It is however of great advantage to the crown of England, that the North American colonies are near a country, under the government of the French, like Canada. There is reason to believe that the king never was earnest in his attempts to expel the French from their possessions there; though it might have been done with little difficulty. For the English colonies in this part of the world have encreased so much in their number of inhabitants, and in their riches, that they almost vie with Old England. Now in order to keep up the authority and trade of their mother country, and to answer several other puposes, they are forbid to establish new manufactures, which would turn to the disadvantage of the British commerce: they are not allowed to dig for any gold or silver, unless they send them to England immediately: they have not the liberty of trading to any parts that do not belong to the British dominions, excepting some settled places, and foreign traders are not allowed to send their ships to them. These and some other restrictions, occasion the inhabitants of the English colonies to grow less tender for their mother country. This coldness is kept up by the many foreigners such as Germans, Dutch and French settled here, and living among [265]the English, who commonly have no particular attachment to Old England; add to this likewise that many people can never be contented with their possessions, though they be ever so great, and will always be desirous of getting more, and of enjoying the pleasure which arises from changing; and their over great liberty, and their luxury often lead them to licentiousness.

I have been told by Englishmen, and not only by such as were born in America, but even by such as came from Europe, that the English colonies in North-America, in the space of thirty or fifty years, would be able to form a state by themselves, entirely independent on Old England. But as the whole country which lies along the sea shore, is unguarded, and on the land side is harrassed by the French, in times of war these dangerous neighbours are sufficient to prevent the connection of the colonies with their mother country from being quite broken off. The English government has therefore sufficient reason to consider the French in North-America, as the best means of keeping the colonies in their due submission. But, I am almost gone too far from my purpose; I will therefore finish my observations on New York.

The declination of the magnetic needle, [266]in this town was observed by Philip Wells, the chief engineer of the province of New York, in the year 1686, to be eight deg. and forty-five min. to the westward. But in 1723, it was only seven deg. and twenty min. according to the observations of governor Burnet.

From hence we may conclude that in thirty-eight years the magnet approaches about one deg. and twenty five min. nearer to the true north; or, which is the same thing, about two min. annually. Mr. Alexander, a man of great knowledge in astronomy and in mathematics, assured me from several observations, that in the year 1750, on the eighteenth of September the deviation was to be reckoned six deg. and twenty two min.

There are two printers in the town, and every week some English gazettes are published, which contain news from all parts of the world.

The winter is much more severe here, than in Pensylvania; it being nearly as cold as in some of the provinces of Sweden: its continuance however is much shorter than with us: their spring is very early and their autumn very late, and the heat in summer is excessive. For this reason, the melons sown in the fields are ripe at the beginning [267]of August; whereas we can hardly bring them so soon to maturity under glasses and on hot beds. The cold of the winter, I cannot justly determine, as the meteorological observations which were communicated to me, were all calculated after thermometers, which were so placed in the houses, that the air could not freely come at them. The snow lies for some months together upon the ground; and sledges are made use of here as in Sweden, but they are rather too bulky. The river Hudson is about an English mile and a half broad at its mouth: the difference between the highest flood and the lowest ebb is between six and seven feet, and the water is very brackish: yet the ice stands in it not only one but even several months: it has sometimes a thickness of more than two feet.

The inhabitants are sometimes greatly troubled with Musquitoes. They either follow the hay which is made near the town, in the low meadows which are quite penetrated with salt water; or they accompany the cattle at night when it is brought home. I have myself experienced, and have observed in others, how much these little animalcules can disfigure a person’s face during a single night; for the skin is sometimes [268]so covered over with little blisters from their stings, that people are ashamed to appear in public. The water melons which are cultivated near the town grow very large: they are extremely delicious, and are better than in other parts of North America; though they are planted in the open fields and never in a hot-bed. I saw a water melon at Governor Clinton’s in September 1750, which weighed forty seven English pounds, and at a merchant’s in town another of forty two pounds weight: however they were reckoned the biggest ever seen in this country.

In the year 1710, five kings, or Sachems of the Iroquois went from hence to England, in order to engage Queen Anne to make an alliance with them against the French. Their names, dress, reception at court, speeches to the Queen, opinion of England and of the European manners, and several other particulars about them are sufficiently known from other writings; it would therefore be here unnecessary to enlarge about them. The kings or Sachems of the Indians, have commonly no greater authority over their subjects than constables in a meeting of the inhabitants of a parish, and hardly so much. On my travels through the country of these Indians, I had never any [269]occasion to go and wait upon the Sachems; for they always came into my habitation without being asked: these visits they commonly paid in order to get a glass or two of brandy, which they value above any thing they know. One of the five Sachems mentioned above, died in England; the others returned safe.

The first colonists in New York were Dutchmen: when the town and its territories were taken by the English, and left them by the next peace in exchange for Surinam, the old inhabitants were allowed either to remain at New York, and to enjoy all the privileges and immunities which they were possessed of before, or to leave the place with all their goods: most of them chose the former; and therefore the inhabitants both of the town and of the province belonging to it, are yet for the greatest part Dutchmen; who still, especially the old people, speak their mother tongue.

They begin however by degrees to change their manners and opinions; chiefly indeed in the town and in its neighbourhood: for most of the young people now speak principally English, and go only to the English church; and would even take it amiss, if they were called Dutchmen and not Englishmen. [270]

Though the province of New York has been inhabited by Europeans, much longer than Pensylvania, yet it is not by far so populous as that colony. This cannot be ascribed to any particular discouragement arising from the nature of the soil; for that is pretty good: but I was told of a very different reason, which I will mention here. In the reign of Queen Anne about the year 1709, many Germans came hither, who got a tract of land from the government on which they might settle. After they had lived there for some time, and had built houses and churches, and made corn-fields and meadows, their liberties and privileges were infringed, and under several pretences they were repeatedly deprived of parts of their land. This at last rouzed the Germans; they returned violence for violence, and beat those who thus robbed them of their possessions. But these proceedings were looked upon in a very bad light by the government: the most active people among the Germans being taken up, they were very roughly treated, and punished with the utmost rigour of the law. This however so far exasperated the rest, that the greater part of them left their houses and fields, and went to settle in Pensylvania: there they were exceedingly well received, got a considerable tract of land, [271]and were indulged in great privileges which were given them forever. The Germans not satisfied with being themselves removed from New York, wrote to their relations and friends and advised them, if ever they intended to come to America, not to go to New York, where the government had shewn itself so unequitable. This advice had such influence, that the Germans, who afterwards went in great numbers to North America, constantly avoided New York and always went to Pensylvania. It sometimes happened that they were forced to go on board such ships as were bound to New York; but they were scarce got on shore, when they hastened on to Pensylvania in sight of all the inhabitants of New York.

But the want of people in this province may likewise be accounted for in a different manner. As the Dutch, who first cultivated this country, obtained the liberty of staying here by the treaty with England, and of enjoying all their privileges and advantages without the least limitation, each of them took a very large piece of ground for himself, and many of the more powerful heads of families made themselves the possessors and masters of a country of as great an extent as would be sufficient to form a middling and even a great parish. Most [272]of them being very rich, their envy of the English led them not to sell them any land, but at an excessive rate; a practice which is still punctually observed among their descendants. The English therefore as well as people of different nations, have little encouragement to settle here. On the other hand they have sufficient opportunity in the other provinces, to purchase land at a more moderate price, and with more security to themselves. It is not then to be wondered, that so many parts of New York are still uncultivated, and have entirely the appearance of desarts. This instance may teach us how much a small mistake in a government will injure population.

November the 3d. About noon we set out from New York on our return, and continuing our journey, we arrived at Philadelphia on the fifth of November.

In the neighbourhood of this capital (of Pensylvania) the people had a month ago made their cyder, which they were obliged to do, because their apples were so ripe as to drop from the trees. But on our journey through New York we observed the people still employed in pressing out the cyder. This is a plain proof that in Pensylvania the apples are sooner ripe than in New York; but whether this be owing to the [273]nature of the soil, or a greater heat of the summer in Philadelphia, or to some other cause I know not. However there is not the least advantage in making cyder so early: for long experience had taught the husbandmen that it is worse for being made early in the year; the great heat in the beginning of autumn being said to hinder the fermentation of the juice. [272]

[273]

There is a certain quadruped which is pretty common not only in Pensylvania, but likewise in other provinces both of South and North America, and goes by the name of Polecat among the English. In New York they generally call it Skunk. The Swedes here by way of nickname called it Fiskatta, on account of the horrid stench it sometimes causes as I shall presently show. The French in Canada, for the same reason call it Bête puante or stinking animal, and Enfant du diable or child of the devil. Some of them likewise call it Pekan: Catesby in his Natural History of Carolina, has described it in Vol. 2. p. 62. by the name of Putorius Americanus striatus and drawn it plate 62. Dr. Linnæus calls it Viverra Putorius.42 This animal, which is [274]very similar to the Marten, is of about the same size and commonly black: on the back it has a longitudinal white stripe and two others on each side, parallel to the former. Sometimes but very seldom, some are seen which are quite white. On our return to Philadelphia we saw one of these animals not far from town near a farmer’s house, killed by dogs. And afterwards I had during my stay in these parts several opportunities of seeing it and of hearing its qualities. It keeps its young ones in holes in the ground and in hollow trees; for it does not confine itself to the ground, but climbs up trees with the greatest agility: it is a great enemy to birds; for it breaks their eggs and devours their young ones; and if it can get into a hen roost it soon destroys all its inhabitants.

This animal has a particular quality by which it is principally known; when it is pursued by men or dogs it runs at first as fast as it can, or climbs upon a tree; but if it is so beset by its pursuers, as to have no other way of making its escape, it squirts its urine upon them. This according to some it does by wetting its tail with the urine whence by a sudden motion it scatters it abroad; but others believe, that it could send its urine equally far without the help of its tail; I find the former of these accounts [275]to be the most likely. For, some credible people assured me, that they have had their faces wetted with it all over; though they stood above eighteen feet off from the animal. The urine has so horrid a stench that nothing can equal it: it is something like that of the Cranesbill or Linnæus’s Geranium robertianum, but infinitely stronger. If you come near a polecat when it spreads its stench, you cannot breathe for a while, and it seems as if you were stifled; and in case the urine comes into the eyes, a person is likely to be blinded. Many dogs that in a chace pursue the polecat very eagerly, run away as fast as they can when they are wetted: however, if they be of the true breed, they will not give over the pursuit till they have caught and killed the polecat; but they are obliged now and then to rub their noses in the ground in order to relieve themselves.

Clothes which have been wetted by this animal retain the smell for more than a month; unless they be covered with fresh soil, and suffered to remain under it for twenty four hours together; when it will in a great measure be removed. Those likewise who have got any of this urine upon their face and hands, rub them with loose earth; and some even hold their hands in the ground for an hour; as washing will not help them [276]so soon. A certain man of rank who had by accident been wetted by the polecat, stunk so ill, that on going into a house, the people either ran away, or on his opening the door, rudely denied him entrance. Dogs that have hunted a polecat are so offensive for some days afterwards, that they cannot be borne in the house. At Philadelphia I once saw a great number of people on a market day throwing at a dog that was so unfortunate as to have been engaged with a polecat just before, and to carry about him the tokens of its displeasure. Persons when travelling through a forest are often troubled with the stink which this creature makes; and sometimes the air is so much infected that it is necessary to hold ones nose. If the wind blows from the place where the polecat has been, or if it be quite calm, as at night, the smell is more strong and disagreeable.

In the winter of 1749, a polecat tempted by a dead lamb, came one night near the farm house where I then slept. Being immediately pursued by some dogs, it had recourse to its usual expedient in order to get rid of them. The attempt succeeded, the dogs not choosing to continue the pursuit: the stink was so extremely great that, though I was at some distance it affected me in the same manner as if I [277]had been stifled; and it was so disagreeable to the cattle that it made them roar very loudly: however, by degrees it vanished. Towards the end of the same year one of these animals got into our cellar, but no stench was observed, for it only vents that when it is pursued. The cook however found for several days together that some of the meat which was kept there was eaten; and suspecting that it was done by the cat she shut up all avenues, in order to prevent their getting at it. But the next night being awoke by a noise in the cellar, she went down, and though it was quite dark, saw an animal with two shining eyes, which seemed to be all on fire; she however resolutely killed it, but not before the polecat had filled the cellar with a most dreadful stench. The maid was sick of it for several days; and all the bread, flesh, and other provisions kept in the cellar were so penetrated with it, that we could not make the least use of them, and were forced to throw them all away.

From an accident that happened at New York to one of my acquaintances, I conclude that the polecat either is not always very shy, or that it sleeps very hard at night. This man coming home out of a wood in a summer evening, thought that he saw a plant [278]standing before him; stooping to pluck it, he was to his cost convinced of his mistake, by being all on a sudden covered with the urine of a polecat, whose tail as it stood upright, the good man had taken for a plant: the creature had taken its revenge so effectually that he was much at a loss how to get rid of the stench.

However though these animals play such disagreeable tricks, yet the English, the Swedes, the French, and the Indians in these parts tame them. They follow their masters like domestic animals, and never make use of their urine, except they be very much beaten or terrified. When the Indians kill such a polecat, they always eat its flesh, but when they pull off its skin, they take care to cut away the bladder, that the flesh may not get a taste from it. I have spoken with both Englishmen and Frenchmen, who assured me that they had eaten of it, and found it very good meat, and not much unlike the flesh of a pig. The skin which is pretty coarse, and has long hair, is not made use of by the Europeans; but the Indians prepare it with the hair on, and make tobacco pouches of it, which they carry before them.

November the 6th. In the evening I went out of town to Mr. Bartram, I found [279]a man with him, who lived in Carolina and I obtained several particulars about that province from him; a few of which I will here mention.

Tar, pitch and rice are the chief products of Carolina. The soil is very sandy, and therefore many pines and firs grow in it, from which they make tar: the firs which are taken for this purpose are commonly such as are dried up of themselves; the people here in general not knowing how to prepare the firs by taking the bark off on one, or on several sides, as they do in Ostrobothnia. In some parts of Carolina they likewise make use of the branches. The manner of burning or boiling, as the man describes it to me, is entirely the same as in Finland. The pitch is thus made: they dig a hole into the ground and smear the inside well with clay, into which they pour the tar, and make a fire round it, which is kept up till the tar has got the consistence of pitch. They make two kinds of tar in the North American colonies: one is the common tar, which I have above described, and which is made of the stems, branches, and roots of such firs, as were already considerably dried out before; which is the most common way in this country. The other way in peeling the bark from [280]the firs on one side, and afterwards letting them stand another year; during which the resin comes out between the cracks of the item. The tree is then felled and burnt for tar; and the tar thus made is called green tar, not that there is that difference of colour in it, for in this respect they are both pretty much alike; but the latter is called so from being made of green and fresh trees; whereas common tar is made of dead trees: the burning is done in the same manner as in Finland. They use only black firs; for the white firs will not serve this purpose, though they are excellent for boards, masts, &c. green tar is dearer than common tar. It is already a pretty general complaint that the fir woods are almost wholly destroyed by this practice.

Rice is planted in great quantity in Carolina: it succeeds best in marshy and swampy grounds, which may be laid under water, and likewise ripens there the soonest. Where these cannot be had, they must choose a dry soil; but the rice produced here will be much inferior to the other: the land on which it is cultivated must never be manured. In Carolina they sow it in the middle of April, and it is ripe in September: it is planted in rows like pease, and commonly fifteen inches space is left [281]between the rows; as soon as the plants are come up, the field is laid under water. This not only greatly forwards the growth of the rice, but likewise kills all weeds, so as to render weeding unnecessary. The straw of rice is said to be excellent food for cattle, who eat it very greedily. Rice requires a hot climate, and therefore it will not succeed well in Virginia, the summer there being too short, and the winter too cold; and much less will it grow in Pensylvania. They are as yet ignorant in Carolina of the art of making arrack from rice: it is chiefly South Carolina that produces the greatest quantity of rice; and on the other hand they make the most tar in North Carolina.

November the 7th. The stranger from Carolina whom I have mentioned before, had met with many oyster shells at the bottom of a well, seventy English miles distant from the sea, and four from a river: they lay in a depth of fourteen English feet from the surface of the earth: the water in the well was brackish; but that in the river was fresh. The same man, had at the building of a saw-mill, a mile and a half from a river, found, first sand, and then clay filled with oyster shells. Under these he found several bills of sea birds as he called them, which were already quite petrified: they were probably Glossopetræ. [282]

There are two species of foxes in the English colonies, the one grey, and the other red: but in the sequel I shall shew that there are others which sometimes appear in Canada. The grey foxes are here constantly, and are very common in Pensylvania and in the southern provinces: in the northern ones they are pretty scarce, and the French in Canada, call them Virginian Foxes on that account: in size they do not quite come up to our foxes. They do no harm to lambs; but they prey upon all sorts of poultry, whenever they can come at them. They do not however seem to be looked upon as animals that cause a great deal of damage; for there is no reward given for killing them: their skin is greatly sought for by hatters, who employ the hair in their work. People have their clothes lined with it sometimes: the grease is used against all sorts of rheumatic pains. These foxes are said to be less nimble than the red ones: they are sometimes tamed; though they be not suffered to run about but are tied up. Mr. Catesby has drawn and described this sort of foxes in his Natural history of Carolina, by the name of the grey American fox, vol. 2. p. 78. tab. 78. A skin of it was sold in Philadelphia for two shillings and six-pence in Pensylvanian currency. [283]

The red Foxes are very scarce here: they are entirely the same with the European sort. Mr. Bartram, and several others assured me, that according to the unanimous testimony of the Indians, this kind of foxes never was in the country, before the Europeans settled in it. But of the manner of their coming over I have two different accounts: Mr. Bartram and several other people were told by the Indians, that these foxes came into America soon after the arrival of the Europeans, after an extraordinary cold winter, when all the sea to the northward was frozen: from hence they would infer, that they could perhaps get over to America upon the ice from Greenland or the northern parts of Europe and Asia. But Mr. Evans, and some others assured me that the following account was still known by the people. A gentleman of fortune in New England, who had a great inclination for hunting, brought over a great number of foxes from Europe, and let them loose in his territories, that he might be able to indulge his passion for hunting.43 This is said to have happened [284]almost at the very beginning of New England’s being peopled with European inhabitants. These foxes were believed to have so multiplied, that all the red foxes in the country were their offspring. At present they are reckoned among the noxious creatures in these parts; for they are not contented, as the grey foxes with killing fowl; but they likewise devour the lambs. In Pensylvania therefore there is a reward of two shillings for killing an old fox, and of one shilling for killing a young one. And in all the other provinces there are likewise rewards offer’d for killing them, Their skin is in great request, and is sold as dear as that of the grey foxes, that is two shillings [285]and six-pence, in Pensylvanian currency.

They have two varieties of Wolves here, which however seem to be of the same species. For some of them are yellowish, or almost pale grey, and others are black or dark brown. All the old Swedes related, that during their childhood, and still more at the arrival of their fathers, there were excessive numbers of wolves in the country, and that their howling and yelping might be heard all night. They likewise frequently tore in pieces, sheep, hogs, and other young and small cattle. About that time or soon after, when the Swedes and the English were quite settled here, the Indians were attacked by the small pox: this disease they got from the Europeans, for they knew nothing of it before: it killed many hundreds of them, and most of the Indians of the country, then called New Sweden died of it. The wolves then came, attracted by the stench of so many corpses, in such great numbers that they devoured them all, and even attacked the poor sick Indians in their huts, so that the few healthy ones had enough to do, to drive them away. But since that time they have disappeared, so that they are now seldom seen, and it is very rarely that they commit [286]any disorders. This is attributed to the greater cultivation of the country, and to their being killed in great numbers. But further up the country, where it is not yet so much inhabited, they are still very abundant. On the coasts of Pensylvania and New Jersey, the sheep stay all night in the fields, without the people’s fearing the wolves: however to prevent their multiplying too much, there is a reward of twenty shillings in Pensylvania and of thirty in New Jersey, for delivering in a dead wolf, and the person that brings it may keep the skin. But for a young wolf the reward is only ten shillings of the Pensylvanian currency. There are examples of these wolves being made as tame as dogs.

The wild Oxen have their abode principally in the woods of Carolina, which are far up in the country. The inhabitants frequently hunt them, and salt their flesh like common beef, which is eaten by servants and the lower class of people. But the hide is of little use, having too large pores to be made use of for shoes. However the poorer people in Carolina, spread these hides on the ground instead of beds.

The Viscum filamentosum, or Fibrous misletoe, is found in abundance in Carolina; the inhabitants make use of it as straw in their [287]beds, and to adorn their houses; the cattle are very fond of it: it is likewise employed in packing goods.

The Spartium scoparium grew in Mr. Bartram’s garden from English seeds; he said that he had several bushes of it, but that the frost in the cold winters here had killed most of them: they however grow spontaneously in Sweden.

Mr. Bartram had same Truffles, or Linnæus’s Lycoperdon Tuber, which he had got out of a sandy soil in New Jersey, where they are abundant. These he shewed to his friend from Carolina, and asked him whether they were the Tuckahoo of the Indians. But the stranger denied it, and added that though these truffles were likewise very common in Carolina, yet he had never seen them used any other way but in milk, against the dysentery; and he gave us the following description of the Tuckahoo. It grows in several swamps and marches, and is commonly plentiful. The hogs greedily dig up its roots with their noses in such places; and the Indians in Carolina likewise gather them in their rambles in the woods, dry them in the sun shine, grind them and bake bread of them. Whilst the root is fresh it is harsh and acrid, but being dried it loses the greatest part of its acrimony. [288]To judge by these qualities the Tuckahoo may very likely be the Arum Virginianum. Compare with this account, what shall be related in the sequel of the Tahim and Tuckah.

After dinner I again returned to town.

November the 8th. Several English and Swedish oeconomists kept bee-hives, which afforded their possessors profit: for bees succeed very well here: the wax was for the most part sold to tradesmen: but the honey they made use of in their own families, in different ways. The people were unanimous, that the common bees were not in North America before the arrival of the Europeans; but that they were first brought over by the English who settled here. The Indians likewise generally declare, that their fathers had never seen any bees either in the woods or any where else, before the Europeans had been several years settled here. This is further confirmed by the name which the Indians give them: for having no particular name for them in their language, they call them English flies, because the English first brought them over: but at present they fly plentifully about the woods of North America. However it has been observed that the bees always when they swarm, spread to the southward, and [289]never to the northward. It seems as if they do not find the latter countries so good for their constitution: therefore they cannot stay in Canada, and all that have been carried over thither, died in winter. It seemed to me as if the bees in America were somewhat smaller than ours in Sweden. They have not yet been found in the woods on the other side of the Blue Mountains, which confirms the opinion of their being brought to America of late. A man told Mr. Bartram, that on his travels in the woods of North America, he had found another sort of bees, which, instead of separating their wax and honey, mixed it both together in a great bag. But this account wants both clearing up and confirming.

November the 9th. All the old Swedes and Englishmen born in America whom I ever questioned, asserted that there were not near so many birds fit for eating at present, as there used to be when they were children, and that their decrease was visible. They even said, that they had heard their fathers complain of this, in whose childhood the bays, rivers and brooks were quite covered with all sorts of water fowls such as wild geese, ducks, and the like. But at present there is sometimes not a [290]single bird upon them; about sixty or seventy years ago, a single person could kill eighty ducks in a morning; but at present you frequently wait in vain for a single one. A Swede above ninety years old, assured me that he had in his youth killed twenty-three ducks at a shot. This good luck no body is likely to have at present, as you are forced to ramble about for a whole day, without getting a sight of more than three or four. Cranes44 at that time came hither by hundreds in the spring: at present there are but very few. The wild Turkeys, and the birds which the Swedes in this country call Partridges and Hazel-hens were in whole flocks in the woods. But at this time a person is tired with walking before he can start a single bird.

The cause of this diminution is not difficult to find. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the country was uncultivated, and full of great forests. The few Indians that lived here seldom disturbed the birds. They carried on no trade among themselves, iron and gun powder were unknown to [291]them. One hundredth part of the fowl which at that time were so plentiful here, would have sufficed to feed the few inhabitants; and considering that they cultivated their small maize fields, caught fish, hunted stags, beavers, bears, wild cattle, and other animals whose flesh was delicious to them, it will soon appear how little they disturbed the birds. But since the arrival of great crouds of Europeans, things are greatly changed; the country is well peopled, and the woods are cut down: the people increasing in this country, they have by hunting and shooting in part extirpated the birds, in part scared them away: in spring the people still take both eggs, mothers and young indifferently, because no regulations are made to the contrary. And if any had been made, the spirit of freedom which prevails in the country would not suffer them to be obeyed. But though the eatable birds have been diminished greatly, yet there are others, which have rather increased than decreased in number, since the arrival of the Europeans: this can most properly be said of a species of daws which the English call Blackbirds45 and the Swedes Maize thieves, Dr. Linnæus calls them Gracula [292]Quiscula. And together with them, the several sorts of Squirrels among the quadrupeds have spread: for these and the former, live chiefly upon maize, or at least they are most greedy of it. But as population increases, the cultivation of maize increases, and of course the food of the above-mentioned animals is more plentiful: to this it is to be added, that these latter are rarely eaten, and therefore they are more at liberty to multiply their kind. There are likewise other birds which are not eaten, of which at present there are nearly as many as there were before the arrival of the Europeans. On the other hand I heard great complaints of the great decrease of eatable fowl, not only in this province, but in all the parts of North America, where I have been.

Aged people had experienced that with the fish, which I have just mentioned of the birds: in their youth, the bays, rivers, and brooks, had such quantities of fish that at one draught in the morning, they caught as many as a horse was able to carry home. But at present things are greatly altered; and they often work in vain all the night long, with all their fishing tackle. The causes of this decrease of fish, are partly the same with those of the diminution of the number of birds; being of late caught [293]by a greater variety of contrivances, and in different manners than before. The numerous mills on the rivers and brooks likewise contribute to it in part: for it has been observed here, that the fish go up the river in order to spawn in a shallow water; but when they meet with works that prevent their proceeding, they turn back, and never come again. Of this I was assured by a man of fortune at Boston: his father was used to catch a number of herrings throughout the winter and almost always in summer, in a river, upon his country seat: but he having built a mill with a dyke in this water, they were lost. In this manner they complained here and every where of the decrease of fish. Old people asserted the same in regard to oysters at New York; for though they are still taken in considerable quantity, and are as big and as delicious as can be wished, yet all the oyster-catchers own, that the number diminishes greatly every year: the most natural cause of it, is probably the immoderate catching of them at all times of the year.

Mr. Franklin told me that in that part of New England, where his father lived, two rivers fell into the sea, in one of which, they caught great numbers of herring, and in the other not one. Yet the places where [294]these rivers discharged themselves into the sea, were not far asunder. They had observed that when the herrings came in spring to deposit their spawn, they always swam up the river where they used to catch them, but never came into the other. This circumstance led Mr. Franklin’s father who was settled between the two rivers, to try whether it was not possible to make the herrings likewise live in the other river. For that purpose he put out his nets, as they were coming up for spawning, and he caught some. He took the spawn out of them, and carefully carried it across the land into the other river. It was hatched, and the consequence was, that every year afterwards they caught more herrings in that river; and this is still the case. This leads one to believe that the fish always like to spawn in the same place where they were hatched, and from whence they first put out to sea; being as it were accustomed to it.

The following is another peculiar observation. It has never formerly been known that codfish were to be caught at cape Hinlopen: they were always caught at the mouth of the Delaware: but at present they are numerous in the former place. From hence it may be concluded that fish likewise [295]change their places of abode, of their own accord.

A captain of a ship who had been in Greenland, asserted from his own experience, that on passing the seventieth deg. of north lat. the summer heat was there much greater, than it is below that degree. From hence he concluded, that the summer heat at the pole itself, must be still more excessive, since the sun shines there for such a long space of time, without ever setting. The same account with similar consequences drawn from thence, Mr. Franklin had heard of the ship captains in Boston, who had sailed to the most northern parts of this hemisphere. But still more astonishing is the account he got from captain Henry Atkins, who still lives at Boston. He had for some time been upon the fishery along the coasts of New England. But not catching as much as he wished, he sailed north, as far as Greenland. At last he went so far, that he discovered people, who had never seen Europeans before (and what is more astonishing) who had no idea of the use of fire, which they had never employed; and if they had known it, they could have made no use of their knowledge, as there were no trees in the country. But they eat the birds and fish which they caught quite [296]raw. Captain Atkins got some very scarce skins in exchange for some trifles.

It is already known from several accounts of voyages, that to the northward neither trees nor bushes, nor any ligneous plants are to be met with, fit for burning. But is it not probable that the inhabitants of so desolate a country, like other northern nations which we know, burn the train oil of fishes, and the fat of animals in lamps, in order to boil their meat, to warm their subterraneous caves in winter, and to light them in the darkest season of the year? else their darkness would be insupportable.

November the 11th. In several writings we read of a large animal, which is to be met with in New England and other parts of North America. They sometimes dig very long and branched horns out of the ground in Ireland, and no body in that country or any where else in the world, knows an animal that has such horns. This has induced many people to believe that it is the Moose-deer so famous in North America, and that the horns found, were of animals of this kind, which had formerly lived in that island, but were gradually destroyed. It has even been concluded, that Ireland, in distant ages either was connected with North America, or that a number [297]of little islands, which are lost at present, made a chain between them. This led me to enquire, whether an animal with such excessive great horns, as are ascribed to the Moose-deer, had ever been seen in any part of this country. Mr. Bartram told me, that notwithstanding he had carefully enquired to that purpose, yet there was no person who could give him any information, which could be relied upon, and therefore he was entirely of opinion, that there was no such an animal in North America. Mr. Franklin related that he had, when a boy, seen two of the animals which they call Moose-deer, but he well remembered that they were not near of such a size as they must have been, if the horns found in Ireland were to fit them: the two animals which he saw, were brought to Boston in order to be sent to England to Queen Ann. The height of the animal up to the back was that of a pretty tall horse; but the head and its horns were still higher: Mr. Dudley has given a description of the Moose-deer which is found in North America. On my travels in Canada, I often enquired of the Frenchmen, whether there had ever been seen so large an animal in this country, as some people say there is in North America; and with such great [298]horns as are sometimes dug out in Ireland. But I was always told, that they had never heard of it, and much less seen it: some added, that if there was such an animal, they certainly must have met with it, in some of their excursions in the woods. There are elks here, which are either of the same sort with the Swedish ones, or a variety of them: of these they often catch some which are larger than common, whence perhaps the report of the very large animal with excessive horns in North America first had its rise. These elks are called Original’s by the French in Canada, which name they have borrowed from the Indians: perhaps Dudley, in describing the Moose-deer, meant no other animals, than these large elks.46

Mr. Franklin gave me a piece of a stone, which on account of its indestructibility in the fire, is made use of in New England for making melting furnaces and forges. [299]

It consists of a mixture of Lapis Ollaris or Serpentine stone, and of Asbest. The greatest part of it is a grey Serpentine stone, which is fat and smooth to the touch, and is easily cut and worked. Here and there are some glittering speckles of that sort of asbest, whose fibres come from a center like rays, or Star Asbest. This stone is not found in strata or solid rocks, but here and there scattered on the fields.

Another stone is called Soapstone by many of the Swedes, being as smooth as soap on the outside. They make use of it for rubbing spots out of their cloaths. It might be called Saxum talcosum particulus spataceis, granatisque immixtis, or a talc with mixed particles of spar and garnets. A more exact description I reserve for another work. At present I only add that the ground colour is pale green, with some dark spots, and sometimes a few of a greenish hue. It is very smooth to the touch, and runs always waved. It is likewise easily sawed and cut, though it is not very smooth. I have seen large stones of it, which were a fathom and more long, proportionably broad, and commonly six inches or a foot deep. But I cannot determine any thing of their original size, as I have not been at the place where they are dug, and have [300]only seen the stones at Philadelphia, which are brought there ready cut. The particles of talc in this stone are about thirty times as many as those of spar and garnet. It is found in many parts of the country, for example in the neighbourhood of Chester in Pennsylvania. The English likewise call it Soapstone,47 and it is likely that the Swedes have borrowed that name from them.

This stone was chiefly employed in the following manner. First, the people took spots out of their cloaths with it. But for this purpose the whole stone is not equally useful, for it includes in its clear particles some dark ones which consist wholly of serpentine stone, and may easily be cut with a knife; some of the loose stone is scraped off like a powder, and strewed upon a greasy spot, in silk or any other fluff; this imbibes the grease, and after rubbing off the powder the spot disappears: and as this stone is likewise very durable in the fire, the country people make their hearths with it, especially the place where the fire lies, and where the heat is the greatest, for the stone [301]stands the strongest fire. If the people can get a sufficient quantity of this stone, they lay the steps before the houses with it, instead of bricks, which are generally used for that purpose.

The walls round the court yards, gardens, burying places, and those for the sloping cellar doors towards the street, which are all commonly built of brick, are covered with a coping of this stone; for it holds excellently against all the effects of the sun, air, rain and storm, and does not decay but secures the bricks. On account of this quality, people commonly get the door posts in which their hinges are fastened made of this stone: and in several publick buildings, such as the house of assembly for the province, the whole lower wall is built of it, and in other houses the corners are laid out with it.

The Salt which is used in the English North American colonies is brought from the West Indies. The Indians have in some places salt springs from which they get salt by boiling. I shall in the sequel have occasion to describe some of them. Mr. Franklin was of opinion that the people in Pensylvania could easier make good salt of sea water, than in New England, where sometimes salt is made of the sea water on [302]their coast; though their situation is more northerly. Lead-ore has been discovered in Pensylvania, but as it is not to be met with in quantity, no body ever attempted to use it. Loadstones of considerable goodness have likewise been found; and I myself possess several pretty pieces of them.

Iron is dug in such great quantities in Pensylvania and in the other American provinces of the English, that they could provide with that commodity not only England, but almost all Europe, and perhaps the greater part of the globe. The ore is here commonly infinitely easier got in the mines, than our Swedish ore. For in many places with a pick ax, a crow-foot and a wooden club, it is got with the same ease with which a hole can be made in a hard soil: in many places the people know nothing of boring, blasting and firing; and the ore is likewise very fusible. Of this iron they get such quantities, that not only the numerous inhabitants of the colonies themselves have enough of it, but great quantities, are sent to the West Indies, and they have lately began even to trade to Europe with it. This iron is reckoned better for ship building than our Swedish iron, or any other, because salt water does not corrode it so much. Some people believed that without reckoning [303]the freight, they could sell their iron in England at a lower rate than any other nation; especially when the country becomes better peopled and labour cheaper.

The mountain flax,48 or that kind of stone, which Bishop Browallius calls Amiantus fibris separabilibus molliusculis, in his lectures on mineralogy which were published in 1739, or the amiant with soft fibres which can easily be separated, is found abundantly in Pensylvania. Some pieces are very soft, others pretty tough: Mr. Franklin told me that twenty and some odd years ago, when he made a voyage to England, he had a little purse with him, made of the mountain flax of this country, which he presented to Sir Hans Sloane. I have likewise seen paper made of this stone: and I have likewise received some small pieces of it, which I keep in my cabinet. Mr. Franklin had been told by others that on exposing this mountain flax to the open air in winter, and leaving it in the cold and wet, it would grow together, and more fit for spinning. But he did not venture to [304]determine how far this opinion was grounded. On this occasion he related a very pleasant accident, which happened to him with this mountain flax: he had, several years ago, got a piece of it, which he gave to one of his journeymen printers, in order to get it made into a sheet at the paper mill. As soon as the fellow brought the paper, Mr. Franklin rolled it up, and threw it into the fire, telling the journeyman he would see a miracle, a sheet of paper which did not burn: the ignorant fellow asserted the contrary, but was greatly astonished, upon seeing himself convinced. Mr. Franklin then explained him, though not very clearly, the peculiar qualities of the paper. As soon as he was gone, some of his acquaintance came in, who immediately knew the paper. The journeyman thought he would shew them a great curiosity and astonish them. He accordingly told them that he had curiously made a sheet of paper, which would not burn, though it was thrown into the fire. They pretended to think it impossible, and he as strenuously maintained his assertion. At last they laid a wager about it; but whilst he was busy with stirring up the fire, the others slyly besmeared the paper with fat: the journeyman, who was not aware of it, threw it into the fire, [305]and that moment it was all in flames: this astonished him so much, that he was almost speechless; upon which they could not help laughing, and so discovered the whole artifice.

In several houses of the town, a number of little Ants run about, living underground and in holes in the wall. The length of their bodies is one geometrical line. Their colour is either black or dark red: they have the custom of carrying off sweet things, if they can come at them, in common with the ants of other countries. Mr. Franklin was much inclined to believe that these little insects could by some means communicate their thoughts or desires to each other, and he confirmed his opinion by some examples. When an ant finds some sugar, it runs immediately under ground to its hole, where having stayed a little while, a whole army comes out, unites and marches to the place where the sugar is, and carries it off by pieces: or if an ant meets with a dead fly, which it cannot carry alone, it immediately hastens home, and soon after some more come out, creep to the fly and carry it away. Some time ago Mr. Franklin put a little earthen pot with treacle into a closet. A number of ants got into the pot, and devoured the treacle very [306]quietly. But as he observed it he shook them out, and tied the pot with a thin string to a nail which he had fastened in the ceiling; so that the pot hung down by the string. A single ant by chance remained in the pot: this ant eat till it was satisfied; but when it wanted to get off, it was under great concern to find its way out: it ran about the bottom of the pot, but in vain: at last it found after many attempts the way to get to the ceiling by the string. After it was come there, it ran to the wall, and from thence to the ground. It had hardly been away for half an hour, when a great swarm of ants came out, got up to the ceiling, and crept along the string into the pot, and began to eat again: this they continued till the treacle was all eaten: in the mean time one swarm running down the string, and the other up.

November the 12th. A man of fortune who has long been in this province asserted, that, by twenty years experience, he had found a confirmation of what other people have observed with regard to the weather, viz. that the weather in winter was commonly foretold by that on the first of November, old stile, or twelfth new stile; if that whole day be fair, the next winter will bring but little rain and snow along [307]with it: but if the first half of the day be clear, and the other cloudy, the beginning of winter would accordingly be fair, but its end and spring would turn out rigorous and disagreeable: of the same kind were the other presages. I have likewise in other places heard of similar signs of the weather; but as a mature judgment greatly lessens the confidence in them, so the meteorological observations have sufficiently shewn, how infinitely often these prophecies have failed.

Pensylvania abounds in springs, and you commonly meet with a spring of clear water on one or the other, and sometimes on several sides of a mountain. The people near such springs, use them for every purpose of a fine spring water. They also conduct the water into a little stone building near the house, where they can confine it, and bring fresh supplies at pleasure. In summer they place their milk, bottles of wine and other liquors in this building, where they keep cool and fresh. In many country houses, the kitchen or buttery was so situated, that a rivulet ran under it, and had the water near at hand.

Not only people of fortune, but even others that had some possessions, commonly had fish ponds in the country near their houses. They always took care that fresh [308]water might run into their ponds, which is very salutary for the fish: for that purpose the ponds were placed near a spring on a hill.

November the 13th. I saw in several parts of this province a ready method of getting plenty of grass to grow in the meadows. Here must be remembered what I have before mentioned about the springs, which are sometimes found on the sides of hills and sometimes in vallies. The meadows lie commonly in the vallies between the hills: if they are too swampy and wet, the water is carried off by several ditches. But the summer in Pensylvania is very hot; and the sun often burns the grass so much, that it dries up entirely. The husbandmen therefore have been very attentive to prevent this in their meadows: to that purpose they look for all the springs in the neighbourhood of a meadow; and as the rivulets flowed before by the shortest way into the vallies, they raise the water as much as possible and necessary, to the higher part of the meadow, and make several narrow channels from the brook, down into the plain, so that it is entirely watered by it. When there are some deeper places, they frequently lay wooden gutters across them, through which the water [309]flows to the other side; and from thence it is again by very narrow channels carried to all the places where it seems necessary. To raise the water the higher, and in order to spread it more, there are high dykes built near the springs, between which the water rises till it is so high as to run down where the people want it. Industry and ingenuity went further: when a brook runs in a wood, with a direction not towards the meadow, and it has been found by levelling, and taking an exact survey of the land between the meadow and the rivulet, that the latter can be conducted towards the former; a dyke is made, which hems the course of the brook, and the water is led round the meadow over many hills, sometimes for the space of an English mile and further, partly across vallies in wooden pipes, till at last it is brought where it is wanted, and where it can be spread as above-mentioned. One that has not seen it himself, cannot believe how great a quantity of grass there is in such meadows, especially near the little channels; whilst others, which have not been thus managed look wretchedly. The meadows commonly lie in the vallies, and one or more of their sides have a declivity. The water can therefore easily be brought to [310]run down in them. These meadows which are so carefully watered, are commonly mowed three times every summer. But it is likewise to be observed, that summer continues seven months here. The inhabitants seldom fail to employ a brook or spring in this manner, if it is not too far from the meadows to be led to them.

The leaves were at present fallen from all the trees; both from oaks, and from all those which have deciduous leaves, and they covered the ground in the woods six inches deep. The great quantity of leaves which drop annually, would necessarily seem to encrease the upper black mould greatly. However, it is not above three or four inches thick in the woods, and under it lays a brick coloured clay, mixed with a sand of the same colour. It is remarkable, that a soil which in all probability has not been stirred, should be covered with so little black mould: but I shall speak of this in the sequel.

November the 14th. The Squirrels which run about plentifully in the woods are of different species; I here intend to describe the most common sorts, more accurately.

The grey Squirrels are very plentiful in Pensylvania and in the other provinces of North America. Their shape corresponds [311]with that of our Swedish squirrel; but they differ from them, by keeping their grey colour all the year long, and in size being something bigger. The woods in all these provinces, and chiefly in Pensylvania, consist of trees with deciduous leaves, and in such these squirrels like to live. Ray in his Synopsis Quadrupedum, p. 215, and Catesby in his Natural History of Carolina, Vol. 2. p. 74, tab. 74, call it the Virginian greater grey Squirrel; and the latter has added a figure after life. The Swedes call it grao Ickorn, which is the same as the English grey Squirrel. Their nests are commonly in hollow trees, and are made of moss, straw, and other soft things: their food is chiefly nuts; as hazel nuts, chinquapins, chesnuts, walnuts, hiccory nuts, and the acorns of the different sorts of oak which grow here; but maize is what they are most greedy of. The ground in the woods is in autumn covered with acorns, and all kinds of nuts which drop from the numerous trees: of these the squirrels gather great stores for winter, which they lay up in holes dug by them for that purpose: they likewise carry a great quantity of them into their nests.

As soon as winter comes, the snow and cold confines them to their holes [312]for several days, especially when the weather is very rough. During this time they consume the little store, which they have brought to their nests: as soon therefore as the weather grows milder, they creep out, and dig out part of the store which they have laid up in the ground: of this they eat some on the spot, and carry the rest into their nests on the trees. We frequently observed that in winter, at the eve of a great frost, when there had been some temperate weather, the squirrels, a day or two before the frost, ran about the woods in greater numbers than common, partly in order to eat their fill, and partly to store their nests with a new provision for the ensuing great cold, during which they did not venture to come out, but stay snug in their nests: therefore seeing them run in the woods in greater numbers than ordinary, was a safe prognostic of an ensuing cold.

The hogs which are here droven into the woods, whilst there is yet no snow in them, often do considerable damage to the poor squirrels, by rooting up their store-holes, and robbing their winter provisions. Both the Indians, and the European Americans, take great pains to find out these store-holes, whether in trees or in the ground, as all the nuts they contain are choice, and [313]not only quite ripe, but likewise not pierced by worms. The nuts and acorns which the Dormice, or Mus Cricetus, Linn. store up in autumn, are all in the same condition. The Swedes relate, that in the long winter, which happened here in the year 1741, there fell such a quantity of snow, that the squirrels could not get to their store, and many of them were starved to death.

The damage which these animals do in the maize fields, I have already described: they do the more harm, as they do not eat all the corn, but only the inner and sweet part, and as it were take off the husks. In spring towards the end of April, when the oaks were in full flower, I once observed a number of squirrels on them, sometimes five, six, or more in a tree, who bit off the flower stalks a little below the flowers, and dropt them on the ground: whether they eat any thing off them, or made use of them for some other purpose I know not: but the ground was quite covered with oak flowers, to which part of the stalk adhered. For this reason the oaks do not bear so much fruit by far, to feed hogs and other animals, as they would otherwise do.

Of all the wild animals in this country, the squirrels are some of the easiest to tame, [314]especially when they are taken young for that purpose. I have seen them tamed so far, that they would follow the boys into the woods and run about every where, and when tired would sit on their shoulders. Sometimes they only ran a little way into the wood, and then returned home again to the little hole that had been fitted up for them. When they eat, they sit almost upright, hold their food between their forefeet and their tail bent upwards. When the tame ones got more than they could eat at a time, they carried the remainder to their habitations, and hid it amongst the wool which they lay upon. Such tame squirrels shewed no fear of strangers, and would suffer themselves to be touched by every body, without offering to bite. They sometimes would leap upon stranger’s cloaths and lie still on them, in order to sleep. In the farm houses where they were kept, they played with cats and dogs: they likewise eat bread.

The wild grey squirrels likewise hold up their tails when sitting. As soon as they perceive a man, they continually wag their tails and begin to gnash with their teeth, and make a great noise, which they do not readily give over. Those who go a shooting birds and other animals, are therefore very [315]angry at them, as this noise discovers them, and alarms the game. Though a grey squirrel does not seem to be very shy, yet it is very difficult to kill; for when it perceives a man, it climbs upon a tree, and commonly chuses the highest about it. It then tries to hide itself behind the trunk, so that the shooter may not see it, and though he goes ever so fast round the tree, yet the squirrel changes its place as quickly, if not quicker: if two boughs bend towards each other, the squirrel lies in the middle of them, and presses itself so close, that it is hardly visible. You may then shake the tree, throw sticks and stones to the place where it lies, or shoot at it, yet it will never stir. If three branches join, it takes refuge between them, and lies as close to them as possible, and then it is sufficiently safe. Sometimes it escapes on a tree where there are old nests of squirrels, or of large birds: it slips into such, and cannot be got out, either by shooting, throwing, or any thing else; for the grey squirrels seldom leap from one tree to another, except extreme danger compels them. They commonly run directly up the trees and down the same way, with their head straight forward. Several of them which [316]I shot in the woods, had great numbers of fleas.

I have already mentioned that these squirrels are among the animals, which at present are more plentiful than they formerly were, and that the infinitely greater cultivation of maize, which is their favourite food, is the cause of their multiplication. However it is peculiar, that in some years a greater number of squirrels come down from the higher countries into Pensylvania, and other English colonies. They commonly come in autumn, and are then very busy in the woods gathering nuts and acorns, which they carry into hollow trees or their store-holes, in order to be sufficiently provided with food for winter. They are so diligent in storing up of provisions, that though the nuts have been extremely plentiful that year, yet it is difficult to get a considerable quantity of them. The people here pretended from their own experience to know, that when the squirrels came down in such numbers from the higher parts of the country, the winter ensuing was uncommonly rigorous and cold, and for that reason they always look upon their coming down, as a sure sign of such a winter. Yet this does not always prove true, as I experienced in the autumn of the year 1749: at that [317]time a great number of squirrels came down into the colonies, yet the winter was very mild and no colder than common. But it appeared that their migration was occasioned by the scarcity of nuts and acorns, which happened that year in the higher parts of the country, and obliged them to come hither for their food. Therefore they generally return the next year to the place from which they came.

Some people reckon squirrel flesh a great dainty, but the generality make no account of it. The skin is good for little, yet small straps are sometimes made of it, as it is very tough: others use it as a furr lining, for want of a better. Ladies shoes are likewise sometimes made of it.

The Rattle snake often devours the squirrels, notwithstanding all their agility. This unwieldy creature, is said to catch so agile an one, merely by fascination. I have never had an opportunity of seeing how it is done: but so many credible people assured me of the truth of the fact, and asserted that they were present, and paid peculiar attention to it, that I am almost forced to believe their unanimous accounts. The fascination is effected in the following manner: the snake lies at the bottom of the tree upon which the squirrel sits; its [318]eyes are fixed upon the little animal, and from that moment it cannot escape; it begins a doleful outcry, which is so well known, that a person passing by, on hearing it, immediately knows that it is charmed by a snake. The squirrel runs up the tree a little way, comes downwards again, then goes up, and now comes lower again. On that occasion it has been observed, that the squirrel always goes down more than it goes up. The snake still continues at the root of the tree, with its eyes fixed on the squirrel, with which its attention is so entirely taken up, that a person accidentally approaching, may make a considerable noise, without the snake’s so much as turning about. The squirrel as before-mentioned comes always lower, and at last leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already wide open for its reception. The poor little animal then with a piteous cry runs into the snake’s jaws, and is swallowed at once, if it be not too big; but if its size will not allow it to be swallowed at once, the snake licks it several times with its tongue, and smoothens it, and by that means makes it fit for swallowing. Every thing else remarkable at this enchantment, I have described in a treatise inserted in the Memoirs of the Royal Swedish Academy of [319]Sciences, in the Volume for the year 1753, I therefore am not so circumstantial here. The same power of enchanting is ascribed to that kind of snake, which is commonly called the black snake in America, and it is said to catch and devour squirrels in the same manner as the former.49