Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

Hurricanes are sometimes very violent here, and often tear up great trees. They sometimes proceed as it were in peculiar tracts, or lines. In some places, especially in the hurricane’s tract, all the trees are struck down, and it looks as if the woods were cut down designedly; but close to the tract the trees receive no hurt. Such is the place which was shewn to me to-day. It is dangerous to go into the woods where the hurricanes blow; for the trees fall before one has time to guard himself, or make the least provision for his security.

The Pensylvanian Asp was now in full blossom. But neither this tree, nor those near a-kin to it, shewed their leaves.

An old countryman asserted that he commonly sowed a bushel of rye, on an acre of ground, and got twenty bushels in return; but from a bushel of barley he got thirty bushels. However in that case the ground must be well prepared. Wheat returns about as much as rye. The soil was a clay mixed with sand and mould.

In the evening I returned [24].

March the 28th. I found a black beetle [25] (Scarabæus) with a pentagonal oval Clypeus or shield, on the head a short blunt horn, and a gibbous, or hump-backed Thorax, or Corselet. This beetle is one of the bigger sort here. I found here and there holes on the hills, which were so wide that I could put my finger into them. On digging them up I always found these beetles lying at the bottom, about five inches under ground. Sometimes there were short whitish worms, about as thick as one’s finger, which lay with the beetles; and perhaps they were related to them. There were likewise other insects in such holes, as, a black cricket (Gryllus campestris)? spiders, earth-beetles (Carabi), and others. This beetle had a scent exactly like the Trifolium melilotus cærulea, or the blue melilot. It was entirely covered with oblong pale ticks (Acari). Its feet were as strong as those of the common Dung-chaffer (Scarabæus stercorarius).

April the 4th. A Cicindela, or shining beetle, with a gold-green head, thorax, and feet, and a blue green abdomen or belly, flew every where about the fields, and was hunting other insects. It is very common in North America, and seems to be a mere variety of the Cicindela campestris.

Cimex lacustris, a kind of Water-bugs, hopped in numbers on the surface of waters which had a slow course.

Dytiscus piceus, or, the great Water-beetle, swam sometimes in the water.

About sixty years ago, the greatest part of this country was covered with tall and thick trees, and the swamps were full of water. But it has undergone so great a change, as few other places have undergone, in so short a time. At present the forests are cut down in most places, the swamps drained by ditches, the country cultivated, and changed into corn-fields, meadows, and pastures. Therefore, it seems very reasonable to suppose, that so sudden a change has likewise had some effect upon the weather. I was therefore desirous of hearing from the old Swedes, who have lived the longest in this country, and have been inhabitants of this place during the whole time of the change mentioned, whether the present state of the weather was in some particulars remarkably different from that which they felt in their younger years? The following is an account which they all unanimously gave me in answer to this question.

The winter came sooner formerly than it does now. Mr. Isaac Norris, a wealthy merchant, who has a considerable share in the government of Pensylvania, confirmed this by a particular account. His father, one of the first English merchants in this country, observed, that in his younger years, the river Delaware was commonly covered with ice, about the middle of November, old style, so that the merchants were obliged to bring down their ships in great haste before that time, for fear of their being obliged to ly all winter. On the contrary, this river seldom freezes over at present, before the middle of December, old stile.

It snowed much more in winter, formerly, than it does now; but the weather in general was likewise more constant and uniform; and when the cold set in, it continued to the end of February, or till March, old style, when it commonly began to grow warm. At present, it is warm, even the very next day after a severe cold; and sometimes the weather changes several times a day.

Most of the old people here were of opinion, that spring came much later at present, than formerly, and that it was now much colder in the latter end of February, and the whole month of May, than when they were young. Formerly the fields were as green, and the air as warm, towards the end of February, as it is now in March, or in the beginning of April, old stile. The Swedes at that time made use of this phrase: Pask bitida, Pask sent, altid Gras, that is, we have always grass at Easter, whether it be soon or late in the year. But perhaps we can account as follows, for the opinion which the people here have, that vegetation appeared formerly more forward than it does now. Formerly the cattle were not so numerous as now; however, the woods were full of grass and herbs, which, according to the testimony of all the old people here, grew to the height of a man. At present a great part of the annual grasses and plants have been entirely extirpated by the continual grazing of numbers of cattle. These annual grasses were probably green very early in spring, and (being extirpated) might lead the people to believe, that every thing came on sooner formerly, than it does at present.

It used to rain more abundantly than it does now, during the harvest especially, the rains fell in such plenty, that it was very difficult to bring home the hay and corn. Some of the last years had been extremely dry. However, a few people were of opinion that it rained as plentifully at present, as formerly.

All the people agreed, that the weather was not by far so inconstant, when they were young, as it is now. For at present it happens at all times of the year, that when a day has been warm, the next is very cold, and vice versa. It frequently happens that the weather alters several times in one day; so that when it has been a pretty warm morning, the wind blows from N. W. about ten o’clock, and brings a cold air with it; yet a little after noon it may be warm again. My meteorological observations sufficiently confirm the reality of these sudden changes of weather, which are said to cause in a great measure the people to be more unhealthy at present, than they were formerly.

I likewise found every body agree in asserting, that the winter, betwixt the autumn of the year 1697, and the spring of the year 1698, was the coldest and the severest which they had ever felt.

April the 6th. Sanguinaria Canadensis, which is here called Blood-root, because the root is great and red, and, when cut, looks like the root of red beet, and the Epigæa repens, which some call the creeping ground Laurel, were both beginning to flower. The former grew in a rich mould, the other in a poorer soil.

The Laurus æstivalis, which some people call Spice-wood, likewise began to blossom about this time; its leaves were not yet broke out; it liked a moist soil in the woods.

April the 9th. Apocynum Cannabinum was by the Swedes called Hemp of the Indians; [26] and grew plentifully in old corn-grounds, in woods, on hills, and in high glades. The Swedes have given it the name of Indian hemp, because the Indians formerly, and even now, apply it to the same purposes as the Europeans do hemp; for the stalk may be divided into filaments, and is easily prepared. When the Indians were yet settled among the Swedes, in Pensylvania and New Jersey, they made ropes of this Apocynum, which the Swedes bought, and employed them as bridles, and for nets. These ropes were stronger, and kept longer in water, than such as were made of common hemp. The Swedes commonly got fourteen yards of these ropes for one piece of bread. Many of the Europeans still buy such ropes, because they last so well. The Indians likewise make several other stuffs of their hemp. On my journey through the country of the Iroquese, I saw the women employed in manufacturing this hemp. They made use neither of spinning-wheels nor distaffs, but rolled the filaments upon their bare thighs, and made thread and strings of them, which they dyed red, yellow, black, &c. and afterwards worked them into stuffs, with a great deal of ingenuity. The plant is perennial, which renders the annual planting of it altogether unnecessary. Out of the root and stalk of this plant, when it is fresh, comes a white milky juice, which is somewhat poisonous. Sometimes the fishing tackle of the Indians consists entirely of this hemp. The Europeans make no use of it, that I know of.

Flax and Cat-tail, were names given to a plant which grows in bays, rivers, and in deep whirlpools, and which is known to botanists by the name of Typha latifolia. Its leaves are here twisted together, and formed into great oblong rings, which are put upon the horse’s neck, between the mane and the collar, in order to prevent the horse’s neck from being hurt by the collar. The bottoms of chairs were frequently made of these leaves, twisted together. Formerly the Swedes employed the wool or cotton which surrounds its seeds, and put it into their beds, instead of feathers; but as it coalesces into lumps after the beds have been used for some time, they have left off making use of them. I omit the use of this plant in physic, it being the peculiar province of the physicians.

A species of Leek [27], very like that which appears only in woods on hills in Sweden, grows at present on almost all corn-fields mixed with sand. The English here called it Garlick. On some fields it grew in great abundance. When the cattle grazed on such fields, and ate the garlick, their milk, and the butter which was made of it, tasted so strongly of it, that they were scarce eatable. Sometimes they sold butter in the Philadelphia markets, which tasted so strongly of garlick that it was entirely useless. On this account, they do not suffer milking cows to graze on fields where garlick abounds: this they reserve for other species of cattle. When the cattle eat much of this garlick in summer, their flesh has likewise such a strong flavour, that it is unfit for eating. This kind of garlick appears early in spring; and the horses always passed by it, without ever touching it.

It would take too much room in my Journal, and render it too prolix, were I to mark down the time when every wild plant in this country was in blossom, when it got ripe seeds, what soil was peculiar to it, besides other circumstances. Some of my readers would be but little amused with such a botanical digression. I intend therefore to reserve all this for another work, which will give a particular account of all the plants of North America; and I shall only mention such trees and plants here, which deserve to be made known for some peculiar quality.

April the 12th. This morning I went to Philadelphia and the places adjacent, in order to know whether there were more plants lately sprung up, than at Raccoon, and in New Jersey in general. The wet weather which had happened the preceding days, had made the roads very bad in low and clayey places.

The leaves which dropt last autumn had covered the ground, in depth three or four inches. As this seems to hinder the growth of the grass, it was customary to burn it in March or at the end of that month, (according to the old stile) in order to give the grass the liberty of growing up. I found several spots burnt in this manner to-day; but if it be useful one way, it does a great deal of damage in another; all the young shoots of several trees were burnt with the dead leaves, which diminishes the woods considerably; and in such places where the dead leaves had been burnt for several years together, the old trees only were left, which being cut down, there remains nothing but a great field, without any wood. At the same time all sorts of trees and plants are consumed by the fire, or at least deprived of their power of budding; a great number of the plants, and most of the grasses here, are annual; their seeds fall between the leaves, and by that means are burnt: This is another cause of universal complaint, that grass is much scarcer at present in the woods than it was formerly; a great number of dry and hollow trees are burnt at the same time, though they could serve as fewel in the houses, and by that means spare part of the forests. The upper mould likewise burns away in part by that means, not to mention several other inconveniences with which this burning of the dead leaves is attended. To this purpose the government of Pensylvania have lately published an edict, which prohibits this burning; nevertheless every one did as he pleased, and this prohibition met with a general censure.

There were vast numbers of Woodlice in the woods about this time; they are a very disagreeable insect, for as soon as a person sits down on an old stump of a tree, or on a tree which is cut down, or on the ground itself, a whole army of Woodlice creep upon his clothes, and insensibly come upon the naked body. I have given a full account of their bad qualities, and of other circumstances relating to them, in the Memoirs of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. See the Volume for the year 1754, page 19.

I had a piece of petrified wood given me to-day, which was found deep in the ground at Raccoon. In this wood the fibres and inward rings appeared very plainly; it seemed to be a piece of hiccory; for it was as like it, in every respect, as if it had but just been cut from a hiccory-tree.

I likewise got some shells to-day which the English commonly call Clams, and whereof the Indians make their ornaments and money, which I shall take an opportunity of speaking of in the sequel. These Clams were not fresh, but such as are every where found in New Jersey, on digging deep into the ground; the live shells of this kind are only found in salt water, and on the sea coasts. But these Clams were found at Raccoon, about eight or nine English miles from the river Delaware, and near a hundred from the nearest sea-shore.

At night I went to Mr Bartram’s seat.

April the 13th. I employed this day in several observations relative to Botany.

Two nests of wasps hung in a high maple-tree, over a brook. Their form was wholly the same with that of our wasp-nests, but they exceeded them in size. Each nest was ten inches in diameter; in each nest were three cakes, above one another, of which the lowermost was the biggest, and the two uppermost decreased in proportion: there were some eggs of wasps in them. The diameter of the lowest cake was about six inches, and one quarter, and that of the uppermost, three inches, and three quarters. The cells in which the eggs or the young ones were deposited were hexagonal, and the colour of the nest grey. I was told, that the wasps make this kind of nests out of the grey splints, which stick to old pales and walls. A dark brown bee, with black antennæ, and two black rings on the belly, and purple wings, flew about the trees, and might perhaps be an inhabitant of these nests.

Another kind of wasps, which are larger than these, make their nests quite open. It consists merely of one cake, which has no covering, and is made of the boughs of trees. The cells are horizontal, and when the eggs or the young larvæ ly in them, they have lids or coverings, that the rain may not come into them. But whither the old wasps retreat during storms, is a mystery to me, except they creep into the crevices of rocks. That side of the cake which is uppermost is covered with some oily particles, so that the rain cannot penetrate. The cells are hexagonal, from five to seven lines deep, and two lines in diameter. Mr. Bartram observed, that these nests are built of two sorts of materials, viz. the splints which are found upon old pales, or fences, and which the wind separates from them; for the wasps have often been observed to sit on such old wood, and to gnaw away these splints; the sides and the lid or cover of the cells are made of an animal substance, or glutinous matter, thrown up by the wasps, or prepared in their mouths; for when this substance is thrown into the fire, it does not burn, but is only singed, like hair or horn. But the bottom of the nest being put into the fire, burns like linen or half-rotten wood, and leaves a smell of burnt wood. The wasps, whose nests I have now described, have three elevated black shining points on the forehead [28], and a pentagonal black spot on the thorax. Towards the end of autumn these wasps creep into the cavities of mountains, where they ly torpid during winter. In spring, when the sun begins to operate, they come out during day-time, but return towards night, when it grows cold. I saw them early in spring during sunshine, in and about some cavities in the mountains. I was told of another species of wasps, which make their nests under ground.

Gyrinus natator (Americanus), or the Whirl-beetles. These were found dancing in great numbers on the surface of the waters.

April the 14th. This morning I went down to Chester: in several places on the road are saw-mills, but those which I saw to-day had no more than one saw. I likewise perceived that the woods and forests of these parts had been very roughly treated. It is customary here, when they erect saw-mills, wind-mills, or iron works, to lead the water a good way lower, in case the ground near a fall in the river is not convenient for building upon.

April the 16th. This morning I returned to Raccoon. This country has several kinds of swallows, viz. such as live in barns, in chimneys, and under ground; there are likewise martens.

The Barn Swallows, or House Swallows are those with a furcated tail. They are Linnæus’s Hirundo rustica. I found them in all the parts of North America which I travelled over. They correspond very nearly to the European House Swallow in regard to their colour, however there seems to be a small difference in the note. I took no notice this year when they arrived: but the following year, 1750, I observed them for the first time on the 10th of April (new style); the next day in the morning, I saw great numbers of them sitting on posts and planks, and they were as wet as if they had been just come out of the sea [29]. They build their nests in houses, and under the roofs on the outside; I likewise found their nests built on mountains and rocks whose top projected beyond the bottom; they build too under the corners of perpendicular rocks; and this shews where the Swallows made their nests, before the Europeans settled and built houses here; for it is well known that the huts of the Indians could not serve the purpose of the Swallows. A very creditable lady and her children told me the following story, assuring me that they were eye-witnesses to it: A couple of Swallows built their nest in the stable belonging to the lady; the female Swallow sat upon the nest, laid eggs in it, and was about to brood them; some days after, the people saw the female still sitting on the eggs: but the male flying about the nest and sometimes settling on a nail, was heard to utter a very plaintive note, which betrayed his uneasiness: on a nearer examination the female was found dead in the nest, and the people flung her away. The male then went to sit upon the eggs, but after being about two hours on them, and thinking the business too troublesome for him, he went out, and returned in the afternoon with another female, which sat upon the eggs, and afterwards fed the young ones, till they were able to provide for themselves. The people differed here in their opinions about the abode of Swallows in winter: most of the Swedes thought that they lay at the bottom of the sea; some, with the English and the French in Canada, thought that they migrate to the southward in autumn, and return in spring. I have likewise been credibly informed in Albany, that they have been found sleeping in deep holes and clefts of rocks, during winter.

The Chimney Swallows are the second species, and they derive their name from building their nests in chimneys, which are not made use of in summer: sometimes when the fire is not very great, they do not mind the smoke, and remain in the chimney. I did not see them this year till late in May, but in the ensuing year, 1750, they arrived on the 3d of May, for they appear much later than the other Swallows. It is remarkable that each feather in their tail ends in a stiff sharp point, like the end of an awl; they apply the tail to the side of the wall in the chimneys, hold themselves with their feet, and the stiff tail serves to keep them up: they make a great thundering noise all the day long, by flying up and down in the chimneys; and as they build their nests in chimneys only; and it is well known that the Indians have not so much as a hearth made of masonry, much less a chimney, but make their fires on the ground in their huts, it is an obvious question, Where did these Swallows build their nests before the Europeans came, and made houses with chimneys? It is probable that they formerly made them in great hollow trees; This opinion was adopted by Mr. Bartram, and many others here, Catesby has described the Chimney Swallow and figured it [30], and Dr. Linnæus calls it Hirundo Pelasgia.

The Ground Swallows or Sand Martins, (Linnæus’s Hirundo riparia) are to be met with every where in America; they make their nests in the ground on the steep shores of rivers and lakes.

The Purple Martins have likewise been described and drawn in their natural colours by Catesby [31]. Dr. Linnæus likewise calls them Hirundo purpurea. They are less common here than the former species; I have seen in several places little houses made of boards, and fixed on the outside of the walls, on purpose that these Martins may make their nests in them; for the people are very desirous of having them near their houses, because they both drive away hawks and crows as soon as they see them, and alarm the poultry by their anxious note, of the approach of their enemies. The chickens are likewise used to run under shelter, as soon as they are warned by the Martins.

April the 17th. The Dirca palustris, or Mouse-wood, is a little shrub which grows on hills, towards swamps and marshes, and was now in full blossom. The English in Albany call it Leather-wood, because its bark is as tough as leather. The French in Canada call it Bois de Plomb, or Leaden-wood, because the wood itself is as soft and as tough as lead. The bark of this shrub was made use of for ropes, baskets, &c. by the Indians, whilst they lived among the Swedes. And it is really very fit for that purpose, on account of its remarkable strength and toughness, which is equal to that of the Lime-tree bark. The English and the Dutch in many parts of North America, and the French in Canada, employ this bark in all cases, where we make use of Lime-tree bark in Europe. The tree itself is very tough, and you cannot easily separate its branches without the help of a knife: some people employ the twigs for rods.

April the 20th. This day I found the Strawberries in flower, for the first time, this year: the fruit is commonly larger than that in Sweden; but it seems to be less sweet and agreeable.

The annual harvest, I am told, is always of such a nature, that it affords plenty of bread for the inhabitants, though it turns out to greater advantage in some years than it does in others. A venerable septuagenary Swede, called Aoke Helm, assured me, that in his time no absolutely barren crop had been met with, but that the people had always had pretty plentiful crops. It is likewise to be observed, that the people eat their bread of maize, rye, or wheat, quite pure and free from the inferior kinds of corn, and clear of husks, stalks, or other impurities. Many aged Swedes and Englishmen confirmed this account, and said, that they could not remember any crop so bad as to make the people suffer in the least, much less that any body was starved to death, whilst they here in America. Sometimes the price of corn rose higher in one year than in another, on account of a great drought or bad weather, but still there was always corn sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants. Nor is it likely that any great famine can happen in this country, unless it please God to afflict it with extraordinary punishments. The weather is well known, from more than sixty years experience. Here are no cold nights which hurt the germ. The wet is of short continuance, and the drought is seldom or never of long duration. But the chief thing is the great variety of corn. The people sow the different kinds, at different times and seasons, and though one crop turn out bad, yet another succeeds. The summer is so long, that of some species of corn they may get three crops. There is hardly a month from May to October or November, inclusive, in which the people do not reap some kind of corn, or gather some sort of fruit. It would indeed be a very great misfortune if a bad crop should happen; for here, as in many other places, they lay up no stores, and are contented that there is plenty of food for the present exigencies.

The Peach-trees were now every where in blossom; their leaves were not yet come out of the buds, and therefore the flowers shewed to greater advantage; their beautiful pale red colour had a very fine effect; and they sat so close that the branches were entirely clad with them. The other fruit-trees were not yet in flower; however the apple-blossoms began to appear.

The English and the Swedes of America give the name of Currants [32] to a shrub which grows in wet ground, and near swamps, and which was now in blossom; its flowers are white, have a very agreeable fragrancy, and grow in oblong bunches; the fruit is very good eating, when it is ripe; the Style (Stylus) is thread-shaped (filiformis), and shorter than the Stamina; it is divided in the middle, into five parts, or Stigmata. Dr. Linnæus calls it Cratægus [33], and Dr. Gronovius calls it a Mespilus [34].

April the 22d. The Swedes give the name of Whipperiwill, and the English that of Whip-poor-will, to a kind of nocturnal bird, whose voice is heard in North America, almost throughout the whole night. Catesby and Edwards both have described and figured it [35]. Dr. Linnæus calls it a variety of the Caprimulgus Europæus, or Goat-sucker: its shape, colour, size, and other qualities, make it difficult to distinguish them from each other. But the peculiar note of the American one distinguishes it from the European one, and from all other birds: it is not found here during winter, but returns with the beginning of summer. I heard it to-day, for the first time, and many other people said, that they had not heard it before this summer; its English and Swedish name is taken from its note; but, accurately speaking, it does not call Whipperiwill, nor Whip-poor-will, but rather Whipperiwhip so that the first and last syllables are accented, and the intermediate ones but slightly pronounced. The English change the call of this bird into Whip-poor-will, that it may have some kind of signification: it is neither heard nor seen in day-time; but soon after sun-set it begins to call, and continues for a good while, as the cuckow does in Europe. After it has continued calling in a place for some time, it removes to another, and begins again: it commonly comes several times in a night, and settles close to the houses; I have seen it coming late in the evening, and settling on the steps of the house, in order to sing its song; it is very shy, and when a person stood still, it would settle close by him, and begin to call. It came to the houses in order to get its food, which consists of insects; and those always abound near the houses at night; when it sat and called its whipperiwhip, and saw an insect passing, it flew up and caught it, and settled again. Sometimes you hear four or five, or more, near each other, calling as it were for a wager, and raising a great noise in the woods. They were seldom heard in towns, being either extirpated there, or frightened away, by frequent shooting. They do not like to sit on trees, but are commonly on the ground, or very low in bushes, or on the lower poles of the enclosures. They always fly near the ground: they continue their calling at night till it grows quite dark; they are silent till the dawn of day comes on, and then they call till the sun rises. The sun seems to stop their mouths, or dazzle their eyes, so as to make them sit still. I have never heard them call in the midst of night, though I hearkened very attentively, on purpose to hear it; and many others have done the same. I am told they make no nest, but lay two eggs in the open fields. My servant shot at one which sat on a bush near the house, and though he did not hit it, yet it fell down through fear, and lay for some time quite dead; but recovered afterwards. It never attempted to bite when it was held in the hands, only endeavouring to get loose by stirring itself about. Above, and close under the eyes, were several black, long, and stiff bristles, as in other nocturnal birds. The Europeans eat it. Mr. Catesby says, the Indians affirm, that they never saw these birds, or heard of them, before a certain great battle, in which the Europeans killed a great number of Indians. Therefore, they suppose that these birds, which are restless, and utter their plaintive note at night, are the souls of their ancestors who died in battle.

April the 24th. To-day the Cherry-trees began to shew their blossom; they had already pretty large leaves.

The Apple-trees likewise began to blossom; however the Cherry-trees were more forward: They likewise got a greenish hue from their leaves.

The Mulberry-trees [36] were yet quite naked; and I was sorry to find that this tree is one of the latest in getting leaves, and one of the first which gets fruit.

April the 26th. This morning I travelled to Penn’s Neck. The Tulip-trees, especially the tall ones, looked quite green, being covered with their leaves; this tree is therefore one of the earliest which get leaves.

To-day I saw the flowers of the Sassafras-tree, (Laurus Sassafras). The leaves were not yet come out. The flowers have a fine smell.

The Lupinus perennis is abundant in the woods, and grows equally in good soil and in poor. I often found it thriving on very poor sandy fields, and on heaths, where no other plants will grow. Its flowers, which commonly appear in the middle of May, make a fine shew by their purple hue. I was told, that the cattle eat these flowers very greedily; but I was sorry to find very often that they were not so fond of it, as it is represented, especially when they had any thing else to eat; and they seldom touched it notwithstanding its fine green colour, and its softness: The horses eat the flowers, but leave the stalks and leaves. If the cattle eat this plant in spring, necessity and hunger give it a relish. This country does not afford any green pastures like the Swedish ones; the woods are the places where the cattle must collect their food. The ground in the woods is chiefly flat, or with very little risings. The trees stand far asunder; but the ground between them is not covered with green sods; for there are but few kinds of grasses in the woods, and they stand single and scattered. The soil is very loose, partly owing to the dead leaves which cover the ground during a great part of the year. Thus the cattle find very little grass in the woods, and are forced to be satisfied with all kinds of plants which come in their way, whether they be good or bad food. I saw for some time this spring, that the cattle bit off the tops and shoots of young trees, and fed upon them; for no plants were yet come up, and they stand in general but very thin, and scattered here and there, as I have just mentioned. Hence you may easily imagine that hunger compels the cattle to eat plants, which they would not touch, were they better provided for. However, I am of opinion, that it would be worth while to make use of this Lupine to mend dry sandy heaths, and, I believe, it would not be absolutely impossible to find out the means of making it agreeable to the cattle.

The Oaks here have similar qualities with the European ones. They keep their dead leaves almost during the whole winter, and are very backward in getting fresh ones; they had no leaves as yet, and were but just beginning to shew a few.

The Humming-bird, which the Swedes call Kings-bird [37], and which I have mentioned in a former volume, appeared hereabouts to-day, for the first time this spring.

Numbers of Oil beetles, (Meloë Proscarabœus) sat on the leaves of white Hellebore, (Veratrum album) and feasted on them. I considered them a great while, and they devoured a leaf in a few minutes. Some of them had already eaten so much that they could hardly creep. Thus this plant, which is almost certain death to other animals, is their dainty food.

The fire-flies appeared at night, for the first time this year, and flew about between the trees, in the woods. It seemed, in the dark, as if sparks of fire flew up and down. I will give a more particular account of them in another place.

Towards night I went to Raccoon.

May the 1st. The last night was so cold that the ground at sun-rising was as white as snow, from the hoary frost. The Swedish thermometer was a degree and a half below the freezing point. We observed no ice in the rivers or waters of any depth; but upon such only as were about three inches deep, the ice lay to the thickness of one third part of a line [38]. The evening before, the wind was south, but the night was calm. The apple-trees and cherry-trees were in full blossom. The peach-trees were almost out of flower. Most of the forest-trees had already got new and tender leaves, and most of them were in flower, as almost all kinds of oaks, the dog-wood, (Cornus Florida), hiccory, wild prunes, sassafras, horn-beam, beeches, &c.

The plants which were found damaged by the frost, were the following. 1. The Hiccory. Most of the young trees of this kind had their leaves killed by the frost, so that they looked quite black in the afternoon; the leaves were consumed by frost every where in the fields, near the marshes, and in the woods. 2. The black Oak. Several of these trees had their leaves damaged by the frost. 3. The white Oak. Some very young trees of this kind had lost their leaves by the frost. 4. The blossoms of the Cherry-trees were hurt in several places. 5. The flowers of the English Walnut-tree were entirely spoiled by the frost. 6. The Rhus glabra. Some of these trees had already got leaves, and they were killed by the cold. 7. The Rhus radicans; the tender young trees of this kind suffered from the frost, and had their leaves partly killed. 8. The Thalictra, or Meadow Rues, had both their flowers and leaves hurt by the frost. 9. The Podophyllum peltatum. Of this plant there was not above one in five hundred hurt by the frost. 10. The Ferns. A number of them, which were lately come up, were destroyed. I must add several plants which were likewise hurt, but which I could not distinguish, on account of their smallness.

I went to several places this day.

The Bartsia coccinea grew in great abundance on several low meadows. Its flower-buds were already tinged with their precious scarlet, and adorned the meadows. It is not yet applied to any use, but that of delighting the sight.

One of the Swedes here had planted an English walnut-tree (Juglans regia) in his garden, and it was now about three yards high; it was in full blossom, and had already great leaves, whereas the black walnut-trees, which grow spontaneously in every part of this country, had not yet any leaves, or flowers. The last night’s frost had killed all the leaves of the European kind. Dr. Franklin told me afterwards, that there had been some English walnut-trees in Philadelphia, which came on very well; but that they were killed by the frost.

I looked about me for the trees which had not yet got fresh leaves, and I found the following ones:

Juglans nigra, or the Black Walnut-tree.

Fraxinus excelsior, or the Ash.

Acer Negundo, called the White-ash here.

Nyssa aquatica, the Tupelo-tree.

Diospyros Virginiana, or the Persimon.

Vitis Labrusca, or the Fox-grapes; and

Rhus glabra, or the Sumach.

The trees whose leaves were coming out, were the following:

Morus rubra, the Mulberry-tree.

Fagus Castanea, the Chesnut-tree.

Platanus occidentalis, or the Water-beach.

Laurus Sassafras, the Sassafras-tree.

Juglans alba, the Hiccory. Some trees of this kind had already large leaves, but others had none at all; the same difference, I believe, exists likewise among the other species of hiccory.

The Virginian Cherry-tree grows here and there, in the woods and glades: its leaves were already pretty large; but the flowers were not yet entirely open.

The Sassafras-tree was now every where in flower; but its leaves were not yet quite disclosed.

The Liquidambar Styraciflua or Sweet Gum-tree, grows in the woods, especially in wet soil, in and near purling rivulets: its leaves were now already sprouting out at its summit. This tree grows to a great thickness, and its height rivals that of the tallest firs and oaks; as it grows higher, the lower branches die and drop, and leave the stem at last quite smooth and strait, with a great crown at the very summit; the seeds are contained in round, dentated cones, which drop in autumn; and as the tree is very tall, so the high winds carry the seeds away to a great distance. I have already given an account of the use of this tree in the first volume, to which I must add the following account.

The wood can be made very smooth, because its veins are extremely fine: but it is not hard; you can carve letters on it with a knife, which will seem to be engraved. Mr. Lewis Evans told me, from his own experience, that no wood in this country was more fit for making moulds for casting brass in, than this. I enquired of Mr. Bartram, “Whether he had found the rosin on this tree, which is so much praised in physic.” He told me, “That a very odoriferous rosin always flows out of any cut or wound, which is made in the tree; but that the quantity here was too inconsiderable to recompense the labour of collecting it.” This odoriferous rosin or gum first gave rise to the English name. The further you go to the South, the greater quantity of gum does the tree yield, so that it is easy to collect it. Mr. Bartram was of opinion, that this tree was properly calculated for the climate of Carolina, and that it was brought by several ways so far North as New York. In the southern countries the heat of the Sun fills the tree with gum, but in the northern ones it does not.

May the 2d. This morning I travelled down to Salem, in order to see the country.

The Sassafras-tree stood single in the woods, and along the fences, round the fields: it was now distinguishable at a distance for its fine flowers, which being now quite open, made it look quite yellow. The leaves were not yet come out.

In some meadows the grass was already grown up pretty high: but it is to be observed, that these meadows were marshy, and that no cattle had been on them this year. These meadows are mown twice a year, viz. in May, and the end of August, or beginning of August, old style. I saw some meadows of this kind to-day, in which I saw grass which was now almost fit to be mown; and many meadows in Sweden have not such grass at the proper time of mowing, as these had now; these meadows lay in marshes and vallies, where the Sun had very great power: the grass consisted merely of Cyperus-grass or Carex.

The wild Prune-trees were now every where in flower; they grow here and there in the woods, but commonly near marshes and in wet ground; they are distinguishable by their white flowers: the fruit when ripe is eatable.

The Cornus Florida, or Dogwood, grows in the forests, on hills, on plains, in vallies, in marshes, and near rivulets. I cannot therefore say, which is its native soil; however, it seems that in a low but not a wet soil it succeeds best; it was now adorned with its great snowy Involucra, which render it conspicuous even at a distance. At this time it is a pleasure to travel through the woods, so much are they beautified by the blossoms of this tree. The flowers which are within the Involucra began to open to-day. The tree does not grow to any considerable height or thickness, but is about the size of our Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia). There are three species of this tree in the woods; one with great white Involucra, another with small white ones, and a third with reddish ones.

The woods were now full of birds: I saw the lesser species every where hopping on the ground, or creeping in bushes, without any great degree of shiness; it is therefore very easy for all kinds of snakes to approach and bite them. I believe that the rattlesnake has nothing to do but to ly still, and without waiting long, some little bird or other will pass by or run directly upon her, giving her an opportunity of catching it, without any enchantment.

Salem is a little trading town, situated at some distance from the river Delaware. The houses do not stand far asunder, and are partly stone, and partly wood. A rivulet passes by the town, and falls into the Delaware. The inhabitants live by their several trades, as well as they can. In the neighbourhood of Salem are some very low and swampy meadows; and therefore it is reckoned a very unwholesome place. Experience has shewn, that those who came hither from other places to settle, got a very pale and sickly look, though they arrived in perfect health, and with a very lively colour. The town is very easily distinguished about this time, by the disagreeable stench which arises from the swamps. The vapours of the putrid water are carried to those inhabitants which live next to the marshes; and enter the body along with the air, and through the pores, and thus are hurtful to health. At the end of every summer, the intermitting fevers are very frequent. I knew a young couple, who came along with me from England to America: soon after their arrival at Philadelphia, they went to Salem, in perfect health; but a few weeks after they fell sick, and before the winter was half over they were both dead.

Many of the inhabitants plant Saffron; but it is not so good and so strong as the English and French Saffron. Perhaps it grows better by being laid up for some years, as tobacco does.

The Gossypium herbaceum, or Cotton plant, is an annual plant; and several of the inhabitants of Salem had began to sow it. Some had the seeds from Carolina, where they have great plantations of cotton; but others got it out of some cotton which they had bought. They said, it was difficult, at first, to get ripe seeds from the plants which were sown here; for the summer in Carolina, from whence their first seed came, is both longer and hotter than it is here. But after the plants have been more used to the climate, and hastened more than they were formerly, the seeds are ripe in due time.

At night I returned to Raccoon.

May the 4th. Crab-trees are a species of wild apple trees, which grow in the woods and glades, but especially on little hillocks, near rivers [39]. In New Jersey the tree is rather scarce; but in Pensylvania it is plentiful. Some people had planted a single tree of this kind near their farms, on account of the fine smells which its flowers afford. It had begun to open some of its flowers about a day or two ago; however, most of them were not yet open. They are exactly like the blossoms of the common apple-trees, except that the colour is a little more reddish in the Crab-trees; though some kinds of the cultivated trees have flowers which are very near as red: but the smell distinguishes them plainly; for the wild trees have a very pleasant smell, somewhat like the rasp-berry. The apples, or crabs, are small, sour, and unfit for any thing but to make vinegar of. They ly under the trees all the winter, and acquire a yellow colour. They seldom begin to rot before spring comes on.

I cannot omit an observation here. The Crab-trees opened their flowers only yesterday and to-day; whereas, the cultivated apple-trees, which are brought from Europe, had already lost their flowers. The wild cherry-trees did not flower before the 12th of May; on the other hand, the cultivated or European ones, had already opened their blossoms on the 24th of April. The black walnut-trees of this country had neither leaves nor flowers, when the European kind has large leaves and blossoms. From hence it appears, that trees brought over from Europe, of the same kind with the wild trees of America, flower much sooner than the latter. I cannot say what is the reason of this forwardness of the European trees in this country, unless they bring forth their blossoms as soon as they get a certain degree of warmth, which they have in their native country. It seems, the European trees do not expect, after a considerable degree of warmth, any such cold nights as will kill their flowers; for, in the cold countries, there seldom happen any hot days succeeded by such cold nights as will hurt the flowers considerably. On the contrary, the wild trees in this country are directed by experience, (if I may so speak) not to trust to the first warmth; but they wait for a greater heat, when they are already safe from cold nights. Therefore, it happens often, that the flowers of the European trees are killed by the frosts here; but the native trees are seldom hurt, though they be of the same kind with the European ones. This is a manifest proof of the wisdom of the Creator.

May the 5th. Early this morning I went to Rapaapo, which is a great village, whose farms ly all scattered. It was inhabited merely by Swedes, and not a single Englishman, or people of any other nation, lived in it: therefore they have preserved their native Swedish tongue, and mixed but few English words with it. The intention of my journey was partly to see the place, and to collect plants; and other natural curiosities there; and partly to find the places where the White Cedar, or Cupressus thyoides, grows.

The Mayflowers, as the Swedes call them, were plentiful in the woods where-ever I went to-day; especially on a dry soil, or one that is somewhat moist. The Swedes have given them this name, because they are in full blossom in May. Some of the Swedes and the Dutch call them Pinxterbloem, (Whitsunday flowers), as they really are in blossom about Whitsuntide. The English call them Wild Honeysuckles; and at a distance they have some similarity to the Honeysuckle, or Lonicera. Dr. Linnæus, and other botanists, call it an Azalea [40]. Its flowers were now open, and added a new ornament to the woods, being little inferior to the flowers of the honeysuckle and Hedysarum. They sit in a circle round the stem’s extremity, and have either a dark red or a lively red colour; but, by standing for some time, the sun bleaches them, and at last they get a whitish hue. I know not why Colden calls them yellow [41]. The height of the bush is not always alike. Some were as tall as a full grown man, and taller, others were but low, and some were not above a palm from the ground; yet they were all full of flowers. The people have not yet found that this plant may be applied to any use; they only gather the flowers, and put them in pots, because they are very shewy. They have some smell; but I cannot say it is very pleasant. However, the beauty of the colour entitles them to a place in every flower-garden.

To-day I saw the first ear of this year’s rye. In Sweden, rye begins to shew its ears about Ericmas, that is, about the 18th of May, old stile [42]. But in New Sweden, the people said, they always saw the ears of rye in April, old stile; whether the spring begins late or early. However, in some years the ears come early, and in others late, in April. This spring was reckoned one of the late ones.