I now proceed to mention the other publi_Travels into North America, Volume 1 (of 3)

The Town-hall, or the place where the assemblies are held, is situated

in the western part of the town, it is a fine large building, having a

tower with a bell in the middle, and is the greatest ornament to the

town. The deputies of each province meet in it commonly every October,

or even more frequently if circumstances require it, in order to

consider of the welfare of the country, and to hold their parliaments

or diets in miniature. There they revise the old laws, and make new

ones.

On one side of this building stands the Library, which was first begun

in the year 1742, on a publick spirited plan, formed and put in

execution by the learned Mr. Franklin. For he persuaded first the most

substantial people in town to pay forty shillings at the outset, and

afterwards annually ten shillings, all in Pensylvania currency, towards

purchasing all kinds of useful books. The subscribers are entitled to

make use of the books. Other people are likewise at liberty to borrow

them for a certain time, but must leave a pledge and pay eight-pence a

week for a folio volume, six-pence for a quarto, and four-pence for all

others of a smaller size. As soon as the time, allowed a person for the

perusal of the volume, is elapsed, it must be returned, or he is fined.

The money arising in this manner is employed for the salary of the

librarian, and for purchasing new books. There was already a fine

collection of excellent works, most of them English; many French and

Latin, but few in any other language. The subscribers were so kind to

me, as to order the librarian, during my stay here, to lend me every

book, which I should want, without requiring any payment of me. The

library was open every saturday from four to eight o’clock in the

afternoon. Besides the books, several mathematical and physical

instruments, and a large collection of natural curiosities were to be

seen in it. Several little libraries were founded in the town on the

same footing or nearly with this.

The Court House stands in the middle of Market street, to the west of

the market, it is fine building, with a little tower in which there is

a bell. Below and round about this building the market is properly kept

every week.

The building of the Academy, is in the western part of the town. It was

formerly as I have before mentioned, a meeting-house of the followers

of Whitefield, but they sold it in the year 1750, and it was destined

to be the seat of an university, or to express myself in more exact

terms, to be a college, it was therefore fitted up to this purpose. The

youths are here only taught those things which they learn in our common

schools; but in time, such lectures are intended to be read here, as

are usual in real universities.

At the close of the last war, a redoubt was erected here, on the south

side of the town, near the river, to prevent the French and Spanish

privateers from landing. But this was done after a very strong debate.

For the quakers opposed all fortifications, as contrary to the tenets

of their religion, which allow not christians to make war either

offensive or defensive, but direct them to place their trust in the

Almighty alone. Several papers were then handed about for and against

the opinion. But the enemy’s privateers having taken several vessels

belonging to the town, in the river, many of the quakers, if not all of

them, found it reasonable to forward the building of the fortification

as much as possible, at least by a supply of money.

Of all the natural advantages of the town, its temperate climate is the

most considerable, the winter not being over severe, and its duration

but short, and the summer not too hot; the country round about bringing

forth those fruits in the greatest plenty, which are raised by

husbandry. Their September and October are like the beginning of the

Swedish August. And the first days in their February are frequently as

pleasant, as the end of April and the beginning of May in Sweden. Even

their coldest days in some winters have been no severer, than the days

at the end of autumn are in the middlemost parts of Sweden, and the

southern ones of Finland.

The good and clear water in Philadelphia, is likewise one of its

advantages. For though there are no fountains in the town, yet there is

a well in every house, and several in the streets, all which afford

excellent water for boiling, drinking, washing, and other uses. The

water is commonly met with at the depth of forty feet. The water of the

river Delaware is likewise good. But in making the wells, a fault is

frequently committed, which in several places of the town, spoils the

water which is naturally good; I shall in the sequel take an

opportunity of speaking further about it.

The Delaware is exceeding convenient for trade. It is one of the

greatest rivers in the world: is three English miles broad at its

mouth, two miles at the town of Wilmington, and three quarters of a

mile at Philadelphia. This city lies within ninety or an hundred

English miles from the sea, or from the place where the river Delaware

discharges itself into the bay of that name. Yet its depth is hardly

ever less than five or six fathom. The greatest ships therefore can

sail quite up to the town and anchor in good ground in five fathoms of

water, on the side of the bridge. The water here has no longer a

saltish taste, and therefore all destructive worms, which have fastened

themselves to the ships in the sea, and have pierced holes into them,

either die, or drop off, after the ship has been here for a while.

The only disadvantage which trade labours under here, is the freezing

of the river almost every winter for a month or more. For during that

time the navigation is entirely stopped. But this does not happen at

Boston, New York, and other towns which are nearer the sea.

The tide comes up to Philadelphia, and even goes thirty miles higher,

to Trenton. The difference between high and low water is eight feet at

Philadelphia.

The cataracts of the Delaware near Trenton, and of the Skulkill at some

distance from Philadelphia, make these rivers useless further up the

country, in regard to the conveyance of goods either from or to

Philadelphia. Both must therefore be carried on waggons or carts. It

has therefore already been thought of to make these two rivers

navigable in time, at least for large boats and small vessels.

Several ships are annually built of American oak, in the docks which

are made in several parts of the town and about it, yet they can by no

means be put in comparison with those built of European oak, in point

of goodness and duration.

The town carries on a great trade, both with the inhabitants of the

country, and to other parts of the world, especially to the West

Indies, South America, and the Antilles; to England, Ireland, Portugal,

and to several English colonies in North America. Yet none but English

ships are allowed to come into this port.

Philadelphia reaps the greatest profits from its trade to the West

Indies. For thither the inhabitants ship almost every day a quantity of

flour, butter, flesh and other victuals; timber, plank and the like. In

return they receive either sugar, molasses, rum, indigo, mahogany, and

other goods, or ready money. The true mahogany which grows in Jamaica,

is at present almost all cut down.

They send both West India goods, and their own productions to England;

the latter are all sorts of woods, especially black walnut, and oak

planks for ships; ships ready built, iron, hides and tar. Yet this

latter is properly bought in New Jersey, the forests of which province

are consequently more ruined than any others. Ready money is likewise

sent over to England, from whence in return they get all sorts of goods

there manufactured, viz. fine and coarse cloth, linen, iron ware, and

other wrought metals, and East India goods. For it is to be observed

that England supplies Philadelphia with almost all stuffs and

manufactured goods which are wanted here.

A great quantity of linseed goes annually to Ireland, together with

many of the ships which are built here. Portugal gets wheat, corn,

flour and maize which is not ground. Spain sometimes takes some corn.

But all the money, which is got in these several countries, must

immediately be sent to England, in payment for the goods which are got

from thence, and yet those sums are not sufficient to pay all the

debts.

But to shew more exactly, what the town and province have imported from

England, in different years, I shall here insert an extract from the

English custom-house books, which I got from the engineer, Lewis Evans,

at Philadelphia, and which will sufficiently answer the purpose. This

gentleman had desired one of his friends in London to send him a

compleat account of all the goods shipped from England to Pensylvania

in several years. He got this account, and though the goods are not

enumerated in it, yet their value in money is calculated. Such extracts

from the custom-house books have been made for every North-American

province, in order to convince the English parliament, that those

provinces have taken greater quantities of the goods in that kingdom,

ever since they have turned their money into bills.

I have taken the copy from the original itself, and it is to be

observed that it begins with the christmas of the year 1722, and ends

about the same time of the year 1747. In the first column is the value

of the foreign goods, the duty for which has already been paid in

England. The second column shews the value of the goods manufactured in

England and exported to Pensylvania. And in the last column these two

sums are added together, but at the bottom each of the columns is cast

up.

But this table does not include the goods which are annually shipped in

great quantities to Pensylvania from Scotland and Ireland, among which

is a great quantity of linen.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

| The Value of the Goods annually shipped from |

| England to Pensylvania. |

+---------+-------------------+----------------+------------------+

+---------+-------------------+----------------+------------------+

| | l. s. d. | l. s. d. | l. s. d. |

| 1723 | 5199 | 13 | 5 | 10793| 5 | 1 | 15992 | 19 | 4 |

| 1724 | 9373 | 15 | 8 | 20951| 0 | 5 | 30324 | 16 | 1 |

| 1725 |10301 | 12 | 6 | 31508| 1 | 8 | 42209 | 14 | 2 |

| 1726 | 9371 | 11 | 6 | 28263| 6 | 2 | 37634 | 17 | 8 |

| 1727 |10243 | 0 | 7 | 21736| 10 | 0 | 31979 | 10 | 7 |

| 1728 |14073 | 13 | 3 | 23405| 6 | 2 | 37478 | 19 | 11 |

| 1729 |12948 | 8 | 5 | 16851| 2 | 5 | 29799 | 10 | 10 |

| 1730 |15660 | 10 | 11 | 32931| 16 | 6 | 48592 | 7 | 5 |

| 1731 |11838 | 17 | 4 | 32421| 18 | 9 | 44260 | 16 | 1 |

| 1732 |15240 | 14 | 4 | 26457| 19 | 3 | 41698 | 13 | 7 |

| 1733 |13187 | 0 | 8 | 27378| 7 | 5 | 40585 | 8 | 1 |

| 1734 |19648 | 15 | 9 | 34743| 12 | 1 | 54392 | 7 | 10 |

| 1735 |18078 | 4 | 3 | 30726| 7 | 1 | 48804 | 11 | 4 |

| 1736 |23456 | 15 | 11 | 38057| 2 | 5 | 61513 | 18 | 4 |

| 1737 |14517 | 4 | 3 | 42173| 2 | 4 | 56690 | 6 | 7 |

| 1738 |20320 | 19 | 3 | 41129| 5 | 0 | 61450 | 4 | 3 |

| 1739 | 9041 | 4 | 5 | 45411| 7 | 6 | 54452 | 11 | 11 |

| 1740 |10280 | 2 | 0 | 46471| 12 | 9 | 56751 | 14 | 9 |

| 1741 |12977 | 18 | 10 | 78032| 13 | 1 | 91010 | 11 | 11 |

| 1742 |14458 | 6 | 3 | 60836| 17 | 1 | 75295 | 3 | 4 |

| 1743 |19220 | 1 | 6 | 60120| 4 |10 | 79340 | 6 | 4 |

| 1744 |14681 | 8 | 4 | 47595| 18 | 2 | 62214 | 6 | 6 |

| 1745 |13043 | 8 | 8 | 41237| 2 | 3 | 54280 | 10 | 11 |

| 1746 |18103 | 12 | 7 | 55595| 19 | 7 | 73699 | 12 | 2 |

| 1747 | 8585 | 14 | 11 | 73819| 2 | 8 | 82404 | 17 | 7 |

+-----------------------------------------------------------------|

| Total. 343,789 16 0 969,049 1 6 1,312,838 17 6 |

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

The whole extent of the Philadelphia trade may be comprehended from the

number of ships, which annually arrive at and sail from this town. I

intend to insert here a table of a few years which I have taken from

the gazettes of the town. The ships coming and going in one year, are

to be reckoned from the twenty fifth of March of that year, to the

twenty fifth of March of the next.

The Year. Ships arrived. Ships sailed.

1735 199 212

1740 307 208

1741 292 309

1744 229 271

1745 280 301

1746 273 293

But it is much to be feared that the trade of Philadelphia, and of all

the English colonies, will rather decrease than encrease, in case no

provision is made to prevent it. I shall hereafter plainly shew upon

what foundation this decrease of trade is likely to take place.

The town not only furnishes most of the inhabitants of Pensylvania with

the goods which they want, but numbers of the inhabitants of New Jersey

come every day and carry on a great trade.

The town has two great fairs every year; one in May, and the other in

November, both on the sixteenth days of those two months. But besides

these fairs, there are every week two market days, viz. Wednesday and

Saturday. On those days the country people in Pensylvania and New

Jersey, bring to town a quantity of victuals, and other productions of

the country, and this is a great advantage to the town. It is therefore

to be wished that the like regulation might be made in our Swedish

towns. You are sure to meet with every produce of the season, which the

country affords, on the market-days. But on other days, they are in

vain sought for.

Provisions are always to be got fresh here, and for that reason most of

the inhabitants never buy more at a time, than what will be sufficient

till the next market-day. In summer there is a market almost every day;

for the victuals do not keep well in the great heat. There are two

places in the town where these markets are kept; but that near the

court-house is the principal. It begins about four or five o’clock in

the morning, and ends about nine o’clock in the forenoon.

The town is not enclosed, and has no other custom-house than the great

one for the ships.

The governor of the whole province lives here; and though he is

nominated by the heirs of Pen, yet he cannot take that office without

being confirmed by the king of England.

The quakers of almost all parts of North-America, have their great

assembly here once a year.

In the year 1743, a society for the advancement of the sciences was

erected here. Its objects would have been the curiosities of the three

kingdoms of nature, mathematicks, physick, chemistry, œconomy, and

manufactures. But the war, which ensued immediately, stopped all

designs of this nature, and since that time, nothing has been done

towards establishing any thing of this kind.

The declination of the needle was here observed on the thirtieth of

October 1750, old style, to be five deg. and forty-five min. west. It

was examined by the new meridian, which was drawn at Philadelphia in

the autumn of the same year, and extended a mile in length. By

experience it appears, that this declination lessens about a degree in

twenty years time.

The greatest difference in the rising and falling of the barometer, is

according to the observations made for several years together by Mr.

James Logan, found at 28´´ 59 and 30´´ 78.

Here are three printers, and every week two English, and one German

news-paper is printed.

In the year 1732, on the fifth of September, old style, a little

earthquake was felt here about noon, and at the same time at Boston in

New England, and at Montreal in Canada, which places are above sixty

Swedish miles asunder.

In the month of November of the year 1737, the well known prince from

mount Lebanon, Sheich Sidi came to Philadelphia, on his travels through

most of the English American colonies. And in the same year a second

earthquake was felt about eleven o’clock at night, on the seventh of

December. But it did not continue above half a minute, and yet, it was

felt according to the accounts of the gazettes at the same hour in

Newcastle, New York, New London, Boston, and other towns of New

England. It had therefore likewise reached several miles.

The count Sinzendorf [5] arrived here in the December of the year 1741,

and continued till the next spring. His uncommon behaviour persuaded

many Englishmen of rank, that he was disordered in his head.

I have not been able to find the exact number of the inhabitants of

Philadelphia. In the year 1746, they were reckoned above ten thousand,

and since that time their number is incredibly encreased. Neither can

it be made out from the Bills of mortality, since they are not kept

regularly in all the churches. I shall, however, mention some of those

which appeared either in the gazettes, or in bills printed on purpose.

Year. Dead.

1730 227

1738 250

1739 350

1740 290

1741 345

1742 409

1743 425

1744 410

1745 420

1748 672

1749 758

1750 716

From these bills of mortality it also appears, that the diseases which

are the most fatal, are consumptions, fevers, convulsions, pleuresies,

hæmorrhagies, and dropsies.

The number of those that are born cannot be determined, since in many

churches no order is observed with regard to this affair. The quakers,

who are the most numerous in this town, never baptize their children,

though they take a pretty exact account of all who are born among them.

It is likewise impossible to guess at the number of inhabitants from

the dead, because the town gets such great supplies annually from other

countries. In the summer of the year 1749, near twelve thousand Germans

came over to Philadelphia, many of whom staid in that town. In the same

year the houses in Philadelphia were counted, and found to be two

thousand and seventy six in number.

The town is now quite filled with inhabitants, which in regard to their

country, religion and trade, are very different from each other. You

meet with excellent masters in all trades, and many things are made

here full as well as in England. Yet no manufactures, especially for

making fine cloth are established. Perhaps the reason is, that it can

be got with so little difficulty from England, and that the breed of

sheep which is brought over, degenerates in process of time, and

affords but a coarse wool.

Here is great plenty of provisions, and their prices are very moderate.

There are no examples of an extraordinary dearth.

Every one who acknowledges God to be the Creator, preserver and ruler

of all things, and teaches or undertakes nothing against the state, or

against the common peace, is at liberty to settle, stay, and carry on

his trade here, be his religious principles ever so strange. No one is

here molested on account of the erroneous principles of the doctrine

which he follows, if he does not exceed the above-mentioned bounds. And

he is so well secured by the laws in his person and property, and

enjoys such liberties; that a citizen of Philadelphia may in a manner

be said to live in his house like a king.

On a careful consideration of what I have already said, it will be easy

to conceive how this city should rise so suddenly from nothing, into

such grandeur and perfection, without supposing any powerful monarch’s

contributing to it, either by punishing the wicked, or by giving great

supplies in money. And yet its fine appearance, good regulations,

agreeable situation, natural advantages, trade, riches and power, are

by no means inferior to those of any, even of the most ancient towns in

Europe. It has not been necessary to force people to come and settle

here; on the contrary foreigners of different languages, have left

their country, houses, property and relations, and ventured over wide

and stormy seas, in order to come hither. Other countries, which have

been peopled for a long space of time, complain of the small number of

their inhabitants. But Pensylvania, which was no better than a desart

in the year 1681, and hardly contained five hundred people, now vies

with several kingdoms in Europe, in number of inhabitants. It has

received numbers of people which other countries, to their infinite

loss, have either neglected or expelled.

A wretched old wooden building, on a hill near the river somewhat north

of the Wickako church, belonging to one of the Sons of Sven, of whom,

as before-mentioned, the ground was bought for building Philadelphia

upon, is preserved on purpose, as a memorial of the poor state of that

place, before the town was built on it. Its antiquity gives it a kind

of superiority over all the other buildings in town, though in itself

the worst of all. This hut was inhabited, whilst as yet stags, deers,

elks, and beavers, at broad day light lived in the future streets,

church-yards, and market-places of Philadelphia. The noise of a

spinning wheel was heard in this house, before the manufactures now

established were thought of, or Philadelphia built. But with all these

advantages, this house is ready to fall down, and in a few years to

come, it will be as difficult to find the place where it stood, as it

was unlikely at the time of its erection, that one of the greatest

towns in America, should in a short time stand close up to it.

September the 7th. Mr. Peter Cock, a merchant of this town, assured me

that he had last week himself been a spectator of a snake’s swallowing

a little bird. This bird, which from its cry has the name of Cat bird,

(Muscicapa Carolinensis, Linn.) flew from one branch of a tree to

another, and was making a doleful tune. At the bottom of the tree, but

at a fathom’s distance from the stem, lay one of the great black

snakes, with its head continually upright, pointing towards the bird,

which was always fluttering about, and now and then settling on the

branches. At first it only kept in the topmost branches, but by degrees

it came lower down, and even flew upon the ground, and hopped to the

place where the snake lay, which immediately opened its mouth, caught

the bird and swallowed it; but it had scarce finished its repast before

Mr. Cock came up and killed it. I was afterwards told that this kind of

snakes was frequently observed to pursue little birds in this manner.

It is already well known that the rattle snake does the same.

I walked out to day into the fields in order to get more acquainted

with the plants hereabouts, I found several European and even Swedish

plants among them. But those which are peculiar to America, are much

more numerous.

The Virginian maple grows in plenty on the shores of the Delaware. The

English in this country call it either Buttonwood, or Waterbeech, which

latter name is most usual. The Swedes call it Wattenbok, or Wasbok. It

is Linnæus’s Platanus occidentalis. See Catesby’s Nat. Hist. of

Carolina, vol. 1. p. 56. t. 56. It grows for the greatest part in low

places, but especially on the edge of rivers and brooks. But these

trees are easily transplanted to more dry places, if they be only

filled with good soil; and as their leaves are large and their foliage

thick, they are planted about the houses and in gardens, to afford a

pleasant shade in the hot season, to the enjoyment of which some seats

were placed under them. Some of the Swedes had boxes, pails, and the

like, made of the bark of this tree by the native Americans. They say

that those people whilst they were yet settled here, made little dishes

of this bark for gathering whortleberries. The bark was a line in

thickness. This tree likewise grows in marshes, or in swampy fields,

where ash and red maple commonly grow. They are frequently as tall and

thick, as the best of our fir trees. The seed stays on them till

spring, but in the middle of April the pods open and shed the seeds.

Query, Whether they are not ripe before that time, and consequently

sooner fit for sowing? This American maple is remarkable for its quick

growth, in which it exceeds all other trees. There are such numbers of

them on the low meadows between Philadelphia and the ferry at

Gloucester, on both sides of the road, that in summer time you go as it

were through a shady walk. In that part of Philadelphia which is near

the Swedish church, some great trees of this kind stand on the shore of

the river. In the year 1750, on the 15th. of May I saw the buds still

on them, and in the year 1749 they began to flower on the eighth of

that month. Several trees of this sort are planted at Chelsea near

London, and they now in point of height vie with the tallest oak.

September the 18th. In the morning I went with the Swedish painter, Mr.

Hesselius, to the country seat of Mr. Bartram, which is about four

English miles to the south of Philadelphia, at some distance from the

high road to Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. I had therefore the

first opportunity here, of getting an exact knowledge of the state of

the country, which was a plain covered with all kinds of trees with

deciduous leaves. The ground was sandy, mixed with clay. But the sand

seemed to be in greater quantity. In some parts the wood was cut down,

and we saw the habitations of some country people, whose corn-fields

and plantations were round their farm-houses. The wood was full of

mulberry-trees, walnut-trees of several kinds, chesnut-trees,

sassafras, and the like. Several sorts of wild vines clasped their

tendrils round, and climbed up to the summits of the highest trees; and

in other places they twined round the enclosures, so thick, that the

latter almost sunk down under their weight. The Persimon, or Diospyros

Virginiana, Linn. sp. pl. p. 1510, grew in the marshy fields, and about

springs. Its little apples looked very well already, but are not fit

for eating, before the frost has affected them, and then they have a

very fine taste. Hesselius gathered some of them, and desired my

servant to taste of the fruits of the land; but this poor credulous

follow, had hardly bit into them, when he felt the qualities they have

before the frost has penetrated them. For they contracted his mouth so

that he could hardly speak, and had a very disagreeable taste. This

disgusted him so much that he was with difficulty persuaded to taste of

it during the whole of our stay in America, notwithstanding it loses

all its acidity and acquires an agreeable flavour in autumn and towards

the beginning of winter. For the fellow always imagined, that though he

should eat them ever so late in the year, they would still retain the

same disagreeable taste.

To satisfy the curiosity of those, who are willing to know, how the

woods look in this country, and whether or no the trees in them are the

same with those found in our forests, I here insert a small catalogue

of those which grow spontaneously in the woods which are nearest to

Philadelphia. But I exclude such shrubs as do not attain any

considerable height. I shall put that tree first in order, which is

most plentiful, and so on with the rest, and therefore trees which I

have found but single, though near the town, will be last.

1. Quercus alba, the white oak in good ground.

2. Quercus rubra, or the black oak.

3. Quercus hispanica, the Spanish oak, a variety of the preceding.

4. Juglans alba, hiccory, a kind of walnut tree, of which three or

four varieties are to be met with.

5. Rubus occidentalis, or American blackberry shrub.

6. Acer rubrum, the maple tree with red flowers, in swamps.

7. Rhus glabra, the smooth leaved Sumach, in the woods, on high

glades, and old corn-fields.

8. Vitis labrusca and Vulpina, vines of several kinds.

9. Sambucus canadensis, American Elder tree, along the hedges and

on glades.

10. Quercus phellos, the swamp oak, in morasses.

11. Azalea lutea, the American upright honey-suckle, in the woods

in dry places.

12. Cratægus Crus galli, the Virginian Azarole, in woods.

13. Vaccinium ——, a species of whortleberry shrub.

14. Quercus prinus, the chesnut oak in good ground.

15. Cornus florida, the cornelian cherry, in all kinds of ground.

16. Liriodendron Tulipifera, the tulip tree, in every kind of soil.

17. Prunus virginiana, the wild cherry tree.

18. Vaccinium ——, a frutex whortleberry, in good ground.

19. Prinos verticillatus, the winterberry tree in swamps.

20. Platanus occidentalis, the water-beech.

21. Nyssa aquatica, the tupelo tree; on fields and mountains. [6]

22. Liquidambar styraciflua, sweet gum tree, near springs.

23. Betula Alnus, alder, a variety of the Swedish; it was here but

a shrub.

24. Fagus castanea, the chesnut tree, on corn-fields, pastures, and

in little woods.

25. Juglans nigra, the black walnut tree, in the same place with

the preceding tree.

26. Rhus radicans, the twining sumach, climbed along the trees.

27. Acer Negundo, the ash-leaved maple, in morasses and swampy

places.

28. Primus domestica, the wild plumb tree.

29. Ulmus Americana, the white elm.

30. Prunus spinosa, sloe shrub, in low places.

31. Laurus sassafras, the sassafras tree, in a loose soil mixed

with sand.

32. Ribes nigrum, the currant tree, grew in low places and in

marshes.

33. Fraxinus excelsior, the ash tree in low places.

34. Smilax laurifolia, the rough bind weed with the bay leaf, in

woods and on pales or enclosures.

35. Kalmia latifolia, the American dwarf laurel, on the northern

side of mountains.

36. Morus rubra, the mulberry tree on fields, hills and near the

houses.

37. Rhus vernix, the poisonous Sumach, in wet places.

38. Quercus rubra, the red oak, but a peculiar variety.

39. Hamamelis virginica, the witch hazel.

40. Diospyros virginiana, the persimon.

41. Pyrus coronaria, the anchor tree.

42. Juniperus virginiana, the red juniper, in a dry poor soil.

43. Laurus æstivalis, spice-wood in a wet soil.

44. Carpinus ostrya, a species of horn beam in a good soil.

45. Carpinus betulus, a horn beam, in the same kind of soil with

the former.

46. Fagus sylvatica, the beech, likewise in good soil.

47. Juglans ——, a species of walnut tree on hills near rivers, [7]

called by the Swedes Butternustræ.

48. Pinus Americana, Pensylvanian fir tree; on the north side of

mountains, and in vallies. [8]

49. Betula lenta, a species of birch, on the banks of rivers.

50. Cephalantus occidentalis, button wood, in wet places.

51. Pinus tæda, the New Jersey fir tree, on dry sandy heaths.

52. Cercis canadensis, the sallad tree, in a good soil.

53. Robinia pseudacacia, the locust tree, on the corn-fields.

54. Magnolia glauca, the laurel-leaved tulip tree, in marshy soil.

55. Tilia Americana, the lime tree, in a good soil.

56. Gleditsia triacanthos, the honey locust tree, or three thorned

acacia, in the same soil.

57. Celtis occidentalis, the nettle tree, in the fields.

58. Annona muricata, the custard apple in a fruitful soil.

We visited several Swedes, who were settled here, and were at present

in very good circumstances. One of them was called Andrew Rambo; he had

a fine house built of stone, two stories high, and a great orchard near

it. We were every where well received, and stayed over night with the

above-mentioned countryman. We saw no other marks of autumn, than that

several fruits of this season were already ripe. For besides this all

the trees were yet as green, and the ground still as much covered with

flowers, as in our summer. Thousands of frogs croaked all the night

long in the marshes and brooks. The locusts and grasshoppers made

likewise such a great noise, that it was hardly possible for one person

to understand another. The trees too, were full of all sorts of birds,

which by the variety of their fine plumage, delighted the eye, while

the infinite variety of their tunes were continually re-echoed.

The orchards, along which we passed to-day, were only enclosed by

hurdles. But they contained all kinds of fine fruit. We wondered at

first very much when our leader leaped over the hedge into the

orchards, and gathered some agreeable fruit for us. But our

astonishment was still greater, when we saw that the people in the

garden were so little concerned at it, as not even to look at us. But

our companion told us, that the people here were not so exact in regard

to a few fruits, as they are in other countries where the soil is not

so fruitful in them. We afterwards found very frequently that the

country people in Sweden and Finland guarded their turneps more

carefully, than the people here do the most exquisite fruits.

September the 19th. As I walked this morning into the fields, I

observed that a copious dew was fallen; for the grass was as wet as if

it had rained. The leaves of the plants and trees, had contracted so

much moisture, that the drops ran down. I found on this occasion that

the dew was not only on the superior, but likewise on the inferior side

of the leaves. I therefore carefully considered many leaves both of

trees and of other plants; both of those which are more above, and of

those which are nearer to the ground. But I found in all of them, that

both sides of the leaves were equally bedewed, except those of the

Verbascum Thapsus, or great Mullein, which though their superior side

was pretty well covered with the dew, yet their inferior had but a

little.

Every countryman, even a common peasant, has commonly an orchard near

his house, in which all sorts of fruit, such as peaches, apples, pears,

cherries, and others, are in plenty. The peaches were now almost ripe.

They are rare in Europe, particularly in Sweden, for in that country

hardly any people besides the rich taste them. But here every

countryman had an orchard full of peach trees, which were covered with

such quantities of fruit, that we could scarcely walk in the orchard,

without treading upon those peaches which were fallen off; many of

which were always left on the ground, and only part of them was sold in

town, and the rest was consumed by the family and strangers; for every

one that passed by, was at liberty to go into the orchard, and to

gather as many of them as he wanted. Nay, this fine fruit was

frequently given to the swine.

This fruit is however sometimes kept for winter use, and for this

purpose they are prepared in the following manner. The fruit is cut

into four parts, the stone thrown away, and the fruit put upon a

thread, on which they are exposed to the sunshine in the open air, till

they are sufficiently dry. They are then put into a vessel for winter.

But this manner of drying them is not very good, because the rain of

this season very easily spoils and putrifies them, whilst they hang in

the open air. For this reason a different method is followed by others,

which is by far the most eligible. The peaches are as before cut into

four parts, are then either put upon a thread, or laid upon a board,

and so hung up in the air when the sun shines. Being dried in some

measure, or having lost their juice by this means, they are put into an

oven, out of which the bread has but just been taken, and are left in

it for a while. But they are soon taken out and brought into the fresh

air; and after that they are again put into the oven, and this is

repeated several times till they are as dry as they ought to be. For if

they were dried up at once in the oven, they would shrivel up too much,

and lose part of their flavour. They are then put up and kept for the

winter. They are either baked into tarts and pyes, or boiled and

prepared as dried apples and pears are in Sweden. Several people here

dry and preserve their apples in the same manner as their peaches.

The peach trees, have, as I am told, been first planted here by the

Europeans. But at present they succeed very well, and require even less

care, than our apple and pear trees.

The orchards have seldom other fruit than apples and peaches. Pear

trees are scarce in this province, and those that had any of them, had

planted them in their orchards. They likewise have cherry trees in the

orchards, but commonly on the sides of them towards the house, or along

the enclosures. Mulberry trees are planted on some hillocks near the

house, and sometimes even in the court yards of the house. The black

walnut trees, or Juglans nigra, grow partly on hills, and in fields

near the farm-houses, and partly along the enclosures; but most

commonly in the forests. No other trees of this kind, are made use of

here. The chesnuts are left in the fields; here and there is one in a

dry field or in a wood.

The Hibiscus esculentus, or Okra, [9] is a plant which grows wild in

the West Indies, but is planted in the gardens here. The fruit, which

is a long pod, is cut whilst it is green, and boiled in soups, which

thereby become as thick as pulse. This dish is reckoned a dainty by

some people, and especially by the negroes.

Capsicum annuum, or Guinea pepper is likewise planted in gardens. When

the fruit is ripe it is almost entirely red, it is put to a roasted or

boiled piece of meat, a little of it being strewed upon it, or mixed

with the broth. Besides this, cucumbers are pickled with it. Or the

pods are pounded whilst they are yet tender, and being mixed with salt

are preserved in a bottle; and this spice is strewed over roasted or

boiled meat, or fried fish, and gives them a very fine taste. But the

fruit by itself is as biting as common pepper.

This country contains many species of the plant, which Dr. Linnæus

calls Rhus, and the most common is the Rhus foliis pinnatis serratis

lanceolates retrinque nudis, or the Rhus glabra. The English call this

plant Sumach. But the Swedes here, have no particular name for it, and

therefore make use of the English name. Its berries or fruits are red.

They are made use of for dying, and afford a colour like their own.

This tree is like a weed in this country, for if a corn-field is left

uncultivated for some few years together, it grows on it in plenty,

since the berries are spread every where by the birds. And when the

ground is to be ploughed the roots stop the plough very much. The fruit

stays on the shrub during the whole winter. But the leaves drop very

early in autumn, after they are turned reddish, like those of our

Swedish mountain ash. The branches boiled with the berries afford a

black ink like tincture. The boys eat the berries, there being no

danger of falling sick after the repast; but they are very sour. They

seldom grow above three yards high. On cutting the stem, it appears

that it contains nothing but pith. I have cut several in this manner,

and found that some were ten years old; but that most of them were

above one year old. When the cut is made, a yellow juice comes out

between the bark and the wood. One or two of the most outward circles

are white, but the innermost are of a yellowish green. It is easy to

distinguish them one from another. They contain a very plentiful pith,

the diameter of which is frequently half an inch, and sometimes more.

It is brown, and so loose that it is easily pushed out by a little

stick, in the same manner as the pith of the elder tree, raspberry and

blackberry bushes. This sumach grows near the enclosures, round the

corn-fields, but especially on fallow ground. The wood seemed to burn

well, and made no great crackling in the fire.

September the 20th. In the morning we walked in the fields and woods

near the town, partly for gathering seeds, and partly for gathering

plants for my herbal, which was our principal occupation; and in the

autumn of this year, we sent part of our collection to England and

Sweden.

A species of Rhus, which was frequent in the marshes here was called

the poison tree by both English and Swedes. Some of the former gave it

the name of swamp-sumach, and my country-men gave it the same name. Dr.

Linnæus in his botanical works calls it Rhus Vernix. Sp. pl. 1. 380.

Flora Virgin. 45. An incision being made into the tree, a whitish

yellow juice, which has a nauseous smell, comes out between the bark

and the wood. This tree is not known for its good qualities, but

greatly so for the effect of its poison, which though it is noxious to

some people, yet does not in the least affect others. And therefore one

person can handle the tree as he pleases, cut it, peel off its bark,

rub it, or the wood upon his hands, smell at it, spread the juice upon

his skin, and make more experiments, with no inconvenience to himself;

another person on the contrary dares not meddle with the tree, while

its wood is fresh, nor can he venture to touch a hand which has handled

it, nor even to expose himself to the smoak of a fire which is made

with this wood, without soon feeling its bad effects; for the face, the

hands, and frequently the whole body swells excessively, and is

affected with a very accute pain. Sometimes bladders or blisters arise

in great plenty, and make the sick person look as if he was infected by

a leprosy. In some people the external thin skin, or cuticle, peels of

in a few days, as is the case when a person has scalded or burnt any

part of his body. Nay, the nature of some persons will not even allow

them to approach the place where the tree grows, or to expose

themselves to the wind, when it carries the effluvia or exhalations of

this tree with it, without letting them feel the inconvenience of the

swelling, which I have just now described. Their eyes are sometimes

shut up for one, or two and more days together by the swelling. I know

two brothers, one of whom could without danger handle this tree in what

manner he pleased, whereas the other could not come near it without

swelling. A person sometimes does not know that he has touched this

poisonous plant, or that he has been near it, before his face and hands

shews it by their swelling. I have known old people who were more

afraid of this tree than of a viper; and I was acquainted with a person

who merely by the noxious exhalations of it was swelled to such a

degree, that he was as stiff as a log of wood, and could only be turned

about in sheets.

On relating in the winter of the year 1750, the poisonous qualities of

the swamp sumach to my Yungstrœm, who attended me on my travels, he

only laughed, and looked upon the whole as a fable, in which opinion he

was confirmed by his having often handled the tree the autumn before,

cut many branches of it, which he had carried for a good while in his

hand in order to preserve its seeds, and put many into the herbals, and

all this, without feeling the least inconvenience. He would therefore,

being a kind of philosopher in his own way, take nothing for granted of

which he had no sufficient proofs, especially as he had his own

experience in the summer of the year 1749, to support the contrary

opinion. But in the next summer his system of philosophy was

overturned. For his hands swelled and he felt a violent pain, and

itching in his eyes as soon as he touched the tree, and this

inconvenience not only attended him when he meddled with this kind of

sumach, but even when he had any thing to do with the Rhus radicans, or

that species of sumach which climbs along the trees, and is not by far

so poisonous as the former. By this adventure he was so convinced of

the power of the poison tree, that I could not easily persuade him to

gather more seeds of it for me. But he not only felt the noxious

effects of it in summer when he was very hot, but even in winter when

both he and the wood were cold. Hence it appears that though a person

be secured against the power of this poison for some time, yet that in

length of time he may be affected with it as well, as people of a

weaker constitution.

I have likewise tried experiments of every kind with the poison tree on

myself. I have spread its juice upon my hands, cut and broke its

branches, peeled off its bark, and rubbed my hands with it, smelt at

it, carried pieces of it in my bare hands, and repeated all this

frequently, without feeling the baneful effects so commonly annexed to

it; but I however once experienced that the poison of the sumach was

not entirely without effect upon me. On a hot day in summer, as I was

in some degree of perspiration, I cut a branch of the tree, and carried

it in my hand for about half an hour together, and smelt at it now and

then. I felt no effects from it, till in the evening. But next morning

I awoke with a violent itching of my eye-lids, and the parts

thereabouts, and this was so painful, that I could hardly keep my hands

from it. It ceased after I had washed my eyes for a while, with very

cold water. But my eye-lids were very stiff all that day. At night the

itching returned, and in the morning as I awoke, I felt it as ill as

the morning before, and I used the same remedy against it. However it

continued almost for a whole week together, and my eyes were very red,

and my eye-lids were with difficulty moved, during all that time. My

pain ceased entirely afterwards. About the same time, I had spread the

juice of the tree very thick upon my hand. Three days after they

occasioned blisters, which soon went off without affecting me much. I

have not experienced any thing more of the effects of this plant, nor

had I any desire so to do. However I found that it could not exert its

power upon me, when I was not perspiring.

I have never heard that the poison of this Sumach has been mortal; but

the pain ceases after a few days duration. The natives formerly made

their flutes of this tree, because it has a great deal of pith. Some

people assured me, that a person suffering from its noisome

exhalations, would easily recover by spreading a mixture of the wood,

burnt to charcoal, and hog’s lard, upon the swelled parts. Some

asserted that they had really tried this remedy. In some places this

tree is rooted out on purpose, that its poison may not affect the

workmen.

I received to day, several curiosities belonging to the mineral

kingdom, which were collected in the country. The following were those

which were most worth attention. The first was a white, and quite

transparent crystal. [10] Many of this kind are found in Pensylvania,

in several kinds of stone, especially in a pale-grey limestone. The

pieces are of the thickness and length of the little finger, and

commonly as transparent as possible. But I have likewise got crystals

here, of the length of a foot, and of the thickness of a middle-sized

man’s leg. They were not so transparent as the former.

The cubic Pyrites of Bishop Browallius, [11] was of a very regular

texture. But its cubes were different in size, for in some of the

cubes, the planes of the sides only amounted to a quarter of an inch,

but in the biggest cubes, they were full two inches. Some were

exceedingly glittering, so that it was very easy to be perceived that

they consisted of sulphureous pyrites. But in some one or two sides

only, glittered so well, and the others were dark-brown. Yet most of

these marcasites had this same colour on all the sides. On breaking

them they shewed the pure pyrites. They are found near Lancaster in

this province, and sometimes lie quite above the ground; but commonly

they are found at the depth of eight feet or more from the surface of

the ground, on digging wells and the like. Mr. Hesselius had several

pieces of this kind of stone, which he made use of in his work. He

first burnt them, then pounded or ground them to a powder, and at last

rubbed them still finer in the usual way, and this afforded him a fine

reddish-brown colour.

Few black pebbles are found in this province, which on the other hand

yields many kinds of marble, especially a white one, with pale-grey

bluish spots, which is found in a quarry at the distance of a few

English miles from Philadelphia, and is very good for working, though

it is not one of the finest kind of marbles. They make many tombstones

and tables, enchase chimneys and doors, floors of marble flags in the

rooms, and the like of this kind of marble. A quantity of this

commodity is shipped to different parts of America.

Muscovy glass, [12] is found in many places hereabouts, and some pieces

of it are pretty large, and as fine as those which are brought from

Russia. I have seen some of them, which were a foot and more in length.

And I have several in my collection that are nearly nine inches square.

The Swedes on their first arrival here made their windows of this

native glass.

A pale grey fine limestone, [13] of a compact texture, lies in many

places hereabouts, and affords a fine lime. Some pieces of it are so

full of fine transparent crystals, that almost half of the stone

consists of nothing else. But besides this limestone, they make lime

near the sea-shore, from oyster shells, and bring it to town in winter,

which is said to be worse for masonry, but better for white-washing,

than that which is got from the limestone.

Coals have not yet been found in Pensylvania; but people pretend to

have seen them higher up in the country among the natives. Many people

however agree that they are met with in great quantity more to the

north, near Cape Breton. [14]

The ladies make wine from some of the fruits of the land. They

principally take white and red currants for that purpose, since the

shrubs of this kind are very plentiful in the gardens, and succeed very

well. An old sailor who had frequently been in New-foundland, told me

that red currants grew wild in that country in great quantity. They

likewise make a wine of strawberries, which grow in great plenty in the

woods, but are sourer than the Swedish ones. The American blackberries,

or Rubus occidentalis, are likewise made use of for this purpose, for

they grow every where about the fields, almost as abundantly as

thistles in Sweden, and have a very agreeable taste. In Maryland a wine

is made of the wild grapes, which grow in the woods of that province.

Raspberries and cherries which are planted on purpose, and taken great

care of, likewise afford a very fine wine. It is unnecessary to give an

account of the manner of making the currant wine, for in Sweden this

art is in higher perfection than in North America.

September the 21st. The common Privet, or Ligustrum vulgare, Linn.

grows among the bushes in thickets and woods. But I cannot determine

whether it belongs to the indigenous plants, or to those which the

English have introduced, the fruits of which the birds may have

dispersed every where. The enclosures and pales are generally made here

of wooden planks and posts. But a few, good œconomists, having already

thought of sparing the woods for future times, have begun to plant

quick hedges round their fields; and to this purpose they take the

above-mentioned privet, which they plant in a little bank, which is

thrown up for it. The soil every where hereabouts is a clay mixed with

sand, and of course very loose. The privet hedges however, are only

adapted to the tameness of the cattle and other animals here; for the

hogs all have a triangular yoke about their necks, and the other cattle

are not very unruly. But in such places where the cattle break through

the enclosures, hedges of this kind would make but a poor defence. The

people who live in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, are obliged to

keep their hogs enclosed.

In the afternoon I rode with Mr. Peter Cock, who was a merchant, born

at Karlscron in Sweden, to his country seat, about nine miles from the

town, to the north-west.

The country on both sides of the road was covered with a great forest.

The trees were all with annual leaves, and I did not see a single fir

or pine. Most of the trees were different sorts of oak. But we likewise

saw chesnut trees, walnut trees, locust trees, apple trees, hiccory,

blackberry bushes, and the like. The ground ceased to be so even as it

was before, and began to look more like the English ground, diversified

with hills and vallies. We found neither mountains nor great stones,

and the wood was so much thinned, and the ground so uniformly even,

that we could see a great way between the trees, under which we rode

without any inconvenience; for there were no bushes to stop us. In some

places where the soil was thrown up, we saw some little stones of that

kind of which the houses here are so generally built. I intend to

describe them in the sequel.

As we went on in the wood, we continually saw at moderate distances

little fields, which had been cleared of the wood. Each of these was a

farm. These farms were commonly very pretty, and a walk of trees

frequently led from them to the high-road. The houses were all built of

brick, or of the stone which is here every where to be met with. Every

countryman, even though he were the poorest peasant, had an orchard

with apples, peaches, chesnuts, walnuts, cherries, quinces, and such

fruits, and sometimes we saw the vines climbing along them. The vallies

were frequently provided with little brooks which contained a crystal

stream. The corn on the sides of the road, was almost all mown, and no

other grain besides maize and buckwheat was standing. The former was to

be met with near each farm, in greater or lesser quantities; it grew

very well and to a great length, the stalks being from six to ten foot

high and covered with fine green leaves. Buckwheat likewise was not

very uncommon, and in some places the people were beginning to reap it.

I intend in the sequel to be more particular about the qualities and

use of these kinds of corn.

After a ride of six English miles, we came to Germantown; this town has

only one street, but is near two English miles long. It is for the

greatest part inhabited by Germans, who from time to time come from

their country to North America, and settle here, because they enjoy

such privileges, as they are not possessed of any where else. Most of

the inhabitants are tradesmen, and make almost every thing in such

quantity and perfection, that in a short time this province will want

very little from England, its mother country. Most of the houses were

built of the stone which is mixed with glimmer, and found every where

towards Philadelphia, but is more scarce further on. Several houses

however were made of brick. They were commonly two stories high, and

sometimes higher. The roofs consisted of shingles of the white cedar

wood. Their shape resembled that of the roofs in Sweden, but the angles

they formed at the top were either obtuse, right angled, or acute,

according as the slopes were steep or easy. They sometimes formed

either the half of an octogon, or the half of a dodecagon.

Many of the roofs were made in such a manner, that they could be walked

upon, having a balustrade round them. Many of the upper stories had

balconies before them, from whence the people had a prospect into the

street. The windows, even those in the third story, had shutters. Each

house had a fine garden. The town had three churches, one for the

lutherans, another for the reformed protestants, and the third for the

quakers. The inhabitants were so numerous, that the street was always

full. The baptists have likewise a meeting-house.

September the 22d. After I had been at church, I employed the remainder

of the day in conversing with the most considerable people in town, who

had lived here for a long while, and I enquired into the curiosities

hereabouts.

Mr. Cock had a fine spring near his country seat; it came from a sandy

hill, and afforded water enough constantly to fill a little brook. Just

above this spring Mr. Cock had erected a building from those

above-mentioned glittering stones, into which were put many jugs, and

other earthen vessels full of milk; for it kept very well in cold water

during the great heat with which the summer is attended here.

I afterwards met with many houses which were situated like this on

springs, and therefore were destined to keep the meat and milk fresh.

Almost all the enclosures round the corn-fields and meadows hereabouts,

were made of planks fastened in a horizontal direction. I only

perceived a hedge of privet in one single place. The enclosures were

not made like ours, for the people here take posts from four to six

feet in height, and make two or three holes into them, so that there

was a distance of two feet and above between them. Such a post does the

same service as two, and sometimes three poles are scarce sufficient.

The posts were fastened in the ground, at two or three fathoms distance

from each other, and the holes in them kept up the planks, which were

nine inches, and sometimes a foot broad, and lay above each other from

one post to the next. Such an enclosure therefore looked at a distance

like the hurdles in which we enclose the sheep at night in Sweden. They

were really no closer than hurdles, being only destined to keep out the

greater animals, such as cows and horses. The hogs are kept near the

farm-houses every where about Philadelphia, and therefore this

enclosure does not need to be made closer on their account. Chesnut

trees were commonly made use of for this purpose, because this wood

keeps longest against putrefaction, and an enclosure made of it can

stand for thirty years together. But where no chesnut wood was to be

got, the white, and likewise the black oaks were taken for that

purpose. Of all kinds of wood, that of the red cedar holds out the

longest. The greatest quantity of it is brought up here; for near

Philadelphia it is not plentiful enough, to be made use of for

enclosures; however there are many enclosures near the town made of

this wood.

The best wood for fuel in every body’s opinion is the hiccory, or a

species of walnut; for it heats well; but is not good for enclosures,

since it cannot well withstand putrefaction when it is in the open air.

The white and black oaks are next in goodness for fuel. The woods with

which Philadelphia is surrounded, would lead one to conclude, that fuel

must be cheap there. But it is far from being so, because the great and

high forest near the town is the property of some people of quality and

fortune, who do not regard the money which they could make of them.

They do not sell so much as they require for their own use, and much

less would they sell it to others. But they leave the trees for times

to come, expecting that wood will become much more scarce. However they

sell it to joiners, coach-makers, and other artists, who pay

exorbitantly for it. For a quantity of hiccory of eight foot in length,

and four in depth, and the pieces being likewise four foot long, they

paid at present eighteen shillings of Pensylvanian currency. But the

same quantity of oak only came to twelve shillings. The people who came

at present to sell wood in the market were peasants, who lived at a

great distance from the town. Every body complained that fuel in the

space of a few years, was risen in price to many times as much again as

it had been, and to account for this, the following reasons were given:

the town is encreased to such a degree, as to be four or six times

bigger, and more populous than what some old people have known it to

be, when they were young. Many brick-kilns have been made hereabouts,

which require a great quantity of wood. The country is likewise more

cultivated than it used to be, and consequently great woods have been

cut down for that purpose; and the farms built in those places likewise

consume a quantity of wood. Lastly, they melt iron out of the ore, in

several places about the town, and this work always goes on without

interruption. For these reasons it is concluded in future times

Philadelphia will be obliged to pay a great price for wood.

The wine of blackberries, which has a very fine taste, is made in the

following manner. The juice of the blackberries is pressed out, and put

into a vessel; with half a gallon of this juice, an equal quantity of

water is well mixed. Three pounds of brown sugar are added to this

mixture, which must then stand for a while, and after that, it is fit

for use. Cherry wine is made in the same manner, but care must be taken

that when the juice is pressed out, the stones be not crushed, for they

give the wine a bad taste.

They make brandy from peaches here, after the following method. The

fruit is cut asunder, and the stones are taken out. The pieces of fruit

are then put into a vessel, where they are left for three weeks or a

month, till they are quite putrid. They are then put into the

distilling vessel, and the brandy is made and afterwards distilled over

again. This brandy is not good for people who have a more refined

taste, but it is only for the common kind of people, such as workmen

and the like.

Apples yield a brandy, when prepared in the same manner as the peaches.

But for this purpose those apples are chiefly taken, which fall from

the tree before they are ripe.

The American Night-shade, or Phytolacca decandra, Linn. S. N. grows

abundantly near the farms, on the highroad in hedges and bushes, and in

several places in the fields. Whenever I came to any of these places I

was sure of finding this plant in great abundance. Most of them had red

berries, which grew in bunches, and looked very tempting, though they

were not at all fit for eating. Some of these plants were yet in

flower. In some places, such as in the hedges, and near the houses,

they sometimes grow two fathom high. But in the fields were always low;

yet I could no where perceive that the cattle had eaten of it. A German

of this place who was a confectioner told me, that the dyers gathered

the roots of this plant and made a fine red dye of them.

Here are several species of Squirrels. The ground Squirrels, or Sciurus

striatus, Linn. S. N. are commonly kept in cages, because they are very

pretty: but they cannot he entirely tamed. The greater Squirrels, or

Sciurus cinereus, Linn. S. N. frequently do a great deal of mischief in

the plantations, but particularly destroy the maize. For they climb up

the stalks, cut the ears in pieces and eat only the loose and sweet

kernel which lies quite in the inside. They sometimes come by hundreds

upon a maize-field, and then destroy the whole crop of a countryman in

one night. In Maryland therefore every one is obliged annually to bring

four squirrels, and their heads are given to the surveyor, to prevent

deceit. In other provinces every body that kills squirrels, received

twopence a piece for them from the public, on delivering the heads.

Their flesh is eaten and reckoned a dainty. The skins are sold, but are

not much esteemed. Squirrels are the chief food of the rattle-snake and

other snakes, and it was a common fancy with the people hereabouts,

that when the rattle snake lay on the ground, and fixed its eyes upon a

squirrel, the latter would be as it were fascinated, and that though it

were on the uppermost branches of a tree, yet it would come down by

degrees, till it leaped into the snake’s mouth. The snake then licks

the little animal several times, and makes it wet all over with its

spittle, that it may go down the throat easier. It then swallows the

whole squirrel at once. When the snake has made such a good meal, it

lies down to rest without any concern.

The quadruped, which Dr. Linnæus in the memoirs of the Royal Academy of

Sciences, has described by the name of Ursus cauda elongata, and which

he calls Ursus Lotor, in his Systema Naturæ, is here called Raccoon. It

is found very frequently, and destroys many chickens. It is hunted by

dogs, and when it runs upon a tree to save itself, a man climbs upon

the tree after it, and shakes it down to the ground, where the dogs

kill it. The flesh is eaten, and is reputed to taste well. The bone of

its male parts is made use of for a tobacco-stopper. The hatters

purchase their skins, and make hats out of the hair, which are next in

goodness to beavers. The tail is worn round the neck in winter, and

therefore is likewise valuable. The Raccoon is frequently the food of

snakes.

Some Englishmen asserted that near the river Potomack in Virginia, a

great quantity of oyster shells were to be met with, and that they

themselves had seen whole mountains of them. The place where they are

found is said to be about two English miles distant from the sea-shore.

The proprietor of that ground burns lime out of them. This stratum of

oyster-shells is two fathom and more deep. Such quantities of shells

have likewise been found in other places, especially in New York, on

digging in the ground; and in one place, at the distance of some

English miles from the sea, avast quantity of oyster-shells, and of

other shells was found. Some people conjectured that the natives had

formerly lived in that place, and had left the shells of the oysters

which they had consumed, in such great heaps. But others could not

conceive how it happened that they were thrown in such immense

quantities all into one place.

Every one is of opinion that the American savages were a very

good-natured people, if they were not attacked. No body is so strict in

keeping his word as a savage. If any one of their allies come to visit

them, they shew him more kindness, and greater endeavours to serve him,

than he could have expected from his own countrymen. Mr. Cock gave me

the following relation, as a proof of their integrity. About two years

ago, an English merchant travelling amongst the savages, in order to

sell them necessaries, and to buy other goods, was secretly killed,

without the murderer’s being found out. But about a year after, the

savages found out the guilty person amongst themselves. They

immediately took him up, bound his hands on his back, and thus sent him

with a guard to the governor at Philadelphia, and sent him word, that

they could no longer acknowledge this wretch (who had been so wicked

towards an Englishman) as their countryman, and therefore would have

nothing more to do with him, and that they delivered him up to the

governor, to be punished for his villainy as the laws of England

direct. This Indian was afterwards hanged at Philadelphia.

Their good natural parts are proved by the following account, which

many people have given me as a true one. When they send their

ambassadors to the English colonies, in order to settle things of

consequence with the governor, they sit down on the ground, as soon as

they come to his audience, and hear with great attention the governor’s

demands which they are to make an answer to. His demands are sometimes

many. Yet they have only a stick in their hand, and make their marks on

it with a knife, without writing any thing else down. But when they

return the next day to give in their resolutions, they answer all the

governor’s articles in the same order, in which he delivered them,

without leaving one out, or changing the order, and give such accurate

answers, as if they had an account of them at full length in writing.

Mr. Sleidorn related another story, which gave me great pleasure. He

said he had been at New York, and had found a venerable old American

savage amongst several others in an inn. This old man began to talk

with Sleidorn as soon as the liquor was getting the better of his head,

and boasted that he could write and read in English. Sleidorn therefore

desired leave to ask a question, which the old man readily granted.

Sleidorn then asked him, whether he knew who was first circumcised? and

the old man immediately answered, Father Abraham; but at the same time

asked leave to propose a question in his turn, which Sleidorn granted;

the old man then said, who was the first quaker? Sleidorn said it was

uncertain, that some took one person for it, and some another; but the

cunning old fellow told him, you are mistaken, sir; Mordecai was the

first quaker, for he would not take off his hat to Haman. Many of the

savages, who are yet heathens, are said to have some obscure notion of

the deluge. But I am convinced from my own experience, that they are

not at all acquainted with it.

I met with people here who maintained that giants had formerly lived in

these parts, and the following particulars confirmed them in this

opinion. A few years ago some people digging in the ground, met with a

grave which contained human bones of an astonishing size. The Tibia is

said to have been fourteen feet long, and the os femoris to have

measured as much. The teeth are likewise said to have been of a size

proportioned to the rest, But more bones of this kind have not yet been

found. Persons skilled in anatomy, who have seen these bones, have

declared that they were human bones. One of the teeth has been sent to

Hamburgh, to a person who collected natural curiosities. Among the

savages, in the neighbourhood of the place where the bones were found,

there is an account handed down through many generations from fathers

to children, that in this neighbourhood, on the banks of a river, there

lived a very tall and strong man, in ancient times, who carried the

people over the river on his back, and waded in the water, though it

was very deep. Every body to whom he did this service gave him some

maize, some skins of animals, or the like. In fine he got his

livelyhood by this means, and was as it were the ferryman of those who

wanted to pass the river.

The soil here consists for the greatest part of sand, which is more or

less mixed with clay. Both the sand and the clay, are of the colour of

pale bricks. To judge by appearance the ground was none of the best;

and this conjecture was verified by the inhabitants of the country.

When a corn-field has been obliged to bear the same kind of corn for

three years together, it does not after that produce any thing at all

if it be not well manured, or fallowed for some years. Manure is very

difficult to be got, and therefore people rather leave the field

uncultivated. In that interval it is covered with all sorts of plants

and trees; and the countryman in the mean while, cultivates a piece of

ground which has till then been fallow, or he chuses a part of the

ground which has never been ploughed before, and he can in both cases

be pretty sure of a plentiful crop. This method can here be used with

great convenience. For the soil is loose, so that it can easily be

ploughed, and every countryman has commonly a great deal of land for

his property. The cattle here are neither housed in winter, nor tended

in the fields, and for this reason they cannot gather a sufficient

quantity of dung.

All the cattle has been originally brought over from Europe. The

natives have never had any, and at present few of them care to get any.

But the cattle degenerates by degrees here, and becomes smaller. For

the cows, horses, sheep, and hogs, are all larger in England, though

those which are brought over are of that breed. But the first

generation decreases a little, and the third and fourth is of the same

size with the cattle already common here. The climate, the soil, and

the food, altogether contribute their share towards producing this

change.

It is remarkable that the inhabitants of the country, commonly sooner

acquire understanding, but likewise grow sooner old than the people in

Europe. It is nothing uncommon to see little children, giving sprightly

and ready answers to questions that are proposed to them, so that they

seem to have as much understanding as old men. But they do not attain

to such an age as the Europeans, and it is almost an unheard of thing,

that a person born in this country, should live to be eighty or ninety

years of age. But I only speak of the Europeans that settled here. For

the savages, or first inhabitants, frequently attained a great age,

though at present such examples are uncommon, which is chiefly

attributed to the great use of brandy, which the savages have learnt of

the Europeans. Those who are born in Europe attain a greater age here,

than those who are born here, of European parents. In the last war, it

plainly appeared that these new Americans were by far less hardy than

the Europeans in expeditions, sieges, and long sea voyages, and died in

numbers. It is very difficult for them to use themselves to a climate

different from their own. The women cease bearing children sooner than

in Europe. They seldom or never have children, after they are forty or

forty-five years old, and some leave off in the thirtieth year of their

age. I enquired into the causes of this, but no one could give me a

good one. Some said it was owing to the affluence in which the people

live here. Some ascribed it to the inconstancy and changeableness of

the weather, and believed that there hardly was a country on earth in

which the weather changes so often in a day, as it does here. For if it

were ever so hot, one could not be certain whether in twenty-four hours

there would not be a piercing cold. Nay, sometimes the weather will

change five or six times a day.

The trees in this country have the same qualities as its inhabitants.

For the ships which are built of American wood, are by no means equal

in point of strength, to those which are built in Europe. This is what

nobody attempts to contradict. When a ship which is built here, has

served eight or twelve years it is worth little; and if one is to be

met with, which has been in use longer and is yet serviceable, it is

reckoned very astonishing. It is difficult to find out the causes from

whence this happens. Some lay the fault to the badness of the wood:

others condemn the method of building the ships, which is to make them

of trees which are yet green, and have had no time to dry. I believe

both causes are joined. For I found oak, which at the utmost had been

cut down about twelve years, and was covered by a hard bark. But upon

taking off this bark, the wood below it was almost entirely rotten, and

like flour, so that I could rub it into powder between my fingers. How

much longer will not our European oak stand before it moulders?

At night we returned to Philadelphia.

September the 23d. There are no Hares in this country, but some

animals, which are a medium between our Hares and Rabbets, and make a

great devastation whenever they get into fields of cabbage and turneps.

Many people have not been able to find out why the North American

plants which are carried to Europe and planted there, for the greatest

part flower so late, and do not get ripe fruit before the frost

overtakes them, although it appears from several accounts of travels,

that the winters in Pensylvania, and more so those in New York, New

England, and Canada, are full as severe as our Swedish winters, and

therefore are much severer than those which are felt in England.

Several men of judgment charged me for this reason to examine and

enquire into this phœnomenon with all possible care. But I shall

instead of an answer, rather give a few remarks which I made upon the

climate and upon the plants of North America, and leave my readers at

liberty to draw the conclusions themselves.

1. It is true, that the winters in Pensylvania, and much more those in

the more northern provinces, are frequently as severe as our Swedish

winters, and much colder than the English ones, or those of the

southern parts of Europe. For I found at Philadelphia, which is above

twenty deg. more southerly than several provinces in Sweden, that the

thermometer of professor Celsius, fell twenty-four deg. below the

freezing point in winter. Yet I was assured that the winters I spent

here, were none of the coldest, but only common ones, which I could

likewise conclude from the Delaware’s not being frozen strong enough to

bear a carriage at Philadelphia during my stay, though this often

happens. On considering the breadth of the river which I have already

mentioned in my description of Philadelphia, and the difference between

high and low water, which is eight English feet; it will pretty plainly

appear that a very intense frost is required to cover the Delaware with

such thick ice.

2. But it is likewise true, that though the winters are severe here,

yet they are commonly of no long duration, and I can justly say, that

they do not continue above two months and sometimes even less, at

Philadelphia; and it is something very uncommon when they continue for

three months together, in so much that it is put into the gazettes.

Nearer the pole the winters are somewhat longer, and in the quite

northern parts they are as long as the Swedish winters. The daily

meteorological observations which I have made during my stay in

America, and which I intend to annex at the end of each volume of this

work, will give more light in this matter.

3. The heat in summer is excessive, and without intermission. I own I

have seen the thermometer rise to nearly the same degree at Aobo in

Finland. But the difference is, that when the thermometer of professor

Celsius rose to thirty deg. above the freezing point once in two or

three summers at Aobo, the same thermometer did not only for three

months together stand at the same degree, but even sometimes rose

higher; not only in Pensylvania, but likewise in New York, Albany, and

a great part of Canada. During the summers which I spent at

Philadelphia, the thermometer has two or three times risen to

thirty-six deg. above the freezing point. It may therefore with great

certainty be said, that in Pensylvania the greatest part of April, the

whole May, and all the following months till October, are like our

Swedish months of June and July. So excessive and continued a heat must

certainly have very great effects. I here again refer to my

meteorological observations. It must likewise be ascribed to the

effects of this heat that the common melons, the water melons, and the

pumpions of different sorts are sown in the fields without any bells or

the like put over them, and yet are ripe as early as July; further,

that cherries are ripe at Philadelphia about the 25th. of May, and that

in Pensylvania the wheat is frequently reaped in the middle of June.

4. The whole of September, and half, if not the whole of October, are

the finest months in Pensylvania, for the preceding ones are too hot.

But these represent our July and half of August. The greatest part of

the plants are in flower in September, and many do not begin to open

their flowers before the latter end of this month. I make no doubt that

the goodness of the season, which is enlivened by a clear sky, and a

tolerably hot sun-shine, greatly contributes towards this last effort

of Flora. Yet though these plants come out so late, they are quite ripe

before the middle of October. But I am not able to account for their

coming up so late in autumn, and I rather ask, why do not the Centaurea

Jacea, the Gentiana, Amarella and Centaurium of Linnæus, and the common

golden rod, or Solidago Virgaurea flower before the end of summer? or

why do the common noble liverwort, or Anemone Hepatica, the wild

violets (Viola martia, Linn.) the mezereon (Daphne Mezereum, Linn.) and

other plants shew their flowers so early in spring? It has pleased the

Almighty Creator to give to them this disposition. The weather at

Philadelphia during these months, is shewn by my meteorological tables.

I have taken the greatest care in my observations, and have always

avoided putting the thermometer into any place where the sun could

shine upon it, or where he had before heated the wall by his beams; for

in those cases my observations would certainly not have been exact. The

weather during our September and October is too well known to want an

explanation. [15]

5. However there are some spontaneous plants in Pensylvania, which do

not every year bring their seeds to maturity before the cold begins. To

these belong some species of Gentiana, of Asters, and others. But in

these too the wisdom of the Creator has wisely ordered every thing in

its turn. For almost all the plants which have the quality of flowering

so late in autumn, are perennial, or such as, though they have no seed

to propagate themselves, can revive by shooting new branches and stalks

from the same root every year. But perhaps a natural cause may be given

to account for the late growth of these plants. Before the Europeans

came into this country, it was inhabited by savage nations, who

practised agriculture but little or not at all, and chiefly lived upon

hunting and fishing. The woods therefore have never been meddled with,

except that sometimes a small part was destroyed by fire. The accounts

which we have of the first landing of the Europeans here, shew that

they found the country all over covered with thick forests. [16] From

hence it follows, that excepting the higher trees, and the plants which

grow in the water or near the shore, the rest must for the greatest

part have been obliged to grow perhaps for a thousand years together,

in a shade, either below or between the trees, and they therefore

naturally belong to those which are only peculiar to woody and shady

places. The trees in this country drop their leaves in such quantities

in autumn, that the ground is covered with them to the depth of four or

five inches. These leaves lie a good while in the next summer before

they moulder, and this must of course hinder the growth of the plants

which are under the trees, at the same time depriving them of the few

rays of the sun which can come down to them through the thick leaves at

the top of the trees. These causes joined together make such plants

flower much later than they would otherwise do. May it not therefore be

said, that in so many centuries these plants had at last contracted a

habit of coming up very late, and that it would now require a great

space of time to make them lose this habit, and use them to quicken

their growth?

September the 24th. We employed this whole day in gathering the seeds

of plants of all kinds, and in putting scarce plants into the herbal.

September the 25th. Mr. Hesselius made me a present of a little piece

of petrified wood, which was found in the ground here. It was four

inches long, one inch broad, and three lines thick. It might plainly be

seen that it had formerly been wood. For in the places where it had

been polished, all the longitudinal fibres were easily distinguishable,

so that it might have been taken for a piece of oak which was cut

smooth. My piece was part of a still greater piece. It was here thought

to be petrified hiccory. I afterwards got more of it from other people.

Mr. Lewis Evans told me that on the boundaries of Virginia, a great

petrified block of hiccory had been found in the ground, with the bark

on it, which was likewise petrified.

Mr. John Bartram is an Englishman, who lives in the country about four

miles from Philadelphia. He has acquired a great knowledge of natural

philosophy and history, and seems to be born with a peculiar genius for

these sciences. In his youth he had no opportunity of going to school.

But by his own diligence and indefatigable application he got, without

instruction, so far in Latin, as to understand all Latin books, and

even those which were filled with botanical terms. He has in several

successive years made frequent excursions into different distant parts

of North America, with an intention of gathering all sorts of plants

which are scarce and little known. Those which he found he has planted

in his own botanical garden, and likewise sent over their seeds or

fresh roots to England. We owe to him the knowledge of many scarce

plants, which he first found, and which were never known before. He has

shewn great judgment, and an attention which lets nothing escape

unnoticed. Yet with all these great qualities, he is to be blamed for

his negligence; for he did not care to write down his numerous and

useful observations. His friends at London once obliged him to send

them a short account of one of his travels, and they were very ready,

with a good intention, though not with sufficient judgment, to get this

account printed. But this book, did Mr. Bartram more harm than good;

for as he is rather backward in writing down what he knows, this

publication was found to contain but few new observations. It would not

however be doing justice to Mr. Bartram’s merit, if it were to be

judged of by this performance. He has not filled it with a thousandth

part of the great knowledge, which he has acquired in natural

philosophy and history, especially in regard to North America. I have

often been at a loss to think of the sources, from whence he got many

things which came to his knowledge. I likewise owe him many things, for

he possessed that great quality of communicating every thing he knew. I

shall therefore in the sequel, frequently mention this gentleman. For I

should never forgive myself, if I were to omit the name of the first

inventor, and claim that as my own invention, which I learnt from

another person.

Many Muscle shells, or Mytili anatini, are to be met with on the

north-west side of the town in the clay-pits, which were at present

filled with water from a little brook in the neighbourhood. These

muscles seem to have been washed into that place by the tide, when the

water in the brook was high. For these clay-pits are not old, but were

lately made. Poor boys sometimes go out of town, wade in the water, and

gather great quantities of these shells, which they sell very easily,

they being reckoned a dainty.

The Virginian Azarole with a red fruit, or Linnæus’s Cratægus Crus

galli, is a species of hawthorn, and they plant it in hedges, for want

of that hawthorn, which is commonly used for this purpose in Europe.

Its berries are red, and of the same size, shape, and taste with those

of our hawthorn. Yet this tree does not seem to make a good hedge, for

its leaves were already fallen, whilst other trees still preserved

theirs. Its spines are very long and sharp; their length being two or

three inches. These spines are applied to some inconsiderable use. Each

berry contains two stones.

Mr. Bartram assured me, that the North American oak, cannot resist

putrefaction for near such a space of time, as the European. For this

reason, the boats (which carry all sorts of goods down from the upper

parts of the country) upon the river Hudson, which is one of the

greatest in these parts, are made of two kinds of wood. That part which

must always be under water, is made of black oak; but the upper part,

which is now above and now under water, and is therefore more exposed

to putrefaction, is made of red cedar or Juniperus Virginiana, which is

reckoned the most hardy wood in the country. The bottom is made of

black oak, because that wood is very tough. For the river being full of

stones, and the boats frequently running against them, the black oak

gives way, and therefore does not easily crack. But the cedar would not

do for this purpose; because it is hard and brittle. The oak likewise

is not so much attacked by putrefaction, when it is always kept under

water.

In autumn, I could always get good pears here; but every body

acknowledged, that this fruit would not succeed well in the country.

All my observations and remarks on the qualities of the Rattle-snake,

are inserted in the Memoirs of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, for the

year 1752, p. 316, and for the year 1753, p. 54, and thither I refer

the reader. [17]

Bears are very numerous higher up in the country, and do much mischief.

Mr. Bartram told me, that when a bear catches a cow, kills her in the

following manner: he bites a hole into the hide, and blows with all his

power into it, till the animal swells excessively and dies; for the air

expands greatly between the flesh and the hide. [18] An old Swede

called Nils Gustave’s son, who was ninety-one years of age, said, that

in his youth, the bears had been very frequent hereabouts, but that

they had seldom attacked the cattle: that whenever a bear was killed,

its flesh was prepared like pork, and that it had a very good taste.

And the flesh of bears is still prepared like ham, on the river Morris.

The environs of Philadelphia, and even the whole province of

Pensylvania in general contain very few bears, they having been

extirpated by degrees. In Virginia they kill them in several different

ways. Their flesh is eaten by both rich and poor, since it is reckoned

equal in goodness to pork. In some parts of this province, where no

hogs can be kept on account of the great numbers of bears, the people

are used to catch and kill them, and to use them instead of hogs. The

American bears however, are said to be less fierce and dangerous, than

the European ones.

September the 26th. The broad plantain, or Plantago major, grows on the

highroads, foot paths, meadows, and in gardens in great plenty. Mr.

Bartram had found this plant in many places on his travels, but he did

not know whether it was an original American plant, or whether the

Europeans had brought it over. This doubt had its rise from the savages

(who always had an extensive knowledge of the plants of the country)

pretending that this plant never grew here before the arrival of the

Europeans., They therefore give it a name which signifies, the

Englishman’s foot, for they say that where a European had walked, there

this plant grew in his foot steps.

The Chenopodium album, or Goosefoot with sinuated leaves, grows in

plenty in the gardens. But it is more scarce near the houses, in the

streets, on dunghills and corn-fields. This seems to shew, that it is

not a native of America, but has been brought over amongst other seeds

from Europe. In the same manner it is thought that the Tansey

(Tanacetum vulgare, Linn.) which grows here and there in the hedges, on

the roads, and near houses, was produced from European seeds.

The common vervain, with blue flowers, or verbena officinalis, was

shewn to me by Mr. Bartram, not far from his house in a little plain

near Philadelphia. It was the only place where he had found it in

America. And for this reason I suppose it was likewise sown here

amongst other European seeds.

I now proceed to mention the other publick buildings in Philadelphia.