times more numerous than the ants in an ant-hill3.TheMill-beetles, orCock-roaches, are likewise a plague ofNorth America, and are settled in many of its provinces. The learned Dr.Coldenwas of opinion that these insects were properly natives of theWest Indies, and that those that were found inNorth Americawere brought over from those islands. To confirm his opinion, he said, that it was yet daily seen how the ships coming with goods from theWest IndiestoNorth Americabrought mill-beetles with them in great numbers. But from the observations which I have made in this country, I have reason to believe that these insects have been on the continent ofNorth Americasince time immemorial. Yet notwithstanding this I do not deny their being brought over from theWest Indies. They are in almost every house in the city ofNew York; and those are undoubtedly come over with ships. But how can that[14]be said of those mill-beetles, which are found in the midst of the woods and desarts?TheEnglishlikewise call theMill-beetles,Cock-roaches, and theDutchgive them the name ofKackerlack. TheSwedesin this country call themBrodoetare, orBread-eaters, on account of the damage they do to the bread, which I am going to describe. Dr.Linnæuscalls themBlatta Orientalis. Many of theSwedescall them likewiseKackerlack. They are not only observed in the houses, but in the summer they appear often in the woods, and run about the trees, which are cut down. On bringing in all sorts of old rotten blocks of wood for fewel, inFebruary, I discovered several cock-roaches settled in them; they were at first quite torpid, or as it were dead; but after lying in the room for a while, they recovered, became very lively, and began to run about. I afterwards found very often, that when old rotten wood was brought home in winter, and cut in pieces for fewel, the cock-roaches were got into it in numbers, and lay in it in a torpid state. In the same winter, a fellow cut down a great dry tree, and was about to split it. I then observed in a crack, some fathoms above the ground,[15]several cock-roaches together with the common ants. They were, it seems, crept up a great way, in order to find a secure place of abode against winter. On travelling in the middle ofOctober1749, through the uninhabited country between theEnglishandFrenchcolonies, and making a fire at night near a thick half rotten tree, on the shore of lakeChamplain, numbers of cock-roaches came out of the wood, being wakened by the smoke and the fire, which had driven them out of their holes. TheFrenchmen, who were then in my company, did not know them, and could not give them any name. InCanadatheFrenchdid not remember seeing any in the houses. InPensylvania, I am told, they run in immense numbers about the sheaves of corn, during the harvest. At other times they live commonly in the houses in theEnglishsettlements, and lie in the crevices, especially in the cracks of those beams which support the ceiling, and are nearest to the chimney.They do a deal of damage by eating the soft parts of the bread. If they have once made a hole into a loaf, they will in a little time eat all the soft part in it, so that on cutting the loaf, nothing but the crust is left. I am told they likewise eat other[16]victuals. Sometimes they bite people’s noses or feet, whilst they are asleep. An oldSwede, calledSven Laock, a grandson of the Rev. Mr.Laockenius, one of the firstSwedishclergymen that came toPensylvania, told me, that he had in his younger years been once very much frightened on account of a cock-roach, which crept into his ear whilst he was asleep. He waked suddenly, jumped out of bed, and felt that the insect, probably out of fear, was endeavouring with all its strength to get deeper. These attempts of the cock-roach were so painful to him, that he imagined his head was bursting, and he was almost senseless; however he hastened to the well, and bringing up a bucket full of water, threw some into his ear. As soon as the cock-roach found itself in danger of being drowned, it endeavoured to save itself, and pushed backwards out of the ear, with its hind feet, and thus happily delivered the poor man from his fears.TheWood-liceare disagreeable insects, which in a manner are worse than the preceding; but as I have already described them in a peculiar memoir, which is printed among the memoirs of the Royal[17]Academy of Sciences for the year 1754, I refer my readers to that account.Decemberthe 11th. This morning I made a little excursion toPenn’s Neck, and further over theDelawaretoWilmington. The country roundPenn’s Neckhas the same qualities as that about other places in this part ofNew Jersey. For the ground consists chiefly of sand, with a thin stratum of black soil. It is not very hilly, but chiefly flat, and in most places covered with open woods of such trees as have annual leaves, especially oak. Now and then you see a single farm, and a little corn field round it. Between them are here and there little marshes or swamps, and sometimes a brook with water, which has a very slow motion.The woods of these parts consist of all sorts of trees, but chiefly of oak and hiccory. These woods have certainly never been cut down, and have always grown without hindrance. It might therefore be expected that there are trees of an uncommon great age to be found in them; but it happens otherwise, and there are very few trees three hundred years old. Most of them are only two hundred years old; and this convinced me that trees have the same quality as animals, and die after[18]they are arrived at a certain age. Thus we find great woods here, but when the trees in them have stood an hundred and fifty or an hundred and eighty years, they are either rotting within, or losing their crown, or their wood becomes quite soft, or their roots are no longer able to draw in sufficient nourishment, or they die from some other cause. Therefore when storms blow, which sometimes happens here, the trees are broke off either just above the root, or in the middle, or at the summit. Several trees are likewise torn out with their roots by the power of the winds. The storms thus cause great devastations in these forests. Every where you see trees thrown down by the winds, after they are too much weakened by one or the other of the above mentioned causes to be able to resist their fury. Fire likewise breaks out often in the woods, and burns the trees half way from the root, so that a violent gust of wind easily throws them down.On travelling through these woods, I purposely tried to find out, by the position of the trees which were fallen down, which winds are the strongest hereabouts. But I could not conclude any thing with certainty, for the trees fell on all sides, and lay towards all the points of the compass.[19]I therefore judged, that any wind which blows from that side where the roots of the tree are weakest and shortest, and where it can make the least resistance, must root it up and throw it down. In this manner the old trees die away continually, and are succeeded by a young generation. Those which are thrown downlayon the ground and putrify, sooner or later, and by that means encrease the black soil, into which the leaves are likewise finally changed, which drop abundantly in autumn, are blown about by the winds for some time, but are heaped up, and lie on both sides of the trees, which are fallen down. It requires several years before a tree is intirely reduced to dust. When the winds tear up a tree with the roots, a quantity of loose soil commonly comes out with and sticks to them for some time, but at last it drops off, and forms a little hillock, which is afterwards augmented by the leaves, which commonly gather about the roots. Thus several inequalities are formed in the woods, such as little holes land hills; and by this means the upper soil must likewise be heaped up in such places.Some trees are more inclined to putrify than others. Thetupelo-tree(Nyssa), the[20]tulip-tree(Liriodendron), and the sweetgum-tree(Liquidambar), became rotten in a short time. Thehiccorydid not take much time, and theblack oakfell sooner to pieces than thewhite oak; but this was owing to circumstances. If the bark remained on the wood, it was for the greatest part rotten, and entirely eaten by worms within, in the space of six, eight, or ten years, so that nothing was to be found but a reddish brown dust. But if the bark was taken off, they would often lie twenty years before they were entirely rotten. The suddenness of a tree’s growth, the bigness of its pores, and the frequent changes of heat and wet in summer, cause it to rot sooner. To this it must be added, that all sorts of insects make holes into the stems of the fallen trees, and by that means the moisture and the air get into the tree, which must of course forward putrefaction. Most of the trees here have deciduous or annual leaves. Many of them begin to rot whilst they are yet standing and blooming. This forms the hollow trees, in which many animals make their nests and places of refuge.The breadth of theDelawaredirectly oppositeWilmingtonis reckoned anEnglishmile and a half; yet to look at it, it did[21]not seem to be so great. The depth of the river, in the middle, is said to be from four to six fathoms here.Decemberthe 12th. TheJoinerssay, that among the trees of this country they chiefly use theblack walnut-trees, thewild cherry-trees, and thecurled maple. Of theblack walnut-trees(Juglans nigra) there is yet a sufficient quantity. However careless people take pains enough to destroy them, and some peasants even use them as fewel. The wood of thewild cherry-trees(Prunus Virginiana) is very good, and looks exceedingly well; it has a yellow colour, and the older the furniture is, which is made of it, the better it looks. But it is already difficult to get at it, for they cut it every where, and plant it no where. Thecurled maple(Acer rubrum) is a species of the common red maple, but likewise very difficult to be got. You may cut down many trees without finding the wood which you want. The wood of thesweet gum-tree(Liquidambar) is merely employed in joiner’s work, such as tables, and other furniture. But it must not be brought near the fire, because it warps. The firs and thewhite cedars(Cupressus thyoides) are likewise made use of by the joiners for different sorts of work.[22]The millers who attended the mill which stood here, said, that the axle-trees of the wheels of the mill were made ofwhite oak, and that they continued good three or four years, but that the fir-wood does not keep so well. The cogs of the mill-wheel, and the pullies, are made of the wood of the white walnut-tree, because it is the hardest which can be got here. The wood ofmulberry-treesis of all others reckoned the most excellent for pegs and plugs in ships and boats.At night I went over the riverDelaware, fromWillmington, to the ferrying-place, on theNew Jerseyside.Decemberthe 13th. In the morning I returned toRaccoon.On many trees in the woods of this country, either on one of the sides, or in the middle of a branch, or round a branch, are greater or lesserknobsor excrescences. Sometimes there is only a single one in a tree. In the size there is a considerable difference, for some of these knobs are as big and bigger than a man’s head, others are only small. They project above the surface of the tree, like a tumor. Sometimes a tree was quite covered with them. They do not ly on one side only, but often form a circle round a branch, and even[23]round the stem itself. The trees which have these knobs are not always great ones, but some not above a fathom high. The knobs commonly consist of the same parts as the wood itself, and look within like curled wood. Some of them are hollow. When a knob on a little tree is cut open, we commonly find a number of little worms in it, which are sometimes also common in the greater knobs. This shews the origin of the knobs in general. The tree is stung by insects, which lay their eggs under the bark, and from the eggs worms are afterwards hatched. They occasion an extravasation of the sap, which gradually condenses into a knob. Only the trees with annual deciduous leaves have these knobs, and among them chiefly the oak, of which again the black andSpanishoak have the greatest abundance of knobs. Theash trees, (Fraxinus excelsior) and thered maple(Acer rubrum) likewise have enough of them. Formerly theSwedes, and more especially theFinlanders, who are settled here, made dishes, bowls, &c. of the knobs which were on the ash-trees. These vessels, I am told, were very pretty, and looked as if they were made of curled wood. The oak-knobs cannot be employed in this manner, as they are commonly[24]worm-eaten and rotten within. At present theSwedesno longer make use of such bowls and dishes, but make use of earthen ware, or vessels made of other wood. Some knobs are of an uncommon size, and make a tree have a monstrous appearance. Trees with knobs are very common in the woods of this country4.The roads are good or bad according to the difference of the ground. In a sandy soil the roads are dry and good; but in a clayey one they are bad. The people here are likewise very careless in mending them. If a rivulet be not very great, they do not make a bridge over it; and travellers may do as well as they can to get over: Therefore many people are in danger of being drowned in such places, where the water[25]is risen by a heavy rain. When a tree falls across the road, it is seldom cut off, to keep the road clear, but the people go round it. This they can easily do, since the ground is very even, and without stones; has no underwood or shrubs, and the trees on it stand much asunder. Hence the roads here have so many bendings.The farms are most of them single, and you seldom meet with even two together, except in towns, or places which are intended for towns; therefore there are but few villages. Each farm has its corn-fields, its woods, its pastures and meadows. This may perhaps have contributed something towards the extirpation of wolves, that they every where met with houses, and people who fired at them. Two or three farm-houses have generally a pasture or a wood in common, and there are seldom more together; but most of them have their own grounds divided from the others.Decemberthe 18th. All persons who intend to be married, must either have their banns published three times from the pulpit, or get a licence from the governor. The banns of the poorer sort of people only are published, and all those who are a little above them get a licence from the governor. In that licence he declares that he has examined the affair, and found no obstacles[26]to hinder the marriage, and therefore he allows it. The licence is signed by the governor; but, before he delivers it, the bridegroom must come to him in company with two creditable and well known men, who answer for him, that there really is no lawful obstacle to his marriage. These men must subscribe a certificate, in which they make themselves answerable for, and engage to bear all the damages of, any complaints made by the relations of the persons who intend to be married, by their guardians, their masters, or by those to whom they may have been promised before. For all these circumstances the governor cannot possibly know. They further certify that nothing hinders the intended marriage, and that nothing is to be feared on that account. For a licence they pay five and twenty shillings inPensylvanianmoney, atPhiladelphia. The governor keeps twenty shillings, or one pound, and the remaining five shillings belong to his secretary. The licence is directed only to protestant clergymen. The quakers have a peculiar licence to their marriages. But as it would be very troublesome, especially for those who live far from the governor’s residence to come up to town for every licence, and to bring the men with them[27]who are to answer for them, the clergymen in the country commonly take a sufficient number of licences and certificates, which are ready printed, with blanks left for the names; they give them occasionally, and get the common money, one pound, five shillings, for each of them, besides something for their trouble. The money that they have collected, they deliver to the governor as soon as they come to town, together with the certificates, which are signed by two men, as above-mentioned; they then take again as many licences as they think sufficient: from hence we may conceive that the governors in theEnglish North Americancolonies, besides their salaries, have very considerable revenues5.There is a great mixture of people of all sorts in these colonies, partly of such as are lately come over fromEurope, and partly of such as have not yet any settled place of abode. Hence it frequently happens that when a clergyman has married such a[28]couple, the bridegroom says he has no money at present, but would pay the fee at the first opportunity: however he goes off with his wife, and the clergyman never gets his due. This proceeding has given occasion to a custom which is now common inMaryland. When the clergyman marries a very poor couple, he breaks off in the middle of the Liturgy, and cries outWhere is my fee?The man must then give the money, and the clergyman proceeds; but if the bridegroom has no money, the clergyman defers the marriage till another time, when the man is better provided. People of fortune, of whom the clergyman is sure to get his due, need not fear this disagreeable question, when they are married.However, though the parson has got licences to marry a couple, yet if he be not very careful, he may get into very disagreeable circumstances; for in many parts of the country there is a law made, which, notwithstanding the governor’s licence, greatly limits a clergyman in some cases. He is not allowed to marry a couple who are not yet of age, unless he be certain of the consent of their parents. He cannot marry such strangers as have bound themselves to serve a certain number of years, in order[29]to pay off their passage fromEurope, without the consent of their masters; if he acts without their consent, or in opposition to it, he must pay a penalty of fifty pounds,Pensylvaniacurrency, though he has the licence, and the certificate of the two men who are to answer for any objection. But parents or masters give themselves no concern about these men, but take hold of the clergyman, who is at liberty to prosecute those who gave him the certificate, and to get his damages repaid. With the consent of the parents and masters he may marry people without danger to himself. No clergyman is allowed to marry a negro with one ofEuropeanextraction, or he must pay a penalty of one hundred pounds, according to the laws ofPensylvania.There is a very peculiar diverting custom here, in regard to marrying. When a man dies, and leaves his widow in great poverty, or so that she cannot pay all the debts with what little she has left, and that, notwithstanding all that, there is a person who will marry her, she must be married in no other habit than her shift. By that means, she leaves to the creditors of her deceased husband her cloaths, and every thing which they find in the house. But she is not[30]obliged to pay them any thing more, because she has left them all she was worth, even her cloaths, keeping only a shift to cover her, which the laws of the country cannot refuse her. As soon as she is married, and no longer belongs to the deceased husband, she puts on the cloaths which the second has given her. TheSwedishclergymen here have often been obliged to marry a woman in a dress which is so little expensive,and so light. This appears from the registers kept in the churches, and from the accounts given by the clergymen themselves. I have likewise often seen accounts of such marriages in theEnglishgazettes; which are printed in these colonies; and I particularly remember the following relation: A woman went, with no other dress than her shift, out of the house of her deceased husband to that of her bridegroom, who met her half way with fine new cloaths, and said, before all who were present, that he lent them his bride; and put them on her with his own hands. It seems, he said that he lent the cloaths, lest, if he had said he gave them, the creditors of the first husband should come, and take them from her; pretending, that she was looked upon as the relict of her first husband, before she was married to the second.[31]Decemberthe 21st. It seems very probable, from the following observations, that long before the arrival of theSwedes, there have beenEuropeansin this province; and, in the sequel, we shall give more confirmations of this opinion. The same oldMaons Keen, whom I have already mentioned before, told me repeatedly, that on the arrival of theSwedesin the last century, and on their making a settlement, calledHelsingburg, on the banks of theDelaware, somewhat below the place whereSalemis now situated; they found, at the depth of twenty feet, some wells, inclosed with walls. This could not be aworkof the nativeAmericans, orIndians, as bricks were entirely unknown to them when theEuropeansfirst settled here, at the end of the fifteenth century; and they still less knew how to make use of them. The wells were, at that time, on the land; but in such a place, on the banks of theDelaware, as is sometimes under water, and sometimes dry. But since, the ground has been so washed away, that the wells are entirely covered by the river, and the water is seldom low enough to shew the wells. As theSwedesafterwards made new wells for themselves, at some distance from the former, they discovered, in the ground, some broken earthen vessels, and some entire[32]good bricks; and they have often got them out of the ground by ploughing.From these marks, it seems, we may conclude, that in times of yore, eitherEuropeansor other people of the then civilized parts of the world, have been carried hither by storms, or other accidents, settled here, on the banks of the river, burnt bricks, and made a colony here; but that they afterwards mixed with theIndians, or were killed by them. They may gradually, by conversing with theIndians, have learnt their manners, and turn of thinking. TheSwedesthemselves are accused, that they were already halfIndians, when theEnglisharrived in the year 1682. And we still see, that theFrench,English,Germans,Dutch, and otherEuropeans, who have lived for several years together in distant provinces, near and among theIndians, grow so like them, in their behaviour and thoughts, that they can only be distinguished by the difference of their colour. But history, together with the tradition among theIndians, assures us, that the above-mentioned wells and bricks cannot have been made at the time ofColumbus’s expedition, nor soon after; as the traditions of theIndianssay, that those wells were made long before that epocha. This account of the wells, which had been[33]inclosed with bricks, and of such bricks as have been found in several places in the ground, I have afterwards heard repeated by many other oldSwedes.Decemberthe 22nd. An old farmer foretold a change of the weather, because the air was very warm this day at noon, though the morning had been very cold. This he likewise concluded, from having observed the clouds gathering about the sun. The meteorological observations annexed to the end of this volume will prove that his observation was just.Decemberthe 31st. The remedies against the tooth-ach are almost as numerous as days in a year. There is hardly an old woman but can tell you three or four score of them, of which she is perfectly certain that they are as infallible and speedy in giving relief, as a month’s fasting, by bread and water, is to a burthensome paunch. Yet it happens often, nay too frequently, that this painful disease eludes all this formidable army of remedies. However, I cannot forbear observing the following remedies, which have sometimes, in this country, been found effectual against the tooth-ach.When the pains come from the hollowness of the teeth, the following remedy is[34]said to have had a good effect: A little cotton is put at the bottom of a tobacco-pipe; the tobacco is put in upon it, and lighted; and you smoke till it is almost burnt up. By smoking, the oil of the tobacco gets into the cotton, which is then taken out, and applied to the tooth as hot as it can be suffered.The chief remedy of theIroquois, orIroquese, against the tooth-ach occasioned by hollow teeth, I heard of CaptainLindsey’s lady, atOswego; and she assured me, that she knew, from her own experience, that the remedy was effectual. They take the seed capsules of theVirginian Anemone, as soon as the seed is ripe, and rub them in pieces. It will then be rough, and look like cotton. This cotton-like substance is dipped into strong brandy, and then put into the hollow tooth, which commonly ceases to ache soon after. The brandy is biting or sharp, and the seeds of the anemone, as most seeds of thePolyandria Polygyniaclass of plants (or such as have manyStamina, or male flowers, and manyPistilla, or female flowers) have likewise an acrimony. They therefore, both together, help to assuage the pain; and this remedy is much of the same kind with the former. Besides that, we have many seeds[35]which have the same qualities with theAmericananemone.The following remedy was much in vogue against the tooth-ach which is attended with a swelling: They boil gruel, of flour of maize, and milk; to this they add, whilst it is yet over the fire, some of the fat of hogs, or other suet, and stir it well, that every thing may mix equally. A handkerchief is then spread over the gruel, and applied as hot as possible to the swelled cheek, where it is kept till it is gone cool again. I have found, that this remedy has been very efficacious against a swelling as it lessens the pain, abates the swelling, opens a gathering, if there be any, and procures a good discharge of thePus.I have seen theIroqueseboil the inner bark of theSambucus Canadensis, orCanada Elder, and put it on that part of the cheek in which the pain was most violent. This, I am told, often diminishes the pain.Among theIroquese, orFive Nations, upon the riverMohawk, I saw a youngIndianwoman, who, by frequent drinking of tea, had got a violent tooth-ach. To cure it, she boiled theMyrica asplenii folia, and tied it, as hot as she could bear it, on the whole cheek. She said, that[36]remedy had often cured the tooth-ach before.Januarythe 2nd, 1749. Before theEuropeansunder the direction ofColumbus, came to theWest Indies, thesavagesorIndians(who lived there since times immemorial) were entirely unacquainted with iron, which appears very strange to us, asNorth America, almost in every part of it, contains a number of iron mines. They were therefore obliged to supply this want with sharp stones, shells, claws of birds and wild beasts, pieces of bones, and other things of that kind, whenever they intended to make hatchets, knives, and such like instruments. From hence it appears, that they must have led a very wretched life. The oldSwedeswho lived here, and had had an intercourse with theIndianswhen they were young, and at a time when they were yet very numerous in these parts, could tell a great many things concerning their manner of living. At this time the people find accidentally, by ploughing and digging in the ground, several of the instruments which theIndiansemployed, before theSwedesand otherEuropeanshad provided them with iron tools. For it is observable that theIndiansat present make use of no other tools, than such as are made of iron and other metals,[37]and which they always get from theEuropeans: Of this I shall be more particular, in its proper place. But having had an opportunity of seeing, and partly collecting a great many of the ancientIndiantools, I shall here describe them.Theirhatchetswere made of stone. Their shape is similar to that of the wedges with which we cleave our wood, about half a foot long, and broad in proportion; they are made like a wedge, sharp at one end, but rather blunter than our wedges. As this hatchet must be fixed on a handle, there was a notch made all round the thick-end. To fasten it, they split a stick at one end, and put the stone between it, so that the two halves of the stick come into the notches of the stone; then they tied the two split ends together with a rope or something like it, almost in the same way as smiths fasten the instrument with which they cut off iron, to a split stick. Some of these stone-hatchets were not notched or furrowed at the upper end, and it seems they only held those in their hands in order to hew or strike with them, and did not make handles to them. Most of the hatchets which I have seen, consisted of a hard rock-stone: but some were made of a fine, hard, black, apyrous stone. When theIndiansintended to fell[38]a thick strong tree, they could not make use of their hatchets, but for want of proper instruments employed fire. They set fire to a great quantity of wood at the roots of the tree, and made it fall by that means. But that the fire might not reach higher than they would have it, they fastened some rags to a pole, dipped them into water, and kept continually washing the tree, a little above the fire. Whenever they intended to hollow out a thick tree for a canoe, they laid dry branches all along the stem of the tree, as far as it must be hollowed out. They then put fire to those dry branches, and as soon as they were burnt, they were replaced by others. Whilst these branches were burning, theIndianswere very busy with wet rags, and pouring water upon the tree, to prevent the fire from spreading too far on the sides and at the ends. The tree being burnt hollow as far as they found it sufficient, or as far as it could without damaging the canoe, they took the above described stone-hatchets, or sharp flints, and quartzes, or sharp shells, and scraped off the burnt part of the wood, and smoothened the boats within. By this means they likewise gave it what shape they pleased. Instead of cutting with a hatchet such a piece of wood as was necessary for making[39]a canoe, they likewise employed fire. A canoe was commonly between thirty and forty feet long. The chief use of their hatchets was, according to the unanimous accounts of all theSwedes, to make good fields for maize-plantations; for if the ground where they intended to make a maize-field was covered with trees, they cut off the bark all round the trees with their hatchets, especially at the time when they lose their sap. By that means the tree became dry, and could not take any more nourishment, and the leaves could no longer obstruct the rays of the sun from passing. The smaller trees were then pulled out by main force, and the ground was a little turned up with crooked or sharp branches.Instead ofknivesthey were satisfied with little sharp pieces of flint or quartz, or else some other hard kind of a stone, or with a sharp shell, or with a piece of a bone which they had sharpened.At the end of theirarrowsthey fastened narrow angulated pieces of stone; they made use of them, having no iron to make them sharp again, or a wood of sufficient hardness: these points were commonly flints or quartzes, but sometimes likewise another kind of a stone. Some employed the bones of animals, or the[40]claws of birds and beasts. Some of these ancient harpoons are very blunt, and it seems that theIndiansmight kill birds and small quadrupeds with them; but whether they could enter deep into the body of a great beast or of a man, by the velocity which they get from the bow, I cannot ascertain; yet some have been found very sharp and well made.They hadstone pestles, about a foot long, and as thick as a man’s arm. They consist chiefly of a black sort of a stone, and were formerly employed, by theIndians, for pounding maize, which has, since times immemorial, been their chief and almost their only corn. They had neither wind-mills, water-mills, nor hand-mills, to grind it, and did not so much as know a mill, before theEuropeanscame into the country. I have spoken with oldFrenchmen, inCanada, who told me, that theIndianshad been astonished beyond expression, when theFrenchset up the first wind-mill. They came in numbers, even from the most distant parts, to view this wonder, and were not tired with sitting near it for several days together, in order to observe it; they were long of opinion that it was not driven by the wind, but by the spirits who lived within it. They were partly[41]under the same astonishment when the first water-mill was built. They formerly pounded all their corn or maize in hollow trees, with the above-mentioned pestles, made of stone. ManyIndianshad only wooden pestles. The blackish stone, of which the hatchets and pestles are sometimes made, is very good for a grindstone, and therefore both theEnglishand theSwedesemploy the hatchets and pestles chiefly as grindstones, at present, when they can get them.The old boilers or kettles of theIndians, were either made of clay, or of different kinds of pot-stone, (Lapis ollaris). The former consisted of a dark clay, mixt with grains of white sand or quartz, and burnt in the fire. Many of these kettles have two holes in the upper margin, on each side one, through which theIndiansput a stick, and held the kettle over the fire, as long as it was to boil. Most of the kettles have no feet. It is remarkable that no pots of this kind have been found glazed, either on the outside or the inside. A few of the oldestSwedescould yet remember seeing theIndiansboil their meat in these pots. They are very thin, and of different sizes; they are made sometimes of a greenish, and sometimes of a[42]grey pot-stone, and some are made of another species of apyrous stone; the bottom and the margin are frequently above an inch thick. TheIndians, notwithstanding their being unacquainted with iron, steel, and other metals, have learnt to hollow out very ingeniously these pots or kettles of pot-stone.The oldtobacco-pipesof theIndiansare likewise made of clay, or pot-stone, or serpentine-stone. The first sort are shaped like our tobacco-pipes, though much coarser and not so well made. The tube is thick and short, hardly an inch long, but sometimes as long as a finger; their colour comes nearest to that of our tobacco-pipes which have been long used. Their tobacco-pipes of pot-stone are made of the same stone as their kettles. Some of them are pretty well made, though they had neither iron nor steel. But besides these kinds of tobacco-pipes, we find another sort of pipes, which are made with great ingenuity, of a very fine, red pot-stone, or a kind of serpentine marble. They are very scarce, and seldom made use of by any other than theIndian Sachems, or elders. The fine red stone, of which these pipes are made, is likewise very scarce, and is found only in the country of those[43]Indianswho are calledIngouez, and who, according to fatherCharlevoix, live on the other side of the riverMissisippi6. TheIndiansthemselves commonly value a pipe of this kind as much as a piece of silver of the same size, and sometimes they make it still dearer. Of the same kind of stone commonly consists theirpipe of peace, which theFrenchcallcalumet de paix, and which they make use of in their treaties of peace, and alliances. Most authors who have wrote of these nations mention this instrument, and I intend to speak of it when an opportunity offers.TheIndiansemploy hooks made of bone, or bird’s claws, instead offishing-hooks. Some of the oldestSwedeshere told me, that when they were young, a great number ofIndianshad been in this part of the country, which was then calledNew Sweden, and had caught fishes in the riverDelaware, with these hooks.They made fire by rubbing one end of a hard piece of wood continually against another dry one, till the wood began to smoke, and afterwards to burn.Such were the tools of the antientIndians, and the use which they made of[44]them, before theEuropeansinvaded this country, and before they (theIndians) were acquainted with the advantages of iron.North Americaabounds in iron-mines, and theIndianslived all about the country before the arrival of theEuropeans, so that several places can be shewn in this country, where at present there are iron-mines, and where, not a hundred years ago, stood great towns or villages of theIndians. It is therefore very remarkable that theIndiansdid not know how to make use of a metal or ore which was always under their eyes, and on which they could not avoid treading every day. They even lived upon the very spots where iron ores were afterwards found, and yet they often went many miles in order to get a wretched hatchet, knife, or the like, as above described. They were forced to employ several days in order to sharpen their tools, by rubbing them against a rock, or other stones, though the advantage was far from being equal to the labour. For they could never cut down a thick tree with their hatchets, and with difficulty they felled a small one. They could not hollow out a tree with their hatchets, or do a hundredth part of the work which we can perform with ease, by the help of our iron[45]hatchets. Thus we see how disadvantageous the ignorance and inconsiderate contempt of useful arts is. Happy is the country which knows their full value!Januarythe 5th. Christmas-day was celebrated this day by theSwedesandEnglish, for they kept then to theold stile.Januarythe 6th. There are a great number of hares in this country, but they differ from ourSwedishones in their size, which is very small, and but little bigger than that of a rabbit; they keep almost the same grey colour both in summer and winter, which ourNorthernhares have in summer only; the tip of their ears is always grey, and not black; the tail is likewise grey on the upper side, at all seasons; they breed several times a year: in spring they lodge their young ones in hollow trees, and in summer, in the months ofJuneandJuly, they breed in the grass. When they are surprised they commonly take refuge in hollow trees, out of which they are taken by means of a crooked stick, or by cutting a hole into the tree, opposite to the place where they lie; or by smoke, which is occasioned by making a fire on the outside of the tree. On all these occasions the greyhounds must be at hand. These hares never bite, and can be touched without any danger. In day-time they[46]usually lie in hollow trees, and hardly ever stir from thence, unless they be disturbed by men or dogs; but in the night they come out, and seek their food. In bad weather, or when it snows, they lie close for a day or two, and do not venture to leave their retreats. They do a great deal of mischief in the cabbage-fields; but apple-trees suffer infinitely more from them, for they peel off all the bark next to the ground. The people here agreed that the hares are fatter in a cold and severe winter, than in a mild and wet one, of which they could give me several reasons, from their own conjectures. The skin is useless, because it is so loose, that it can be drawn off; for when you would separate it from the flesh, you need only pull at the fur, and the skin follows: these hares cannot be tamed. They were at all times, even in the midst of winter, plagued with a number of common fleas7.Januarythe 16th. The common mice were in great abundance in the towns and in the country; they do as much mischief as in the old countries.Oldmixonin his[47]book, theBritish Empire in America, vol. i. p. 444, writes, thatNorth Americahad neither rats nor mice beforeEuropeanships brought them over. How far this is true I know not. It is undoubted, that in several desart places, where no man ever lived, I have seen and killed the common mice, in crevices of stones or mountains; and is it probable that all such mice as are spread in this manner, throughout the inland parts of the country, derive their origin from those which were brought over fromEurope?Rats likewise may be ranked among those animals which do great damage in this country. They live both in the cities and in the country, and destroy the provisions. Their size is the same with that of our rats, but their colour differs; for they are grey, or blue-grey. I enquired of theSwedes, Whether these rats had been here prior to the arrival of theEuropeans, or whether they came over in the ships? But I could not get an answer which I might depend upon. All agreed, that a number of these dangerous and mischievous animals were every year brought toAmerica, by ships fromEuropeand other countries. But Mr.Bartrammaintained, that before theEuropeanssettled here, rats had been in the country; for he saw a great number of them on the high mountains,[48]which are commonly called theBlue Mountains, where they lived among stones, and in the subterraneous grottoes which are in those mountains. They always lie very close in the day-time, and you hardly ever see one out; but at night they come out, and make a terrible noise. When the cold was very violent, they seemed quite torpid; for during the continuance of the cold weather, one could not hear the least noise, or shrieking, occasioned by them. It is to be observed, that neither theSwedesnor theEnglishhave any dark windows in their houses here. There is hardly a dormer-window in the garret; but only loose boards. The walls in the wooden houses are frequently not closed, even with moss; so that the rooms, though they have fires in them, are no warmer than the outside apartment, or hall. The rooms where the servants sleep have never any fire in them, though the winter is pretty severe sometimes. The rats have, therefore, little or no warmth in winter; but as soon as a milder season makes its appearance, they come out again. We observed several times this winter, that the rats were very active, and made an unusual noise all night, just before a severe cold. It seems, they had some sensation of cold weather being at hand; and that they therefore eat sufficiently, or stored[49]up provisions. In mild weather, they were used to carry away apples, and other provisions: therefore, we could always conclude, with certainty, when the rats made an uncommon noise at night, or were extremely greedy, that a severe cold would ensue. I have already observed in the preceding volume, p. 312, that the grey squirrels in this country have the same quality. When these, and the common mice, eat maize, they do not consume the whole grains, but only the loose, sweet and soft kernel, and leave the rest.Januarythe 21st. The cold now equalled that ofSweden, though this country is so much more southerly. TheCelsianorSwedishthermometer was twenty-two degrees below the freezing point, in the morning. As the rooms are without any shutters here, the cracks in the walls not closed with moss, and sometimes no fire-place or chimney in the room, the winters here must be very disagreeable to one who is used to ourSwedishwarm winter-rooms. But the greatest comfort here is, that the cold is of a very short duration. Some days of this month, the room which I lodged in was such, that I could not write two lines before the ink would freeze in my pen. When I did not write, I could not leave the ink-stand on the[50]table; but was forced to put it upon the hearth, or into my pocket. Yet, notwithstanding it was so cold, as appears from the meteorological observations at the end of this volume, and though it snowed sometimes for several days and nights together, and the snow lay near six inches high upon the ground, yet all the cattle are obliged to stay, day and night, in the fields, during the whole winter. For neither theEnglishnor theSwedeshad any stables; but theGermansandDutchhad preserved the custom of their country, and generally kept their cattle in stables during winter. Almost all the oldSwedessay, that on their first arrival in this country, they made stables for their cattle, as is usual inSweden; but as theEnglishcame, and settled among them, and left their cattle in the fields all winter, as is customary inEngland, they left off their former custom, and adopted theEnglishone. They owned, however, that the cattle suffered greatly in winter, when it was very cold, especially when it froze after a rain, and that some cattle were killed by it in several places, in the long winter of the year 1741. About noon, the cattle went out into the woods, where there were yet some leaves on the young oak; but they did not eat the leaves, and only bit off the extremities of the[51]branches, and the tops of the youngest oaks. The horses went into the maize fields, and ate the dry leaves on the few stalks which remained. The sheep ran about the woods, and on the corn fields. The chickens perched on the trees of the gardens, at night; for they had no particular habitations. The hogs were likewise exposed to the roughness of the weather, within a small inclosure.A small kind of birds, which theSwedescallSnow-bird, and theEnglish Chuck-bird, came into the houses about this time. At other times, they sought their food along the roads. They are seldom seen, but when it snows.Catesby, in his Natural History ofCarolina, calls itPasser nivalis; and Dr.Linnæus, in hisSystema Naturæ, calls itEmberiza hyemalis.The riverDelawarewas now covered with ice oppositePhiladelphia, and even somewhat lower, and the people could walk over it; but nobody ventured to ride over on horseback.Januarythe 22d. There are partridges in this country; but they are not of the same kind with ours. TheSwedescalled them sometimesrapphons(partridges), and sometimesaekkerhoens(quails). Some of theEnglishlikewise called them partridges,[52]others quails. Their shape is almost the same with that of theEuropeanpartridges, and their nature and qualities the same: I mean, they run and hide themselves, when pursued. But they are smaller, and entirely different in colour. In this work I cannot insert, at large, the descriptions which I have made of birds, insects, quadrupeds, and plants; because it would swell my volume too much. I only observe, that the feet are naked, and not hairy; the back is spotted with brown, black, and white; the breast is dark yellow; and the belly whitish, with black edges on the tips of the feathers. The size is nearly that of a hazel-hen, ortetrao bonasia. Above each eye is a narrow stroke of whitish yellow. These birds are numerous inNew Sweden, i. e. this part of the country. On going but a little way, you meet with great coveys of them. However, they keep at a great distance from towns; being either extirpated, or frightened there by the frequent shooting. They are always in lesser or greater coveys, do not fly very much, but run in the fields, and keep under the bushes and near the inclosures, where they seek their food. They are reckoned very delicious food; and the people here prepare them in different ways. For that purpose they are caught, and shot[53]in great numbers. They are caught by putting up a sieve, or a square open box, made of boards, in the places they frequent. The people strew some oats under the sieve, and lift it up on one side by a little stick; and as soon as the partridges are got under the sieve, in order to pick up the oats, it falls, and they are caught alive. Sometimes they get several partridges at once. When they run in the bushes, you can come very near them, without starting them. When they sleep at night, they come together in an heap. They scratch in the bushes and upon the field, like common chickens. In spring they make their nests, either under a bush or in the maize fields, or on the hills in the open air: they scratch some hay together, into which they lay about thirteen white eggs. They eat several sorts of corn, and seeds of grass. They have likewise been seen eating the berries ofsumach, orrhus glabra. Some people have taken them young, and kept them in a cage till they were tame: then they let them go; and they followed the chickens, and never left the court-yards.The inclosures made use of inPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, but especially inNew York, are those, which on account of their serpentine form resembling worms, are called[54]worm-fencesinEnglish. The poles which compose this fence are taken from different trees; but they are not all of equal duration: the redcedaris reckoned the most durable of any, for it holds out above thirty years; but it is very scarce, and grows only in a single place hereabouts, so that no fences can be made of it. It is true, the fences aboutPhiladelphia(which however are different from theworm-fences) are all made of redcedar; but it has been brought by water fromEgg-harbour, where it grows in abundance. The supports on which the poles lie are made of the whitecedar, orCupressus thyoides, and the poles which are laid between them of the redcedarorJuniperus Virginiana. Next to thecedar-wood,oakandchesnutare reckoned best.Chesnutis commonly preferred, but it is not every where so plentiful as to be made into fences; in its stead they make use of several sorts ofoak. In order to make inclosures, the people do not cut down the young trees, as is common with us, but they fell here and there thick trees, cut them in several places, leaving the pieces as long as it is necessary, and split them into poles of the usual thickness; a single tree affords a multitude of poles. Several old men in this country told me, that theSwedeson their arrival here,[55]made such inclosures as are usual inSweden, but they were forced to leave off in a few years time, because they could not get posts enough; for they had found by experience that a post being put into the ground would not last above four or six years before the part under ground was entirely rotten; but the chief thing was, that they could not get any switches for to tie them together; they made some ofhiccory, which is one of the toughest trees in this country, and of the whiteoak; but in the space of a year or two the switches were rotten, and the fence fell in pieces of itself, therefore they were forced to give over making such inclosures. Several of the new comers again attempted, but with the same bad success, to make fences with posts and switches. TheSwedishway of inclosing therefore will not succeed here. Thus theworm-fencesare one of the most useful sorts of inclosures, especially as they cannot get any post, made of the woods of this country, to stay above six or eight years in the ground without rotting. The poles in this country are very heavy, and the posts cannot bear them well, especially when it blows a storm; but theworm-fencesare easily put up again, when they are thrown down. Experience has[56]shewn that an inclosure made ofchesnutor whiteoakseldom holds out above ten or twelve years, before the poles and posts are thoroughly rotten: when the poles are made of other wood, the fences hardly stand six or eight years. Considering how much more wood theworm-fencesrequire, (since they run in bendings) than other inclosures which go in strait lines, and that they are so soon useless, one may imagine how the forests will be consumed, and what sort of an appearance the country will have forty or fifty years hence, in case no alteration is made; especially as wood is really squandered away in immense quantities, day and night all the winter, or nearly one half of the year, for fewel.Februarythe 8th. TheMusk-rats, so called by theEnglishin this country, on account of their scent, are pretty common inNorth America; they always live near the water, especially on the banks of lakes, rivers, and brooks. On travelling to places where they are, you see the holes which they have dug in the ground just at the water’s edge, or a little above its surface. In these holes they have their nests, and there they continue whenever they are not in the water in pursuit of food. TheSwedescall[57]themDésmans Rattor8, and theFrench,Rats musqués.Linnæuscalls this animalCastor Zibethicus. Their food is chiefly the muscles which ly at the bottom of lakes and rivers; you see a number of such shells near the entrance of their holes. I am told they likewise eat several kinds of roots and plants. They differ from theEuropean Musk-rat, orLinnæus’sCastor Moschatus. The teeth are the same in both; the tail of theAmericanis compressed on the sides so, that one sharp edge goes upwards and the other downwards: the hind feet are not palmated, or joined by a moveable skin, but are peculiar for having on both sides of the feet, long, white, close, pectinated, off-standing hair, besides the short hair with which the feet are quite covered. Such hairs are on both sides of the toes, and do the same service in swimming as a web. Their size is that of a little cat, or to be more accurate, the length of the body is about ten inches, and the tail of the same length: the colour of the head, neck, back, sides, and of the outside of the thighs, is blackish brown; the hairs are soft and shining;[58]under the neck, on the breasts, and on the inside of the thighs, they are grey. They make their nests in the dykes that are erected along the banks of rivers to keep off the water from the adjoining meadows; but they often do a great deal of damage, by spoiling the dykes with digging, and opening passages for the water to come into the meadows; whereasBeaversstop up all the holes in a dyke or bank. They make their nests of twigs and such like things externally, and carry soft stuff into them for their young ones to ly upon. TheSwedesasserted that they could never observe a diminution in their number, but believed that they were as numerous at present as formerly. As they damage the banks so considerably, the people are endeavouring to extirpate them, when they can find out their nests; the skin is paid for, and this is an encouragement towards catching the animal. A skin of aMusk-ratformerly cost but three-pence, but at present they gave from six-pence to nine-pence. The skins are chiefly employed by hatters, who make hats of the hair, which are said to be nearly as good asBeaverhats. TheMusk-ratsare commonly caught in traps, with apples as baits. In the country of theIroquese, I saw thoseIndiansfollowing the[59]holes of theMusk-ratsby digging till they came to their nests, where they killed them all. Nobody here eats their flesh; I do not know whether theIndianseat it, for they are commonly not over nice in the choice of meat. The musk-bag is put between the cloaths in order to preserve them against worms. It is very difficult to extirpate theseRatswhen they are once settled in a bank. ASwede, however, told me, that he had freed his bank, or piece of dyke along the river, from them in the following manner: He sought for all their holes, stopped them all up with earth, excepting one, on that side from whence the wind came. He put a quantity of sulphur into the open entrance, set fire to it, and then closed the hole, leaving but a small one for the wind to pass through. The smoke of the sulphur then entered their most remote nests, and stifled all the animals. As soon as the sulphur was burnt, he was obliged to dig up part of the ground in the bank, where they had their nests; and he found them lie dead by heaps. He sold the skins, and they paid his trouble, not to mention the advantage he got by clearing his bank of theMusk-rats.
New Jersey, Raccoon.Decemberthe seventh, 1748.In the morning I undertook again a little journey, toRaccoon, inNew Jersey.It does not seem difficult to find out the reasons, why the people multiply more here than inEurope. As soon as a person is old enough, he may marry in these provinces, without any fear of poverty; for there is such a tract of good ground yet uncultivated, that a new-married man can, without difficulty, get a spot of ground, where he may sufficiently subsist with his wife and children. The taxes are very low, and he[4]need not be under any concern on their account. The liberties he enjoys are so great, that he considers himself as a prince in his possessions. I shall here demonstrate by some plain examples, what effect such a constitution is capable of.Maons Keen, one of theSwedesinRaccoon, was now near seventy years old: he had many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; so that, of those who were yet alive, he could muster up forty-five persons. Besides them, several of his children and grandchildren died young, and some in a mature age. He was, therefore, uncommonly blessed. Yet his happiness is not comparable to that which is to be seen in the following examples, and which I have extracted from thePhiladelphiagazette.In the year 1732,Januarythe 24th, died atIpswich, inNew England, Mrs.Sarah Tuthil, a widow, aged eighty-six years. She had brought sixteen children into the world; and from seven of them only, she had seen one hundred and seventy-seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren.In the year 1739,Maythe 30th, the children, grand and great-grandchildren, of Mr.Richard Buttington, in the parish ofChester, inPensylvania, were assembled in[5]his house; and they made together one hundred and fifteen persons. The parent of these children,Richard Buttington, who was born inEngland, was then entering into his eighty-fifth year: and was at that time quite fresh, active, and sensible. His eldest son, then sixty years old, was the firstEnglishmanborn inPensylvania.In the year 1742, on the 8th ofJanuary, died atTrenton, inNew Jersey, Mrs.Sarah Furman, a widow, aged ninety-seven years. She was born inNew England; and left five children, sixty-one grandchildren, one hundred and eighty-two great-grandchildren, and twelve great-great-grandchildren, who were all alive when she died.In the year 1739, on the 28th ofJanuary, died atSouth Kingston, inNew England, Mrs.Maria Hazard, a widow, in the hundredth year of her age. She was born inRhode Island, and was a grandmother of the then vice-governor of that island, Mr.George Hazard. She could count altogether five hundred children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. When she died, two hundred and five persons of them were alive; a grand-daughter of hers had already been grandmother near fifteen years.In this manner, the usual wish or blessing in our liturgy, that the new-married couple[6]may see their grandchildren, till the third and fourth generation, has been literally fulfilled in regard to some of these persons1.Decemberthe 9th. In every country, we commonly meet with a number of insects; of which many, though they be ever so small and contemptible, can do considerable damage to the inhabitants. Of these dangerous insects, there are likewise some inNorth America: some are peculiar to that country, others are common toEuropelikewise.I have already, in the preceding volume, mentioned theMosquitoes, as a kind of disagreeable gnats; and another noxious insect, theBruchus Pisi, which destroys whole fields with pease. I shall here add some more.There are a kind ofLocustswhich about every seventeenth year come hither in incredible numbers. They come out of the ground in the middle ofMay, and make, for six weeks together, such a noise in the trees and woods, that two persons who meet in such places, cannot understand each other, unless they speak louder than the locusts can chirp. During that time, they make, with the sting in their tail, holes into the soft bark of the little branches on the trees, by which means these branches are[7]ruined. They do no other harm to the trees or other plants. In the interval between the years when they are so numerous, they are only seen or heard single in the woods.There is likewise a kind ofCaterpillarsin these provinces, which eat the leaves from the trees. They are also innumerable in some years. In the intervals there are but few of them: but when they come, they strip the trees so entirely of their leaves, that the woods in the middle of summer are as naked as in winter. They eat all kinds of leaves, and very few trees are left untouched by them; as, about that time of the year the heat is most excessive. The stripping the trees of their leaves has this fatal consequence, that they cannot withstand the heat, but dry up entirely. In this manner, great forests are sometimes entirely ruined. TheSwedeswho live here shewed me, here and there, great tracts in the woods, where young trees were now growing, instead of the old ones, which, some years ago, had been destroyed by the caterpillars. These caterpillars afterwards change into moths, orphalænæ, which shall be described in the sequel, in their proper places.In other years theGrass-wormsdo a great deal of damage in several places, both in the meadows and corn-fields. For the[8]fields are at certain times over-run with great armies of these worms, as with the other insects; yet it is very happy that these many plagues do not come all together. For in those years when the locusts are numerous, the caterpillars and grass-worms are not very considerable, and it happens so with the latter kinds, so that only one of the three kinds comes at a time. Then there are several years when they are very scarce. The grass-worms have been observed to settle chiefly in a fat soil; but as soon as careful husbandmen discover them, they draw narrow channels with almost perpendicular sides quite round the field in which the worms are settled; then by creeping further they all fall into the ditch, and cannot get out again. I was assured by many persons that these three sorts of insects followed each other pretty closely; and that the locusts came in the first year, the caterpillars in the second, and the grass-worms in the last: I have likewise found by my own experience that this is partly true.Moths, orTineæ, which eat the clothes, are likewise abundant here. I have seen cloth, worsted gloves, and other woollen stuffs, which had hung all the summer locked up in a shrine, and had not been[9]taken care of, quite cut through by these worms, so that whole pieces fell out: Sometimes they were so spoiled that they could not be mended again. Furs which had been kept in the garret were frequently so ruined by worms, that the hair went off by handfuls. I am however not certain whether these worms were originally in the country, or whether they were brought over fromEurope.Fleasare likewise to be found in this part of the world. Many thousands were undoubtedly brought over from other countries; yet immense numbers of them have certainly been here since time immemorial. I have seen them on the grey squirrels, and on the hares which have been killed in such desart parts of this country, where no human creature ever lived. As I afterwards came further up into the country, and was obliged to lie at night in the huts and beds of theIndians, I was so plagued by immense quantities of fleas, that I imagined I was put to the torture. They drove me from the bed, and I was very glad to sleep on the benches below the roof of the huts. But it is easy to conceive that the many dogs which theIndianskeep, breed fleas without end. Dogs and men lie promiscuously in the[10]huts; and a stranger can hardly lie down and shut his eyes, but he is in danger of being either squezed to death, or stifled by a dozen or more dogs, which lie round him, and upon him, in order to have a good resting place. For I imagine they do not expect that strangers will venture to beat them or throw them off, as their masters and mistresses commonly do.The noisyCrickets(Gryllus domesticus) which are sometimes to be met with in the houses inSweden, I have not perceived in any part ofPensylvaniaorNew Jersey, and other people whom I have asked, could not say that they had ever seen any. In summer there are a kind ofblack Crickets2in the fields, which make exactly the same chirping noise as our house crickets. But they keep only to the fields, and were silent as soon as winter or the cold weather came on.They say it sometimes happens that these field crickets take refuge in houses, and chirp continually there, whilst it is warm weather, or whilst the rooms are warm; but as soon as it grows cold they are silent. In some parts of the province ofNew York, and inCanada, every[11]farm-house and most of the houses in the towns, swarm with so many, that no farm-house in our country can be better stocked with them. They continue their music there throughout the whole winter.Bugs (Cimex lectularius) are very plentiful here. I have been sufficiently tormented by them, in many places inCanada: But I do not remember having seen any with theIndians, during my stay atFort Frederic. The commander there, Mr.de Lousignan, told me, that none of theIllinoisand otherIndiansof the western parts ofNorth Americaknew any thing of these vermin. And he added, that he could with certainty say this from his own experience, having been among them for a great while. Yet I cannot determine whether bugs were first brought over by theEuropeans, or whether they have originally been in the country. Many people looked upon them as natives of this country, and as a proof of it said, that under the wings of bats the people had often found bugs, which had eaten very deep into the flesh. It was therefore believed that the bats had got them in some hollow tree, and had afterwards brought them into the houses, as they commonly fix themselves close to the walls, and creep into the little chinks which[12]they meet with. But as I have never seen any bugs upon bats, I cannot say any thing upon that subject. Perhaps a louse or a tick (Acarus) has been taken for a bug. Or, if a real bug has been found upon a bat’s wing, it is very easy to conceive that it fixed on the bat, whilst the latter was sitting in the chinks of a house stocked withEuropeanbugs.As the people here could not bear the inconvenience of these vermin, any more than we can inSweden, they endeavoured to expel them by different means. I have already remarked in the preceding volume, that the beds to that purpose were made ofSassafraswood, but that they were only temporary remedies. Some persons assured me that they had found from their own experience, and by repeated trials, that no remedy was more effectual towards the expulsion of bugs, than the injecting of boiling water into all the cracks where they are settled, and washing all the wood of the beds with it; this being twice or thrice repeated, the bugs are wholly destroyed. But if there are bugs in neighbouring houses, they will fasten toone’sclothes, and thus be brought over into other houses.I cannot say whether these remedies are[13]good or no, as I have not tried them; but by repeated trials I have been convinced that sulphur, if it be properly employed, entirely destroys bugs and their eggs in beds and walls, though they were ten times more numerous than the ants in an ant-hill3.TheMill-beetles, orCock-roaches, are likewise a plague ofNorth America, and are settled in many of its provinces. The learned Dr.Coldenwas of opinion that these insects were properly natives of theWest Indies, and that those that were found inNorth Americawere brought over from those islands. To confirm his opinion, he said, that it was yet daily seen how the ships coming with goods from theWest IndiestoNorth Americabrought mill-beetles with them in great numbers. But from the observations which I have made in this country, I have reason to believe that these insects have been on the continent ofNorth Americasince time immemorial. Yet notwithstanding this I do not deny their being brought over from theWest Indies. They are in almost every house in the city ofNew York; and those are undoubtedly come over with ships. But how can that[14]be said of those mill-beetles, which are found in the midst of the woods and desarts?TheEnglishlikewise call theMill-beetles,Cock-roaches, and theDutchgive them the name ofKackerlack. TheSwedesin this country call themBrodoetare, orBread-eaters, on account of the damage they do to the bread, which I am going to describe. Dr.Linnæuscalls themBlatta Orientalis. Many of theSwedescall them likewiseKackerlack. They are not only observed in the houses, but in the summer they appear often in the woods, and run about the trees, which are cut down. On bringing in all sorts of old rotten blocks of wood for fewel, inFebruary, I discovered several cock-roaches settled in them; they were at first quite torpid, or as it were dead; but after lying in the room for a while, they recovered, became very lively, and began to run about. I afterwards found very often, that when old rotten wood was brought home in winter, and cut in pieces for fewel, the cock-roaches were got into it in numbers, and lay in it in a torpid state. In the same winter, a fellow cut down a great dry tree, and was about to split it. I then observed in a crack, some fathoms above the ground,[15]several cock-roaches together with the common ants. They were, it seems, crept up a great way, in order to find a secure place of abode against winter. On travelling in the middle ofOctober1749, through the uninhabited country between theEnglishandFrenchcolonies, and making a fire at night near a thick half rotten tree, on the shore of lakeChamplain, numbers of cock-roaches came out of the wood, being wakened by the smoke and the fire, which had driven them out of their holes. TheFrenchmen, who were then in my company, did not know them, and could not give them any name. InCanadatheFrenchdid not remember seeing any in the houses. InPensylvania, I am told, they run in immense numbers about the sheaves of corn, during the harvest. At other times they live commonly in the houses in theEnglishsettlements, and lie in the crevices, especially in the cracks of those beams which support the ceiling, and are nearest to the chimney.They do a deal of damage by eating the soft parts of the bread. If they have once made a hole into a loaf, they will in a little time eat all the soft part in it, so that on cutting the loaf, nothing but the crust is left. I am told they likewise eat other[16]victuals. Sometimes they bite people’s noses or feet, whilst they are asleep. An oldSwede, calledSven Laock, a grandson of the Rev. Mr.Laockenius, one of the firstSwedishclergymen that came toPensylvania, told me, that he had in his younger years been once very much frightened on account of a cock-roach, which crept into his ear whilst he was asleep. He waked suddenly, jumped out of bed, and felt that the insect, probably out of fear, was endeavouring with all its strength to get deeper. These attempts of the cock-roach were so painful to him, that he imagined his head was bursting, and he was almost senseless; however he hastened to the well, and bringing up a bucket full of water, threw some into his ear. As soon as the cock-roach found itself in danger of being drowned, it endeavoured to save itself, and pushed backwards out of the ear, with its hind feet, and thus happily delivered the poor man from his fears.TheWood-liceare disagreeable insects, which in a manner are worse than the preceding; but as I have already described them in a peculiar memoir, which is printed among the memoirs of the Royal[17]Academy of Sciences for the year 1754, I refer my readers to that account.Decemberthe 11th. This morning I made a little excursion toPenn’s Neck, and further over theDelawaretoWilmington. The country roundPenn’s Neckhas the same qualities as that about other places in this part ofNew Jersey. For the ground consists chiefly of sand, with a thin stratum of black soil. It is not very hilly, but chiefly flat, and in most places covered with open woods of such trees as have annual leaves, especially oak. Now and then you see a single farm, and a little corn field round it. Between them are here and there little marshes or swamps, and sometimes a brook with water, which has a very slow motion.The woods of these parts consist of all sorts of trees, but chiefly of oak and hiccory. These woods have certainly never been cut down, and have always grown without hindrance. It might therefore be expected that there are trees of an uncommon great age to be found in them; but it happens otherwise, and there are very few trees three hundred years old. Most of them are only two hundred years old; and this convinced me that trees have the same quality as animals, and die after[18]they are arrived at a certain age. Thus we find great woods here, but when the trees in them have stood an hundred and fifty or an hundred and eighty years, they are either rotting within, or losing their crown, or their wood becomes quite soft, or their roots are no longer able to draw in sufficient nourishment, or they die from some other cause. Therefore when storms blow, which sometimes happens here, the trees are broke off either just above the root, or in the middle, or at the summit. Several trees are likewise torn out with their roots by the power of the winds. The storms thus cause great devastations in these forests. Every where you see trees thrown down by the winds, after they are too much weakened by one or the other of the above mentioned causes to be able to resist their fury. Fire likewise breaks out often in the woods, and burns the trees half way from the root, so that a violent gust of wind easily throws them down.On travelling through these woods, I purposely tried to find out, by the position of the trees which were fallen down, which winds are the strongest hereabouts. But I could not conclude any thing with certainty, for the trees fell on all sides, and lay towards all the points of the compass.[19]I therefore judged, that any wind which blows from that side where the roots of the tree are weakest and shortest, and where it can make the least resistance, must root it up and throw it down. In this manner the old trees die away continually, and are succeeded by a young generation. Those which are thrown downlayon the ground and putrify, sooner or later, and by that means encrease the black soil, into which the leaves are likewise finally changed, which drop abundantly in autumn, are blown about by the winds for some time, but are heaped up, and lie on both sides of the trees, which are fallen down. It requires several years before a tree is intirely reduced to dust. When the winds tear up a tree with the roots, a quantity of loose soil commonly comes out with and sticks to them for some time, but at last it drops off, and forms a little hillock, which is afterwards augmented by the leaves, which commonly gather about the roots. Thus several inequalities are formed in the woods, such as little holes land hills; and by this means the upper soil must likewise be heaped up in such places.Some trees are more inclined to putrify than others. Thetupelo-tree(Nyssa), the[20]tulip-tree(Liriodendron), and the sweetgum-tree(Liquidambar), became rotten in a short time. Thehiccorydid not take much time, and theblack oakfell sooner to pieces than thewhite oak; but this was owing to circumstances. If the bark remained on the wood, it was for the greatest part rotten, and entirely eaten by worms within, in the space of six, eight, or ten years, so that nothing was to be found but a reddish brown dust. But if the bark was taken off, they would often lie twenty years before they were entirely rotten. The suddenness of a tree’s growth, the bigness of its pores, and the frequent changes of heat and wet in summer, cause it to rot sooner. To this it must be added, that all sorts of insects make holes into the stems of the fallen trees, and by that means the moisture and the air get into the tree, which must of course forward putrefaction. Most of the trees here have deciduous or annual leaves. Many of them begin to rot whilst they are yet standing and blooming. This forms the hollow trees, in which many animals make their nests and places of refuge.The breadth of theDelawaredirectly oppositeWilmingtonis reckoned anEnglishmile and a half; yet to look at it, it did[21]not seem to be so great. The depth of the river, in the middle, is said to be from four to six fathoms here.Decemberthe 12th. TheJoinerssay, that among the trees of this country they chiefly use theblack walnut-trees, thewild cherry-trees, and thecurled maple. Of theblack walnut-trees(Juglans nigra) there is yet a sufficient quantity. However careless people take pains enough to destroy them, and some peasants even use them as fewel. The wood of thewild cherry-trees(Prunus Virginiana) is very good, and looks exceedingly well; it has a yellow colour, and the older the furniture is, which is made of it, the better it looks. But it is already difficult to get at it, for they cut it every where, and plant it no where. Thecurled maple(Acer rubrum) is a species of the common red maple, but likewise very difficult to be got. You may cut down many trees without finding the wood which you want. The wood of thesweet gum-tree(Liquidambar) is merely employed in joiner’s work, such as tables, and other furniture. But it must not be brought near the fire, because it warps. The firs and thewhite cedars(Cupressus thyoides) are likewise made use of by the joiners for different sorts of work.[22]The millers who attended the mill which stood here, said, that the axle-trees of the wheels of the mill were made ofwhite oak, and that they continued good three or four years, but that the fir-wood does not keep so well. The cogs of the mill-wheel, and the pullies, are made of the wood of the white walnut-tree, because it is the hardest which can be got here. The wood ofmulberry-treesis of all others reckoned the most excellent for pegs and plugs in ships and boats.At night I went over the riverDelaware, fromWillmington, to the ferrying-place, on theNew Jerseyside.Decemberthe 13th. In the morning I returned toRaccoon.On many trees in the woods of this country, either on one of the sides, or in the middle of a branch, or round a branch, are greater or lesserknobsor excrescences. Sometimes there is only a single one in a tree. In the size there is a considerable difference, for some of these knobs are as big and bigger than a man’s head, others are only small. They project above the surface of the tree, like a tumor. Sometimes a tree was quite covered with them. They do not ly on one side only, but often form a circle round a branch, and even[23]round the stem itself. The trees which have these knobs are not always great ones, but some not above a fathom high. The knobs commonly consist of the same parts as the wood itself, and look within like curled wood. Some of them are hollow. When a knob on a little tree is cut open, we commonly find a number of little worms in it, which are sometimes also common in the greater knobs. This shews the origin of the knobs in general. The tree is stung by insects, which lay their eggs under the bark, and from the eggs worms are afterwards hatched. They occasion an extravasation of the sap, which gradually condenses into a knob. Only the trees with annual deciduous leaves have these knobs, and among them chiefly the oak, of which again the black andSpanishoak have the greatest abundance of knobs. Theash trees, (Fraxinus excelsior) and thered maple(Acer rubrum) likewise have enough of them. Formerly theSwedes, and more especially theFinlanders, who are settled here, made dishes, bowls, &c. of the knobs which were on the ash-trees. These vessels, I am told, were very pretty, and looked as if they were made of curled wood. The oak-knobs cannot be employed in this manner, as they are commonly[24]worm-eaten and rotten within. At present theSwedesno longer make use of such bowls and dishes, but make use of earthen ware, or vessels made of other wood. Some knobs are of an uncommon size, and make a tree have a monstrous appearance. Trees with knobs are very common in the woods of this country4.The roads are good or bad according to the difference of the ground. In a sandy soil the roads are dry and good; but in a clayey one they are bad. The people here are likewise very careless in mending them. If a rivulet be not very great, they do not make a bridge over it; and travellers may do as well as they can to get over: Therefore many people are in danger of being drowned in such places, where the water[25]is risen by a heavy rain. When a tree falls across the road, it is seldom cut off, to keep the road clear, but the people go round it. This they can easily do, since the ground is very even, and without stones; has no underwood or shrubs, and the trees on it stand much asunder. Hence the roads here have so many bendings.The farms are most of them single, and you seldom meet with even two together, except in towns, or places which are intended for towns; therefore there are but few villages. Each farm has its corn-fields, its woods, its pastures and meadows. This may perhaps have contributed something towards the extirpation of wolves, that they every where met with houses, and people who fired at them. Two or three farm-houses have generally a pasture or a wood in common, and there are seldom more together; but most of them have their own grounds divided from the others.Decemberthe 18th. All persons who intend to be married, must either have their banns published three times from the pulpit, or get a licence from the governor. The banns of the poorer sort of people only are published, and all those who are a little above them get a licence from the governor. In that licence he declares that he has examined the affair, and found no obstacles[26]to hinder the marriage, and therefore he allows it. The licence is signed by the governor; but, before he delivers it, the bridegroom must come to him in company with two creditable and well known men, who answer for him, that there really is no lawful obstacle to his marriage. These men must subscribe a certificate, in which they make themselves answerable for, and engage to bear all the damages of, any complaints made by the relations of the persons who intend to be married, by their guardians, their masters, or by those to whom they may have been promised before. For all these circumstances the governor cannot possibly know. They further certify that nothing hinders the intended marriage, and that nothing is to be feared on that account. For a licence they pay five and twenty shillings inPensylvanianmoney, atPhiladelphia. The governor keeps twenty shillings, or one pound, and the remaining five shillings belong to his secretary. The licence is directed only to protestant clergymen. The quakers have a peculiar licence to their marriages. But as it would be very troublesome, especially for those who live far from the governor’s residence to come up to town for every licence, and to bring the men with them[27]who are to answer for them, the clergymen in the country commonly take a sufficient number of licences and certificates, which are ready printed, with blanks left for the names; they give them occasionally, and get the common money, one pound, five shillings, for each of them, besides something for their trouble. The money that they have collected, they deliver to the governor as soon as they come to town, together with the certificates, which are signed by two men, as above-mentioned; they then take again as many licences as they think sufficient: from hence we may conceive that the governors in theEnglish North Americancolonies, besides their salaries, have very considerable revenues5.There is a great mixture of people of all sorts in these colonies, partly of such as are lately come over fromEurope, and partly of such as have not yet any settled place of abode. Hence it frequently happens that when a clergyman has married such a[28]couple, the bridegroom says he has no money at present, but would pay the fee at the first opportunity: however he goes off with his wife, and the clergyman never gets his due. This proceeding has given occasion to a custom which is now common inMaryland. When the clergyman marries a very poor couple, he breaks off in the middle of the Liturgy, and cries outWhere is my fee?The man must then give the money, and the clergyman proceeds; but if the bridegroom has no money, the clergyman defers the marriage till another time, when the man is better provided. People of fortune, of whom the clergyman is sure to get his due, need not fear this disagreeable question, when they are married.However, though the parson has got licences to marry a couple, yet if he be not very careful, he may get into very disagreeable circumstances; for in many parts of the country there is a law made, which, notwithstanding the governor’s licence, greatly limits a clergyman in some cases. He is not allowed to marry a couple who are not yet of age, unless he be certain of the consent of their parents. He cannot marry such strangers as have bound themselves to serve a certain number of years, in order[29]to pay off their passage fromEurope, without the consent of their masters; if he acts without their consent, or in opposition to it, he must pay a penalty of fifty pounds,Pensylvaniacurrency, though he has the licence, and the certificate of the two men who are to answer for any objection. But parents or masters give themselves no concern about these men, but take hold of the clergyman, who is at liberty to prosecute those who gave him the certificate, and to get his damages repaid. With the consent of the parents and masters he may marry people without danger to himself. No clergyman is allowed to marry a negro with one ofEuropeanextraction, or he must pay a penalty of one hundred pounds, according to the laws ofPensylvania.There is a very peculiar diverting custom here, in regard to marrying. When a man dies, and leaves his widow in great poverty, or so that she cannot pay all the debts with what little she has left, and that, notwithstanding all that, there is a person who will marry her, she must be married in no other habit than her shift. By that means, she leaves to the creditors of her deceased husband her cloaths, and every thing which they find in the house. But she is not[30]obliged to pay them any thing more, because she has left them all she was worth, even her cloaths, keeping only a shift to cover her, which the laws of the country cannot refuse her. As soon as she is married, and no longer belongs to the deceased husband, she puts on the cloaths which the second has given her. TheSwedishclergymen here have often been obliged to marry a woman in a dress which is so little expensive,and so light. This appears from the registers kept in the churches, and from the accounts given by the clergymen themselves. I have likewise often seen accounts of such marriages in theEnglishgazettes; which are printed in these colonies; and I particularly remember the following relation: A woman went, with no other dress than her shift, out of the house of her deceased husband to that of her bridegroom, who met her half way with fine new cloaths, and said, before all who were present, that he lent them his bride; and put them on her with his own hands. It seems, he said that he lent the cloaths, lest, if he had said he gave them, the creditors of the first husband should come, and take them from her; pretending, that she was looked upon as the relict of her first husband, before she was married to the second.[31]Decemberthe 21st. It seems very probable, from the following observations, that long before the arrival of theSwedes, there have beenEuropeansin this province; and, in the sequel, we shall give more confirmations of this opinion. The same oldMaons Keen, whom I have already mentioned before, told me repeatedly, that on the arrival of theSwedesin the last century, and on their making a settlement, calledHelsingburg, on the banks of theDelaware, somewhat below the place whereSalemis now situated; they found, at the depth of twenty feet, some wells, inclosed with walls. This could not be aworkof the nativeAmericans, orIndians, as bricks were entirely unknown to them when theEuropeansfirst settled here, at the end of the fifteenth century; and they still less knew how to make use of them. The wells were, at that time, on the land; but in such a place, on the banks of theDelaware, as is sometimes under water, and sometimes dry. But since, the ground has been so washed away, that the wells are entirely covered by the river, and the water is seldom low enough to shew the wells. As theSwedesafterwards made new wells for themselves, at some distance from the former, they discovered, in the ground, some broken earthen vessels, and some entire[32]good bricks; and they have often got them out of the ground by ploughing.From these marks, it seems, we may conclude, that in times of yore, eitherEuropeansor other people of the then civilized parts of the world, have been carried hither by storms, or other accidents, settled here, on the banks of the river, burnt bricks, and made a colony here; but that they afterwards mixed with theIndians, or were killed by them. They may gradually, by conversing with theIndians, have learnt their manners, and turn of thinking. TheSwedesthemselves are accused, that they were already halfIndians, when theEnglisharrived in the year 1682. And we still see, that theFrench,English,Germans,Dutch, and otherEuropeans, who have lived for several years together in distant provinces, near and among theIndians, grow so like them, in their behaviour and thoughts, that they can only be distinguished by the difference of their colour. But history, together with the tradition among theIndians, assures us, that the above-mentioned wells and bricks cannot have been made at the time ofColumbus’s expedition, nor soon after; as the traditions of theIndianssay, that those wells were made long before that epocha. This account of the wells, which had been[33]inclosed with bricks, and of such bricks as have been found in several places in the ground, I have afterwards heard repeated by many other oldSwedes.Decemberthe 22nd. An old farmer foretold a change of the weather, because the air was very warm this day at noon, though the morning had been very cold. This he likewise concluded, from having observed the clouds gathering about the sun. The meteorological observations annexed to the end of this volume will prove that his observation was just.Decemberthe 31st. The remedies against the tooth-ach are almost as numerous as days in a year. There is hardly an old woman but can tell you three or four score of them, of which she is perfectly certain that they are as infallible and speedy in giving relief, as a month’s fasting, by bread and water, is to a burthensome paunch. Yet it happens often, nay too frequently, that this painful disease eludes all this formidable army of remedies. However, I cannot forbear observing the following remedies, which have sometimes, in this country, been found effectual against the tooth-ach.When the pains come from the hollowness of the teeth, the following remedy is[34]said to have had a good effect: A little cotton is put at the bottom of a tobacco-pipe; the tobacco is put in upon it, and lighted; and you smoke till it is almost burnt up. By smoking, the oil of the tobacco gets into the cotton, which is then taken out, and applied to the tooth as hot as it can be suffered.The chief remedy of theIroquois, orIroquese, against the tooth-ach occasioned by hollow teeth, I heard of CaptainLindsey’s lady, atOswego; and she assured me, that she knew, from her own experience, that the remedy was effectual. They take the seed capsules of theVirginian Anemone, as soon as the seed is ripe, and rub them in pieces. It will then be rough, and look like cotton. This cotton-like substance is dipped into strong brandy, and then put into the hollow tooth, which commonly ceases to ache soon after. The brandy is biting or sharp, and the seeds of the anemone, as most seeds of thePolyandria Polygyniaclass of plants (or such as have manyStamina, or male flowers, and manyPistilla, or female flowers) have likewise an acrimony. They therefore, both together, help to assuage the pain; and this remedy is much of the same kind with the former. Besides that, we have many seeds[35]which have the same qualities with theAmericananemone.The following remedy was much in vogue against the tooth-ach which is attended with a swelling: They boil gruel, of flour of maize, and milk; to this they add, whilst it is yet over the fire, some of the fat of hogs, or other suet, and stir it well, that every thing may mix equally. A handkerchief is then spread over the gruel, and applied as hot as possible to the swelled cheek, where it is kept till it is gone cool again. I have found, that this remedy has been very efficacious against a swelling as it lessens the pain, abates the swelling, opens a gathering, if there be any, and procures a good discharge of thePus.I have seen theIroqueseboil the inner bark of theSambucus Canadensis, orCanada Elder, and put it on that part of the cheek in which the pain was most violent. This, I am told, often diminishes the pain.Among theIroquese, orFive Nations, upon the riverMohawk, I saw a youngIndianwoman, who, by frequent drinking of tea, had got a violent tooth-ach. To cure it, she boiled theMyrica asplenii folia, and tied it, as hot as she could bear it, on the whole cheek. She said, that[36]remedy had often cured the tooth-ach before.Januarythe 2nd, 1749. Before theEuropeansunder the direction ofColumbus, came to theWest Indies, thesavagesorIndians(who lived there since times immemorial) were entirely unacquainted with iron, which appears very strange to us, asNorth America, almost in every part of it, contains a number of iron mines. They were therefore obliged to supply this want with sharp stones, shells, claws of birds and wild beasts, pieces of bones, and other things of that kind, whenever they intended to make hatchets, knives, and such like instruments. From hence it appears, that they must have led a very wretched life. The oldSwedeswho lived here, and had had an intercourse with theIndianswhen they were young, and at a time when they were yet very numerous in these parts, could tell a great many things concerning their manner of living. At this time the people find accidentally, by ploughing and digging in the ground, several of the instruments which theIndiansemployed, before theSwedesand otherEuropeanshad provided them with iron tools. For it is observable that theIndiansat present make use of no other tools, than such as are made of iron and other metals,[37]and which they always get from theEuropeans: Of this I shall be more particular, in its proper place. But having had an opportunity of seeing, and partly collecting a great many of the ancientIndiantools, I shall here describe them.Theirhatchetswere made of stone. Their shape is similar to that of the wedges with which we cleave our wood, about half a foot long, and broad in proportion; they are made like a wedge, sharp at one end, but rather blunter than our wedges. As this hatchet must be fixed on a handle, there was a notch made all round the thick-end. To fasten it, they split a stick at one end, and put the stone between it, so that the two halves of the stick come into the notches of the stone; then they tied the two split ends together with a rope or something like it, almost in the same way as smiths fasten the instrument with which they cut off iron, to a split stick. Some of these stone-hatchets were not notched or furrowed at the upper end, and it seems they only held those in their hands in order to hew or strike with them, and did not make handles to them. Most of the hatchets which I have seen, consisted of a hard rock-stone: but some were made of a fine, hard, black, apyrous stone. When theIndiansintended to fell[38]a thick strong tree, they could not make use of their hatchets, but for want of proper instruments employed fire. They set fire to a great quantity of wood at the roots of the tree, and made it fall by that means. But that the fire might not reach higher than they would have it, they fastened some rags to a pole, dipped them into water, and kept continually washing the tree, a little above the fire. Whenever they intended to hollow out a thick tree for a canoe, they laid dry branches all along the stem of the tree, as far as it must be hollowed out. They then put fire to those dry branches, and as soon as they were burnt, they were replaced by others. Whilst these branches were burning, theIndianswere very busy with wet rags, and pouring water upon the tree, to prevent the fire from spreading too far on the sides and at the ends. The tree being burnt hollow as far as they found it sufficient, or as far as it could without damaging the canoe, they took the above described stone-hatchets, or sharp flints, and quartzes, or sharp shells, and scraped off the burnt part of the wood, and smoothened the boats within. By this means they likewise gave it what shape they pleased. Instead of cutting with a hatchet such a piece of wood as was necessary for making[39]a canoe, they likewise employed fire. A canoe was commonly between thirty and forty feet long. The chief use of their hatchets was, according to the unanimous accounts of all theSwedes, to make good fields for maize-plantations; for if the ground where they intended to make a maize-field was covered with trees, they cut off the bark all round the trees with their hatchets, especially at the time when they lose their sap. By that means the tree became dry, and could not take any more nourishment, and the leaves could no longer obstruct the rays of the sun from passing. The smaller trees were then pulled out by main force, and the ground was a little turned up with crooked or sharp branches.Instead ofknivesthey were satisfied with little sharp pieces of flint or quartz, or else some other hard kind of a stone, or with a sharp shell, or with a piece of a bone which they had sharpened.At the end of theirarrowsthey fastened narrow angulated pieces of stone; they made use of them, having no iron to make them sharp again, or a wood of sufficient hardness: these points were commonly flints or quartzes, but sometimes likewise another kind of a stone. Some employed the bones of animals, or the[40]claws of birds and beasts. Some of these ancient harpoons are very blunt, and it seems that theIndiansmight kill birds and small quadrupeds with them; but whether they could enter deep into the body of a great beast or of a man, by the velocity which they get from the bow, I cannot ascertain; yet some have been found very sharp and well made.They hadstone pestles, about a foot long, and as thick as a man’s arm. They consist chiefly of a black sort of a stone, and were formerly employed, by theIndians, for pounding maize, which has, since times immemorial, been their chief and almost their only corn. They had neither wind-mills, water-mills, nor hand-mills, to grind it, and did not so much as know a mill, before theEuropeanscame into the country. I have spoken with oldFrenchmen, inCanada, who told me, that theIndianshad been astonished beyond expression, when theFrenchset up the first wind-mill. They came in numbers, even from the most distant parts, to view this wonder, and were not tired with sitting near it for several days together, in order to observe it; they were long of opinion that it was not driven by the wind, but by the spirits who lived within it. They were partly[41]under the same astonishment when the first water-mill was built. They formerly pounded all their corn or maize in hollow trees, with the above-mentioned pestles, made of stone. ManyIndianshad only wooden pestles. The blackish stone, of which the hatchets and pestles are sometimes made, is very good for a grindstone, and therefore both theEnglishand theSwedesemploy the hatchets and pestles chiefly as grindstones, at present, when they can get them.The old boilers or kettles of theIndians, were either made of clay, or of different kinds of pot-stone, (Lapis ollaris). The former consisted of a dark clay, mixt with grains of white sand or quartz, and burnt in the fire. Many of these kettles have two holes in the upper margin, on each side one, through which theIndiansput a stick, and held the kettle over the fire, as long as it was to boil. Most of the kettles have no feet. It is remarkable that no pots of this kind have been found glazed, either on the outside or the inside. A few of the oldestSwedescould yet remember seeing theIndiansboil their meat in these pots. They are very thin, and of different sizes; they are made sometimes of a greenish, and sometimes of a[42]grey pot-stone, and some are made of another species of apyrous stone; the bottom and the margin are frequently above an inch thick. TheIndians, notwithstanding their being unacquainted with iron, steel, and other metals, have learnt to hollow out very ingeniously these pots or kettles of pot-stone.The oldtobacco-pipesof theIndiansare likewise made of clay, or pot-stone, or serpentine-stone. The first sort are shaped like our tobacco-pipes, though much coarser and not so well made. The tube is thick and short, hardly an inch long, but sometimes as long as a finger; their colour comes nearest to that of our tobacco-pipes which have been long used. Their tobacco-pipes of pot-stone are made of the same stone as their kettles. Some of them are pretty well made, though they had neither iron nor steel. But besides these kinds of tobacco-pipes, we find another sort of pipes, which are made with great ingenuity, of a very fine, red pot-stone, or a kind of serpentine marble. They are very scarce, and seldom made use of by any other than theIndian Sachems, or elders. The fine red stone, of which these pipes are made, is likewise very scarce, and is found only in the country of those[43]Indianswho are calledIngouez, and who, according to fatherCharlevoix, live on the other side of the riverMissisippi6. TheIndiansthemselves commonly value a pipe of this kind as much as a piece of silver of the same size, and sometimes they make it still dearer. Of the same kind of stone commonly consists theirpipe of peace, which theFrenchcallcalumet de paix, and which they make use of in their treaties of peace, and alliances. Most authors who have wrote of these nations mention this instrument, and I intend to speak of it when an opportunity offers.TheIndiansemploy hooks made of bone, or bird’s claws, instead offishing-hooks. Some of the oldestSwedeshere told me, that when they were young, a great number ofIndianshad been in this part of the country, which was then calledNew Sweden, and had caught fishes in the riverDelaware, with these hooks.They made fire by rubbing one end of a hard piece of wood continually against another dry one, till the wood began to smoke, and afterwards to burn.Such were the tools of the antientIndians, and the use which they made of[44]them, before theEuropeansinvaded this country, and before they (theIndians) were acquainted with the advantages of iron.North Americaabounds in iron-mines, and theIndianslived all about the country before the arrival of theEuropeans, so that several places can be shewn in this country, where at present there are iron-mines, and where, not a hundred years ago, stood great towns or villages of theIndians. It is therefore very remarkable that theIndiansdid not know how to make use of a metal or ore which was always under their eyes, and on which they could not avoid treading every day. They even lived upon the very spots where iron ores were afterwards found, and yet they often went many miles in order to get a wretched hatchet, knife, or the like, as above described. They were forced to employ several days in order to sharpen their tools, by rubbing them against a rock, or other stones, though the advantage was far from being equal to the labour. For they could never cut down a thick tree with their hatchets, and with difficulty they felled a small one. They could not hollow out a tree with their hatchets, or do a hundredth part of the work which we can perform with ease, by the help of our iron[45]hatchets. Thus we see how disadvantageous the ignorance and inconsiderate contempt of useful arts is. Happy is the country which knows their full value!Januarythe 5th. Christmas-day was celebrated this day by theSwedesandEnglish, for they kept then to theold stile.Januarythe 6th. There are a great number of hares in this country, but they differ from ourSwedishones in their size, which is very small, and but little bigger than that of a rabbit; they keep almost the same grey colour both in summer and winter, which ourNorthernhares have in summer only; the tip of their ears is always grey, and not black; the tail is likewise grey on the upper side, at all seasons; they breed several times a year: in spring they lodge their young ones in hollow trees, and in summer, in the months ofJuneandJuly, they breed in the grass. When they are surprised they commonly take refuge in hollow trees, out of which they are taken by means of a crooked stick, or by cutting a hole into the tree, opposite to the place where they lie; or by smoke, which is occasioned by making a fire on the outside of the tree. On all these occasions the greyhounds must be at hand. These hares never bite, and can be touched without any danger. In day-time they[46]usually lie in hollow trees, and hardly ever stir from thence, unless they be disturbed by men or dogs; but in the night they come out, and seek their food. In bad weather, or when it snows, they lie close for a day or two, and do not venture to leave their retreats. They do a great deal of mischief in the cabbage-fields; but apple-trees suffer infinitely more from them, for they peel off all the bark next to the ground. The people here agreed that the hares are fatter in a cold and severe winter, than in a mild and wet one, of which they could give me several reasons, from their own conjectures. The skin is useless, because it is so loose, that it can be drawn off; for when you would separate it from the flesh, you need only pull at the fur, and the skin follows: these hares cannot be tamed. They were at all times, even in the midst of winter, plagued with a number of common fleas7.Januarythe 16th. The common mice were in great abundance in the towns and in the country; they do as much mischief as in the old countries.Oldmixonin his[47]book, theBritish Empire in America, vol. i. p. 444, writes, thatNorth Americahad neither rats nor mice beforeEuropeanships brought them over. How far this is true I know not. It is undoubted, that in several desart places, where no man ever lived, I have seen and killed the common mice, in crevices of stones or mountains; and is it probable that all such mice as are spread in this manner, throughout the inland parts of the country, derive their origin from those which were brought over fromEurope?Rats likewise may be ranked among those animals which do great damage in this country. They live both in the cities and in the country, and destroy the provisions. Their size is the same with that of our rats, but their colour differs; for they are grey, or blue-grey. I enquired of theSwedes, Whether these rats had been here prior to the arrival of theEuropeans, or whether they came over in the ships? But I could not get an answer which I might depend upon. All agreed, that a number of these dangerous and mischievous animals were every year brought toAmerica, by ships fromEuropeand other countries. But Mr.Bartrammaintained, that before theEuropeanssettled here, rats had been in the country; for he saw a great number of them on the high mountains,[48]which are commonly called theBlue Mountains, where they lived among stones, and in the subterraneous grottoes which are in those mountains. They always lie very close in the day-time, and you hardly ever see one out; but at night they come out, and make a terrible noise. When the cold was very violent, they seemed quite torpid; for during the continuance of the cold weather, one could not hear the least noise, or shrieking, occasioned by them. It is to be observed, that neither theSwedesnor theEnglishhave any dark windows in their houses here. There is hardly a dormer-window in the garret; but only loose boards. The walls in the wooden houses are frequently not closed, even with moss; so that the rooms, though they have fires in them, are no warmer than the outside apartment, or hall. The rooms where the servants sleep have never any fire in them, though the winter is pretty severe sometimes. The rats have, therefore, little or no warmth in winter; but as soon as a milder season makes its appearance, they come out again. We observed several times this winter, that the rats were very active, and made an unusual noise all night, just before a severe cold. It seems, they had some sensation of cold weather being at hand; and that they therefore eat sufficiently, or stored[49]up provisions. In mild weather, they were used to carry away apples, and other provisions: therefore, we could always conclude, with certainty, when the rats made an uncommon noise at night, or were extremely greedy, that a severe cold would ensue. I have already observed in the preceding volume, p. 312, that the grey squirrels in this country have the same quality. When these, and the common mice, eat maize, they do not consume the whole grains, but only the loose, sweet and soft kernel, and leave the rest.Januarythe 21st. The cold now equalled that ofSweden, though this country is so much more southerly. TheCelsianorSwedishthermometer was twenty-two degrees below the freezing point, in the morning. As the rooms are without any shutters here, the cracks in the walls not closed with moss, and sometimes no fire-place or chimney in the room, the winters here must be very disagreeable to one who is used to ourSwedishwarm winter-rooms. But the greatest comfort here is, that the cold is of a very short duration. Some days of this month, the room which I lodged in was such, that I could not write two lines before the ink would freeze in my pen. When I did not write, I could not leave the ink-stand on the[50]table; but was forced to put it upon the hearth, or into my pocket. Yet, notwithstanding it was so cold, as appears from the meteorological observations at the end of this volume, and though it snowed sometimes for several days and nights together, and the snow lay near six inches high upon the ground, yet all the cattle are obliged to stay, day and night, in the fields, during the whole winter. For neither theEnglishnor theSwedeshad any stables; but theGermansandDutchhad preserved the custom of their country, and generally kept their cattle in stables during winter. Almost all the oldSwedessay, that on their first arrival in this country, they made stables for their cattle, as is usual inSweden; but as theEnglishcame, and settled among them, and left their cattle in the fields all winter, as is customary inEngland, they left off their former custom, and adopted theEnglishone. They owned, however, that the cattle suffered greatly in winter, when it was very cold, especially when it froze after a rain, and that some cattle were killed by it in several places, in the long winter of the year 1741. About noon, the cattle went out into the woods, where there were yet some leaves on the young oak; but they did not eat the leaves, and only bit off the extremities of the[51]branches, and the tops of the youngest oaks. The horses went into the maize fields, and ate the dry leaves on the few stalks which remained. The sheep ran about the woods, and on the corn fields. The chickens perched on the trees of the gardens, at night; for they had no particular habitations. The hogs were likewise exposed to the roughness of the weather, within a small inclosure.A small kind of birds, which theSwedescallSnow-bird, and theEnglish Chuck-bird, came into the houses about this time. At other times, they sought their food along the roads. They are seldom seen, but when it snows.Catesby, in his Natural History ofCarolina, calls itPasser nivalis; and Dr.Linnæus, in hisSystema Naturæ, calls itEmberiza hyemalis.The riverDelawarewas now covered with ice oppositePhiladelphia, and even somewhat lower, and the people could walk over it; but nobody ventured to ride over on horseback.Januarythe 22d. There are partridges in this country; but they are not of the same kind with ours. TheSwedescalled them sometimesrapphons(partridges), and sometimesaekkerhoens(quails). Some of theEnglishlikewise called them partridges,[52]others quails. Their shape is almost the same with that of theEuropeanpartridges, and their nature and qualities the same: I mean, they run and hide themselves, when pursued. But they are smaller, and entirely different in colour. In this work I cannot insert, at large, the descriptions which I have made of birds, insects, quadrupeds, and plants; because it would swell my volume too much. I only observe, that the feet are naked, and not hairy; the back is spotted with brown, black, and white; the breast is dark yellow; and the belly whitish, with black edges on the tips of the feathers. The size is nearly that of a hazel-hen, ortetrao bonasia. Above each eye is a narrow stroke of whitish yellow. These birds are numerous inNew Sweden, i. e. this part of the country. On going but a little way, you meet with great coveys of them. However, they keep at a great distance from towns; being either extirpated, or frightened there by the frequent shooting. They are always in lesser or greater coveys, do not fly very much, but run in the fields, and keep under the bushes and near the inclosures, where they seek their food. They are reckoned very delicious food; and the people here prepare them in different ways. For that purpose they are caught, and shot[53]in great numbers. They are caught by putting up a sieve, or a square open box, made of boards, in the places they frequent. The people strew some oats under the sieve, and lift it up on one side by a little stick; and as soon as the partridges are got under the sieve, in order to pick up the oats, it falls, and they are caught alive. Sometimes they get several partridges at once. When they run in the bushes, you can come very near them, without starting them. When they sleep at night, they come together in an heap. They scratch in the bushes and upon the field, like common chickens. In spring they make their nests, either under a bush or in the maize fields, or on the hills in the open air: they scratch some hay together, into which they lay about thirteen white eggs. They eat several sorts of corn, and seeds of grass. They have likewise been seen eating the berries ofsumach, orrhus glabra. Some people have taken them young, and kept them in a cage till they were tame: then they let them go; and they followed the chickens, and never left the court-yards.The inclosures made use of inPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, but especially inNew York, are those, which on account of their serpentine form resembling worms, are called[54]worm-fencesinEnglish. The poles which compose this fence are taken from different trees; but they are not all of equal duration: the redcedaris reckoned the most durable of any, for it holds out above thirty years; but it is very scarce, and grows only in a single place hereabouts, so that no fences can be made of it. It is true, the fences aboutPhiladelphia(which however are different from theworm-fences) are all made of redcedar; but it has been brought by water fromEgg-harbour, where it grows in abundance. The supports on which the poles lie are made of the whitecedar, orCupressus thyoides, and the poles which are laid between them of the redcedarorJuniperus Virginiana. Next to thecedar-wood,oakandchesnutare reckoned best.Chesnutis commonly preferred, but it is not every where so plentiful as to be made into fences; in its stead they make use of several sorts ofoak. In order to make inclosures, the people do not cut down the young trees, as is common with us, but they fell here and there thick trees, cut them in several places, leaving the pieces as long as it is necessary, and split them into poles of the usual thickness; a single tree affords a multitude of poles. Several old men in this country told me, that theSwedeson their arrival here,[55]made such inclosures as are usual inSweden, but they were forced to leave off in a few years time, because they could not get posts enough; for they had found by experience that a post being put into the ground would not last above four or six years before the part under ground was entirely rotten; but the chief thing was, that they could not get any switches for to tie them together; they made some ofhiccory, which is one of the toughest trees in this country, and of the whiteoak; but in the space of a year or two the switches were rotten, and the fence fell in pieces of itself, therefore they were forced to give over making such inclosures. Several of the new comers again attempted, but with the same bad success, to make fences with posts and switches. TheSwedishway of inclosing therefore will not succeed here. Thus theworm-fencesare one of the most useful sorts of inclosures, especially as they cannot get any post, made of the woods of this country, to stay above six or eight years in the ground without rotting. The poles in this country are very heavy, and the posts cannot bear them well, especially when it blows a storm; but theworm-fencesare easily put up again, when they are thrown down. Experience has[56]shewn that an inclosure made ofchesnutor whiteoakseldom holds out above ten or twelve years, before the poles and posts are thoroughly rotten: when the poles are made of other wood, the fences hardly stand six or eight years. Considering how much more wood theworm-fencesrequire, (since they run in bendings) than other inclosures which go in strait lines, and that they are so soon useless, one may imagine how the forests will be consumed, and what sort of an appearance the country will have forty or fifty years hence, in case no alteration is made; especially as wood is really squandered away in immense quantities, day and night all the winter, or nearly one half of the year, for fewel.Februarythe 8th. TheMusk-rats, so called by theEnglishin this country, on account of their scent, are pretty common inNorth America; they always live near the water, especially on the banks of lakes, rivers, and brooks. On travelling to places where they are, you see the holes which they have dug in the ground just at the water’s edge, or a little above its surface. In these holes they have their nests, and there they continue whenever they are not in the water in pursuit of food. TheSwedescall[57]themDésmans Rattor8, and theFrench,Rats musqués.Linnæuscalls this animalCastor Zibethicus. Their food is chiefly the muscles which ly at the bottom of lakes and rivers; you see a number of such shells near the entrance of their holes. I am told they likewise eat several kinds of roots and plants. They differ from theEuropean Musk-rat, orLinnæus’sCastor Moschatus. The teeth are the same in both; the tail of theAmericanis compressed on the sides so, that one sharp edge goes upwards and the other downwards: the hind feet are not palmated, or joined by a moveable skin, but are peculiar for having on both sides of the feet, long, white, close, pectinated, off-standing hair, besides the short hair with which the feet are quite covered. Such hairs are on both sides of the toes, and do the same service in swimming as a web. Their size is that of a little cat, or to be more accurate, the length of the body is about ten inches, and the tail of the same length: the colour of the head, neck, back, sides, and of the outside of the thighs, is blackish brown; the hairs are soft and shining;[58]under the neck, on the breasts, and on the inside of the thighs, they are grey. They make their nests in the dykes that are erected along the banks of rivers to keep off the water from the adjoining meadows; but they often do a great deal of damage, by spoiling the dykes with digging, and opening passages for the water to come into the meadows; whereasBeaversstop up all the holes in a dyke or bank. They make their nests of twigs and such like things externally, and carry soft stuff into them for their young ones to ly upon. TheSwedesasserted that they could never observe a diminution in their number, but believed that they were as numerous at present as formerly. As they damage the banks so considerably, the people are endeavouring to extirpate them, when they can find out their nests; the skin is paid for, and this is an encouragement towards catching the animal. A skin of aMusk-ratformerly cost but three-pence, but at present they gave from six-pence to nine-pence. The skins are chiefly employed by hatters, who make hats of the hair, which are said to be nearly as good asBeaverhats. TheMusk-ratsare commonly caught in traps, with apples as baits. In the country of theIroquese, I saw thoseIndiansfollowing the[59]holes of theMusk-ratsby digging till they came to their nests, where they killed them all. Nobody here eats their flesh; I do not know whether theIndianseat it, for they are commonly not over nice in the choice of meat. The musk-bag is put between the cloaths in order to preserve them against worms. It is very difficult to extirpate theseRatswhen they are once settled in a bank. ASwede, however, told me, that he had freed his bank, or piece of dyke along the river, from them in the following manner: He sought for all their holes, stopped them all up with earth, excepting one, on that side from whence the wind came. He put a quantity of sulphur into the open entrance, set fire to it, and then closed the hole, leaving but a small one for the wind to pass through. The smoke of the sulphur then entered their most remote nests, and stifled all the animals. As soon as the sulphur was burnt, he was obliged to dig up part of the ground in the bank, where they had their nests; and he found them lie dead by heaps. He sold the skins, and they paid his trouble, not to mention the advantage he got by clearing his bank of theMusk-rats.
New Jersey, Raccoon.Decemberthe seventh, 1748.In the morning I undertook again a little journey, toRaccoon, inNew Jersey.It does not seem difficult to find out the reasons, why the people multiply more here than inEurope. As soon as a person is old enough, he may marry in these provinces, without any fear of poverty; for there is such a tract of good ground yet uncultivated, that a new-married man can, without difficulty, get a spot of ground, where he may sufficiently subsist with his wife and children. The taxes are very low, and he[4]need not be under any concern on their account. The liberties he enjoys are so great, that he considers himself as a prince in his possessions. I shall here demonstrate by some plain examples, what effect such a constitution is capable of.Maons Keen, one of theSwedesinRaccoon, was now near seventy years old: he had many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; so that, of those who were yet alive, he could muster up forty-five persons. Besides them, several of his children and grandchildren died young, and some in a mature age. He was, therefore, uncommonly blessed. Yet his happiness is not comparable to that which is to be seen in the following examples, and which I have extracted from thePhiladelphiagazette.In the year 1732,Januarythe 24th, died atIpswich, inNew England, Mrs.Sarah Tuthil, a widow, aged eighty-six years. She had brought sixteen children into the world; and from seven of them only, she had seen one hundred and seventy-seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren.In the year 1739,Maythe 30th, the children, grand and great-grandchildren, of Mr.Richard Buttington, in the parish ofChester, inPensylvania, were assembled in[5]his house; and they made together one hundred and fifteen persons. The parent of these children,Richard Buttington, who was born inEngland, was then entering into his eighty-fifth year: and was at that time quite fresh, active, and sensible. His eldest son, then sixty years old, was the firstEnglishmanborn inPensylvania.In the year 1742, on the 8th ofJanuary, died atTrenton, inNew Jersey, Mrs.Sarah Furman, a widow, aged ninety-seven years. She was born inNew England; and left five children, sixty-one grandchildren, one hundred and eighty-two great-grandchildren, and twelve great-great-grandchildren, who were all alive when she died.In the year 1739, on the 28th ofJanuary, died atSouth Kingston, inNew England, Mrs.Maria Hazard, a widow, in the hundredth year of her age. She was born inRhode Island, and was a grandmother of the then vice-governor of that island, Mr.George Hazard. She could count altogether five hundred children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. When she died, two hundred and five persons of them were alive; a grand-daughter of hers had already been grandmother near fifteen years.In this manner, the usual wish or blessing in our liturgy, that the new-married couple[6]may see their grandchildren, till the third and fourth generation, has been literally fulfilled in regard to some of these persons1.Decemberthe 9th. In every country, we commonly meet with a number of insects; of which many, though they be ever so small and contemptible, can do considerable damage to the inhabitants. Of these dangerous insects, there are likewise some inNorth America: some are peculiar to that country, others are common toEuropelikewise.I have already, in the preceding volume, mentioned theMosquitoes, as a kind of disagreeable gnats; and another noxious insect, theBruchus Pisi, which destroys whole fields with pease. I shall here add some more.There are a kind ofLocustswhich about every seventeenth year come hither in incredible numbers. They come out of the ground in the middle ofMay, and make, for six weeks together, such a noise in the trees and woods, that two persons who meet in such places, cannot understand each other, unless they speak louder than the locusts can chirp. During that time, they make, with the sting in their tail, holes into the soft bark of the little branches on the trees, by which means these branches are[7]ruined. They do no other harm to the trees or other plants. In the interval between the years when they are so numerous, they are only seen or heard single in the woods.There is likewise a kind ofCaterpillarsin these provinces, which eat the leaves from the trees. They are also innumerable in some years. In the intervals there are but few of them: but when they come, they strip the trees so entirely of their leaves, that the woods in the middle of summer are as naked as in winter. They eat all kinds of leaves, and very few trees are left untouched by them; as, about that time of the year the heat is most excessive. The stripping the trees of their leaves has this fatal consequence, that they cannot withstand the heat, but dry up entirely. In this manner, great forests are sometimes entirely ruined. TheSwedeswho live here shewed me, here and there, great tracts in the woods, where young trees were now growing, instead of the old ones, which, some years ago, had been destroyed by the caterpillars. These caterpillars afterwards change into moths, orphalænæ, which shall be described in the sequel, in their proper places.In other years theGrass-wormsdo a great deal of damage in several places, both in the meadows and corn-fields. For the[8]fields are at certain times over-run with great armies of these worms, as with the other insects; yet it is very happy that these many plagues do not come all together. For in those years when the locusts are numerous, the caterpillars and grass-worms are not very considerable, and it happens so with the latter kinds, so that only one of the three kinds comes at a time. Then there are several years when they are very scarce. The grass-worms have been observed to settle chiefly in a fat soil; but as soon as careful husbandmen discover them, they draw narrow channels with almost perpendicular sides quite round the field in which the worms are settled; then by creeping further they all fall into the ditch, and cannot get out again. I was assured by many persons that these three sorts of insects followed each other pretty closely; and that the locusts came in the first year, the caterpillars in the second, and the grass-worms in the last: I have likewise found by my own experience that this is partly true.Moths, orTineæ, which eat the clothes, are likewise abundant here. I have seen cloth, worsted gloves, and other woollen stuffs, which had hung all the summer locked up in a shrine, and had not been[9]taken care of, quite cut through by these worms, so that whole pieces fell out: Sometimes they were so spoiled that they could not be mended again. Furs which had been kept in the garret were frequently so ruined by worms, that the hair went off by handfuls. I am however not certain whether these worms were originally in the country, or whether they were brought over fromEurope.Fleasare likewise to be found in this part of the world. Many thousands were undoubtedly brought over from other countries; yet immense numbers of them have certainly been here since time immemorial. I have seen them on the grey squirrels, and on the hares which have been killed in such desart parts of this country, where no human creature ever lived. As I afterwards came further up into the country, and was obliged to lie at night in the huts and beds of theIndians, I was so plagued by immense quantities of fleas, that I imagined I was put to the torture. They drove me from the bed, and I was very glad to sleep on the benches below the roof of the huts. But it is easy to conceive that the many dogs which theIndianskeep, breed fleas without end. Dogs and men lie promiscuously in the[10]huts; and a stranger can hardly lie down and shut his eyes, but he is in danger of being either squezed to death, or stifled by a dozen or more dogs, which lie round him, and upon him, in order to have a good resting place. For I imagine they do not expect that strangers will venture to beat them or throw them off, as their masters and mistresses commonly do.The noisyCrickets(Gryllus domesticus) which are sometimes to be met with in the houses inSweden, I have not perceived in any part ofPensylvaniaorNew Jersey, and other people whom I have asked, could not say that they had ever seen any. In summer there are a kind ofblack Crickets2in the fields, which make exactly the same chirping noise as our house crickets. But they keep only to the fields, and were silent as soon as winter or the cold weather came on.They say it sometimes happens that these field crickets take refuge in houses, and chirp continually there, whilst it is warm weather, or whilst the rooms are warm; but as soon as it grows cold they are silent. In some parts of the province ofNew York, and inCanada, every[11]farm-house and most of the houses in the towns, swarm with so many, that no farm-house in our country can be better stocked with them. They continue their music there throughout the whole winter.Bugs (Cimex lectularius) are very plentiful here. I have been sufficiently tormented by them, in many places inCanada: But I do not remember having seen any with theIndians, during my stay atFort Frederic. The commander there, Mr.de Lousignan, told me, that none of theIllinoisand otherIndiansof the western parts ofNorth Americaknew any thing of these vermin. And he added, that he could with certainty say this from his own experience, having been among them for a great while. Yet I cannot determine whether bugs were first brought over by theEuropeans, or whether they have originally been in the country. Many people looked upon them as natives of this country, and as a proof of it said, that under the wings of bats the people had often found bugs, which had eaten very deep into the flesh. It was therefore believed that the bats had got them in some hollow tree, and had afterwards brought them into the houses, as they commonly fix themselves close to the walls, and creep into the little chinks which[12]they meet with. But as I have never seen any bugs upon bats, I cannot say any thing upon that subject. Perhaps a louse or a tick (Acarus) has been taken for a bug. Or, if a real bug has been found upon a bat’s wing, it is very easy to conceive that it fixed on the bat, whilst the latter was sitting in the chinks of a house stocked withEuropeanbugs.As the people here could not bear the inconvenience of these vermin, any more than we can inSweden, they endeavoured to expel them by different means. I have already remarked in the preceding volume, that the beds to that purpose were made ofSassafraswood, but that they were only temporary remedies. Some persons assured me that they had found from their own experience, and by repeated trials, that no remedy was more effectual towards the expulsion of bugs, than the injecting of boiling water into all the cracks where they are settled, and washing all the wood of the beds with it; this being twice or thrice repeated, the bugs are wholly destroyed. But if there are bugs in neighbouring houses, they will fasten toone’sclothes, and thus be brought over into other houses.I cannot say whether these remedies are[13]good or no, as I have not tried them; but by repeated trials I have been convinced that sulphur, if it be properly employed, entirely destroys bugs and their eggs in beds and walls, though they were ten times more numerous than the ants in an ant-hill3.TheMill-beetles, orCock-roaches, are likewise a plague ofNorth America, and are settled in many of its provinces. The learned Dr.Coldenwas of opinion that these insects were properly natives of theWest Indies, and that those that were found inNorth Americawere brought over from those islands. To confirm his opinion, he said, that it was yet daily seen how the ships coming with goods from theWest IndiestoNorth Americabrought mill-beetles with them in great numbers. But from the observations which I have made in this country, I have reason to believe that these insects have been on the continent ofNorth Americasince time immemorial. Yet notwithstanding this I do not deny their being brought over from theWest Indies. They are in almost every house in the city ofNew York; and those are undoubtedly come over with ships. But how can that[14]be said of those mill-beetles, which are found in the midst of the woods and desarts?TheEnglishlikewise call theMill-beetles,Cock-roaches, and theDutchgive them the name ofKackerlack. TheSwedesin this country call themBrodoetare, orBread-eaters, on account of the damage they do to the bread, which I am going to describe. Dr.Linnæuscalls themBlatta Orientalis. Many of theSwedescall them likewiseKackerlack. They are not only observed in the houses, but in the summer they appear often in the woods, and run about the trees, which are cut down. On bringing in all sorts of old rotten blocks of wood for fewel, inFebruary, I discovered several cock-roaches settled in them; they were at first quite torpid, or as it were dead; but after lying in the room for a while, they recovered, became very lively, and began to run about. I afterwards found very often, that when old rotten wood was brought home in winter, and cut in pieces for fewel, the cock-roaches were got into it in numbers, and lay in it in a torpid state. In the same winter, a fellow cut down a great dry tree, and was about to split it. I then observed in a crack, some fathoms above the ground,[15]several cock-roaches together with the common ants. They were, it seems, crept up a great way, in order to find a secure place of abode against winter. On travelling in the middle ofOctober1749, through the uninhabited country between theEnglishandFrenchcolonies, and making a fire at night near a thick half rotten tree, on the shore of lakeChamplain, numbers of cock-roaches came out of the wood, being wakened by the smoke and the fire, which had driven them out of their holes. TheFrenchmen, who were then in my company, did not know them, and could not give them any name. InCanadatheFrenchdid not remember seeing any in the houses. InPensylvania, I am told, they run in immense numbers about the sheaves of corn, during the harvest. At other times they live commonly in the houses in theEnglishsettlements, and lie in the crevices, especially in the cracks of those beams which support the ceiling, and are nearest to the chimney.They do a deal of damage by eating the soft parts of the bread. If they have once made a hole into a loaf, they will in a little time eat all the soft part in it, so that on cutting the loaf, nothing but the crust is left. I am told they likewise eat other[16]victuals. Sometimes they bite people’s noses or feet, whilst they are asleep. An oldSwede, calledSven Laock, a grandson of the Rev. Mr.Laockenius, one of the firstSwedishclergymen that came toPensylvania, told me, that he had in his younger years been once very much frightened on account of a cock-roach, which crept into his ear whilst he was asleep. He waked suddenly, jumped out of bed, and felt that the insect, probably out of fear, was endeavouring with all its strength to get deeper. These attempts of the cock-roach were so painful to him, that he imagined his head was bursting, and he was almost senseless; however he hastened to the well, and bringing up a bucket full of water, threw some into his ear. As soon as the cock-roach found itself in danger of being drowned, it endeavoured to save itself, and pushed backwards out of the ear, with its hind feet, and thus happily delivered the poor man from his fears.TheWood-liceare disagreeable insects, which in a manner are worse than the preceding; but as I have already described them in a peculiar memoir, which is printed among the memoirs of the Royal[17]Academy of Sciences for the year 1754, I refer my readers to that account.Decemberthe 11th. This morning I made a little excursion toPenn’s Neck, and further over theDelawaretoWilmington. The country roundPenn’s Neckhas the same qualities as that about other places in this part ofNew Jersey. For the ground consists chiefly of sand, with a thin stratum of black soil. It is not very hilly, but chiefly flat, and in most places covered with open woods of such trees as have annual leaves, especially oak. Now and then you see a single farm, and a little corn field round it. Between them are here and there little marshes or swamps, and sometimes a brook with water, which has a very slow motion.The woods of these parts consist of all sorts of trees, but chiefly of oak and hiccory. These woods have certainly never been cut down, and have always grown without hindrance. It might therefore be expected that there are trees of an uncommon great age to be found in them; but it happens otherwise, and there are very few trees three hundred years old. Most of them are only two hundred years old; and this convinced me that trees have the same quality as animals, and die after[18]they are arrived at a certain age. Thus we find great woods here, but when the trees in them have stood an hundred and fifty or an hundred and eighty years, they are either rotting within, or losing their crown, or their wood becomes quite soft, or their roots are no longer able to draw in sufficient nourishment, or they die from some other cause. Therefore when storms blow, which sometimes happens here, the trees are broke off either just above the root, or in the middle, or at the summit. Several trees are likewise torn out with their roots by the power of the winds. The storms thus cause great devastations in these forests. Every where you see trees thrown down by the winds, after they are too much weakened by one or the other of the above mentioned causes to be able to resist their fury. Fire likewise breaks out often in the woods, and burns the trees half way from the root, so that a violent gust of wind easily throws them down.On travelling through these woods, I purposely tried to find out, by the position of the trees which were fallen down, which winds are the strongest hereabouts. But I could not conclude any thing with certainty, for the trees fell on all sides, and lay towards all the points of the compass.[19]I therefore judged, that any wind which blows from that side where the roots of the tree are weakest and shortest, and where it can make the least resistance, must root it up and throw it down. In this manner the old trees die away continually, and are succeeded by a young generation. Those which are thrown downlayon the ground and putrify, sooner or later, and by that means encrease the black soil, into which the leaves are likewise finally changed, which drop abundantly in autumn, are blown about by the winds for some time, but are heaped up, and lie on both sides of the trees, which are fallen down. It requires several years before a tree is intirely reduced to dust. When the winds tear up a tree with the roots, a quantity of loose soil commonly comes out with and sticks to them for some time, but at last it drops off, and forms a little hillock, which is afterwards augmented by the leaves, which commonly gather about the roots. Thus several inequalities are formed in the woods, such as little holes land hills; and by this means the upper soil must likewise be heaped up in such places.Some trees are more inclined to putrify than others. Thetupelo-tree(Nyssa), the[20]tulip-tree(Liriodendron), and the sweetgum-tree(Liquidambar), became rotten in a short time. Thehiccorydid not take much time, and theblack oakfell sooner to pieces than thewhite oak; but this was owing to circumstances. If the bark remained on the wood, it was for the greatest part rotten, and entirely eaten by worms within, in the space of six, eight, or ten years, so that nothing was to be found but a reddish brown dust. But if the bark was taken off, they would often lie twenty years before they were entirely rotten. The suddenness of a tree’s growth, the bigness of its pores, and the frequent changes of heat and wet in summer, cause it to rot sooner. To this it must be added, that all sorts of insects make holes into the stems of the fallen trees, and by that means the moisture and the air get into the tree, which must of course forward putrefaction. Most of the trees here have deciduous or annual leaves. Many of them begin to rot whilst they are yet standing and blooming. This forms the hollow trees, in which many animals make their nests and places of refuge.The breadth of theDelawaredirectly oppositeWilmingtonis reckoned anEnglishmile and a half; yet to look at it, it did[21]not seem to be so great. The depth of the river, in the middle, is said to be from four to six fathoms here.Decemberthe 12th. TheJoinerssay, that among the trees of this country they chiefly use theblack walnut-trees, thewild cherry-trees, and thecurled maple. Of theblack walnut-trees(Juglans nigra) there is yet a sufficient quantity. However careless people take pains enough to destroy them, and some peasants even use them as fewel. The wood of thewild cherry-trees(Prunus Virginiana) is very good, and looks exceedingly well; it has a yellow colour, and the older the furniture is, which is made of it, the better it looks. But it is already difficult to get at it, for they cut it every where, and plant it no where. Thecurled maple(Acer rubrum) is a species of the common red maple, but likewise very difficult to be got. You may cut down many trees without finding the wood which you want. The wood of thesweet gum-tree(Liquidambar) is merely employed in joiner’s work, such as tables, and other furniture. But it must not be brought near the fire, because it warps. The firs and thewhite cedars(Cupressus thyoides) are likewise made use of by the joiners for different sorts of work.[22]The millers who attended the mill which stood here, said, that the axle-trees of the wheels of the mill were made ofwhite oak, and that they continued good three or four years, but that the fir-wood does not keep so well. The cogs of the mill-wheel, and the pullies, are made of the wood of the white walnut-tree, because it is the hardest which can be got here. The wood ofmulberry-treesis of all others reckoned the most excellent for pegs and plugs in ships and boats.At night I went over the riverDelaware, fromWillmington, to the ferrying-place, on theNew Jerseyside.Decemberthe 13th. In the morning I returned toRaccoon.On many trees in the woods of this country, either on one of the sides, or in the middle of a branch, or round a branch, are greater or lesserknobsor excrescences. Sometimes there is only a single one in a tree. In the size there is a considerable difference, for some of these knobs are as big and bigger than a man’s head, others are only small. They project above the surface of the tree, like a tumor. Sometimes a tree was quite covered with them. They do not ly on one side only, but often form a circle round a branch, and even[23]round the stem itself. The trees which have these knobs are not always great ones, but some not above a fathom high. The knobs commonly consist of the same parts as the wood itself, and look within like curled wood. Some of them are hollow. When a knob on a little tree is cut open, we commonly find a number of little worms in it, which are sometimes also common in the greater knobs. This shews the origin of the knobs in general. The tree is stung by insects, which lay their eggs under the bark, and from the eggs worms are afterwards hatched. They occasion an extravasation of the sap, which gradually condenses into a knob. Only the trees with annual deciduous leaves have these knobs, and among them chiefly the oak, of which again the black andSpanishoak have the greatest abundance of knobs. Theash trees, (Fraxinus excelsior) and thered maple(Acer rubrum) likewise have enough of them. Formerly theSwedes, and more especially theFinlanders, who are settled here, made dishes, bowls, &c. of the knobs which were on the ash-trees. These vessels, I am told, were very pretty, and looked as if they were made of curled wood. The oak-knobs cannot be employed in this manner, as they are commonly[24]worm-eaten and rotten within. At present theSwedesno longer make use of such bowls and dishes, but make use of earthen ware, or vessels made of other wood. Some knobs are of an uncommon size, and make a tree have a monstrous appearance. Trees with knobs are very common in the woods of this country4.The roads are good or bad according to the difference of the ground. In a sandy soil the roads are dry and good; but in a clayey one they are bad. The people here are likewise very careless in mending them. If a rivulet be not very great, they do not make a bridge over it; and travellers may do as well as they can to get over: Therefore many people are in danger of being drowned in such places, where the water[25]is risen by a heavy rain. When a tree falls across the road, it is seldom cut off, to keep the road clear, but the people go round it. This they can easily do, since the ground is very even, and without stones; has no underwood or shrubs, and the trees on it stand much asunder. Hence the roads here have so many bendings.The farms are most of them single, and you seldom meet with even two together, except in towns, or places which are intended for towns; therefore there are but few villages. Each farm has its corn-fields, its woods, its pastures and meadows. This may perhaps have contributed something towards the extirpation of wolves, that they every where met with houses, and people who fired at them. Two or three farm-houses have generally a pasture or a wood in common, and there are seldom more together; but most of them have their own grounds divided from the others.Decemberthe 18th. All persons who intend to be married, must either have their banns published three times from the pulpit, or get a licence from the governor. The banns of the poorer sort of people only are published, and all those who are a little above them get a licence from the governor. In that licence he declares that he has examined the affair, and found no obstacles[26]to hinder the marriage, and therefore he allows it. The licence is signed by the governor; but, before he delivers it, the bridegroom must come to him in company with two creditable and well known men, who answer for him, that there really is no lawful obstacle to his marriage. These men must subscribe a certificate, in which they make themselves answerable for, and engage to bear all the damages of, any complaints made by the relations of the persons who intend to be married, by their guardians, their masters, or by those to whom they may have been promised before. For all these circumstances the governor cannot possibly know. They further certify that nothing hinders the intended marriage, and that nothing is to be feared on that account. For a licence they pay five and twenty shillings inPensylvanianmoney, atPhiladelphia. The governor keeps twenty shillings, or one pound, and the remaining five shillings belong to his secretary. The licence is directed only to protestant clergymen. The quakers have a peculiar licence to their marriages. But as it would be very troublesome, especially for those who live far from the governor’s residence to come up to town for every licence, and to bring the men with them[27]who are to answer for them, the clergymen in the country commonly take a sufficient number of licences and certificates, which are ready printed, with blanks left for the names; they give them occasionally, and get the common money, one pound, five shillings, for each of them, besides something for their trouble. The money that they have collected, they deliver to the governor as soon as they come to town, together with the certificates, which are signed by two men, as above-mentioned; they then take again as many licences as they think sufficient: from hence we may conceive that the governors in theEnglish North Americancolonies, besides their salaries, have very considerable revenues5.There is a great mixture of people of all sorts in these colonies, partly of such as are lately come over fromEurope, and partly of such as have not yet any settled place of abode. Hence it frequently happens that when a clergyman has married such a[28]couple, the bridegroom says he has no money at present, but would pay the fee at the first opportunity: however he goes off with his wife, and the clergyman never gets his due. This proceeding has given occasion to a custom which is now common inMaryland. When the clergyman marries a very poor couple, he breaks off in the middle of the Liturgy, and cries outWhere is my fee?The man must then give the money, and the clergyman proceeds; but if the bridegroom has no money, the clergyman defers the marriage till another time, when the man is better provided. People of fortune, of whom the clergyman is sure to get his due, need not fear this disagreeable question, when they are married.However, though the parson has got licences to marry a couple, yet if he be not very careful, he may get into very disagreeable circumstances; for in many parts of the country there is a law made, which, notwithstanding the governor’s licence, greatly limits a clergyman in some cases. He is not allowed to marry a couple who are not yet of age, unless he be certain of the consent of their parents. He cannot marry such strangers as have bound themselves to serve a certain number of years, in order[29]to pay off their passage fromEurope, without the consent of their masters; if he acts without their consent, or in opposition to it, he must pay a penalty of fifty pounds,Pensylvaniacurrency, though he has the licence, and the certificate of the two men who are to answer for any objection. But parents or masters give themselves no concern about these men, but take hold of the clergyman, who is at liberty to prosecute those who gave him the certificate, and to get his damages repaid. With the consent of the parents and masters he may marry people without danger to himself. No clergyman is allowed to marry a negro with one ofEuropeanextraction, or he must pay a penalty of one hundred pounds, according to the laws ofPensylvania.There is a very peculiar diverting custom here, in regard to marrying. When a man dies, and leaves his widow in great poverty, or so that she cannot pay all the debts with what little she has left, and that, notwithstanding all that, there is a person who will marry her, she must be married in no other habit than her shift. By that means, she leaves to the creditors of her deceased husband her cloaths, and every thing which they find in the house. But she is not[30]obliged to pay them any thing more, because she has left them all she was worth, even her cloaths, keeping only a shift to cover her, which the laws of the country cannot refuse her. As soon as she is married, and no longer belongs to the deceased husband, she puts on the cloaths which the second has given her. TheSwedishclergymen here have often been obliged to marry a woman in a dress which is so little expensive,and so light. This appears from the registers kept in the churches, and from the accounts given by the clergymen themselves. I have likewise often seen accounts of such marriages in theEnglishgazettes; which are printed in these colonies; and I particularly remember the following relation: A woman went, with no other dress than her shift, out of the house of her deceased husband to that of her bridegroom, who met her half way with fine new cloaths, and said, before all who were present, that he lent them his bride; and put them on her with his own hands. It seems, he said that he lent the cloaths, lest, if he had said he gave them, the creditors of the first husband should come, and take them from her; pretending, that she was looked upon as the relict of her first husband, before she was married to the second.[31]Decemberthe 21st. It seems very probable, from the following observations, that long before the arrival of theSwedes, there have beenEuropeansin this province; and, in the sequel, we shall give more confirmations of this opinion. The same oldMaons Keen, whom I have already mentioned before, told me repeatedly, that on the arrival of theSwedesin the last century, and on their making a settlement, calledHelsingburg, on the banks of theDelaware, somewhat below the place whereSalemis now situated; they found, at the depth of twenty feet, some wells, inclosed with walls. This could not be aworkof the nativeAmericans, orIndians, as bricks were entirely unknown to them when theEuropeansfirst settled here, at the end of the fifteenth century; and they still less knew how to make use of them. The wells were, at that time, on the land; but in such a place, on the banks of theDelaware, as is sometimes under water, and sometimes dry. But since, the ground has been so washed away, that the wells are entirely covered by the river, and the water is seldom low enough to shew the wells. As theSwedesafterwards made new wells for themselves, at some distance from the former, they discovered, in the ground, some broken earthen vessels, and some entire[32]good bricks; and they have often got them out of the ground by ploughing.From these marks, it seems, we may conclude, that in times of yore, eitherEuropeansor other people of the then civilized parts of the world, have been carried hither by storms, or other accidents, settled here, on the banks of the river, burnt bricks, and made a colony here; but that they afterwards mixed with theIndians, or were killed by them. They may gradually, by conversing with theIndians, have learnt their manners, and turn of thinking. TheSwedesthemselves are accused, that they were already halfIndians, when theEnglisharrived in the year 1682. And we still see, that theFrench,English,Germans,Dutch, and otherEuropeans, who have lived for several years together in distant provinces, near and among theIndians, grow so like them, in their behaviour and thoughts, that they can only be distinguished by the difference of their colour. But history, together with the tradition among theIndians, assures us, that the above-mentioned wells and bricks cannot have been made at the time ofColumbus’s expedition, nor soon after; as the traditions of theIndianssay, that those wells were made long before that epocha. This account of the wells, which had been[33]inclosed with bricks, and of such bricks as have been found in several places in the ground, I have afterwards heard repeated by many other oldSwedes.Decemberthe 22nd. An old farmer foretold a change of the weather, because the air was very warm this day at noon, though the morning had been very cold. This he likewise concluded, from having observed the clouds gathering about the sun. The meteorological observations annexed to the end of this volume will prove that his observation was just.Decemberthe 31st. The remedies against the tooth-ach are almost as numerous as days in a year. There is hardly an old woman but can tell you three or four score of them, of which she is perfectly certain that they are as infallible and speedy in giving relief, as a month’s fasting, by bread and water, is to a burthensome paunch. Yet it happens often, nay too frequently, that this painful disease eludes all this formidable army of remedies. However, I cannot forbear observing the following remedies, which have sometimes, in this country, been found effectual against the tooth-ach.When the pains come from the hollowness of the teeth, the following remedy is[34]said to have had a good effect: A little cotton is put at the bottom of a tobacco-pipe; the tobacco is put in upon it, and lighted; and you smoke till it is almost burnt up. By smoking, the oil of the tobacco gets into the cotton, which is then taken out, and applied to the tooth as hot as it can be suffered.The chief remedy of theIroquois, orIroquese, against the tooth-ach occasioned by hollow teeth, I heard of CaptainLindsey’s lady, atOswego; and she assured me, that she knew, from her own experience, that the remedy was effectual. They take the seed capsules of theVirginian Anemone, as soon as the seed is ripe, and rub them in pieces. It will then be rough, and look like cotton. This cotton-like substance is dipped into strong brandy, and then put into the hollow tooth, which commonly ceases to ache soon after. The brandy is biting or sharp, and the seeds of the anemone, as most seeds of thePolyandria Polygyniaclass of plants (or such as have manyStamina, or male flowers, and manyPistilla, or female flowers) have likewise an acrimony. They therefore, both together, help to assuage the pain; and this remedy is much of the same kind with the former. Besides that, we have many seeds[35]which have the same qualities with theAmericananemone.The following remedy was much in vogue against the tooth-ach which is attended with a swelling: They boil gruel, of flour of maize, and milk; to this they add, whilst it is yet over the fire, some of the fat of hogs, or other suet, and stir it well, that every thing may mix equally. A handkerchief is then spread over the gruel, and applied as hot as possible to the swelled cheek, where it is kept till it is gone cool again. I have found, that this remedy has been very efficacious against a swelling as it lessens the pain, abates the swelling, opens a gathering, if there be any, and procures a good discharge of thePus.I have seen theIroqueseboil the inner bark of theSambucus Canadensis, orCanada Elder, and put it on that part of the cheek in which the pain was most violent. This, I am told, often diminishes the pain.Among theIroquese, orFive Nations, upon the riverMohawk, I saw a youngIndianwoman, who, by frequent drinking of tea, had got a violent tooth-ach. To cure it, she boiled theMyrica asplenii folia, and tied it, as hot as she could bear it, on the whole cheek. She said, that[36]remedy had often cured the tooth-ach before.Januarythe 2nd, 1749. Before theEuropeansunder the direction ofColumbus, came to theWest Indies, thesavagesorIndians(who lived there since times immemorial) were entirely unacquainted with iron, which appears very strange to us, asNorth America, almost in every part of it, contains a number of iron mines. They were therefore obliged to supply this want with sharp stones, shells, claws of birds and wild beasts, pieces of bones, and other things of that kind, whenever they intended to make hatchets, knives, and such like instruments. From hence it appears, that they must have led a very wretched life. The oldSwedeswho lived here, and had had an intercourse with theIndianswhen they were young, and at a time when they were yet very numerous in these parts, could tell a great many things concerning their manner of living. At this time the people find accidentally, by ploughing and digging in the ground, several of the instruments which theIndiansemployed, before theSwedesand otherEuropeanshad provided them with iron tools. For it is observable that theIndiansat present make use of no other tools, than such as are made of iron and other metals,[37]and which they always get from theEuropeans: Of this I shall be more particular, in its proper place. But having had an opportunity of seeing, and partly collecting a great many of the ancientIndiantools, I shall here describe them.Theirhatchetswere made of stone. Their shape is similar to that of the wedges with which we cleave our wood, about half a foot long, and broad in proportion; they are made like a wedge, sharp at one end, but rather blunter than our wedges. As this hatchet must be fixed on a handle, there was a notch made all round the thick-end. To fasten it, they split a stick at one end, and put the stone between it, so that the two halves of the stick come into the notches of the stone; then they tied the two split ends together with a rope or something like it, almost in the same way as smiths fasten the instrument with which they cut off iron, to a split stick. Some of these stone-hatchets were not notched or furrowed at the upper end, and it seems they only held those in their hands in order to hew or strike with them, and did not make handles to them. Most of the hatchets which I have seen, consisted of a hard rock-stone: but some were made of a fine, hard, black, apyrous stone. When theIndiansintended to fell[38]a thick strong tree, they could not make use of their hatchets, but for want of proper instruments employed fire. They set fire to a great quantity of wood at the roots of the tree, and made it fall by that means. But that the fire might not reach higher than they would have it, they fastened some rags to a pole, dipped them into water, and kept continually washing the tree, a little above the fire. Whenever they intended to hollow out a thick tree for a canoe, they laid dry branches all along the stem of the tree, as far as it must be hollowed out. They then put fire to those dry branches, and as soon as they were burnt, they were replaced by others. Whilst these branches were burning, theIndianswere very busy with wet rags, and pouring water upon the tree, to prevent the fire from spreading too far on the sides and at the ends. The tree being burnt hollow as far as they found it sufficient, or as far as it could without damaging the canoe, they took the above described stone-hatchets, or sharp flints, and quartzes, or sharp shells, and scraped off the burnt part of the wood, and smoothened the boats within. By this means they likewise gave it what shape they pleased. Instead of cutting with a hatchet such a piece of wood as was necessary for making[39]a canoe, they likewise employed fire. A canoe was commonly between thirty and forty feet long. The chief use of their hatchets was, according to the unanimous accounts of all theSwedes, to make good fields for maize-plantations; for if the ground where they intended to make a maize-field was covered with trees, they cut off the bark all round the trees with their hatchets, especially at the time when they lose their sap. By that means the tree became dry, and could not take any more nourishment, and the leaves could no longer obstruct the rays of the sun from passing. The smaller trees were then pulled out by main force, and the ground was a little turned up with crooked or sharp branches.Instead ofknivesthey were satisfied with little sharp pieces of flint or quartz, or else some other hard kind of a stone, or with a sharp shell, or with a piece of a bone which they had sharpened.At the end of theirarrowsthey fastened narrow angulated pieces of stone; they made use of them, having no iron to make them sharp again, or a wood of sufficient hardness: these points were commonly flints or quartzes, but sometimes likewise another kind of a stone. Some employed the bones of animals, or the[40]claws of birds and beasts. Some of these ancient harpoons are very blunt, and it seems that theIndiansmight kill birds and small quadrupeds with them; but whether they could enter deep into the body of a great beast or of a man, by the velocity which they get from the bow, I cannot ascertain; yet some have been found very sharp and well made.They hadstone pestles, about a foot long, and as thick as a man’s arm. They consist chiefly of a black sort of a stone, and were formerly employed, by theIndians, for pounding maize, which has, since times immemorial, been their chief and almost their only corn. They had neither wind-mills, water-mills, nor hand-mills, to grind it, and did not so much as know a mill, before theEuropeanscame into the country. I have spoken with oldFrenchmen, inCanada, who told me, that theIndianshad been astonished beyond expression, when theFrenchset up the first wind-mill. They came in numbers, even from the most distant parts, to view this wonder, and were not tired with sitting near it for several days together, in order to observe it; they were long of opinion that it was not driven by the wind, but by the spirits who lived within it. They were partly[41]under the same astonishment when the first water-mill was built. They formerly pounded all their corn or maize in hollow trees, with the above-mentioned pestles, made of stone. ManyIndianshad only wooden pestles. The blackish stone, of which the hatchets and pestles are sometimes made, is very good for a grindstone, and therefore both theEnglishand theSwedesemploy the hatchets and pestles chiefly as grindstones, at present, when they can get them.The old boilers or kettles of theIndians, were either made of clay, or of different kinds of pot-stone, (Lapis ollaris). The former consisted of a dark clay, mixt with grains of white sand or quartz, and burnt in the fire. Many of these kettles have two holes in the upper margin, on each side one, through which theIndiansput a stick, and held the kettle over the fire, as long as it was to boil. Most of the kettles have no feet. It is remarkable that no pots of this kind have been found glazed, either on the outside or the inside. A few of the oldestSwedescould yet remember seeing theIndiansboil their meat in these pots. They are very thin, and of different sizes; they are made sometimes of a greenish, and sometimes of a[42]grey pot-stone, and some are made of another species of apyrous stone; the bottom and the margin are frequently above an inch thick. TheIndians, notwithstanding their being unacquainted with iron, steel, and other metals, have learnt to hollow out very ingeniously these pots or kettles of pot-stone.The oldtobacco-pipesof theIndiansare likewise made of clay, or pot-stone, or serpentine-stone. The first sort are shaped like our tobacco-pipes, though much coarser and not so well made. The tube is thick and short, hardly an inch long, but sometimes as long as a finger; their colour comes nearest to that of our tobacco-pipes which have been long used. Their tobacco-pipes of pot-stone are made of the same stone as their kettles. Some of them are pretty well made, though they had neither iron nor steel. But besides these kinds of tobacco-pipes, we find another sort of pipes, which are made with great ingenuity, of a very fine, red pot-stone, or a kind of serpentine marble. They are very scarce, and seldom made use of by any other than theIndian Sachems, or elders. The fine red stone, of which these pipes are made, is likewise very scarce, and is found only in the country of those[43]Indianswho are calledIngouez, and who, according to fatherCharlevoix, live on the other side of the riverMissisippi6. TheIndiansthemselves commonly value a pipe of this kind as much as a piece of silver of the same size, and sometimes they make it still dearer. Of the same kind of stone commonly consists theirpipe of peace, which theFrenchcallcalumet de paix, and which they make use of in their treaties of peace, and alliances. Most authors who have wrote of these nations mention this instrument, and I intend to speak of it when an opportunity offers.TheIndiansemploy hooks made of bone, or bird’s claws, instead offishing-hooks. Some of the oldestSwedeshere told me, that when they were young, a great number ofIndianshad been in this part of the country, which was then calledNew Sweden, and had caught fishes in the riverDelaware, with these hooks.They made fire by rubbing one end of a hard piece of wood continually against another dry one, till the wood began to smoke, and afterwards to burn.Such were the tools of the antientIndians, and the use which they made of[44]them, before theEuropeansinvaded this country, and before they (theIndians) were acquainted with the advantages of iron.North Americaabounds in iron-mines, and theIndianslived all about the country before the arrival of theEuropeans, so that several places can be shewn in this country, where at present there are iron-mines, and where, not a hundred years ago, stood great towns or villages of theIndians. It is therefore very remarkable that theIndiansdid not know how to make use of a metal or ore which was always under their eyes, and on which they could not avoid treading every day. They even lived upon the very spots where iron ores were afterwards found, and yet they often went many miles in order to get a wretched hatchet, knife, or the like, as above described. They were forced to employ several days in order to sharpen their tools, by rubbing them against a rock, or other stones, though the advantage was far from being equal to the labour. For they could never cut down a thick tree with their hatchets, and with difficulty they felled a small one. They could not hollow out a tree with their hatchets, or do a hundredth part of the work which we can perform with ease, by the help of our iron[45]hatchets. Thus we see how disadvantageous the ignorance and inconsiderate contempt of useful arts is. Happy is the country which knows their full value!Januarythe 5th. Christmas-day was celebrated this day by theSwedesandEnglish, for they kept then to theold stile.Januarythe 6th. There are a great number of hares in this country, but they differ from ourSwedishones in their size, which is very small, and but little bigger than that of a rabbit; they keep almost the same grey colour both in summer and winter, which ourNorthernhares have in summer only; the tip of their ears is always grey, and not black; the tail is likewise grey on the upper side, at all seasons; they breed several times a year: in spring they lodge their young ones in hollow trees, and in summer, in the months ofJuneandJuly, they breed in the grass. When they are surprised they commonly take refuge in hollow trees, out of which they are taken by means of a crooked stick, or by cutting a hole into the tree, opposite to the place where they lie; or by smoke, which is occasioned by making a fire on the outside of the tree. On all these occasions the greyhounds must be at hand. These hares never bite, and can be touched without any danger. In day-time they[46]usually lie in hollow trees, and hardly ever stir from thence, unless they be disturbed by men or dogs; but in the night they come out, and seek their food. In bad weather, or when it snows, they lie close for a day or two, and do not venture to leave their retreats. They do a great deal of mischief in the cabbage-fields; but apple-trees suffer infinitely more from them, for they peel off all the bark next to the ground. The people here agreed that the hares are fatter in a cold and severe winter, than in a mild and wet one, of which they could give me several reasons, from their own conjectures. The skin is useless, because it is so loose, that it can be drawn off; for when you would separate it from the flesh, you need only pull at the fur, and the skin follows: these hares cannot be tamed. They were at all times, even in the midst of winter, plagued with a number of common fleas7.Januarythe 16th. The common mice were in great abundance in the towns and in the country; they do as much mischief as in the old countries.Oldmixonin his[47]book, theBritish Empire in America, vol. i. p. 444, writes, thatNorth Americahad neither rats nor mice beforeEuropeanships brought them over. How far this is true I know not. It is undoubted, that in several desart places, where no man ever lived, I have seen and killed the common mice, in crevices of stones or mountains; and is it probable that all such mice as are spread in this manner, throughout the inland parts of the country, derive their origin from those which were brought over fromEurope?Rats likewise may be ranked among those animals which do great damage in this country. They live both in the cities and in the country, and destroy the provisions. Their size is the same with that of our rats, but their colour differs; for they are grey, or blue-grey. I enquired of theSwedes, Whether these rats had been here prior to the arrival of theEuropeans, or whether they came over in the ships? But I could not get an answer which I might depend upon. All agreed, that a number of these dangerous and mischievous animals were every year brought toAmerica, by ships fromEuropeand other countries. But Mr.Bartrammaintained, that before theEuropeanssettled here, rats had been in the country; for he saw a great number of them on the high mountains,[48]which are commonly called theBlue Mountains, where they lived among stones, and in the subterraneous grottoes which are in those mountains. They always lie very close in the day-time, and you hardly ever see one out; but at night they come out, and make a terrible noise. When the cold was very violent, they seemed quite torpid; for during the continuance of the cold weather, one could not hear the least noise, or shrieking, occasioned by them. It is to be observed, that neither theSwedesnor theEnglishhave any dark windows in their houses here. There is hardly a dormer-window in the garret; but only loose boards. The walls in the wooden houses are frequently not closed, even with moss; so that the rooms, though they have fires in them, are no warmer than the outside apartment, or hall. The rooms where the servants sleep have never any fire in them, though the winter is pretty severe sometimes. The rats have, therefore, little or no warmth in winter; but as soon as a milder season makes its appearance, they come out again. We observed several times this winter, that the rats were very active, and made an unusual noise all night, just before a severe cold. It seems, they had some sensation of cold weather being at hand; and that they therefore eat sufficiently, or stored[49]up provisions. In mild weather, they were used to carry away apples, and other provisions: therefore, we could always conclude, with certainty, when the rats made an uncommon noise at night, or were extremely greedy, that a severe cold would ensue. I have already observed in the preceding volume, p. 312, that the grey squirrels in this country have the same quality. When these, and the common mice, eat maize, they do not consume the whole grains, but only the loose, sweet and soft kernel, and leave the rest.Januarythe 21st. The cold now equalled that ofSweden, though this country is so much more southerly. TheCelsianorSwedishthermometer was twenty-two degrees below the freezing point, in the morning. As the rooms are without any shutters here, the cracks in the walls not closed with moss, and sometimes no fire-place or chimney in the room, the winters here must be very disagreeable to one who is used to ourSwedishwarm winter-rooms. But the greatest comfort here is, that the cold is of a very short duration. Some days of this month, the room which I lodged in was such, that I could not write two lines before the ink would freeze in my pen. When I did not write, I could not leave the ink-stand on the[50]table; but was forced to put it upon the hearth, or into my pocket. Yet, notwithstanding it was so cold, as appears from the meteorological observations at the end of this volume, and though it snowed sometimes for several days and nights together, and the snow lay near six inches high upon the ground, yet all the cattle are obliged to stay, day and night, in the fields, during the whole winter. For neither theEnglishnor theSwedeshad any stables; but theGermansandDutchhad preserved the custom of their country, and generally kept their cattle in stables during winter. Almost all the oldSwedessay, that on their first arrival in this country, they made stables for their cattle, as is usual inSweden; but as theEnglishcame, and settled among them, and left their cattle in the fields all winter, as is customary inEngland, they left off their former custom, and adopted theEnglishone. They owned, however, that the cattle suffered greatly in winter, when it was very cold, especially when it froze after a rain, and that some cattle were killed by it in several places, in the long winter of the year 1741. About noon, the cattle went out into the woods, where there were yet some leaves on the young oak; but they did not eat the leaves, and only bit off the extremities of the[51]branches, and the tops of the youngest oaks. The horses went into the maize fields, and ate the dry leaves on the few stalks which remained. The sheep ran about the woods, and on the corn fields. The chickens perched on the trees of the gardens, at night; for they had no particular habitations. The hogs were likewise exposed to the roughness of the weather, within a small inclosure.A small kind of birds, which theSwedescallSnow-bird, and theEnglish Chuck-bird, came into the houses about this time. At other times, they sought their food along the roads. They are seldom seen, but when it snows.Catesby, in his Natural History ofCarolina, calls itPasser nivalis; and Dr.Linnæus, in hisSystema Naturæ, calls itEmberiza hyemalis.The riverDelawarewas now covered with ice oppositePhiladelphia, and even somewhat lower, and the people could walk over it; but nobody ventured to ride over on horseback.Januarythe 22d. There are partridges in this country; but they are not of the same kind with ours. TheSwedescalled them sometimesrapphons(partridges), and sometimesaekkerhoens(quails). Some of theEnglishlikewise called them partridges,[52]others quails. Their shape is almost the same with that of theEuropeanpartridges, and their nature and qualities the same: I mean, they run and hide themselves, when pursued. But they are smaller, and entirely different in colour. In this work I cannot insert, at large, the descriptions which I have made of birds, insects, quadrupeds, and plants; because it would swell my volume too much. I only observe, that the feet are naked, and not hairy; the back is spotted with brown, black, and white; the breast is dark yellow; and the belly whitish, with black edges on the tips of the feathers. The size is nearly that of a hazel-hen, ortetrao bonasia. Above each eye is a narrow stroke of whitish yellow. These birds are numerous inNew Sweden, i. e. this part of the country. On going but a little way, you meet with great coveys of them. However, they keep at a great distance from towns; being either extirpated, or frightened there by the frequent shooting. They are always in lesser or greater coveys, do not fly very much, but run in the fields, and keep under the bushes and near the inclosures, where they seek their food. They are reckoned very delicious food; and the people here prepare them in different ways. For that purpose they are caught, and shot[53]in great numbers. They are caught by putting up a sieve, or a square open box, made of boards, in the places they frequent. The people strew some oats under the sieve, and lift it up on one side by a little stick; and as soon as the partridges are got under the sieve, in order to pick up the oats, it falls, and they are caught alive. Sometimes they get several partridges at once. When they run in the bushes, you can come very near them, without starting them. When they sleep at night, they come together in an heap. They scratch in the bushes and upon the field, like common chickens. In spring they make their nests, either under a bush or in the maize fields, or on the hills in the open air: they scratch some hay together, into which they lay about thirteen white eggs. They eat several sorts of corn, and seeds of grass. They have likewise been seen eating the berries ofsumach, orrhus glabra. Some people have taken them young, and kept them in a cage till they were tame: then they let them go; and they followed the chickens, and never left the court-yards.The inclosures made use of inPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, but especially inNew York, are those, which on account of their serpentine form resembling worms, are called[54]worm-fencesinEnglish. The poles which compose this fence are taken from different trees; but they are not all of equal duration: the redcedaris reckoned the most durable of any, for it holds out above thirty years; but it is very scarce, and grows only in a single place hereabouts, so that no fences can be made of it. It is true, the fences aboutPhiladelphia(which however are different from theworm-fences) are all made of redcedar; but it has been brought by water fromEgg-harbour, where it grows in abundance. The supports on which the poles lie are made of the whitecedar, orCupressus thyoides, and the poles which are laid between them of the redcedarorJuniperus Virginiana. Next to thecedar-wood,oakandchesnutare reckoned best.Chesnutis commonly preferred, but it is not every where so plentiful as to be made into fences; in its stead they make use of several sorts ofoak. In order to make inclosures, the people do not cut down the young trees, as is common with us, but they fell here and there thick trees, cut them in several places, leaving the pieces as long as it is necessary, and split them into poles of the usual thickness; a single tree affords a multitude of poles. Several old men in this country told me, that theSwedeson their arrival here,[55]made such inclosures as are usual inSweden, but they were forced to leave off in a few years time, because they could not get posts enough; for they had found by experience that a post being put into the ground would not last above four or six years before the part under ground was entirely rotten; but the chief thing was, that they could not get any switches for to tie them together; they made some ofhiccory, which is one of the toughest trees in this country, and of the whiteoak; but in the space of a year or two the switches were rotten, and the fence fell in pieces of itself, therefore they were forced to give over making such inclosures. Several of the new comers again attempted, but with the same bad success, to make fences with posts and switches. TheSwedishway of inclosing therefore will not succeed here. Thus theworm-fencesare one of the most useful sorts of inclosures, especially as they cannot get any post, made of the woods of this country, to stay above six or eight years in the ground without rotting. The poles in this country are very heavy, and the posts cannot bear them well, especially when it blows a storm; but theworm-fencesare easily put up again, when they are thrown down. Experience has[56]shewn that an inclosure made ofchesnutor whiteoakseldom holds out above ten or twelve years, before the poles and posts are thoroughly rotten: when the poles are made of other wood, the fences hardly stand six or eight years. Considering how much more wood theworm-fencesrequire, (since they run in bendings) than other inclosures which go in strait lines, and that they are so soon useless, one may imagine how the forests will be consumed, and what sort of an appearance the country will have forty or fifty years hence, in case no alteration is made; especially as wood is really squandered away in immense quantities, day and night all the winter, or nearly one half of the year, for fewel.Februarythe 8th. TheMusk-rats, so called by theEnglishin this country, on account of their scent, are pretty common inNorth America; they always live near the water, especially on the banks of lakes, rivers, and brooks. On travelling to places where they are, you see the holes which they have dug in the ground just at the water’s edge, or a little above its surface. In these holes they have their nests, and there they continue whenever they are not in the water in pursuit of food. TheSwedescall[57]themDésmans Rattor8, and theFrench,Rats musqués.Linnæuscalls this animalCastor Zibethicus. Their food is chiefly the muscles which ly at the bottom of lakes and rivers; you see a number of such shells near the entrance of their holes. I am told they likewise eat several kinds of roots and plants. They differ from theEuropean Musk-rat, orLinnæus’sCastor Moschatus. The teeth are the same in both; the tail of theAmericanis compressed on the sides so, that one sharp edge goes upwards and the other downwards: the hind feet are not palmated, or joined by a moveable skin, but are peculiar for having on both sides of the feet, long, white, close, pectinated, off-standing hair, besides the short hair with which the feet are quite covered. Such hairs are on both sides of the toes, and do the same service in swimming as a web. Their size is that of a little cat, or to be more accurate, the length of the body is about ten inches, and the tail of the same length: the colour of the head, neck, back, sides, and of the outside of the thighs, is blackish brown; the hairs are soft and shining;[58]under the neck, on the breasts, and on the inside of the thighs, they are grey. They make their nests in the dykes that are erected along the banks of rivers to keep off the water from the adjoining meadows; but they often do a great deal of damage, by spoiling the dykes with digging, and opening passages for the water to come into the meadows; whereasBeaversstop up all the holes in a dyke or bank. They make their nests of twigs and such like things externally, and carry soft stuff into them for their young ones to ly upon. TheSwedesasserted that they could never observe a diminution in their number, but believed that they were as numerous at present as formerly. As they damage the banks so considerably, the people are endeavouring to extirpate them, when they can find out their nests; the skin is paid for, and this is an encouragement towards catching the animal. A skin of aMusk-ratformerly cost but three-pence, but at present they gave from six-pence to nine-pence. The skins are chiefly employed by hatters, who make hats of the hair, which are said to be nearly as good asBeaverhats. TheMusk-ratsare commonly caught in traps, with apples as baits. In the country of theIroquese, I saw thoseIndiansfollowing the[59]holes of theMusk-ratsby digging till they came to their nests, where they killed them all. Nobody here eats their flesh; I do not know whether theIndianseat it, for they are commonly not over nice in the choice of meat. The musk-bag is put between the cloaths in order to preserve them against worms. It is very difficult to extirpate theseRatswhen they are once settled in a bank. ASwede, however, told me, that he had freed his bank, or piece of dyke along the river, from them in the following manner: He sought for all their holes, stopped them all up with earth, excepting one, on that side from whence the wind came. He put a quantity of sulphur into the open entrance, set fire to it, and then closed the hole, leaving but a small one for the wind to pass through. The smoke of the sulphur then entered their most remote nests, and stifled all the animals. As soon as the sulphur was burnt, he was obliged to dig up part of the ground in the bank, where they had their nests; and he found them lie dead by heaps. He sold the skins, and they paid his trouble, not to mention the advantage he got by clearing his bank of theMusk-rats.
New Jersey, Raccoon.
Decemberthe seventh, 1748.
In the morning I undertook again a little journey, toRaccoon, inNew Jersey.
It does not seem difficult to find out the reasons, why the people multiply more here than inEurope. As soon as a person is old enough, he may marry in these provinces, without any fear of poverty; for there is such a tract of good ground yet uncultivated, that a new-married man can, without difficulty, get a spot of ground, where he may sufficiently subsist with his wife and children. The taxes are very low, and he[4]need not be under any concern on their account. The liberties he enjoys are so great, that he considers himself as a prince in his possessions. I shall here demonstrate by some plain examples, what effect such a constitution is capable of.
Maons Keen, one of theSwedesinRaccoon, was now near seventy years old: he had many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; so that, of those who were yet alive, he could muster up forty-five persons. Besides them, several of his children and grandchildren died young, and some in a mature age. He was, therefore, uncommonly blessed. Yet his happiness is not comparable to that which is to be seen in the following examples, and which I have extracted from thePhiladelphiagazette.
In the year 1732,Januarythe 24th, died atIpswich, inNew England, Mrs.Sarah Tuthil, a widow, aged eighty-six years. She had brought sixteen children into the world; and from seven of them only, she had seen one hundred and seventy-seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In the year 1739,Maythe 30th, the children, grand and great-grandchildren, of Mr.Richard Buttington, in the parish ofChester, inPensylvania, were assembled in[5]his house; and they made together one hundred and fifteen persons. The parent of these children,Richard Buttington, who was born inEngland, was then entering into his eighty-fifth year: and was at that time quite fresh, active, and sensible. His eldest son, then sixty years old, was the firstEnglishmanborn inPensylvania.
In the year 1742, on the 8th ofJanuary, died atTrenton, inNew Jersey, Mrs.Sarah Furman, a widow, aged ninety-seven years. She was born inNew England; and left five children, sixty-one grandchildren, one hundred and eighty-two great-grandchildren, and twelve great-great-grandchildren, who were all alive when she died.
In the year 1739, on the 28th ofJanuary, died atSouth Kingston, inNew England, Mrs.Maria Hazard, a widow, in the hundredth year of her age. She was born inRhode Island, and was a grandmother of the then vice-governor of that island, Mr.George Hazard. She could count altogether five hundred children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. When she died, two hundred and five persons of them were alive; a grand-daughter of hers had already been grandmother near fifteen years.
In this manner, the usual wish or blessing in our liturgy, that the new-married couple[6]may see their grandchildren, till the third and fourth generation, has been literally fulfilled in regard to some of these persons1.
Decemberthe 9th. In every country, we commonly meet with a number of insects; of which many, though they be ever so small and contemptible, can do considerable damage to the inhabitants. Of these dangerous insects, there are likewise some inNorth America: some are peculiar to that country, others are common toEuropelikewise.
I have already, in the preceding volume, mentioned theMosquitoes, as a kind of disagreeable gnats; and another noxious insect, theBruchus Pisi, which destroys whole fields with pease. I shall here add some more.
There are a kind ofLocustswhich about every seventeenth year come hither in incredible numbers. They come out of the ground in the middle ofMay, and make, for six weeks together, such a noise in the trees and woods, that two persons who meet in such places, cannot understand each other, unless they speak louder than the locusts can chirp. During that time, they make, with the sting in their tail, holes into the soft bark of the little branches on the trees, by which means these branches are[7]ruined. They do no other harm to the trees or other plants. In the interval between the years when they are so numerous, they are only seen or heard single in the woods.
There is likewise a kind ofCaterpillarsin these provinces, which eat the leaves from the trees. They are also innumerable in some years. In the intervals there are but few of them: but when they come, they strip the trees so entirely of their leaves, that the woods in the middle of summer are as naked as in winter. They eat all kinds of leaves, and very few trees are left untouched by them; as, about that time of the year the heat is most excessive. The stripping the trees of their leaves has this fatal consequence, that they cannot withstand the heat, but dry up entirely. In this manner, great forests are sometimes entirely ruined. TheSwedeswho live here shewed me, here and there, great tracts in the woods, where young trees were now growing, instead of the old ones, which, some years ago, had been destroyed by the caterpillars. These caterpillars afterwards change into moths, orphalænæ, which shall be described in the sequel, in their proper places.
In other years theGrass-wormsdo a great deal of damage in several places, both in the meadows and corn-fields. For the[8]fields are at certain times over-run with great armies of these worms, as with the other insects; yet it is very happy that these many plagues do not come all together. For in those years when the locusts are numerous, the caterpillars and grass-worms are not very considerable, and it happens so with the latter kinds, so that only one of the three kinds comes at a time. Then there are several years when they are very scarce. The grass-worms have been observed to settle chiefly in a fat soil; but as soon as careful husbandmen discover them, they draw narrow channels with almost perpendicular sides quite round the field in which the worms are settled; then by creeping further they all fall into the ditch, and cannot get out again. I was assured by many persons that these three sorts of insects followed each other pretty closely; and that the locusts came in the first year, the caterpillars in the second, and the grass-worms in the last: I have likewise found by my own experience that this is partly true.
Moths, orTineæ, which eat the clothes, are likewise abundant here. I have seen cloth, worsted gloves, and other woollen stuffs, which had hung all the summer locked up in a shrine, and had not been[9]taken care of, quite cut through by these worms, so that whole pieces fell out: Sometimes they were so spoiled that they could not be mended again. Furs which had been kept in the garret were frequently so ruined by worms, that the hair went off by handfuls. I am however not certain whether these worms were originally in the country, or whether they were brought over fromEurope.
Fleasare likewise to be found in this part of the world. Many thousands were undoubtedly brought over from other countries; yet immense numbers of them have certainly been here since time immemorial. I have seen them on the grey squirrels, and on the hares which have been killed in such desart parts of this country, where no human creature ever lived. As I afterwards came further up into the country, and was obliged to lie at night in the huts and beds of theIndians, I was so plagued by immense quantities of fleas, that I imagined I was put to the torture. They drove me from the bed, and I was very glad to sleep on the benches below the roof of the huts. But it is easy to conceive that the many dogs which theIndianskeep, breed fleas without end. Dogs and men lie promiscuously in the[10]huts; and a stranger can hardly lie down and shut his eyes, but he is in danger of being either squezed to death, or stifled by a dozen or more dogs, which lie round him, and upon him, in order to have a good resting place. For I imagine they do not expect that strangers will venture to beat them or throw them off, as their masters and mistresses commonly do.
The noisyCrickets(Gryllus domesticus) which are sometimes to be met with in the houses inSweden, I have not perceived in any part ofPensylvaniaorNew Jersey, and other people whom I have asked, could not say that they had ever seen any. In summer there are a kind ofblack Crickets2in the fields, which make exactly the same chirping noise as our house crickets. But they keep only to the fields, and were silent as soon as winter or the cold weather came on.They say it sometimes happens that these field crickets take refuge in houses, and chirp continually there, whilst it is warm weather, or whilst the rooms are warm; but as soon as it grows cold they are silent. In some parts of the province ofNew York, and inCanada, every[11]farm-house and most of the houses in the towns, swarm with so many, that no farm-house in our country can be better stocked with them. They continue their music there throughout the whole winter.
Bugs (Cimex lectularius) are very plentiful here. I have been sufficiently tormented by them, in many places inCanada: But I do not remember having seen any with theIndians, during my stay atFort Frederic. The commander there, Mr.de Lousignan, told me, that none of theIllinoisand otherIndiansof the western parts ofNorth Americaknew any thing of these vermin. And he added, that he could with certainty say this from his own experience, having been among them for a great while. Yet I cannot determine whether bugs were first brought over by theEuropeans, or whether they have originally been in the country. Many people looked upon them as natives of this country, and as a proof of it said, that under the wings of bats the people had often found bugs, which had eaten very deep into the flesh. It was therefore believed that the bats had got them in some hollow tree, and had afterwards brought them into the houses, as they commonly fix themselves close to the walls, and creep into the little chinks which[12]they meet with. But as I have never seen any bugs upon bats, I cannot say any thing upon that subject. Perhaps a louse or a tick (Acarus) has been taken for a bug. Or, if a real bug has been found upon a bat’s wing, it is very easy to conceive that it fixed on the bat, whilst the latter was sitting in the chinks of a house stocked withEuropeanbugs.
As the people here could not bear the inconvenience of these vermin, any more than we can inSweden, they endeavoured to expel them by different means. I have already remarked in the preceding volume, that the beds to that purpose were made ofSassafraswood, but that they were only temporary remedies. Some persons assured me that they had found from their own experience, and by repeated trials, that no remedy was more effectual towards the expulsion of bugs, than the injecting of boiling water into all the cracks where they are settled, and washing all the wood of the beds with it; this being twice or thrice repeated, the bugs are wholly destroyed. But if there are bugs in neighbouring houses, they will fasten toone’sclothes, and thus be brought over into other houses.
I cannot say whether these remedies are[13]good or no, as I have not tried them; but by repeated trials I have been convinced that sulphur, if it be properly employed, entirely destroys bugs and their eggs in beds and walls, though they were ten times more numerous than the ants in an ant-hill3.
TheMill-beetles, orCock-roaches, are likewise a plague ofNorth America, and are settled in many of its provinces. The learned Dr.Coldenwas of opinion that these insects were properly natives of theWest Indies, and that those that were found inNorth Americawere brought over from those islands. To confirm his opinion, he said, that it was yet daily seen how the ships coming with goods from theWest IndiestoNorth Americabrought mill-beetles with them in great numbers. But from the observations which I have made in this country, I have reason to believe that these insects have been on the continent ofNorth Americasince time immemorial. Yet notwithstanding this I do not deny their being brought over from theWest Indies. They are in almost every house in the city ofNew York; and those are undoubtedly come over with ships. But how can that[14]be said of those mill-beetles, which are found in the midst of the woods and desarts?
TheEnglishlikewise call theMill-beetles,Cock-roaches, and theDutchgive them the name ofKackerlack. TheSwedesin this country call themBrodoetare, orBread-eaters, on account of the damage they do to the bread, which I am going to describe. Dr.Linnæuscalls themBlatta Orientalis. Many of theSwedescall them likewiseKackerlack. They are not only observed in the houses, but in the summer they appear often in the woods, and run about the trees, which are cut down. On bringing in all sorts of old rotten blocks of wood for fewel, inFebruary, I discovered several cock-roaches settled in them; they were at first quite torpid, or as it were dead; but after lying in the room for a while, they recovered, became very lively, and began to run about. I afterwards found very often, that when old rotten wood was brought home in winter, and cut in pieces for fewel, the cock-roaches were got into it in numbers, and lay in it in a torpid state. In the same winter, a fellow cut down a great dry tree, and was about to split it. I then observed in a crack, some fathoms above the ground,[15]several cock-roaches together with the common ants. They were, it seems, crept up a great way, in order to find a secure place of abode against winter. On travelling in the middle ofOctober1749, through the uninhabited country between theEnglishandFrenchcolonies, and making a fire at night near a thick half rotten tree, on the shore of lakeChamplain, numbers of cock-roaches came out of the wood, being wakened by the smoke and the fire, which had driven them out of their holes. TheFrenchmen, who were then in my company, did not know them, and could not give them any name. InCanadatheFrenchdid not remember seeing any in the houses. InPensylvania, I am told, they run in immense numbers about the sheaves of corn, during the harvest. At other times they live commonly in the houses in theEnglishsettlements, and lie in the crevices, especially in the cracks of those beams which support the ceiling, and are nearest to the chimney.
They do a deal of damage by eating the soft parts of the bread. If they have once made a hole into a loaf, they will in a little time eat all the soft part in it, so that on cutting the loaf, nothing but the crust is left. I am told they likewise eat other[16]victuals. Sometimes they bite people’s noses or feet, whilst they are asleep. An oldSwede, calledSven Laock, a grandson of the Rev. Mr.Laockenius, one of the firstSwedishclergymen that came toPensylvania, told me, that he had in his younger years been once very much frightened on account of a cock-roach, which crept into his ear whilst he was asleep. He waked suddenly, jumped out of bed, and felt that the insect, probably out of fear, was endeavouring with all its strength to get deeper. These attempts of the cock-roach were so painful to him, that he imagined his head was bursting, and he was almost senseless; however he hastened to the well, and bringing up a bucket full of water, threw some into his ear. As soon as the cock-roach found itself in danger of being drowned, it endeavoured to save itself, and pushed backwards out of the ear, with its hind feet, and thus happily delivered the poor man from his fears.
TheWood-liceare disagreeable insects, which in a manner are worse than the preceding; but as I have already described them in a peculiar memoir, which is printed among the memoirs of the Royal[17]Academy of Sciences for the year 1754, I refer my readers to that account.
Decemberthe 11th. This morning I made a little excursion toPenn’s Neck, and further over theDelawaretoWilmington. The country roundPenn’s Neckhas the same qualities as that about other places in this part ofNew Jersey. For the ground consists chiefly of sand, with a thin stratum of black soil. It is not very hilly, but chiefly flat, and in most places covered with open woods of such trees as have annual leaves, especially oak. Now and then you see a single farm, and a little corn field round it. Between them are here and there little marshes or swamps, and sometimes a brook with water, which has a very slow motion.
The woods of these parts consist of all sorts of trees, but chiefly of oak and hiccory. These woods have certainly never been cut down, and have always grown without hindrance. It might therefore be expected that there are trees of an uncommon great age to be found in them; but it happens otherwise, and there are very few trees three hundred years old. Most of them are only two hundred years old; and this convinced me that trees have the same quality as animals, and die after[18]they are arrived at a certain age. Thus we find great woods here, but when the trees in them have stood an hundred and fifty or an hundred and eighty years, they are either rotting within, or losing their crown, or their wood becomes quite soft, or their roots are no longer able to draw in sufficient nourishment, or they die from some other cause. Therefore when storms blow, which sometimes happens here, the trees are broke off either just above the root, or in the middle, or at the summit. Several trees are likewise torn out with their roots by the power of the winds. The storms thus cause great devastations in these forests. Every where you see trees thrown down by the winds, after they are too much weakened by one or the other of the above mentioned causes to be able to resist their fury. Fire likewise breaks out often in the woods, and burns the trees half way from the root, so that a violent gust of wind easily throws them down.
On travelling through these woods, I purposely tried to find out, by the position of the trees which were fallen down, which winds are the strongest hereabouts. But I could not conclude any thing with certainty, for the trees fell on all sides, and lay towards all the points of the compass.[19]I therefore judged, that any wind which blows from that side where the roots of the tree are weakest and shortest, and where it can make the least resistance, must root it up and throw it down. In this manner the old trees die away continually, and are succeeded by a young generation. Those which are thrown downlayon the ground and putrify, sooner or later, and by that means encrease the black soil, into which the leaves are likewise finally changed, which drop abundantly in autumn, are blown about by the winds for some time, but are heaped up, and lie on both sides of the trees, which are fallen down. It requires several years before a tree is intirely reduced to dust. When the winds tear up a tree with the roots, a quantity of loose soil commonly comes out with and sticks to them for some time, but at last it drops off, and forms a little hillock, which is afterwards augmented by the leaves, which commonly gather about the roots. Thus several inequalities are formed in the woods, such as little holes land hills; and by this means the upper soil must likewise be heaped up in such places.
Some trees are more inclined to putrify than others. Thetupelo-tree(Nyssa), the[20]tulip-tree(Liriodendron), and the sweetgum-tree(Liquidambar), became rotten in a short time. Thehiccorydid not take much time, and theblack oakfell sooner to pieces than thewhite oak; but this was owing to circumstances. If the bark remained on the wood, it was for the greatest part rotten, and entirely eaten by worms within, in the space of six, eight, or ten years, so that nothing was to be found but a reddish brown dust. But if the bark was taken off, they would often lie twenty years before they were entirely rotten. The suddenness of a tree’s growth, the bigness of its pores, and the frequent changes of heat and wet in summer, cause it to rot sooner. To this it must be added, that all sorts of insects make holes into the stems of the fallen trees, and by that means the moisture and the air get into the tree, which must of course forward putrefaction. Most of the trees here have deciduous or annual leaves. Many of them begin to rot whilst they are yet standing and blooming. This forms the hollow trees, in which many animals make their nests and places of refuge.
The breadth of theDelawaredirectly oppositeWilmingtonis reckoned anEnglishmile and a half; yet to look at it, it did[21]not seem to be so great. The depth of the river, in the middle, is said to be from four to six fathoms here.
Decemberthe 12th. TheJoinerssay, that among the trees of this country they chiefly use theblack walnut-trees, thewild cherry-trees, and thecurled maple. Of theblack walnut-trees(Juglans nigra) there is yet a sufficient quantity. However careless people take pains enough to destroy them, and some peasants even use them as fewel. The wood of thewild cherry-trees(Prunus Virginiana) is very good, and looks exceedingly well; it has a yellow colour, and the older the furniture is, which is made of it, the better it looks. But it is already difficult to get at it, for they cut it every where, and plant it no where. Thecurled maple(Acer rubrum) is a species of the common red maple, but likewise very difficult to be got. You may cut down many trees without finding the wood which you want. The wood of thesweet gum-tree(Liquidambar) is merely employed in joiner’s work, such as tables, and other furniture. But it must not be brought near the fire, because it warps. The firs and thewhite cedars(Cupressus thyoides) are likewise made use of by the joiners for different sorts of work.[22]
The millers who attended the mill which stood here, said, that the axle-trees of the wheels of the mill were made ofwhite oak, and that they continued good three or four years, but that the fir-wood does not keep so well. The cogs of the mill-wheel, and the pullies, are made of the wood of the white walnut-tree, because it is the hardest which can be got here. The wood ofmulberry-treesis of all others reckoned the most excellent for pegs and plugs in ships and boats.
At night I went over the riverDelaware, fromWillmington, to the ferrying-place, on theNew Jerseyside.
Decemberthe 13th. In the morning I returned toRaccoon.
On many trees in the woods of this country, either on one of the sides, or in the middle of a branch, or round a branch, are greater or lesserknobsor excrescences. Sometimes there is only a single one in a tree. In the size there is a considerable difference, for some of these knobs are as big and bigger than a man’s head, others are only small. They project above the surface of the tree, like a tumor. Sometimes a tree was quite covered with them. They do not ly on one side only, but often form a circle round a branch, and even[23]round the stem itself. The trees which have these knobs are not always great ones, but some not above a fathom high. The knobs commonly consist of the same parts as the wood itself, and look within like curled wood. Some of them are hollow. When a knob on a little tree is cut open, we commonly find a number of little worms in it, which are sometimes also common in the greater knobs. This shews the origin of the knobs in general. The tree is stung by insects, which lay their eggs under the bark, and from the eggs worms are afterwards hatched. They occasion an extravasation of the sap, which gradually condenses into a knob. Only the trees with annual deciduous leaves have these knobs, and among them chiefly the oak, of which again the black andSpanishoak have the greatest abundance of knobs. Theash trees, (Fraxinus excelsior) and thered maple(Acer rubrum) likewise have enough of them. Formerly theSwedes, and more especially theFinlanders, who are settled here, made dishes, bowls, &c. of the knobs which were on the ash-trees. These vessels, I am told, were very pretty, and looked as if they were made of curled wood. The oak-knobs cannot be employed in this manner, as they are commonly[24]worm-eaten and rotten within. At present theSwedesno longer make use of such bowls and dishes, but make use of earthen ware, or vessels made of other wood. Some knobs are of an uncommon size, and make a tree have a monstrous appearance. Trees with knobs are very common in the woods of this country4.
The roads are good or bad according to the difference of the ground. In a sandy soil the roads are dry and good; but in a clayey one they are bad. The people here are likewise very careless in mending them. If a rivulet be not very great, they do not make a bridge over it; and travellers may do as well as they can to get over: Therefore many people are in danger of being drowned in such places, where the water[25]is risen by a heavy rain. When a tree falls across the road, it is seldom cut off, to keep the road clear, but the people go round it. This they can easily do, since the ground is very even, and without stones; has no underwood or shrubs, and the trees on it stand much asunder. Hence the roads here have so many bendings.
The farms are most of them single, and you seldom meet with even two together, except in towns, or places which are intended for towns; therefore there are but few villages. Each farm has its corn-fields, its woods, its pastures and meadows. This may perhaps have contributed something towards the extirpation of wolves, that they every where met with houses, and people who fired at them. Two or three farm-houses have generally a pasture or a wood in common, and there are seldom more together; but most of them have their own grounds divided from the others.
Decemberthe 18th. All persons who intend to be married, must either have their banns published three times from the pulpit, or get a licence from the governor. The banns of the poorer sort of people only are published, and all those who are a little above them get a licence from the governor. In that licence he declares that he has examined the affair, and found no obstacles[26]to hinder the marriage, and therefore he allows it. The licence is signed by the governor; but, before he delivers it, the bridegroom must come to him in company with two creditable and well known men, who answer for him, that there really is no lawful obstacle to his marriage. These men must subscribe a certificate, in which they make themselves answerable for, and engage to bear all the damages of, any complaints made by the relations of the persons who intend to be married, by their guardians, their masters, or by those to whom they may have been promised before. For all these circumstances the governor cannot possibly know. They further certify that nothing hinders the intended marriage, and that nothing is to be feared on that account. For a licence they pay five and twenty shillings inPensylvanianmoney, atPhiladelphia. The governor keeps twenty shillings, or one pound, and the remaining five shillings belong to his secretary. The licence is directed only to protestant clergymen. The quakers have a peculiar licence to their marriages. But as it would be very troublesome, especially for those who live far from the governor’s residence to come up to town for every licence, and to bring the men with them[27]who are to answer for them, the clergymen in the country commonly take a sufficient number of licences and certificates, which are ready printed, with blanks left for the names; they give them occasionally, and get the common money, one pound, five shillings, for each of them, besides something for their trouble. The money that they have collected, they deliver to the governor as soon as they come to town, together with the certificates, which are signed by two men, as above-mentioned; they then take again as many licences as they think sufficient: from hence we may conceive that the governors in theEnglish North Americancolonies, besides their salaries, have very considerable revenues5.
There is a great mixture of people of all sorts in these colonies, partly of such as are lately come over fromEurope, and partly of such as have not yet any settled place of abode. Hence it frequently happens that when a clergyman has married such a[28]couple, the bridegroom says he has no money at present, but would pay the fee at the first opportunity: however he goes off with his wife, and the clergyman never gets his due. This proceeding has given occasion to a custom which is now common inMaryland. When the clergyman marries a very poor couple, he breaks off in the middle of the Liturgy, and cries outWhere is my fee?The man must then give the money, and the clergyman proceeds; but if the bridegroom has no money, the clergyman defers the marriage till another time, when the man is better provided. People of fortune, of whom the clergyman is sure to get his due, need not fear this disagreeable question, when they are married.
However, though the parson has got licences to marry a couple, yet if he be not very careful, he may get into very disagreeable circumstances; for in many parts of the country there is a law made, which, notwithstanding the governor’s licence, greatly limits a clergyman in some cases. He is not allowed to marry a couple who are not yet of age, unless he be certain of the consent of their parents. He cannot marry such strangers as have bound themselves to serve a certain number of years, in order[29]to pay off their passage fromEurope, without the consent of their masters; if he acts without their consent, or in opposition to it, he must pay a penalty of fifty pounds,Pensylvaniacurrency, though he has the licence, and the certificate of the two men who are to answer for any objection. But parents or masters give themselves no concern about these men, but take hold of the clergyman, who is at liberty to prosecute those who gave him the certificate, and to get his damages repaid. With the consent of the parents and masters he may marry people without danger to himself. No clergyman is allowed to marry a negro with one ofEuropeanextraction, or he must pay a penalty of one hundred pounds, according to the laws ofPensylvania.
There is a very peculiar diverting custom here, in regard to marrying. When a man dies, and leaves his widow in great poverty, or so that she cannot pay all the debts with what little she has left, and that, notwithstanding all that, there is a person who will marry her, she must be married in no other habit than her shift. By that means, she leaves to the creditors of her deceased husband her cloaths, and every thing which they find in the house. But she is not[30]obliged to pay them any thing more, because she has left them all she was worth, even her cloaths, keeping only a shift to cover her, which the laws of the country cannot refuse her. As soon as she is married, and no longer belongs to the deceased husband, she puts on the cloaths which the second has given her. TheSwedishclergymen here have often been obliged to marry a woman in a dress which is so little expensive,and so light. This appears from the registers kept in the churches, and from the accounts given by the clergymen themselves. I have likewise often seen accounts of such marriages in theEnglishgazettes; which are printed in these colonies; and I particularly remember the following relation: A woman went, with no other dress than her shift, out of the house of her deceased husband to that of her bridegroom, who met her half way with fine new cloaths, and said, before all who were present, that he lent them his bride; and put them on her with his own hands. It seems, he said that he lent the cloaths, lest, if he had said he gave them, the creditors of the first husband should come, and take them from her; pretending, that she was looked upon as the relict of her first husband, before she was married to the second.[31]
Decemberthe 21st. It seems very probable, from the following observations, that long before the arrival of theSwedes, there have beenEuropeansin this province; and, in the sequel, we shall give more confirmations of this opinion. The same oldMaons Keen, whom I have already mentioned before, told me repeatedly, that on the arrival of theSwedesin the last century, and on their making a settlement, calledHelsingburg, on the banks of theDelaware, somewhat below the place whereSalemis now situated; they found, at the depth of twenty feet, some wells, inclosed with walls. This could not be aworkof the nativeAmericans, orIndians, as bricks were entirely unknown to them when theEuropeansfirst settled here, at the end of the fifteenth century; and they still less knew how to make use of them. The wells were, at that time, on the land; but in such a place, on the banks of theDelaware, as is sometimes under water, and sometimes dry. But since, the ground has been so washed away, that the wells are entirely covered by the river, and the water is seldom low enough to shew the wells. As theSwedesafterwards made new wells for themselves, at some distance from the former, they discovered, in the ground, some broken earthen vessels, and some entire[32]good bricks; and they have often got them out of the ground by ploughing.
From these marks, it seems, we may conclude, that in times of yore, eitherEuropeansor other people of the then civilized parts of the world, have been carried hither by storms, or other accidents, settled here, on the banks of the river, burnt bricks, and made a colony here; but that they afterwards mixed with theIndians, or were killed by them. They may gradually, by conversing with theIndians, have learnt their manners, and turn of thinking. TheSwedesthemselves are accused, that they were already halfIndians, when theEnglisharrived in the year 1682. And we still see, that theFrench,English,Germans,Dutch, and otherEuropeans, who have lived for several years together in distant provinces, near and among theIndians, grow so like them, in their behaviour and thoughts, that they can only be distinguished by the difference of their colour. But history, together with the tradition among theIndians, assures us, that the above-mentioned wells and bricks cannot have been made at the time ofColumbus’s expedition, nor soon after; as the traditions of theIndianssay, that those wells were made long before that epocha. This account of the wells, which had been[33]inclosed with bricks, and of such bricks as have been found in several places in the ground, I have afterwards heard repeated by many other oldSwedes.
Decemberthe 22nd. An old farmer foretold a change of the weather, because the air was very warm this day at noon, though the morning had been very cold. This he likewise concluded, from having observed the clouds gathering about the sun. The meteorological observations annexed to the end of this volume will prove that his observation was just.
Decemberthe 31st. The remedies against the tooth-ach are almost as numerous as days in a year. There is hardly an old woman but can tell you three or four score of them, of which she is perfectly certain that they are as infallible and speedy in giving relief, as a month’s fasting, by bread and water, is to a burthensome paunch. Yet it happens often, nay too frequently, that this painful disease eludes all this formidable army of remedies. However, I cannot forbear observing the following remedies, which have sometimes, in this country, been found effectual against the tooth-ach.
When the pains come from the hollowness of the teeth, the following remedy is[34]said to have had a good effect: A little cotton is put at the bottom of a tobacco-pipe; the tobacco is put in upon it, and lighted; and you smoke till it is almost burnt up. By smoking, the oil of the tobacco gets into the cotton, which is then taken out, and applied to the tooth as hot as it can be suffered.
The chief remedy of theIroquois, orIroquese, against the tooth-ach occasioned by hollow teeth, I heard of CaptainLindsey’s lady, atOswego; and she assured me, that she knew, from her own experience, that the remedy was effectual. They take the seed capsules of theVirginian Anemone, as soon as the seed is ripe, and rub them in pieces. It will then be rough, and look like cotton. This cotton-like substance is dipped into strong brandy, and then put into the hollow tooth, which commonly ceases to ache soon after. The brandy is biting or sharp, and the seeds of the anemone, as most seeds of thePolyandria Polygyniaclass of plants (or such as have manyStamina, or male flowers, and manyPistilla, or female flowers) have likewise an acrimony. They therefore, both together, help to assuage the pain; and this remedy is much of the same kind with the former. Besides that, we have many seeds[35]which have the same qualities with theAmericananemone.
The following remedy was much in vogue against the tooth-ach which is attended with a swelling: They boil gruel, of flour of maize, and milk; to this they add, whilst it is yet over the fire, some of the fat of hogs, or other suet, and stir it well, that every thing may mix equally. A handkerchief is then spread over the gruel, and applied as hot as possible to the swelled cheek, where it is kept till it is gone cool again. I have found, that this remedy has been very efficacious against a swelling as it lessens the pain, abates the swelling, opens a gathering, if there be any, and procures a good discharge of thePus.
I have seen theIroqueseboil the inner bark of theSambucus Canadensis, orCanada Elder, and put it on that part of the cheek in which the pain was most violent. This, I am told, often diminishes the pain.
Among theIroquese, orFive Nations, upon the riverMohawk, I saw a youngIndianwoman, who, by frequent drinking of tea, had got a violent tooth-ach. To cure it, she boiled theMyrica asplenii folia, and tied it, as hot as she could bear it, on the whole cheek. She said, that[36]remedy had often cured the tooth-ach before.
Januarythe 2nd, 1749. Before theEuropeansunder the direction ofColumbus, came to theWest Indies, thesavagesorIndians(who lived there since times immemorial) were entirely unacquainted with iron, which appears very strange to us, asNorth America, almost in every part of it, contains a number of iron mines. They were therefore obliged to supply this want with sharp stones, shells, claws of birds and wild beasts, pieces of bones, and other things of that kind, whenever they intended to make hatchets, knives, and such like instruments. From hence it appears, that they must have led a very wretched life. The oldSwedeswho lived here, and had had an intercourse with theIndianswhen they were young, and at a time when they were yet very numerous in these parts, could tell a great many things concerning their manner of living. At this time the people find accidentally, by ploughing and digging in the ground, several of the instruments which theIndiansemployed, before theSwedesand otherEuropeanshad provided them with iron tools. For it is observable that theIndiansat present make use of no other tools, than such as are made of iron and other metals,[37]and which they always get from theEuropeans: Of this I shall be more particular, in its proper place. But having had an opportunity of seeing, and partly collecting a great many of the ancientIndiantools, I shall here describe them.
Theirhatchetswere made of stone. Their shape is similar to that of the wedges with which we cleave our wood, about half a foot long, and broad in proportion; they are made like a wedge, sharp at one end, but rather blunter than our wedges. As this hatchet must be fixed on a handle, there was a notch made all round the thick-end. To fasten it, they split a stick at one end, and put the stone between it, so that the two halves of the stick come into the notches of the stone; then they tied the two split ends together with a rope or something like it, almost in the same way as smiths fasten the instrument with which they cut off iron, to a split stick. Some of these stone-hatchets were not notched or furrowed at the upper end, and it seems they only held those in their hands in order to hew or strike with them, and did not make handles to them. Most of the hatchets which I have seen, consisted of a hard rock-stone: but some were made of a fine, hard, black, apyrous stone. When theIndiansintended to fell[38]a thick strong tree, they could not make use of their hatchets, but for want of proper instruments employed fire. They set fire to a great quantity of wood at the roots of the tree, and made it fall by that means. But that the fire might not reach higher than they would have it, they fastened some rags to a pole, dipped them into water, and kept continually washing the tree, a little above the fire. Whenever they intended to hollow out a thick tree for a canoe, they laid dry branches all along the stem of the tree, as far as it must be hollowed out. They then put fire to those dry branches, and as soon as they were burnt, they were replaced by others. Whilst these branches were burning, theIndianswere very busy with wet rags, and pouring water upon the tree, to prevent the fire from spreading too far on the sides and at the ends. The tree being burnt hollow as far as they found it sufficient, or as far as it could without damaging the canoe, they took the above described stone-hatchets, or sharp flints, and quartzes, or sharp shells, and scraped off the burnt part of the wood, and smoothened the boats within. By this means they likewise gave it what shape they pleased. Instead of cutting with a hatchet such a piece of wood as was necessary for making[39]a canoe, they likewise employed fire. A canoe was commonly between thirty and forty feet long. The chief use of their hatchets was, according to the unanimous accounts of all theSwedes, to make good fields for maize-plantations; for if the ground where they intended to make a maize-field was covered with trees, they cut off the bark all round the trees with their hatchets, especially at the time when they lose their sap. By that means the tree became dry, and could not take any more nourishment, and the leaves could no longer obstruct the rays of the sun from passing. The smaller trees were then pulled out by main force, and the ground was a little turned up with crooked or sharp branches.
Instead ofknivesthey were satisfied with little sharp pieces of flint or quartz, or else some other hard kind of a stone, or with a sharp shell, or with a piece of a bone which they had sharpened.
At the end of theirarrowsthey fastened narrow angulated pieces of stone; they made use of them, having no iron to make them sharp again, or a wood of sufficient hardness: these points were commonly flints or quartzes, but sometimes likewise another kind of a stone. Some employed the bones of animals, or the[40]claws of birds and beasts. Some of these ancient harpoons are very blunt, and it seems that theIndiansmight kill birds and small quadrupeds with them; but whether they could enter deep into the body of a great beast or of a man, by the velocity which they get from the bow, I cannot ascertain; yet some have been found very sharp and well made.
They hadstone pestles, about a foot long, and as thick as a man’s arm. They consist chiefly of a black sort of a stone, and were formerly employed, by theIndians, for pounding maize, which has, since times immemorial, been their chief and almost their only corn. They had neither wind-mills, water-mills, nor hand-mills, to grind it, and did not so much as know a mill, before theEuropeanscame into the country. I have spoken with oldFrenchmen, inCanada, who told me, that theIndianshad been astonished beyond expression, when theFrenchset up the first wind-mill. They came in numbers, even from the most distant parts, to view this wonder, and were not tired with sitting near it for several days together, in order to observe it; they were long of opinion that it was not driven by the wind, but by the spirits who lived within it. They were partly[41]under the same astonishment when the first water-mill was built. They formerly pounded all their corn or maize in hollow trees, with the above-mentioned pestles, made of stone. ManyIndianshad only wooden pestles. The blackish stone, of which the hatchets and pestles are sometimes made, is very good for a grindstone, and therefore both theEnglishand theSwedesemploy the hatchets and pestles chiefly as grindstones, at present, when they can get them.
The old boilers or kettles of theIndians, were either made of clay, or of different kinds of pot-stone, (Lapis ollaris). The former consisted of a dark clay, mixt with grains of white sand or quartz, and burnt in the fire. Many of these kettles have two holes in the upper margin, on each side one, through which theIndiansput a stick, and held the kettle over the fire, as long as it was to boil. Most of the kettles have no feet. It is remarkable that no pots of this kind have been found glazed, either on the outside or the inside. A few of the oldestSwedescould yet remember seeing theIndiansboil their meat in these pots. They are very thin, and of different sizes; they are made sometimes of a greenish, and sometimes of a[42]grey pot-stone, and some are made of another species of apyrous stone; the bottom and the margin are frequently above an inch thick. TheIndians, notwithstanding their being unacquainted with iron, steel, and other metals, have learnt to hollow out very ingeniously these pots or kettles of pot-stone.
The oldtobacco-pipesof theIndiansare likewise made of clay, or pot-stone, or serpentine-stone. The first sort are shaped like our tobacco-pipes, though much coarser and not so well made. The tube is thick and short, hardly an inch long, but sometimes as long as a finger; their colour comes nearest to that of our tobacco-pipes which have been long used. Their tobacco-pipes of pot-stone are made of the same stone as their kettles. Some of them are pretty well made, though they had neither iron nor steel. But besides these kinds of tobacco-pipes, we find another sort of pipes, which are made with great ingenuity, of a very fine, red pot-stone, or a kind of serpentine marble. They are very scarce, and seldom made use of by any other than theIndian Sachems, or elders. The fine red stone, of which these pipes are made, is likewise very scarce, and is found only in the country of those[43]Indianswho are calledIngouez, and who, according to fatherCharlevoix, live on the other side of the riverMissisippi6. TheIndiansthemselves commonly value a pipe of this kind as much as a piece of silver of the same size, and sometimes they make it still dearer. Of the same kind of stone commonly consists theirpipe of peace, which theFrenchcallcalumet de paix, and which they make use of in their treaties of peace, and alliances. Most authors who have wrote of these nations mention this instrument, and I intend to speak of it when an opportunity offers.
TheIndiansemploy hooks made of bone, or bird’s claws, instead offishing-hooks. Some of the oldestSwedeshere told me, that when they were young, a great number ofIndianshad been in this part of the country, which was then calledNew Sweden, and had caught fishes in the riverDelaware, with these hooks.
They made fire by rubbing one end of a hard piece of wood continually against another dry one, till the wood began to smoke, and afterwards to burn.
Such were the tools of the antientIndians, and the use which they made of[44]them, before theEuropeansinvaded this country, and before they (theIndians) were acquainted with the advantages of iron.North Americaabounds in iron-mines, and theIndianslived all about the country before the arrival of theEuropeans, so that several places can be shewn in this country, where at present there are iron-mines, and where, not a hundred years ago, stood great towns or villages of theIndians. It is therefore very remarkable that theIndiansdid not know how to make use of a metal or ore which was always under their eyes, and on which they could not avoid treading every day. They even lived upon the very spots where iron ores were afterwards found, and yet they often went many miles in order to get a wretched hatchet, knife, or the like, as above described. They were forced to employ several days in order to sharpen their tools, by rubbing them against a rock, or other stones, though the advantage was far from being equal to the labour. For they could never cut down a thick tree with their hatchets, and with difficulty they felled a small one. They could not hollow out a tree with their hatchets, or do a hundredth part of the work which we can perform with ease, by the help of our iron[45]hatchets. Thus we see how disadvantageous the ignorance and inconsiderate contempt of useful arts is. Happy is the country which knows their full value!
Januarythe 5th. Christmas-day was celebrated this day by theSwedesandEnglish, for they kept then to theold stile.
Januarythe 6th. There are a great number of hares in this country, but they differ from ourSwedishones in their size, which is very small, and but little bigger than that of a rabbit; they keep almost the same grey colour both in summer and winter, which ourNorthernhares have in summer only; the tip of their ears is always grey, and not black; the tail is likewise grey on the upper side, at all seasons; they breed several times a year: in spring they lodge their young ones in hollow trees, and in summer, in the months ofJuneandJuly, they breed in the grass. When they are surprised they commonly take refuge in hollow trees, out of which they are taken by means of a crooked stick, or by cutting a hole into the tree, opposite to the place where they lie; or by smoke, which is occasioned by making a fire on the outside of the tree. On all these occasions the greyhounds must be at hand. These hares never bite, and can be touched without any danger. In day-time they[46]usually lie in hollow trees, and hardly ever stir from thence, unless they be disturbed by men or dogs; but in the night they come out, and seek their food. In bad weather, or when it snows, they lie close for a day or two, and do not venture to leave their retreats. They do a great deal of mischief in the cabbage-fields; but apple-trees suffer infinitely more from them, for they peel off all the bark next to the ground. The people here agreed that the hares are fatter in a cold and severe winter, than in a mild and wet one, of which they could give me several reasons, from their own conjectures. The skin is useless, because it is so loose, that it can be drawn off; for when you would separate it from the flesh, you need only pull at the fur, and the skin follows: these hares cannot be tamed. They were at all times, even in the midst of winter, plagued with a number of common fleas7.
Januarythe 16th. The common mice were in great abundance in the towns and in the country; they do as much mischief as in the old countries.Oldmixonin his[47]book, theBritish Empire in America, vol. i. p. 444, writes, thatNorth Americahad neither rats nor mice beforeEuropeanships brought them over. How far this is true I know not. It is undoubted, that in several desart places, where no man ever lived, I have seen and killed the common mice, in crevices of stones or mountains; and is it probable that all such mice as are spread in this manner, throughout the inland parts of the country, derive their origin from those which were brought over fromEurope?
Rats likewise may be ranked among those animals which do great damage in this country. They live both in the cities and in the country, and destroy the provisions. Their size is the same with that of our rats, but their colour differs; for they are grey, or blue-grey. I enquired of theSwedes, Whether these rats had been here prior to the arrival of theEuropeans, or whether they came over in the ships? But I could not get an answer which I might depend upon. All agreed, that a number of these dangerous and mischievous animals were every year brought toAmerica, by ships fromEuropeand other countries. But Mr.Bartrammaintained, that before theEuropeanssettled here, rats had been in the country; for he saw a great number of them on the high mountains,[48]which are commonly called theBlue Mountains, where they lived among stones, and in the subterraneous grottoes which are in those mountains. They always lie very close in the day-time, and you hardly ever see one out; but at night they come out, and make a terrible noise. When the cold was very violent, they seemed quite torpid; for during the continuance of the cold weather, one could not hear the least noise, or shrieking, occasioned by them. It is to be observed, that neither theSwedesnor theEnglishhave any dark windows in their houses here. There is hardly a dormer-window in the garret; but only loose boards. The walls in the wooden houses are frequently not closed, even with moss; so that the rooms, though they have fires in them, are no warmer than the outside apartment, or hall. The rooms where the servants sleep have never any fire in them, though the winter is pretty severe sometimes. The rats have, therefore, little or no warmth in winter; but as soon as a milder season makes its appearance, they come out again. We observed several times this winter, that the rats were very active, and made an unusual noise all night, just before a severe cold. It seems, they had some sensation of cold weather being at hand; and that they therefore eat sufficiently, or stored[49]up provisions. In mild weather, they were used to carry away apples, and other provisions: therefore, we could always conclude, with certainty, when the rats made an uncommon noise at night, or were extremely greedy, that a severe cold would ensue. I have already observed in the preceding volume, p. 312, that the grey squirrels in this country have the same quality. When these, and the common mice, eat maize, they do not consume the whole grains, but only the loose, sweet and soft kernel, and leave the rest.
Januarythe 21st. The cold now equalled that ofSweden, though this country is so much more southerly. TheCelsianorSwedishthermometer was twenty-two degrees below the freezing point, in the morning. As the rooms are without any shutters here, the cracks in the walls not closed with moss, and sometimes no fire-place or chimney in the room, the winters here must be very disagreeable to one who is used to ourSwedishwarm winter-rooms. But the greatest comfort here is, that the cold is of a very short duration. Some days of this month, the room which I lodged in was such, that I could not write two lines before the ink would freeze in my pen. When I did not write, I could not leave the ink-stand on the[50]table; but was forced to put it upon the hearth, or into my pocket. Yet, notwithstanding it was so cold, as appears from the meteorological observations at the end of this volume, and though it snowed sometimes for several days and nights together, and the snow lay near six inches high upon the ground, yet all the cattle are obliged to stay, day and night, in the fields, during the whole winter. For neither theEnglishnor theSwedeshad any stables; but theGermansandDutchhad preserved the custom of their country, and generally kept their cattle in stables during winter. Almost all the oldSwedessay, that on their first arrival in this country, they made stables for their cattle, as is usual inSweden; but as theEnglishcame, and settled among them, and left their cattle in the fields all winter, as is customary inEngland, they left off their former custom, and adopted theEnglishone. They owned, however, that the cattle suffered greatly in winter, when it was very cold, especially when it froze after a rain, and that some cattle were killed by it in several places, in the long winter of the year 1741. About noon, the cattle went out into the woods, where there were yet some leaves on the young oak; but they did not eat the leaves, and only bit off the extremities of the[51]branches, and the tops of the youngest oaks. The horses went into the maize fields, and ate the dry leaves on the few stalks which remained. The sheep ran about the woods, and on the corn fields. The chickens perched on the trees of the gardens, at night; for they had no particular habitations. The hogs were likewise exposed to the roughness of the weather, within a small inclosure.
A small kind of birds, which theSwedescallSnow-bird, and theEnglish Chuck-bird, came into the houses about this time. At other times, they sought their food along the roads. They are seldom seen, but when it snows.Catesby, in his Natural History ofCarolina, calls itPasser nivalis; and Dr.Linnæus, in hisSystema Naturæ, calls itEmberiza hyemalis.
The riverDelawarewas now covered with ice oppositePhiladelphia, and even somewhat lower, and the people could walk over it; but nobody ventured to ride over on horseback.
Januarythe 22d. There are partridges in this country; but they are not of the same kind with ours. TheSwedescalled them sometimesrapphons(partridges), and sometimesaekkerhoens(quails). Some of theEnglishlikewise called them partridges,[52]others quails. Their shape is almost the same with that of theEuropeanpartridges, and their nature and qualities the same: I mean, they run and hide themselves, when pursued. But they are smaller, and entirely different in colour. In this work I cannot insert, at large, the descriptions which I have made of birds, insects, quadrupeds, and plants; because it would swell my volume too much. I only observe, that the feet are naked, and not hairy; the back is spotted with brown, black, and white; the breast is dark yellow; and the belly whitish, with black edges on the tips of the feathers. The size is nearly that of a hazel-hen, ortetrao bonasia. Above each eye is a narrow stroke of whitish yellow. These birds are numerous inNew Sweden, i. e. this part of the country. On going but a little way, you meet with great coveys of them. However, they keep at a great distance from towns; being either extirpated, or frightened there by the frequent shooting. They are always in lesser or greater coveys, do not fly very much, but run in the fields, and keep under the bushes and near the inclosures, where they seek their food. They are reckoned very delicious food; and the people here prepare them in different ways. For that purpose they are caught, and shot[53]in great numbers. They are caught by putting up a sieve, or a square open box, made of boards, in the places they frequent. The people strew some oats under the sieve, and lift it up on one side by a little stick; and as soon as the partridges are got under the sieve, in order to pick up the oats, it falls, and they are caught alive. Sometimes they get several partridges at once. When they run in the bushes, you can come very near them, without starting them. When they sleep at night, they come together in an heap. They scratch in the bushes and upon the field, like common chickens. In spring they make their nests, either under a bush or in the maize fields, or on the hills in the open air: they scratch some hay together, into which they lay about thirteen white eggs. They eat several sorts of corn, and seeds of grass. They have likewise been seen eating the berries ofsumach, orrhus glabra. Some people have taken them young, and kept them in a cage till they were tame: then they let them go; and they followed the chickens, and never left the court-yards.
The inclosures made use of inPensylvaniaandNew Jersey, but especially inNew York, are those, which on account of their serpentine form resembling worms, are called[54]worm-fencesinEnglish. The poles which compose this fence are taken from different trees; but they are not all of equal duration: the redcedaris reckoned the most durable of any, for it holds out above thirty years; but it is very scarce, and grows only in a single place hereabouts, so that no fences can be made of it. It is true, the fences aboutPhiladelphia(which however are different from theworm-fences) are all made of redcedar; but it has been brought by water fromEgg-harbour, where it grows in abundance. The supports on which the poles lie are made of the whitecedar, orCupressus thyoides, and the poles which are laid between them of the redcedarorJuniperus Virginiana. Next to thecedar-wood,oakandchesnutare reckoned best.Chesnutis commonly preferred, but it is not every where so plentiful as to be made into fences; in its stead they make use of several sorts ofoak. In order to make inclosures, the people do not cut down the young trees, as is common with us, but they fell here and there thick trees, cut them in several places, leaving the pieces as long as it is necessary, and split them into poles of the usual thickness; a single tree affords a multitude of poles. Several old men in this country told me, that theSwedeson their arrival here,[55]made such inclosures as are usual inSweden, but they were forced to leave off in a few years time, because they could not get posts enough; for they had found by experience that a post being put into the ground would not last above four or six years before the part under ground was entirely rotten; but the chief thing was, that they could not get any switches for to tie them together; they made some ofhiccory, which is one of the toughest trees in this country, and of the whiteoak; but in the space of a year or two the switches were rotten, and the fence fell in pieces of itself, therefore they were forced to give over making such inclosures. Several of the new comers again attempted, but with the same bad success, to make fences with posts and switches. TheSwedishway of inclosing therefore will not succeed here. Thus theworm-fencesare one of the most useful sorts of inclosures, especially as they cannot get any post, made of the woods of this country, to stay above six or eight years in the ground without rotting. The poles in this country are very heavy, and the posts cannot bear them well, especially when it blows a storm; but theworm-fencesare easily put up again, when they are thrown down. Experience has[56]shewn that an inclosure made ofchesnutor whiteoakseldom holds out above ten or twelve years, before the poles and posts are thoroughly rotten: when the poles are made of other wood, the fences hardly stand six or eight years. Considering how much more wood theworm-fencesrequire, (since they run in bendings) than other inclosures which go in strait lines, and that they are so soon useless, one may imagine how the forests will be consumed, and what sort of an appearance the country will have forty or fifty years hence, in case no alteration is made; especially as wood is really squandered away in immense quantities, day and night all the winter, or nearly one half of the year, for fewel.
Februarythe 8th. TheMusk-rats, so called by theEnglishin this country, on account of their scent, are pretty common inNorth America; they always live near the water, especially on the banks of lakes, rivers, and brooks. On travelling to places where they are, you see the holes which they have dug in the ground just at the water’s edge, or a little above its surface. In these holes they have their nests, and there they continue whenever they are not in the water in pursuit of food. TheSwedescall[57]themDésmans Rattor8, and theFrench,Rats musqués.Linnæuscalls this animalCastor Zibethicus. Their food is chiefly the muscles which ly at the bottom of lakes and rivers; you see a number of such shells near the entrance of their holes. I am told they likewise eat several kinds of roots and plants. They differ from theEuropean Musk-rat, orLinnæus’sCastor Moschatus. The teeth are the same in both; the tail of theAmericanis compressed on the sides so, that one sharp edge goes upwards and the other downwards: the hind feet are not palmated, or joined by a moveable skin, but are peculiar for having on both sides of the feet, long, white, close, pectinated, off-standing hair, besides the short hair with which the feet are quite covered. Such hairs are on both sides of the toes, and do the same service in swimming as a web. Their size is that of a little cat, or to be more accurate, the length of the body is about ten inches, and the tail of the same length: the colour of the head, neck, back, sides, and of the outside of the thighs, is blackish brown; the hairs are soft and shining;[58]under the neck, on the breasts, and on the inside of the thighs, they are grey. They make their nests in the dykes that are erected along the banks of rivers to keep off the water from the adjoining meadows; but they often do a great deal of damage, by spoiling the dykes with digging, and opening passages for the water to come into the meadows; whereasBeaversstop up all the holes in a dyke or bank. They make their nests of twigs and such like things externally, and carry soft stuff into them for their young ones to ly upon. TheSwedesasserted that they could never observe a diminution in their number, but believed that they were as numerous at present as formerly. As they damage the banks so considerably, the people are endeavouring to extirpate them, when they can find out their nests; the skin is paid for, and this is an encouragement towards catching the animal. A skin of aMusk-ratformerly cost but three-pence, but at present they gave from six-pence to nine-pence. The skins are chiefly employed by hatters, who make hats of the hair, which are said to be nearly as good asBeaverhats. TheMusk-ratsare commonly caught in traps, with apples as baits. In the country of theIroquese, I saw thoseIndiansfollowing the[59]holes of theMusk-ratsby digging till they came to their nests, where they killed them all. Nobody here eats their flesh; I do not know whether theIndianseat it, for they are commonly not over nice in the choice of meat. The musk-bag is put between the cloaths in order to preserve them against worms. It is very difficult to extirpate theseRatswhen they are once settled in a bank. ASwede, however, told me, that he had freed his bank, or piece of dyke along the river, from them in the following manner: He sought for all their holes, stopped them all up with earth, excepting one, on that side from whence the wind came. He put a quantity of sulphur into the open entrance, set fire to it, and then closed the hole, leaving but a small one for the wind to pass through. The smoke of the sulphur then entered their most remote nests, and stifled all the animals. As soon as the sulphur was burnt, he was obliged to dig up part of the ground in the bank, where they had their nests; and he found them lie dead by heaps. He sold the skins, and they paid his trouble, not to mention the advantage he got by clearing his bank of theMusk-rats.