OF THE CURRENCY AND VALUATION OF COINS IN VIRGINIA.
Sec. 64. The coin which chiefly they have among them, is either gold, of
the stamp of Arabia, or silver and gold, of the stamp of France,
Portugal or the Spanish America: Spanish, French and Portuguese coined
silver is settled by law at three pence three farthings the pennyweight.
Gold of the same coin, and of Arabia, at five shillings the pennyweight.
English guineas at twenty-six shillings each, and the silver two pence
in every shilling advance, English old coin goes by weight as the other
gold and silver.
OF THE
HUSBANDRY AND IMPROVEMENTS
OF
VIRGINIA.
PART II.
CHAPTER XV.
OF THE PEOPLE, INHABITANTS OF VIRGINIA.
Sec. 65. I can easily imagine with Sir Josiah Child, that this, as well as
all the rest of the plantations, was for the most part, at first,
peopled by persons of low circumstances, and by such as were willing to
seek their fortunes in a foreign country. Nor was it hardly possible it
should be otherwise; for 'tis not likely that any man of a plentiful
estate should voluntarily abandon a happy certainty, to roam after
imaginary advantages in a new world. Besides which uncertainty, he must
have proposed to himself to encounter the infinite difficulties and
dangers that attend a new settlement. These discouragements were
sufficient to terrify any man, that could live easily in England, from
going to provoke his fortune in a strange land.
Sec. 66. Those that went over to that country first, were chiefly single
men who had not the incumbrance of wives and children in England; and if
they had, they did not expose them to the fatigue and hazard of so long
a voyage, until they saw how it should fare with themselves. From hence
it came to pass, that when they were settled there in a comfortable way
of subsisting a family, they grew sensible of the misfortune of wanting
wives, and such as had left wives in England sent for them, but the
single men were put to their shifts. They excepted against the Indian
women on account of their being pagans, as well as their complexions,
and for fear they should conspire with those of their own nation to
destroy their husbands. Under this difficulty they had no hopes, but
that the plenty in which they lived might invite modest women, of small
fortunes, to go over thither from England. However, they would not
receive any, but such as could carry sufficient certificate of their
modesty and good behavior. Those, if they were but moderately qualified
in all other respects, might depend upon marrying very well in those
days, without any fortune. Nay, the first planters were so far from
expecting money with a woman, that 'twas a common thing for them to buy
a deserving wife, that carried good testimonials of her character, at
the price of one hundred pounds, and make themselves believe they had a
bargain.
Sec. 67. But this way of peopling the colony was only at first. For after
the advantages of the climate, and the fruitfulness of the soil were
well known, and all the dangers incident to infant settlements were
over, people of better condition retired thither with their families,
either to increase the estates they had before, or else to avoid being
persecuted for their principles of religion or government.
Thus, in the time of the rebellion in England, several good cavalier
families went thither with their effects, to escape the tyranny of the
usurper, or acknowledgement of his title. And so again, upon the
restoration, many people of the opposite party took refuge there, to
shelter themselves from the king's resentment. But Virginia had not many
of these last, because that country was famous for holding out the
longest for the royal family, of any of the English dominions. For
which reason the Roundheads went, for the most part, to New England, as
did most of those that in the reign of King Charles II were molested on
account of their religion, though some of these fell likewise to the
share of Virginia. As for malefactors condemned to transportation, tho'
the greedy planter will always buy them, yet it is to be feared they
will be very injurious to the country, which has already suffered many
murders and robberies, the effect of that new law of England.
CHAPTER XVI.
OF THE BUILDINGS OF VIRGINIA.
Sec. 68. There are three fine public buildings in this country, which are
said to be the most magnificent of any in the English America: one of
which is the college before spoken of, another the capitol or state
house, as it was formerly called; that is, the house for convention of
the general assembly, for the sitting of the general court, for the
meeting of the council, and for keeping of their several offices,
belonging to them.
Not far from this, is also built the public prison of the country for
criminals, which is a large and convenient structure, with partitions
for the different sexes, and distinct rooms for petty offenders. To this
is also annexed a convenient yard to air the criminals in, for the
preservation of their life and health, till the time of their trial; and
at the end of that, another prison for debtors.
The third is a house for the governor, not the largest, but by far the
most beautiful of all the others. It was granted by the assembly in
Governor Nott's time, begun in President Jennings' time, but received
its beauty and conveniency for the many alterations and decorations, of
the present governor, Colonel Spotswood; who, to the lasting honor and
happiness of the country, arrived there, while this house was carrying
up.
In his time was also built a new brick church, and brick magazine for
arms and ammunition, and the streets of the town altered from the
fanciful forms of Ws and Ms to much more conveniences.
These are all erected at Middle plantation, now named Williamsburg,
where land is laid out for a town. They all are built of brick, and
covered with shingle, except the debtors' prison which is flat roofed
anew; a very useful invention of the present governor also.
Sec. 69. The private buildings are also in his time very much improved,
several gentlemen there, having built themselves large brick houses of
many rooms on a floor; but they don't covet to make them lofty, having
extent enough of ground to build upon; and now and then they are visited
by high winds, which would incommode a towering fabric. They love to
have large rooms, that they may be cool in summer. Of late they have
made their stories much higher than formerly, and their windows larger,
and sashed with crystal glass; adorning their apartments with rich
furniture.
All their drudgeries of cookery, washing, dairies, &c., are performed in
offices apart from the dwelling houses, which by this means are kept
more cool and sweet.
Their tobacco houses are all built of wood, as open and airy as is
consistent with keeping out the rain; which sort of building is most
convenient for the curing of their tobacco.
Their common covering for dwelling houses is shingle, which is an oblong
square of cypress or pine wood; but they cover their tobacco houses with
thin clap board; and though they have slate enough in some particular
parts of the country, and as strong clay as can be desired for making of
tile, yet they have very few tiled houses; neither has any one yet
thought it worth his while to dig up the slate, which will hardly be
made use of, till the carriage there becomes cheaper, and more common;
the slate lying far up the frontiers above water carriage.
CHAPTER XVII.
OF THE EDIBLES, POTABLES, AND FUEL IN VIRGINIA.
Sec. 70. The families being altogether on country seats, they have their
graziers, seedsmen, gardeners, brewers, bakers, butchers and cooks,
within themselves. They have plenty and variety of provisions for their
table; and as for spicery, and other things that the country don't
produce, they have constant supplies of them from England. The gentry
pretend to have their victuals dressed, and served up as nicely, as if
they were in London.
Sec. 71. When I come to speak of their cattle, I can't forbear charging my
countrymen with exceeding ill husbandry, in not providing sufficiently
for them all winter, by which means they starve their young cattle, or
at least stint their growth; so that they seldom or never grow so large
as they would do, if they were well managed; for the humor is there, if
people can but save the lives of their cattle, though they suffer them
to be never so poor in the winter, yet they will presently grow fat
again in the spring, which they esteem sufficient for their purpose. And
this is the occasion, that their beef and mutton are seldom or never so
large, or so fat as in England. And yet with the least feeding
imaginable, they are put into as good case as can be desired; and it is
the same with their hogs.
Their fish is in vast plenty and variety, and extraordinary good in
their kind. Beef and pork are commonly sold there, from one penny, to
two pence the pound, or more, according to the time of year; their
fattest and largest pullets at sixpence a piece; their capons at eight
pence or nine pence a piece; their chickens at three or four shillings
the dozen; their ducks at eight pence, or nine pence a piece; their
geese at ten pence or a shilling; their turkey hens at fifteen or
eighteen pence; and their turkey cocks at two shillings or half a crown.
But oysters and wild fowl are not so dear, as the things I have reckoned
before, being in their season the cheapest victuals they have. Their
deer are commonly sold from five to ten shillings, according to the
scarcity and goodness.
Sec. 72. The bread in gentlemen's houses is generally made of wheat, but
some rather choose the pone, which is the bread made of Indian meal.
Many of the poorer sort of people so little regard the English grain,
that though they might have it with the least trouble in the world, yet
they don't mind to sow the ground, because they won't be at the trouble
of making a fence particularly for it. And, therefore, their constant
bread is pone, not so called from the Latin panis, but from the Indian
name oppone.
Sec. 73. A kitchen garden don't thrive better or faster in any part of the
universe than there. They have all the culinary plants that grow in
England, and in greater perfection than in England. Besides these, they
have several roots, herbs, vine fruits, and salad flowers peculiar to
themselves, most of which will neither increase nor grow to perfection
in England. These they dish up various ways, and find them very
delicious sauce to their meats, both roast and boiled, fresh and salt;
such are the Indian cresses, red buds, sassafras flowers, cymlings,
melons and potatoes, whereof I have spoken at large in the 4th chapter
of the second book, section 20.
It is said of New England, that several plants will not grow there,
which thrive well in England; such as rue, southernwood, rosemary, bays
and lavender; and that others degenerate, and will not continue above a
year or two at the most; such are July flowers, fennel, enula campana,
clary and bloodwort. But I don't know any English plant, grain or fruit,
that miscarries in Virginia: but most of them better their kinds very
much by being sowed or planted there. It was formerly said of the red
top turnip, that there, in three or four, years time, it degenerated
into rape; but that happened merely by an error in saving the seed; for
now it appears that if they cut off the top of such a turnip, that has
been kept out of the ground all the winter, and plant that top alone
without the body of the root, it yields a seed which mends the turnip in
the next sowing.
Sec. 74. Their small drink is either wine and water, beer, milk and water,
or water alone. Their richer sort generally brew their small beer with
malt, which they have from England, though barley grows there very well;
but for want of the convenience of malthouses, the inhabitants take no
care to sow it. The poorer sort brew their beer with molasses and bran;
with Indian corn malted by drying in a stove; with persimmons dried in
cakes, and baked; with potatoes; with the green stalks of Indian corn
cut small, and bruised; with pompions, and with the batates canadensis,
or Jerusalem artichoke, which some people plant purposely for that use;
but this is the least esteemed of all the sorts before mentioned.
Their strong drink is Madeira wine, cider, mobby punch, made either of
rum from the Caribbee islands, or brandy distilled from their apples and
peaches; besides brandy, wine, and strong beer, which they have
constantly from England.
Sec. 75. Their fuel is altogether wood, which every man burns at pleasure,
it being no other charge to him than the cutting and carrying it home.
In all new grounds it is such an incumbrance, that they are forced to
burn great heaps of it to rid the land. They have very good pit coal (as
is formerly mentioned) in several places of the country; but no man has
yet thought it worth his while to make use of them, having wood in
plenty, and lying more convenient for him.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OF THE CLOTHING IN VIRGINIA.
Sec. 76. They have their clothing of all sorts from England; as linen,
woollen, silk, hats and leather. Yet flax and hemp grow no where in the
world better than there. Their sheep yield good increase, and bear good
fleeces; but they shear them only to cool them. The mulberry tree, whose
leaf is the proper food of the silk worm, grows there like a weed, and
silk worms have been observed to thrive extremely, and without any
hazard. The very furs that their hats are made of perhaps go first from
thence; and most of their hides lie and rot, or are made use of only for
covering dry goods in a leaky house. Indeed, some few hides with much
ado are tanned and made into servants' shoes, but at so careless a rate,
that the planters don't care to buy them if they can get others; and
sometimes perhaps a better manager than ordinary will vouchsafe to make
a pair of breeches of a deerskin. Nay, they are such abominable ill
husbands, that though their country be overrun with wood, yet they have
all their wooden ware from England; their cabinets, chairs, tables,
stools, chests, boxes, cart wheels, and all other things, even so much
as their bowls and birchen brooms, to the eternal reproach of their
laziness.
CHAPTER XIX.
OF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE CLIMATE, AND THE INCONVENIENCIES ATTENDING IT.
Sec. 77. The natural temperature of the inhabited part of the country is
hot and moist, though this moisture I take to be occasioned by the
abundance of low grounds, marshes, creeks and rivers, which are
everywhere among their lower settlements; but more backward in the
woods, where they are now seating, and making new plantations, they have
abundance of high and dry land, where there are only crystal streams of
water, which flow gently from their springs in innumerable branches to
moisten and enrich the adjacent lands, and where a fog is rarely seen.
Sec. 78. The country is in a very happy situation, between the extremes of
heat and cold, but inclining rather to the first. Certainly it must be a
happy climate, since it is very near of the same latitude with the land
of promise. Besides, as the land of promise was full of rivers and
branches of rivers, so is Virginia. As that was seated upon a great bay
and sea, wherein were all the conveniencies for shipping and trade, so
is Virginia. Had that fertility of soil? So has Virginia, equal to any
land in the known world. In fine, if any one impartially considers all
the advantages of this country, as nature made it, he must allow it to
be as fine a place as any in the universe, but I confess I am ashamed to
say any thing of its improvements, because I must at the same time
reproach my countrymen with unpardonable sloth. If there be any excuse
for them in this matter, 'tis the exceeding plenty of good things with
which nature has blest them; for where God Almighty is so merciful as
to give plenty and ease, people easily forget their duty.
All the countries in the world, seated in or near the latitude of
Virginia, are esteemed the fruitfullest and pleasantest of all climates.
As for example, Canaan, Syria, Persia, great part of India, China and
Japan, the Morea, Spain, Portugal, and the coast of Barbary, none of
which differ many degrees of latitude from Virginia. These are reckoned
the gardens of the world, while Virginia is unjustly neglected by its
own inhabitants, and abused by other people.
Sec. 79. That which makes this country most unfortunate, is, that it must
submit to receive its character from the mouths not only of unfit, but
very unequal judges; for all its reproaches happen after this manner.
Many of the merchants and others, that go thither from England, make no
distinction between a cold and hot country; but wisely go sweltering
about in their thick clothes all the summer, because forsooth they used
to do so in their northern climate; and then unfairly complain of the
heat of the country. They greedily surfeit with their delicious fruits,
and are guilty of great intemperance therein, through the exceeding
plenty thereof, and liberty given by the inhabitants; by which means
they fall sick, and then unjustly complain of the unhealthiness of the
country. In the next place, the sailors for want of towns there, were
put to the hardship of rolling most of the tobacco, a mile or more, to
the water side; this splinters their hands sometimes, and provokes them
to curse the country. Such exercise and a bright sun made them hot, and
then they imprudently fell to drinking cold water, or perhaps new cider,
which, in its season they found in every planter's house; or else they
greedily devour the green fruit, and unripe trash they met with, and so
fell into fluxes, fevers, and the belly ache; and then, to spare their
own indiscretion, they in their tarpaulin language, cry, God d----m the
country. This is the true state of the case, as to the complaints of its
being sickly; for, by the most impartial observation I can make, if
people will be persuaded to be temperate, and take due care of
themselves, I believe it is as healthy a country as any under heaven:
but the extraordinary pleasantness of the weather, and plenty of the
fruit, lead people into many temptations. The clearness and brightness
of the sky, add new vigor to their spirits, and perfectly remove all
splenetic and sullen thoughts. Here they enjoy all the benefits of a
warm sun, and by their shady trees are protected from its inconvenience.
Here all their senses are entertained with an endless succession of
native pleasures. Their eyes are ravished with the beauties of naked
nature. Their ears are serenaded with the perpetual murmur of brooks,
and the thorough-base which the wind plays, when it wantons through the
trees; the merry birds too, join their pleasing notes to this rural
comfort, especially the mock birds, who love society so well, that often
when they see mankind, they will perch upon a twig very near them, and
sing the sweetest wild airs in the world. But what is most remarkable in
these melodious animals, if they see a man take notice of them, they
will frequently fly at small distances, warbling out their notes from
perch to perch, be it house or tree convenient, and sometimes too fly
up, to light on the same again, and by their music make a man forget the
fatigues of his mind. Men's taste is regaled with the most delicious
fruits, which, without art, they have in great variety and perfection.
And then their smell is refreshed with an eternal fragrancy of flowers
and sweets, with which nature perfumes and adorns the woods and branches
almost the whole year round.
Have you pleasure in a garden? All things thrive in it most
surprisingly; you can't walk by a bed of flowers, but besides the
entertainment of their beauty, your eyes will be saluted with the
charming colors and curiosity of the humming bird, which revels among
the flowers, and licks off the dew and honey from their tender leaves,
on which it only feeds. Its size is not half so large as an English
wren, and its color is a glorious shining mixture of scarlet, green and
gold.
Sec. 80. On the other side, all the annoyances and inconveniences of the
country may fairly be summed up, under these three heads, thunder, heat,
and troublesome vermin.
I confess, in the hottest part of the summer, they have sometimes very
loud and surprising thunder, but rarely any damage happens by it. On the
contrary, it is of such advantage to the cooling and refining of the
air, that it is oftener wished for than feared. But they have no
earthquakes, which the Caribbee islands are so much troubled with.
Their heat is very seldom troublesome, and then only by the accident of
a perfect calm, which happens perhaps two or three times in a year, and
lasts but a few hours at a time; and even that inconvenience is made
easy by cool shades, open airy rooms, summer houses, arbors, and
grottos: but the spring and fall afford as pleasant weather as Mahomet
promised in his paradise.
All the troublesome vermin that ever I heard anybody complain of, are
either frogs, snakes, musquitoes, chinches, seed ticks, or red worms, by
some called potato lice. Of all which I shall give an account in their
order.
Some people have been so ill informed, as to say, that Virginia is full
of toads, though there never yet was seen one toad in it. The marshes,
fens, and watery grounds, are indeed full of harmless frogs which do no
hurt, except by the noise of their croaking notes: but in the upper
parts of the country, where the land is high and dry, they are very
scarce. In these swamps and running streams, they have frogs of an
incredible bigness, which are called bull frogs, from the roaring they
make. Last year I found one of these near a stream of fresh water, of so
prodigious a magnitude, that when I extended its legs, I found the
distance betwixt them to be seventeen inches and an half. If any are
good to eat, these must be the kind.
Some people in England are startled at the very name of the rattle
snake, and fancy every corner of that province so much pestered with
them, that a man goes in constant danger of his life, that walks abroad
in the woods. But this is as gross a mistake, as most of the other ill
reports of that country. For in the first place this snake is very
rarely seen; and when that happens, it never does the least mischief,
unless you offer to disturb it, and thereby provoke it to bite in its
own defence. But it never fails to give you fair warning, by making a
noise with its rattle, which may be heard at a convenient distance. For
my own part I have traveled the country as much as any man in it of my
age, by night and by day, above the inhabitants, well as among them; and
yet before the first impression of this book I had never seen a rattle
snake alive, and at liberty, in all my life. I had seen them indeed
after they had been killed, or pent up in boxes to be sent to England.
The bite of this viper without some immediate application is certainly
death; but remedies are so well known, that none of their servants are
ignorant of them. I never knew any killed by these, or any other of
their snakes, although I had a general knowledge all over the country,
and had been in every part of it. They have several other snakes which
are seen more frequently, and have very little or no hurt in them, viz:
such as they call black snakes, water snakes, and corn snakes. The black
viper snake, and the copper-bellied snake, are said to be as venomous as
the rattle snake, but they are as seldom seen; these three poisonous
snakes bring forth their young alive, whereas the other three sorts lay
eggs, which are hatched afterwards; and that is the distinction they
make, esteeming only those to be venomous, which are viviparous. They
have likewise the horn snake, so called from a sharp horn it carries in
its tail, with which it assaults anything that offends it, with that
force, that as it is said it will strike its tail into the butt end of a
musket, from which it is not able to disengage itself.
All sorts of snakes will charm both birds and squirrels, and the
Indians pretend to charm them. Several persons have seen squirrels run
down a tree directly into a snake's mouth; they have likewise seen birds
fluttering up and down, and chattering at these snakes, till at last
they have dropped down just before them.
In the end of May, 1715, stopping at an orchard by the road side to get
some cherries, being three of us in company, we were entertained with
the whole process of a charm between a rattle snake and a hare, the hare
being better than half grown. It happened thus: one of the company in
his search for the best cherries espied the hare sitting, and although
he went close by her she did not move, till he, (not suspecting the
occasion of her gentleness,) gave her a lash with his whip; this made
her run about ten feet, and there sit down again. The gentleman not
finding the cherries ripe, immediately returned the same way, and near
the place where he struck the hare, he spied a rattle snake; still not
suspecting the charm, he goes back about twenty yards to a hedge to get
a stick to kill the snake, and at his return found the snake removed,
and coiled in the same place from whence he had moved the hare. This put
him into immediate thoughts of looking for the hare again, and he soon
spied her about ten feet off the snake, in the same place to which she
had started when he whipt her. She was now lying down, but would
sometimes raise herself on her fore feet struggling as it were for life
or to get away, but could never raise her hinder parts from the ground,
and then would fall flat on her side again, panting vehemently. In this
condition the hare and snake were when he called me; and though we all
three came up within fifteen feet of the snake to have a full view of
the whole, he took no notice at all of us, nor so much as gave a glance
towards us. There we stood at least half an hour, the snake not altering
a jot, but the hare often struggling and falling on its side again, till
at last the hare lay still as dead for some time. Then the snake moved
out of his coil, and slid gently and smoothly on towards the hare, his
colors at that instant being ten times more glorious and shining than at
other times. As the snake moved along, the hare happened to fetch
another struggle, upon which the snake made a stop, laying at his
length, till the hare had lain quiet again for a short space; and then
he advanced again till he came up to the hinder parts of the hare, which
in all this operation had been towards the snake; there he made a survey
all over the hare, raising part of his body above it, then turned off
and went to the head and nose of the hare, after that to the ears, took
the ears in his mouth one after the other, working each apart in his
mouth as a man does a wafer to moisten it, then returned to the nose
again, and took the face into his mouth, straining and gathering his
lips sometimes by one side of his mouth, sometimes by the other; at the
shoulders he was a long time puzzled, often hauling and stretching the
hare out at length, and straining forward first one side of his mouth
then the other, till at last he got the whole body into his throat. Then
we went to him, and taking the twist band off from my hat, I made a
noose and put it about his neck. This made him at length very furious,
but we having secured him, put him into one end of a wallet, and carried
him on horseback five miles to Mr. John Baylor's house, where we lodged
that night, with a design to have sent him to Dr. Cock, at Williamsburg;
but Mr. Baylor was so careful of his slaves that he would not let him be
put into his boat, for fear he should get loose and mischief them;
therefore, the next morning we killed him, and took the hare out of his
belly. The head of the hare began to be digested and the hair falling
off, having lain about eighteen hours in the snake's belly.
I thought this account of such a curiosity would be acceptable, and the
rather because though I lived in a country where such things are said
frequently to happen, yet I never could have any satisfactory account of
a charm, though I have met with several persons who have pretended to
have seen them. Some also pretend that those sort of snakes influence
children, and even men and women, by their charms. But this that I have
related of my own view, I aver, (for the satisfaction of the learned,)
to be punctually true, without enlarging or wavering in any respect,
upon the faith of a Christian.
In my youth I was a bear hunting in the woods above the inhabitants, and
having straggled from my companions, I was entertained at my return,
with the relation of a pleasant rencounter, between a dog and a rattle
snake, about a squirrel. The snake had got the head and shoulders of the
squirrel into his mouth, which being something too large for his throat,
it took him up some time to moisten the fur of the squirrel with his
spawl, to make it slip down. The dog took this advantage, seized the
hinder parts of the squirrel, and tugged with all his might. The snake,
on the other side, would not let go his hold for a long time, till at
last, fearing he might be bruised by the dog's running away with him, he
gave up his prey to the dog. The dog ate the squirrel, and felt no harm.
Another curiosity concerning this viper, which I never met with in
print, I will also relate from my own observation:
Sometime after my observation of the charm, my waiting boy being sent
abroad on an errand, also took upon himself to bring home a rattle snake
in a noose. I cut off the head of this snake, leaving about an inch of
the neck with it. This I laid upon the head of a tobacco hogshead, one
Stephen Lankford, a carpenter, now alive, being with me. Now you must
note that these snakes have but two teeth, by which they convey their
poison; and they are placed in the upper jaw, pretty forward in the
mouth, one on each side. These teeth are hollow and crooked like a
cock's spur. They are also loose or springing in the mouth, and not
fastened in the jaw bone as all other teeth are. The hollow has a vent,
also, through by a small hole a little below the point of the tooth.
These two teeth are kept lying down along the jaw, or shut like a spring
knife, and don't shrink up as the talons of a cat or panther. They have
also over them a loose thin film or skin of a flesh color, which rises
over them when they are raised, which I take to be only at the will of
the snake to do injury. This skin does not break by the rising of the
tooth only, but keeps whole till the bite is given, and then is pierced
by the tooth, by which the poison is let out. The head being laid upon
the hogshead, I took two little twigs or splinters of sticks, and having
turned the head upon its crown, opened the mouth, and lifted up the fang
or springing tooth on one side several times, in doing of which I at
last broke the skin. The head gave a sudden champ with its mouth,
breaking from my sticks, in which I observed that the poison ran down in
a lump like oil, round the root of the tooth. Then I turned the other
side of the head, and resolved to be more careful to keep the mouth open
on the like occasion, and observe more narrowly the consequence. For it
is observed, that though the heads of snakes, terrapins and such like
vermin, be cut off, yet the body will not die in a long time after--the
general saying is, till the sun sets. After opening the mouth on the
other side, and lifting up that fang also several times, he endeavored
to give another bite or champ; but I kept his mouth open, and the tooth
pierced the film and emitted a stream like one full of blood in blood
letting, and cast some drops upon the sleeve of the carpenter's shirt,
who had no waistcoat on. I advised him to pull off his shirt, but he
would not, and received no harm; and tho' nothing could then be seen of
it upon the shirt, yet in washing there appeared five green specks,
which every washing appeared plainer and plainer, and lasted so long as
the shirt did, which the carpenter told me was about three years after.
The head we threw afterwards down upon the ground, and a sow came and
eat it before our faces, and received no harm. Now I believe had this
poison lighted upon any place of the carpenter's skin that was scratched
or hurt, it might have poisoned him. I take the poison to rest in a
small bag or receptacle, in the hollow at the root of these teeth; but
I never had the opportunity afterwards to make a farther discovery of
that.
I will likewise give you a story of the violent effects of this sort of
poison, because I depend upon the truth of it, having it from an
acquaintance of mine of good credit, one Colonel James Taylor, of
Mattapony, still alive, he being with others in the woods a surveying.
Just as they were standing to light their pipes, they found a rattle
snake and cut off his head, and about three inches of the body. Then he,
with a green stick which he had in his hand, about a foot and a half
long, the bark being newly peeled off, urged and provoked the head, till
it bit the stick in fury several times. Upon this the colonel observed
small green streaks to rise up along the stick towards his hand. He
threw the stick upon the ground, and in a quarter of hour the stick of
its own accord split into several pieces, and fell asunder from end to
end. This account I had from him again at the writing hereof.
Musquitoes are a sort of vermin of less danger, but much more
troublesome, because more frequent. They are a long tailed gnat, such as
are in all fens and low grounds in England, and I think have no other
difference from them than the name. Neither are they in Virginia
troubled with them anywhere but in their low grounds and marshes. These
insects I believe are stronger, and continue longer there, by reason of
the warm sun, than in England. Whoever is persecuted with them in his
house, may get rid of them by this easy remedy: let him but set open his
windows at sunset, and shut them again before the twilight be quite shut
in. All the musquitoes in the room will go out at the windows, and leave
the room clear.
Chinches are a sort of flat bug, which lurks in the bedsteads and
bedding, and disturbs people's rest a nights. Every neat housewife
contrives there, by several devices, to keep her beds clear of them. But
the best way I ever heard, effectually to destroy them, is by a narrow
search among the bedding early in the spring, before these vermin begin
to nit and run about; for they lie snug all the winter, and are in the
spring large and full of the winter's growth, having all their seed
within them; and so they become a fair mark to find, and may with their
whole breed be destroyed; they are the same as they have in London near
the shipping.
Seed tick, and red worms are small insects, that annoy the people by
day, as musquitoes and chinches do by night; but both these keep out of
your way, if you keep out of theirs; for seed ticks are no where to be
met with, but in the track of cattle, upon which the great ticks fatten,
and fill their skins so full of blood, that they drop off, and wherever
they happen to fall, they produce a kind of egg, which lies about a
fortnight before the seedlings are hatched. These seedlings run in
swarms up the next blade of grass that lies in their way; and then the
first thing that brushes that blade of grass, gathers off most of these
vermin, which stick like burs upon anything that touches them. They void
their eggs at the mouth.
Red worms lie only in old dead trees, and rotten logs; and without
sitting down upon such, a man never meets with them, nor at any other
season, but only in the midst of summer. A little warm water immediately
brings off both seed ticks and red worms, though they lie ever so thick
upon any part of the body. But without some such remedy they will be
troublesome; for they are so small that nothing will lay hold of them,
but the point of a penknife, needle, or such like. But if nothing be
done to remove them, the itching they occasion goes away after two days.
Sec. 81. Their winters are very short, and don't continue above three or
four months, of which they have seldom thirty days of unpleasant
weather, all the rest being blest with a clear air, and a bright sun.
However, they have very hard frost sometimes, but it rarely lasts above
three or four days, that is, till the wind change: for if it blow not
between the north and north-west points, from the cold Appalachian
mountains, they have no frost at all. But these frosts are attended with
a serene sky, and are otherwise made delightful by the tameness of the
wild fowl and other game, which by their incredible number, afford the
pleasantest shooting in the world.
Their rains, except in the depth of winter, are extremely agreeable and
refreshing. All the summer long they last but a few hours at a time, and
sometimes not above half an hour, and then immediately succeeds clear
sunshine again. But in that short time it rains so powerfully, that it
quits the debt of a long drought, and makes everything green and gay.
I have heard that this country is reproached with sudden and dangerous
changes of weather, but that imputation is unjust; for tho' it be true,
that in the winter, when the wind comes over those vast mountains and
lakes to the north-west, which are supposed to retain vast magazines of
ice, and snow, the weather is then very rigorous; yet in spring, summer
and autumn, such winds are only cool and pleasant breezes, which serve
to refresh the air, and correct those excesses of heat, which the
situation would otherwise make that country liable to.
CHAPTER XX.
OF THE DISEASES INCIDENT TO VIRGINIA.
Sec. 82. While we are upon the climate, and its accidents, it will not be
improper to mention the diseases incident to Virginia. Distempers come
not there by choaking up the spirits, with a foggy and thick air, as in
some northern climes; nor by a stifling heat, that exhales the vigor of
those that dwell in a more southerly latitude: but by a willful and
foolish indulging themselves in those pleasures, which in a warm and
fruitful country, nature lavishes upon mankind, for their happiness, and
not for their destruction.
Thus I have seen persons impatient of heat, lie almost naked upon the
cold grass in the shades, and there, often forgetting themselves, fall
asleep. Nay, many are so imprudent, as to do this in an evening, and
perhaps lie so all night; when between the clew from heaven, and the
damps from the earth, such impressions are made upon the humors of their
body, as occasion fatal distempers.
Thus also have I seen persons put into a great heat by excessive action,
and in the midst of that heat, strip off their clothes, and expose their
open pores to the air. Nay, I have known some mad enough in this hot
condition, to take huge draughts of cold water, or perhaps of milk and
water, which they esteem much more cold in operation than water alone.
And thus likewise have I seen several people, (especially new-comers,)
so intemperate in devouring the pleasant fruits, that they have fallen
into dangerous fluxes and surfeits. These, and such like disorders, are
the chief occasions of their diseases.
Sec. 83. The first sickness that any new-comer happens to have there, he
unfairly calls a seasoning, be it fever, ague, or any thing else, that
his own folly or excesses bring upon him.
Their intermitting fevers, as well as their agues, are very troublesome,
if a fit remedy be not applied; but of late the doctors there have made
use of the Cortex Peruviana with success, and find that it seldom or
never fails to remove the fits. The planters, too, have several roots
natural to the country, which in this case they cry up as infallible;
and I have found by many examples a total immersion in cold spring
water, just at the accession of the fit an infallible cure.
Sec. 84. When these damps, colds and disorders affect the body more gently,
and do not seize people violently at first; then for want of some timely
application, (the planters abhorring all physic, except in desperate
cases,) these small disorders are suffered to go on, until they grow
into a cachexia, by which the body is overrun with obstinate scorbutic
humors. And this in a more fierce, and virulent degree, I take to be the
yaws.
Sec. 85. The gripes is a distemper of the Caribbee islands, not of that
country, and seldom gets footing there, and then only upon great
provocations; namely, by the intemperance before mentioned, together
with an unreasonable use of filthy and unclean drinks. Perhaps too it
may come by new unfine cider, perry or peach drink, which the people are
impatient to drink before it is ready; or by the excessive use of lime
juice, and foul sugar in punch and flip; or else by the constant
drinking of uncorrected beer, made of such windy unwholesome things as
some people make use of in brewing.
Thus having fairly reckoned up the principal inconveniences of the
climate, and the distempers incident to the country, I shall add a
chapter of the recreations and amusements used there, and proceed to the
natural benefits they enjoy. After which, I shall conclude with some
hints concerning their trade and improvements.
CHAPTER XXI.
OF THE RECREATIONS AND PASTIMES USED IN VIRGINIA.
Sec. 86. For their recreation, the plantations, orchards and gardens
constantly afford them fragrant and delightful walks. In their woods and
fields, they have an unknown variety of vegetables, and other rarities
of nature to discover and observe. They have hunting, fishing and
fowling, with which they entertain themselves an hundred ways. There is
the most good nature and hospitality practiced in the world, both
towards friends and strangers: but the worst of it is, this generosity
is attended now and then with a little too much intemperance. The
neighborhood is at much the same distance as in the country in England;
but the goodness of the roads, and the fairness of the weather, bring
people often together.
Sec. 87. The Indians, as I have already observed, had in their hunting, a
way of concealing themselves, and coming up to the deer, under the blind
of a stalking head, in imitation of which, many people have taught their
horses to stalk it, that is, to walk gently by the huntsman's side, to
cover him from the sight of the deer. Others cut down trees for the deer
to browse upon, and lie in wait behind them. Others again set stakes, at
a certain distance within their fences, where the deer have been used to
leap over into a field of peas, which they love extremely; these stakes
they so place, as to run into the body of the deer, when he pitches, by
which means they impale him; and for a temptation to the leap take down
the top part of the fence.
Sec. 88. They hunt their hares, (which are very numerous,) a foot, with
mongrels or swift dogs, which either catch them quickly, or force them
to hole in a hollow tree, whither all their hares generally tend when
they are closely pursued. As soon as they are thus holed, and have
crawled up into the body of the tree, the business is to kindle a fire,
and smother them with smoke, till they let go their hold, and fall to
the bottom stifled; from whence they take them. If they have a mind to
spare their lives, upon turning them loose, they will be as fit as ever
to hunt at another time; for the mischief done them by the smoke
immediately wears off again.
Sec. 89. They have another sort of hunting, which is very diverting, and
that they call vermin hunting; it is performed a foot, with small dogs
in the night, by the light of the moon or stars. Thus in summer time
they find abundance of raccoons, opossums and foxes in the corn fields,
and about their plantations: but at other times they must go into the
woods for them. The method is to go out with three or four dogs, and as
soon as they come to the place they bid the dogs seek out, and all the
company follow immediately. Wherever a dog barks, you may depend upon
finding the game; and this alarm draws both men and dogs that way. If
this sport be in the woods, the game, by the time you come near it, is
perhaps mounted to the top of an high tree, and then they detach a
nimble fellow up after it, who must have a scuffle with the beast before
he can throw it down to the dogs; and then the sport increases, to see
the vermin encounter those little curs. In this sort of hunting, they
also carry their great dogs out with them; because wolves, bears,
panthers, wild cats, and all other beasts of prey, are abroad in the
night.
For wolves they make traps and set guns baited in the woods, so that
when he offers to seize the bait, he pulls the trigger, and the gun
discharges upon him. What Aelian and Pliny write, of the horses being
benumed in their legs, if they tread in the track of a wolf, does not
hold good here; for I myself, and many others, have rid full speed
after wolves in the woods, and have seen live ones taken out of a trap,
and dragged at a horse's tail; and yet those that followed on horse
back, have not perceived any of their horses to falter in their pace.
Sec. 90. They have many pretty devices besides the gun to take wild
turkeys; and among others, a friend of mine invented a great trap,
wherein he at times caught many turkeys, and particularly seventeen at
one time; but he could not contrive it so as to let others in, after he
had entrapped the first flock, until they were taken out.
Sec. 91. The Indian invention of weirs in fishing is mightily improved by
the English, besides which they make use of seins, trolls, casting nets,
setting nets, hand fishing and angling, and in each find abundance of
diversion. I have sat in the shade at the heads of the rivers angling,
and spent as much time in taking the fish off the hook as in waiting for
their taking it. Like those of the Euxine sea, they also fish with
spilyards, which is a long line staked out in the river, and hung with a
great many hooks on short strings, fastened to the main line, about
three or four feet asunder, supported by stakes, or buoyed up with
gourds. They use likewise the Indian way of striking the light of a fire
in the night, as is described in the second book, chapter 5, section 23.
Sec. 92. Their fowling is answerable to their fishing for plenty of game in
its proper season. Some plantations have a vast variety of it, several
sorts of which I have not yet mentioned, as beaver, otter, squirrels,
partridges, pigeons, and an infinite number of small birds, &c.
Sec. 93. The admirable economy of the beavers deserves to be particularly
remembered. They cohabit in one house are incorporated in a regular form
of government, something like monarchy, and have over them a
superintendent, which the Indians call pericu. He leads them out to
their several employments, which consist in felling of trees, biting off
the branches, and cutting them into certain lengths, suitable to the
business they design them for, all which they perform with their teeth.
When this is done, the pericu orders several of his subjects to join
together, and take up one of those logs, which they must carry to their
house or dam, as occasion requires. He walks in state by them all the
while, and sees that every one bears his equal share of the burthen;
while he bites with his teeth, and lashes with his tail, those that lag
behind, and do not lend all their strength; their way of carriage is
upon their tail. They commonly build their houses in swamps, and then to
raise the water to a convenient height, they make a dam with logs, and a
binding fort of clay, so firm, that though the water runs continually
over, it cannot wash it away. Within these dams they'll inclose water
enough to make a pool like a mill pond; and if a mill happen to be built
on the same stream, below their dam, the miller, in a dry season, finds
it worth his while to cut it, to supply his mill with water. Upon which
disaster the beavers are so expert at their work, that in one or two
nights' time they will repair the breach, and make it perfectly whole
again. Sometimes they build their houses in a broad marsh, where the
tide ebbs and flows, and then they make no dam at all. The doors into
their houses are under water. I have been at the demolishing of one of
these houses, that was found in a marsh, and was surprised to find it
fortified with logs, that were six feet long, and ten inches through,
and had been carried at least one hundred and fifty yards. This house
was three stories high, and contained five rooms, that is to say, two in
the lower, two in the middle story, and but one at the top. These
creatures have a great deal of policy, and know how to defeat all the
subtilty and stratagems of the hunter, who seldom can meet with them,
tho' they are in great numbers all over the country.
Sec. 94. There is yet another kind of sport, which the young people take
great delight in, and that is, the hunting of wild horses; which they
pursue sometimes with dogs, and sometimes without. You must know they
have many horses foaled in the woods of the uplands, that never were in
hand, and are as shy as any savage creature. These having no mark upon
them, belong to him that first takes them. However, the captor commonly
purchases these horses very dear, by spoiling better in the pursuit; in
which case he has little to make himself amends, besides the pleasure of
the chase. And very often this is all he has for it; for the wild horses
are so swift, that 'tis difficult to catch them; and when they are
taken, 'tis odds but their grease is melted, or else being old, they are
so sullen, that they can't be tamed.
Sec. 95. The inhabitants are very courteous to travelers, who need no other
recommendation, but the being human creatures. A stranger has no more to
do, but to enquire upon the road, where any gentleman or good
housekeeper lives, and there he may depend upon being received with
hospitality. This good nature is so general among their people, that the
gentry, when they go abroad, order their principal servant to entertain
all visitors, with everything the plantation affords. And the poor
planters, who have but one bed, will very often sit up, or lie upon a
form or couch all night, to make room for a weary traveler, to repose
himself after his journey.
If there happen to be a churl, that either out of covetousness, or ill
nature, won't comply with this generous custom, he has a mark of infamy
set upon him, and is abhorred by all.
CHAPTER XXII.
OF THE NATURAL PRODUCTS OF VIRGINIA, AND THE ADVANTAGES OF THEIR
HUSBANDRY.
Sec. 96. The extreme fruitfulness of that country, has been sufficiently
shown in the second book, and I think we may justly add, that in that
particular it is not exceeded by any other. No seed is sown there, but
it thrives; and most of the northern plants are improved, by being
transplanted thither. And yet there's very little improvement made among
them, seldom anything used in traffic but tobacco.
Besides all the natural productions mentioned in the second book, you
may take notice that apples from the seed never degenerate into crabs
there, but produce as good or perhaps better fruit than the mother tree,
(which is not so in England,) and are wonderfully improved by grafting
and managing; yet there are very few planters that graft at all, end
much fewer that take any care to get choice fruits.
The fruit trees are wonderfully quick of growth; so that in six or seven
years time from the planting, a man may bring an orchard to bear in
great plenty, from which he may make store of good cider, or distill
great quantities of brandy; for the cider is very strong, and yields
abundance of spirit. Yet they have very few, that take any care at all
for an orchard; nay, many that have good orchards are so negligent of
them as to let them go to ruin, and expose the trees to be torn and
barked by the cattle.
Peaches, nectarines, and apricots, as well as plumbs and cherries, grow
there upon standard trees. They commonly bear in three years from the
stone, and thrive so exceedingly, that they seem to have no need of
grafting or inoculating, if any body would be so good a husband; and
truly I never heard of any that did graft either plum, nectarine, peach
or apricot in that country, before the first edition of this book.
Peaches and nectarines I believe to be spontaneous, somewhere or other
on that continent, for the Indians have, and ever had greater variety,
and finer sorts of them than the English. The best sort of these cling
to the stone, and will not come off clear, which they call plum
nectarines, and plum peaches, or cling stones. Some of these are twelve
or thirteen inches in the girt. These sorts of fruits are raised so
easily there, that some good husbands plant great orchards of them,
purposely for their hogs; and others make a drink of them, which they
call mobby, and either drink it as cider, or distill it off for brandy.
This makes the best spirit next to grapes.
Grape vines of the English stock, as well as those of their own
production, bear most abundantly, if they are suffered to run near the
ground, and increase very kindly by slipping; yet very few have them at
all in their gardens, much less endeavor to improve them by cutting or
laying. But since the first impression of this book, some vineyards have
been attempted, and one is brought to perfection, of seven hundred and
fifty gallons a year. The wine drinks at present greenish, but the owner
doubts not of good wine, in a year or two more, and takes great delight
that way.
When a single tree happens in clearing the ground, to be left standing,
with a vine upon it, open to the sun and air, that vine generally
produces as much as four or five others, that remain in the woods. I
have seen in this case, more grapes upon one single vine, than would
load a London cart. And for all this, the people till of late never
removed any of them into their gardens, but contented themselves
throughout the whole country with the grapes they found thus wild.
A garden is no where sooner made than there, either for fruits or
flowers. Tulips from the seed, flower the second year. All sorts of
herbs have there a perfection in their flavor, beyond what I ever tasted
in a more northern climate. And yet they haven't many gardens in that
country, fit to bear the name of garden.
Sec. 97. All sorts of English grain thrive, and increase there, as well as
in any other part of the world, as for example, wheat, barley, oats,
rye, peas, rape, &c. And yet they don't make a trade of any of them.
Their peas indeed are troubled with weevils, which eat a hole in them,
but this hole does neither damage the seed, nor make the peas unfit for
boiling. And such as are sowed late, and gathered after August, are
clear of that inconvenience.
It is thought too much for the same man, to make the wheat, and grind
it, bolt it, and bake it himself. And it is too great a charge for every
planter, who is willing to sow barley, to build a malt house, and brew
house too, or else to have no benefit of his barley; nor will it answer,
if he would be at the charge. These things can never be expected from a
single family; but if they had cohabitations, it might be thought worth
attempting. Neither as they are now settled, can they find any certain
market for their other grain, which, if they had towns, would be quite
otherwise.
Rice has been tried there, and is found to grow as well as in Carolina;
but it labors under the same inconvenience, the want of a community to
husk and clean it, and, after all, to take it off the planter's hands.
Sec. 98. I have related at large in the first book how flax, hemp, cotton,
and the silk worms have thriven there in the several essays made upon
them; how formerly there was encouragement given for making of linen,
silk, &c., and how all persons not performing several things towards
producing of them were put under a fine; but now all encouragement of
such things is taken away or entirely dropped by the assemblies, and
such manufactures are always neglected when tobacco bears anything of a
price.
Silk grass is there spontaneous in many places. I need not mention what
advantage may be made of so useful a plant, whose fibres are as fine as
flax, and much stronger than hemp. Mr. Purchase tells us, in his Fourth
Pilgrim, page 1786, that in the first discovery of this part of the
world they presented Queen Elizabeth with a piece of grogram that had
been made of it. And yet to this day they make no manner of use of this
plant, no, not so much as the Indians did, before the English came among
them, who then made their baskets, fishing nets, and lines of it.
Sec. 99. The sheep increase well, and bear good fleeces; but they generally
are suffered to be torn off their backs by briars and bushes, instead of
being shorn, or else are left rotting upon the dunghill with their
skins.
Bees thrive there abundantly, and will very easily yield to the careful
housewife a full hive of honey, and besides lay up a winter store
sufficient to preserve their stocks.
The beeves, when any care is taken of them in the winter, come to good
perfection. They have noble marshes there, which, with the charge of
draining only, would make as fine pastures as any in the world; and yet
there is hardly an hundred acres of marsh drained throughout the whole
country.
Hogs swarm like vermin upon the earth, and are often accounted such,
insomuch, that when an inventory of any considerable man's estate is
taken by the executors the hogs are left out, and not listed in the
appraisement. The hogs run where they list, and find their own support
in the woods, without any care of the owner; and in many plantations it
is well if the proprietor can find and catch the pigs, or any part of a
farrow, when they are young to mark them; for if there be any marked in
a gang of hogs, they determine the propriety of the rest, because they
seldom miss their gangs; but as they are bred in company, so they
continue to the end, except sometimes the boars ramble.
Sec. 100. The woods produce great variety of incense and sweet gums, which
distill from several trees; as also trees bearing honey and sugar, as
before was mentioned. Yet there's no use made of any of them, either for
profit or refreshment.
All sorts of naval stores may be produced there, as pitch, tar, rosin,
turpentine, plank, timber, and all sorts of masts and yards, besides
sails, cordage and iron, and all these may be transported by an easy
water carriage.
Sec. 101. These, and a thousand other advantages, that country naturally
affords, which its inhabitants make no manner of use of. They can see
their naval stores daily benefit other people, who send thither to build
ships, while they, instead of promoting such undertakings among
themselves, and easing such as are willing to go upon them, allow them
no manner of encouragement, but rather the contrary. They receive no
benefit, nor refreshment, from the sweets and precious things they have
growing amongst them, but make use of the industry of England for all
such things.
What advantages do they see the neighboring plantations make of their
grain and provisions, while they, who can produce them infinitely
better, not only neglect the making a trade thereof, but even a
necessary provision against an accidental scarcity, contenting
themselves with a supply of food from hand to mouth; so that if it
should please God to send them an unseasonable year, there would not be
found in the country provision sufficient to support the people for
three months extraordinary.
By reason of the unfortunate method of the settlement, and want of
cohabitation, they cannot make a beneficial use of their flax, hemp,
cotton, silk, silk grass and wool, which might otherwise supply their
necessities, and leave the produce of tobacco to enrich them, when a
gainful market can be found for it.
Thus, they depend altogether upon the liberality of nature, without
endeavoring to improve its gifts by art or industry. They sponge upon
the blessings of a warm sun, and a fruitful soil, and almost grudge the
pains of gathering in the bounties of the earth. I should be ashamed to
publish this slothful indolence of my countrymen, but that I hope it
will sometime or other rouse them out of their lethargy, and excite them
to make the most of all those happy advantages which nature has given
them; and if it does this, I am sure they will have the goodness to
forgive me.
FINIS.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
1. The author or printer has irregularly capitalized references to
"king" and queen".
2. Illustrations: printer's inconsistancies have been retained.
(example: Ritchie and Ritchies, Fig: and Fig., etc.)
3. Printer's correction:
pg. x Table of Contents Chapter VI. Sec.22., pg ref. 140 to 147.
4. Spelling corrections (verified by multiple uses of correctly spelled
word elsewhere in text)
pg. vi - "jr." to "Jr." (Nathan Bacon, Jr.)
pg. vi - "procecute" to "prosecute" (intends to prosecute)
pg. xviii - "abridgment" to "abridgement" (made an abridgement)
pg. xix - "Guina" to "Guiana" (brough by some Guiana ships)
pg. 1 - "malecontents" to "malcontents" (malcontents in the)
pg. 3 - "Beverly" to "Beverley" (mainly to Robert Beverley)
pg. 12 - "Cheaspeake" to "Chesapeake" (cape of Chesapeake bay)
pg. 26 - "Burmuda" to "Bermuda" (put to sea from Bermuda)
pg. 28 - "palisado" to "palisade" (run a palisade on)
pg. 31 - "christianity" to "Christianity" (to us and Christianity)
pg. 36 - "setttlement" to "settlement" (settlement at Port Royal)
pg. 38 - "foundatian" to "foundation" (which laid the foundation)
pg. 50 - "Carribbee" to "Caribbee" (the Caribbee islands)
pg. 66 - "againt" to "against" (against the presented arms)
pg. 70 - "butcheriug" to "butchering" (in butchering the English)
pg. 76 - "Fitz-Hugh" to "Fitzhugh" (Col. William Fitzhugh)
pg. 84 - "forbiding" to "forbidding" (forbidding the plantations)
pg. 97 - "chesnuts" to "chestnuts" (are stored with chestnuts)
pg. 105 - "ripen" to "ripens" (buds, ripens and drops off)
pg. 118 - "eat" to "eaten" (had ever eaten before)
pg. 118 - "frog fish" to "frog-fish" (saw-fish, toad-fish, frog-fish)
pg. 118 - "feets" to "feet" (it wants feet and wings)
pg. 120 - "eagel" to "eagle" (a bald eagle pursuing)
pg. 136 - "our" to "out" (keep out wild beasts)
pg. 140 - "Hazlenuts" to "Hazelnuts" (Hazelnuts they will not)
pg. 143 - "the" to "they" (they daub with clay)
pg. 146 - "steem" to "esteem" (They steem it a breach)
pg. 157 - "extingush" to "extinguish" (flames that never extinguish)
pg. 160 - "undestand" to "understand" (letting him understand)
pg. 163 - "dont" to "don't" (I don't know)
pg. 171 - "scarrifying" to "scarifying" (and scarifying which)
pg. 172 - "Purchass" to "Purchase" (Smith, Purchase and De Laet)
pg. 172 - "saplins" to "saplings" (stick saplings into the ground)
pg. 173 - "anchuse" to "anchusa" (a kind of anchusa)
pg. 174 - "vermine" to "vermin" (other troublesome vermin)
pg. 189 - "Cinchley's" to "Cincheley's" (Jeffery's and Cincheley's)
pg. 191 - "aws" to "laws" (The laws having duly passed)
pg. 197 - "Petes" to "Peter" (Hon. Peter Beverley)
pg. 208 - "nonapperance" to "nonappearance" (the defendant's
nonappearance)
pg. 215 - "Spottswood" to "Spotswood" (arrival of Colonel Spotswood)
pg. 234 - "coveniency" to "conveniency" (its beauty and conveniency)
pg. 235 - "daries" to "dairies" (cookery, washing, dairies,)
pg. 237 - "sallad" to "salad" (vine fruits, and salad flowers)
pg. 241 - "imtemperance" to "intemperance" (of great intemperance)
pg. 247 - "eat" to "ate" (The dog ate the squirrel)
pg. 251 - "Apalachain" to "Appalachain" (Appalachain mountains)
pg. 253 - "cachexie" to "cachexia" (grow into a cachexia)
pg. 256 - "patridges" to "partridges" (squirrels, partridges,
pigeons,)
pg. 257 - "they'l" to "they'll" (Within these dams they'll)
pg. 259 - "stong" to "strong" (cider is very strong)
pg. 261 - "havn't" to "haven't" (they haven't many gardens)
pg. 262 - "Purchass" to "Purchase" (Mr. Purchase tells us)
pg. 264 - "spunge" to "sponge" (They sponge upon the)
5. A list of word variations wherein both appear in this text and have
been retained as printed.
"Edmond Jennings" and "Edmund Jenings"
"Tab." and "tab."
"lime juice" and "lime-juice"
"acknowledgment" and "acknowledgement"
"Chickahominy" (for river and county) and "Chickahomony" (for place)
"cover" and "covert" (i.e. covert of a shady tree)
"conjuror(s)" and "conjurer(s)"
"Culpepper" (throughout Introduction) and "Colepepper" (regular Text)
"divers" and "diverse" (divers sectaries in religion)
"firewood" and "fire-wood"
"fishing hawk" and "fishing-hawk"
"Harriot" and "Heriot" (it is unclear if the author refers to the
same person)
"lieutenant governor (general)" and "lieutenant-governor (general)
"man of war" and "man-of-war"
"northwest" and "north-west"
"Oldmixon" and "Oldmixion" (proper name)
"one half" and "one-half"
"Pocoson" and "Poquoson" (place)
"Pungoteague" and "Pungotegue" (place)
"quioccasan" (1), "quioccassan" (2) and "quioccosan" (1)
"quitrents" and "quit-rents"
"resettled" and "re-settled"
"roasting ear" and "roasting-ear"
"savanna" and "savannah"
"silk worm" and "silk-worm"
"south west" and "south-west"
"staid" and "stayed" (used interchangably by author)
"subdivisions" and "sub-divisions"
"sweet scented" and "sweet-scented"
"sweet woods" and "sweet-woods"
"timber trees" and "timber-trees"
"traveled" and "travelled"
"traveling" and "travelling"
"turkeys" and "turkies"
"war captain" and "war-captain"
"water carriage" and "water-carriage"
"water side" and "water-side"
"wild geese" and "wild-geese"
"wilful" and "willful"
"woolen" and "woollen"
"George Yardley" and "George Yardly"
6. Defined archaic words appearing in this text:
"benumed" (benumbed)
"burthen" (burden)
"burthensome" (burdensome)
"choaking" (choking)
"chrystal" (crystal)
"covert" (protected; sheltered)
"disperst" (dispersed)
"divers" (diverse)
"intire" (entire)
"mascarado" (var. of mascarade(Fr) for masquerade)
"snear" (sneer)
"subtilty" (subtlety)
"vertuosi" (pl. of virtuoso, alt. virtuosi)