1. Ilex Aquifolium, holly.
2. Kalmia latifolia, the spoon tree.
3. Kalmia angustifolia, another species of it.
4. Magnolia glauca, the beaver tree. The young trees of this kind
only keep their leaves, the others drop them.
5. Viscum album, or misletoe; this commonly grows upon the Nyssa
aquatica, or tupelo tree, upon the Liquidambar styraciflua, or
sweet gum tree, the oak and lime tree, so that their whole
summits were frequently quite green in winter.
6. Myrica cerifera, or the candleberry tree; of this however only
some of the youngest shrubs preserve some leaves, but most of
them had already lost them.
7. Pinus Abies, the pine.
8. Pinus sylvestris, the fir.
9. Cupressus thyoides, the white cedar.
10. Juniperus Virginiana, the red cedar.
Several oaks and other trees dropt their leaves here in winter, which
however keep them ever green, a little more to the south, and in
Carolina.
November the 30th. It has been observed, that the Europeans in North
America, whether they were born in Sweden, England, Germany or Holland;
or in North America, of European parents, always lost their teeth much
sooner than common; the women especially were subject to this
disagreeable circumstance, the men did not suffer so much from it.
Girls not above twenty years old, frequently had lost half of their
teeth, without any hopes of getting new ones: I have attempted to
penetrate into the causes of this early shedding of the teeth, but I
know not, whether I have hit upon a true one. Many people were of
opinion that the air of this country hurt the teeth: so much is certain
that the weather can no where be subject to more frequent and sudden
changes; for the end of a hot day, often turns out piercing cold, and
vice versa. Yet this change of weather, cannot be looked upon as having
any effect upon the shedding of the teeth, for the Indians prove the
contrary: they live in the same air, and always keep fine, entire white
teeth; this I have seen myself, and have been assured of by every body:
others ascribe it to the great quantities of fruit and sweet meats
which are here eaten. But I have known many people, who never eat any
fruit, and nevertheless had hardly a tooth left.
I then began to suspect the tea, which is drank here in the morning and
afternoon, especially by women, and is so common at present, that there
is hardly a farmer’s wife or a poor woman, who does not drink tea in
the morning: I was confirmed in this opinion when I took a journey
through some parts of the country which were still inhabited by
Indians. For Major General Johnson told me at that time, that several
of the Indians who lived close to the European settlements, had learnt
to drink tea. And it has been observed, that such of the Indian women,
as used themselves too much to this liquor, had in the same manner as
the European women, lost their teeth prematurely, though they had
formerly been quite sound. Those again, who had not used tea preserved
their teeth strong and sound to a great age.
I afterwards found, that the use of tea could not entirely cause this
accident. Several young women who lived in this country, but were born
in Europe, complained that they lost most of their teeth after they
came to America: I asked, whether they did not think that it arose from
the frequent use of tea, as it was known, that strong tea, as it were
enters into and corrodes the teeth; but they answered, that they had
lost their teeth before they had began to drink tea, but continuing my
enquiries, I found at last a sufficient cause, to account for the loss
of their teeth: each of these women owned, that they were accustomed to
eat every thing hot, and nothing was good in their opinion, unless they
could eat it as fast as it came from the fire. This is likewise the
case with the women in the country who lose their teeth much sooner and
more abundantly than the men. They drink tea in greater quantity and
much oftener, in the morning, and even at noon, when the employment of
the men will not allow them to sit at the tea-table. Besides that, the
Englishmen care very little for tea, and a bowl of punch is much more
agreeable to them. When the English women drink tea, they never pour it
out of the cup into the saucer, but drink it hot as it is out of the
former. The Indian women in imitation of them, swallow the tea in the
same manner. On the contrary those Indians whose teeth are sound, never
eat any thing hot, but take their meat either quite cold, or only just
milk warm.
I asked the Swedish churchwarden in Philadelphia, Mr. Bengtson, and a
number of old Swedes, whether their parents and countrymen had likewise
lost their teeth as soon as the American colonists; but they told me
that they had preserved them to a very great age. Bengtson assured me,
that his father at the age of seventy, cracked peach stones and the
black walnuts with his teeth, notwithstanding their great hardness,
which at this time no body dares to venture at that age. This confirms
what I have before said, for at that time the use of tea was not yet
known in North America.
No disease is more common here, than that which the English call fever
and ague, which is sometimes quotidian, tertian or quartan. But it
often happens, that a person who has had a tertian ague, after losing
it for a week or two, gets a quotidian ague in its stead, which after a
while again changes into a tertian. The fever commonly attacks the
people at the end of August, or beginning of September, and commonly
continues during autumn and winter till towards spring, when it ceases
entirely.
Strangers who arrive here, commonly are attacked by this sickness the
first or second year after their arrival; and it is more violent upon
them, than upon the natives, so that they sometimes die of it; but if
they escape the first time, they have the advantage of not being
visited again the next year, or perhaps never any more. It is commonly
said here, that strangers get the fever to accustom them to the
climate. The natives of European offspring, have annual fits of this
ague in some parts of the country: some however are soon delivered from
it, with others on the contrary it continues for six months together,
and others are afflicted with it till they die. The Indians also suffer
it, but not so violently as the Europeans. No age is secured against
it: in those places where it rages annually, you see old men and women
attacked with it; and even children in the cradle, sometimes not above
three weeks old: it is likewise quotidian, tertian or quartan with
them. This autumn the ague was more violent here, than it commonly used
to be. People who are afflicted with it, look as pale as death, and are
greatly weakened, but in general are not prevented from doing their
work in the intervals. It is remarkable, that every year there are
great parts of the country where this fever rages, and others where
scarce a single person has been taken ill. It likewise is worth notice,
that there are places where the people cannot remember that it formerly
prevailed in their country, though at present it begins to grow more
common: yet there was no other visible difference between the several
places. All the old Swedes, Englishmen, Germans, &c. unanimously
asserted, that the fever had never been so violent, and of such
continuance when they were boys, as it is at present. They were
likewise generally of opinion, that about the year 1680, there were not
so many people afflicted with it, as about this time. However others
equally old, were of opinion that the fever was proportionably as
common formerly, as it is at present; but that it could not at that
time be so sensibly perceived, on account of the scarcity of
inhabitants, and the great distance of their settlements from each
other; it is therefore probable that the effects of the fever have at
all times been equal.
It would be difficult to determine the true causes of this disease;
they seem to be numerous, and not always alike: sometimes, and I
believe commonly several of them unite. I have taken all possible care
to sound the opinions of the physicians here on that head, and I here
offer them to the reader.
Some of them think that the peculiar qualities of the air of this
country cause this fever; but most of them assert that it is generated
by the standing and putrid water, which it seems is confirmed by
experience. For it has been observed in this country, that such people
as live in the neighbourhood of Morasses or Swamps, or in places where
a stagnant, stinking water is to be met with, are commonly infested
with the fever and ague every year, and get it more readily than
others. And this chiefly happens at a time of the year when those
stagnant waters are most evaporated by the excessive heat of the sun,
and the air is filled with the most noxious vapors. The fever likewise
is very violent in all places which have a very low situation, and
where salt water comes up with the tide twice in twenty four hours, and
unites with the stagnant, fresh water in the country. Therefore on
travelling in summer over such low places where fresh and salt water
unite, the nauseous stench arising from thence often forces the
traveller to stop his nose. On that account most of the inhabitants of
Penn’s neck, and Salem in New Jersey, where the ground has the
above-mentioned quality, are annually infested with the fever to a much
greater degree, than the inhabitants of the higher country. If an
inhabitant of the higher part of the country, where the people are free
from the fever, removes into the lower parts, he may be well assured
that the fever will attack him at the usual time, and that he will get
it again every year, as long as he continues in that country. People of
the liveliest complexion on coming into the low parts of the country,
and continuing there for some time, have entirely lost their colour and
become quite pale. However this cannot be the sole cause of the fever,
as I have been in several parts of the country which had a low
situation and had stagnant waters near them, where the people declared
they seldom suffered from this sickness: but these places were about
two or three degrees more northerly.
Others were of opinion that diet did very much towards it, and chiefly
laid the blame upon the inconsiderate and intemperate consumption of
fruit. This is particularly the case with the Europeans, who come into
America, and are not used to its climate and its fruit; for those who
are born here can bear more, yet are not entirely free from the bad
effects of eating too much. I have heard many Englishmen, Germans, and
others speak from their own experience on this account; they owned,
that they had often tried, and were certain that after eating a water
melon once or twice before they had breakfasted, they would have the
fever and ague in a few days after. Yet it is remarkable, that the
French in Canada told me that fevers were less common in that country,
though they consumed as many water melons as the English colonies, and
that it had never been observed that they occasioned a fever; but that
on coming in the hot season to the Illinois, an Indian nation which is
nearly in the same latitude with Pensylvania and New Jersey, they could
not eat a water melon without feeling the shaking fits of an ague, and
that the Indians therefore warned them not to eat of so dangerous a
fruit. Query, Does not this lead us to think that the greater heat in
Pensylvania, and the country of the Illinois, which are both five or
six degrees more southerly than Canada, makes fruit in some measure
more dangerous? In the English North American colonies, every
countryman plants a number of water melons, which are eaten whilst the
people make hay, or during the harvest when they have nothing upon
their stomachs, in order to cool them during the great heat, as that
juicy fruit seems very proper to give refreshment. In the same manner
melons, cucumbers, gourds, squashes, mulberries, apples, peaches,
cherries, and such like fruit are eaten here in summer, and altogether
contribute to the attacks of the ague.
But that the manner of living contributes greatly towards it, may be
concluded from the unanimous accounts of old people, concerning the
times of their childhood; according to which, the inhabitants of these
parts, were at that time not subject to so many diseases as they are at
present, and people were seldom sick. All the old Swedes likewise
agreed, that their countrymen, who first came into North America,
attained to a great age, and their children nearly to the same; but
that their grand children, and great grand children did not reach the
age of their ancestors, and their health was not near so vigorous and
durable. But the Swedes who first settled in America, lived very
frugally; they were poor, and could not buy rum, brandy, or other
strong liquors, which they seldom distilled themselves, as few of them
had a distilling vessel. However they sometimes had a good strong beer.
They did not understand the art of making cyder, which is now so common
in the country: tea, coffee, chocolate, which are at present even the
country people’s daily breakfast, were wholly unknown to them: most of
them had never tasted sugar or punch. The tea which is now drank, is
either very old, or mixed with all sorts of herbs, so that it no longer
deserves the name of tea: therefore it cannot have any good effect upon
those who use it plentifully; besides, it cannot fail of relaxing the
bowels, as it is drank both in the morning and in the afternoon quite
boiling hot. The Indians, the offspring of the first inhabitants of
this country, are a proof of what I have said. It is well known that
their ancestors, at the time of the first arrival of the Europeans,
lived to a very great age. According to the common accounts, it was
then not uncommon to find people among the Indians, who were above a
hundred years old: they lived frugally, and drank pure water: brandy,
rum, wine, and all the other strong liquors, were utterly unknown to
them; but since the christians have taught them to drink these liquors,
and the Indians have found them too palatable, those who cannot resist
their appetites, hardly reach half the age of their parents.
Lastly, some people pretended that the loss of many odoriferous plants,
with which the woods were filled at the arrival of the Europeans, but
which the cattle has now extirpated, might be looked upon as a cause of
the greater progress of the fever at present. The number of those
strong plants occasioned a pleasant scent to rise in the woods every
morning and evening. It is therefore not unreasonable to think that the
noxiousness of the effluvia from putrifying substances was then
prevented, so that they were not so dangerous to the inhabitants.
Several remedies are employed against this disease: the jesuit’s bark
was formerly a certain one, but at present it has not always this
effect, though they sell it genuine, and for the very best. Many people
accused it of leaving something noxious in the body. Yet it was
commonly observed, that when the bark was good, and it was taken as
soon as the fever made its appearance, and before the body was
weakened, it was almost sure to conquer the fever, so that the cold
fits never returned, and no pain or stiffness remained in the limbs;
but when the disease is rooted in, and has considerably weakened the
patients, or they are naturally very weak, the fever leaves them after
using the jesuit’s bark, but returns again in a fortnight’s time, and
obliges them to take the bark again; but the consequence frequently is
a pain and a stiffness in their limbs, and sometimes in their bowels,
which almost hinders them from walking: this pain continues for several
years together, and even accompanies some to the grave. This bad effect
is partly attributed to the bark, which can seldom be got genuine here,
and partly to the little care which the patients take in using the
bark. A man of my acquaintance was particularly dexterous in expelling
the ague by the use of the jesuit’s bark. His manner of proceeding was
as follows: when it was possible, the patient must use the remedy as
soon as the fever begun, and before it was settled in his body: but
before he took the medicine, he was to take a diaphoretic remedy, as
that had been found very salutary; and as the fever is frequently of
such a nature here, as not to make the patient sweat, even when the hot
fit is upon him, a perspiration was to be brought about by some other
means. To that purpose the patient took his dose on the day when he had
his cold fit, and was not allowed to eat any thing at night. The next
morning he continued in a warm bed, drank a quantity of tea, and was
well covered that he might perspire plentifully. He continued so till
the perspiration ceased, and then left the bed in a hot room, and
washed his body with milk warm water, in order to cleanse it from the
impurities that settled on it from the perspiration, and to prevent
their stopping up of the pores. The patient was then dried again, and
at last he took the bark several times in one day. This was repeated
twice or thrice on the days after he had the ague, and it commonly left
him without returning, and most people recover so well, that they do
not look pale after their sickness.
The bark of the root of the Tulip tree, or Liriodendron Tulipifera,
taken in the same manner as the jesuit’s bark, sometimes had a similar
effect.
Several people peeled the roots of the Cornus florida, or Dog wood, and
gave this peel to the patients; and even some people, who could not be
cured by the jesuit’s bark, have recovered by the help of this. I have
likewise seen people cured of the fever, by taking brimstone reduced to
powder, and mixed with sugar every night before they went to bed, and
every morning before they got up: they took it three or four times in
the intervals, and at each time drank some warm liquor, to wash the
powder down. However others that tried the same remedy did not find
much relief from it.
Some people collected the yellow bark of the peach tree, especially
that which is on the root and boiled it in water, till half of it was
evaporated by boiling. Of this decoction the patient took every morning
about a wine glass full, before he had eaten any thing. This liquor has
a disagreeable taste, and contracts the mouth and tongue like alum; yet
several persons at Raccoon who had tried many remedies in vain, were
cured by this.
Others boiled the leaves of the Potentilla reptans, or of the
Potentilla canadensis, in water, and made the patients drink it before
the ague fit came on, and it is well known that several persons have
recovered by this means.
The people who are settled upon the river Mohawk in New York, both
Indians and Europeans collect the root of the Geum rivale, and pound
it. This powder some of them boil in water till it is a pretty strong
decoction: others only infuse cold water on it and leave it so for a
day; others mix it with brandy. Of this medicine the patient is to take
a wine glass full on the morning of the day when the fever does not
come, before he has eaten any thing. I was assured that this was one of
the surest remedies, and more certain than the jesuit’s bark.
The people who live near the iron mines, declared that they were seldom
or never visited by the fever and ague; but when they have the fever,
they drink the water of such fountains, as arise from the iron mines,
and have a strong chalybeat taste; and they assured me that this remedy
was infallible. Other people therefore who did not live very far from
such springs, went to them for a few days, when they had the fever, in
order to drink the water, which commonly cured them.
I have already shown above, that sage mixed with lemon juice, has been
found very salutary against the ague.
It was however universally remarkable, that that which cures one person
of it, has no effect upon another.
The pleurisy is likewise a disease which the people of this country are
much subject to. The Swedes in this province call it stitches and
burning, and they always mean the pleurisy whenever they mention those
words. Many of the old Swedes told me that they had heard very little
of it when they were young, and that their parents had known still less
of it in their childhood; but that it was so common now, that many
people died every year of it: yet it has been observed, that in some
years this disease has been very moderate, and taken few people away
with it, whilst in other years it makes great havock: it likewise is
more violent in some places than in others.
In the autumn of the year 1728, it swept away many at Penn’s neck, a
place below Raccoon, and nearer to the Delaware, where a number of
Swedes are settled. Almost all the Swedes there died of it, though they
were very numerous. From hence it happened that their children who were
left in a very tender age, and grew up among the English children,
forgot their mother tongue, so that few of them understand it at
present. Since that time, though the pleurisy has every year killed a
few people at Penn’s neck, yet it has not carried off any considerable
numbers. It rested as it were till the autumn of the year 1748, but
then it began to make dreadful havock, and every week six or ten of the
old people died. The disease was so violent, that when it attacked a
person, he seldom lived above two or three days; and of those who were
taken ill with it, very few recovered. When the pleurisy was got into a
house, it killed most of the old people in it: it was a true pleurisy,
but it had a peculiarity with it, for it commonly began with a great
swelling under the throat and in the neck, and with a difficulty of
swallowing. Some people looked upon it as contagious; and others
seriously declared, that when it came into a family, not only those who
lived in the same house suffered from it, but even such relations as
lived far off. There have been several people at Penn’s neck, who,
without visiting their sick friends, have got the pleurisy and died of
it: I do not dispute the truth of this, though I do not agree to the
conclusion. The pleurisy was the most violent in November; yet some old
people died of it even in the next winter; but children were pretty
free from it. The physicians did not know what to make of it, nor how
to remedy it.
It is difficult to determine the causes of such violent diseases. An
old English surgeon who lived here gave the following reason. The
inhabitants of this country drink great quantities of punch and other
strong liquors in summer, when it is very hot; by that means the veins
in the diaphragm contract, and the blood grows thick. Towards the end
of October and the beginning of November, the weather is apt to alter
very suddenly, so that heat and cold change several times a day. When
the people during this changeable weather are in the open air, they
commonly get this disease. It is likewise certain that the air is more
unwholesome one year, than another, which depends upon the heat, and
other circumstances: this peculiar quality of the air must of course
produce a pleurisy. It is remarkable, that both in the year 1728, and
in the present, when so many people died at Penn’s neck, few died at
Raccoon, though the two places are near each other, and seem to have
the same soil and climate. But there is this difference that Penn’s
neck lies remarkably low, and Raccoon pretty high. The people in the
former place have settled between marshes and swamps, in which the
water stagnates and putrifies; and most of these places are covered
with trees, by which means the wet is shut up still more, and near such
marshes, are the houses. Lastly the water at Penn’s neck is not
reckoned so good as that in Raccoon, but has some taste. It likewise
becomes brackish in several little rivers when the Delaware during the
tide rises very high, and runs up into them. On the banks of these
rivulets live many of the Swedes, and take water for common use from
them.
December the 3d. This morning I set out for Philadelphia, where I
arrived in the evening.
Wild grapes are very abundant in the woods, and of various kinds; a
species of them which are remarkable for their size, grow in the
marshes, and are greedily eaten by the Raccoon: they are therefore
called marsh grapes, but the English call them fox grapes; they have
not an agreeable flavour, and are seldom eaten by the inhabitants of
this country, who make use of a small kind of wild grapes, which grow
on a dry soil, and pretty late in autumn when they are quite ripe, are
eaten raw, and have a very good flavour, being a mixture of sweet and
acid: some people dry these grapes when gathered and bake them in
tarts, &c. they likewise make use of them as dried sweetmeats. The
Swedes formerly made a pretty good wine from them; but have now left it
off. However some of the English still press an agreeable liquor from
these grapes, which they assured me was as good as the best claret, and
that it would keep for several years.
The manner of preparing this sort of wine has been described at large
in an almanack of this country, for the year 1743, and is as follows:
the grapes are collected from the twenty first of September to about
the eleventh of November, that is as they grow ripe: they must be
gathered in dry weather, and after the dew is gone off: the grapes are
cleared of the cobwebs, dry leaves, and other things adhering to them.
Next a great hogshead is prepared which has either had treacle or
brandy in; it is washed very clean, one of the bottoms beat out, and
the other placed on a stand for the purpose, or on pieces of wood in
the cellar, or else in a warm room, about two feet above the ground:
the grapes are put into this hogshead, and as they sink lower in three
or four days time more are added. A man with naked feet gets into the
hogshead and treads the grapes, and in about half an hour’s time the
juice is forced out; the man then turns the lowest grapes uppermost,
and treads them for about a quarter of an hour: this is sufficient to
squeeze the good juice out of them: for an additional pressure would
even crush the unripe grapes, and give the whole a disagreeable
flavour. The hogshead is then covered with a thick blanket; but if
there is no cellar, or it is very cold, two are spread over it. Under
this covering the juice is left to ferment for the first time, and in
the next four or five days it ferments and works very strongly. As soon
as the fermentation ceases, a hole is made about six inches from the
bottom, and some of the juice is tapped off about twice in a day. As
soon as this is clear and settled, it is poured into an anker of a
middling size; for from twenty bushels of grapes, they get about as
many gallons of juice; the anker remains untouched and the must in it
ferments a second time: at this time it is necessary that the anker be
quite full; the scum which settles at the bunghole, must be taken off,
and the anker always filled up with more must, which is kept ready for
that purpose: this is continued till christmas, when the anker may be
stopped up; at last the wine is ready in February and bottled. It is
likewise usual here, to put some of the ripe grapes into a vessel in
order to make a vinegar, and that which is got by this means is very
good. Several people made brandy from these grapes which has a very
pleasant taste, but is still more pleasant, if the fruits of the
persimon are mixed with it. The wood of these vines is of no use, it is
so brittle that it cannot be used for sticks: on cutting into the stem,
a white, insipid resin comes out a few hours after the wound is made.
In many gardens vines are planted for the purpose of making arbours for
which they are indeed excellent; as their large and plentiful leaves
form a very close cover against the scorching heat of the sun. When the
vines flower here in May and June, the flowers exhale a strong, but
exceeding pleasant and refreshing smell, which is perceptible even at a
great distance. Therefore on coming into the woods about that time, you
may judge from the sweet perfume in the air, arising from the flowers
of the vines, that you are near them, though you do not see them.
Though the winters be ever so severe, yet they do not affect the vines.
Each grape is about the size of a pea, but further southward they are
said to be of the size of common raisins, and of a finer flavour.
Further up in the country, during a part of autumn, they are the chief
food of bears, who climb up the trees in order to pluck them. People
are of opinion that if the wild vines were cultivated with more care,
the grapes would grow larger, and more palatable.
December the 5th. I shall here mention two prognosticks of the weather,
which were greatly valued here. Some people pretended to foretel that
the ensuing winter would not be a severe one: this they conjectured
from having seen wild geese and other migratory birds go to the south
in October, but return a few days ago in great numbers, and even pass
on further to the north. Indeed the ensuing winter was one of the most
temperate ones.
Several persons likewise assured us that we should have rain before to
morrow night. The reason they gave for this conjecture was, that this
morning at sun rising, from their windows they had seen every thing
very plainly on the other side of the river, so that it appeared much
nearer than usual, and that this commonly foreboded rain. This presage
was likewise pretty exactly fulfilled.
The Indians before the arrival of the Europeans, had no notion of the
use of iron, though that metal was abundant in their country. However
they knew in some measure how to make use of copper. Some Dutchmen who
lived here, still preserved the old account among them, that their
ancestors on their first settling in New York had met with many of the
Indians, who had tobacco pipes of copper, and who made them understand
by signs, that they got them in the neighbourhood: afterwards the fine
copper mine was discovered, upon the second river between
Elizabeth-town and New York. On digging in this mine, the people met
with holes worked in the mountain, out of which some copper had been
taken, and they found even some tools, which the Indians probably made
use of, when they endeavoured to get the metal for their pipes. Such
holes in the mountains have likewise been found in some parts of
Pensylvania, viz. below Newcastle towards the sea side, and always some
marks of a copper ore along with them. Some people have conjectured,
that the Spaniards, after discovering Mexico, sailed along the coasts
of North America, and landed now and then, in order to enquire whether
any gold or silver was to be met with, and that they perhaps made these
holes in the mountains: but supposing them to have made such a voyage
along the coasts, they could not immediately have found out the copper
mines; and they probably did not stop to blast this ore, as they were
bent only upon gold and silver; it is therefore almost undoubted that
the Indians dug these holes: or may we be allowed to suspect that our
old Normans, long before the discoveries of Columbus, came into these
parts and met with such veins of copper, when they sailed to what they
called the excellent Wineland, [51] of which our ancient traditional
records called Sagor speak, and which undoubtedly was North America.
But in regard to this, I shall have occasion in the sequel better to
explain my sentiments. It was remarkable, that in all those places
where such holes have lately been found in the mountains, which
manifestly seem to have been dug by men, they were always covered with
a great quantity of earth, as if they were intended to remain hidden
from strangers.
December the 6th. On long voyages the sailors sometimes catch such fish
as are known to none of the ship’s company; but as they are very greedy
after fresh provisions, they seldom abstain from eating them, however
it proves often venturing too much, experience having shown, that their
want of caution has often cost them their lives, for sometimes
poisonous fish are caught. But there is a method of finding them out,
as I have heard from several captains of ships: it is usual when such
unknown fish are boiled, to put a silver button, or any piece of silver
into the kettle, which if the fish be poisonous, will turn quite black,
but if it be not, it will not change: some of the seamen referred to
their own repeated experience. [52]
Mr. Franklin and several other gentlemen frequently told me, that a
powerful Indian, who possessed Rhode Island had sold it to the English
for a pair of spectacles: it is large enough for a prince’s domain, and
makes a peculiar government at present. This Indian knew to set a true
value upon a pair of spectacles: for undoubtedly if those glasses were
not so plentiful, and only a few of them could be found, they would on
account of their great use, bear the same price with diamonds.
The servants which are made use of in the English American colonies are
either free persons, or slaves, and the former are again of two
different sorts.
1. Those who are quite free serve by the year, they are not only
allowed to leave their service at the expiration of their year, but may
leave it at any time when they do not agree with their masters. However
in that case they are in danger of losing their wages, which are very
considerable. A man servant who has some abilities, gets between
sixteen and twenty pounds in Pensylvania currency, but those in the
country do not get so much. A servant maid gets eight or ten pounds a
year: these servants have their food besides their wages, but must buy
their own clothes, and what they get of these they must thank their
master’s goodness for.
2. The second kind of free servants consist of such persons as annually
come from Germany, England and other countries, in order to settle
here. These new comers are very numerous every year: there are old and
young ones, and of both sexes; some of them have fled from oppression,
under which they supposed themselves to have laboured. Others have been
driven from their country by persecution on account of religion; but
most of them are poor, and have not money enough to pay their passage,
which is between six and eight pounds sterling for each person;
therefore they agree with the captain that they will suffer themselves
to be sold for a few years, on their arrival. In that case the person
who buys them, pays the freight for them, but frequently very old
people come over, who cannot pay their passage, they therefore sell
their children, so that they serve both for themselves and for their
parents: there are likewise some who pay part of their passage, and
they are sold only for a short time. From these circumstances it
appears, that the price of the poor foreigners who come over to North
America is not equal, and that some of them serve longer than others:
when their time is expired, they get a new suit of clothes from their
master, and some other things: he is likewise obliged to feed and
clothe them during the years of their servitude. Many of the Germans
who come hither, bring money enough with them to pay their passage, but
rather suffer themselves to be sold, with a view that during their
servitude they may get some knowledge of the language and quality of
the country, and the like, that they may the better be able to consider
what they shall do when they have got their liberty. Such servants are
taken preferable to all others, because they are not so dear; for to
buy a Negroe or black slave, requires too much money at once; and men
or maids who get yearly wages, are likewise too dear; but this kind of
servants may be got for half the money, and even for less; for they
commonly pay fourteen pounds, Pensylvania currency, for a person who is
to serve four years, and so on in proportion. Their wages therefore are
not above three pounds Pensylvania currency per ann. This kind of
servants, the English call servings. When a person has bought such a
servant for a certain number of years, and has an intention to sell him
again, he is at liberty to do so; but he is obliged, at the expiration
of the term of the servitude to provide the usual suit of cloaths for
the servant, unless he has made that part of the bargain with the
purchaser. The English and Irish commonly sell themselves for four
years, but the Germans frequently agree with the captain before they
set out, to pay him a certain sum of money, for a certain number of
persons; as soon as they arrive in America, they go about and try to
get a man who will pay the passage for them. In return they give
according to the circumstances one, or several of their children to
serve a certain number of years, at last they make their bargain with
the highest bidder.
3. The Negroes or Blacks make the third kind. They are in a manner
slaves; for when a Negro is once bought, he is the purchaser’s servant
as long as he lives, unless he gives him to another, or makes him free.
However it is not in the power of the master to kill his Negro for a
fault, but he must leave it to the magistrates to proceed according to
the laws. Formerly the Negroes were brought over from Africa, and
bought by almost every one who could afford it. The quakers alone
scrupled to have slaves; but they are no longer so nice, and they have
as many Negroes as other people. However many people cannot conquer the
idea of its being contrary to the laws of christianity to keep slaves.
There are likewise several free Negroes in town, who have been lucky
enough to get a very zealous quaker for their master, who gave them
their liberty, after they had faithfully served him for some time.
At present they seldom bring over any Negroes to the English colonies,
for those which were formerly brought thither have multiplied
considerably. In regard to their marriage they proceed as follows: in
case you have not only male but likewise female Negroes, they must
intermarry, and then the children are all your slaves: but if you
possess a male Negro only, and he has an inclination to marry a female
belonging to a different master, you do not hinder your Negro in so
delicate a point; but it is no advantage to you, for the children
belong to the master of the female; it is therefore advantageous to
have Negro-women. A man who kills his Negro must suffer death for it:
there is not however an example here of a white man’s having been
executed on this account. A few years ago it happened that a master
killed his slave; his friends and even the magistrates secretly advised
him to leave the country, as otherwise they could not avoid taking him
prisoner, and then he would be condemned to die according to the laws
of the country, without any hopes of saving him. This lenity was
employed towards him, that the Negroes might not have the satisfaction
of seeing a master executed for killing his slave; for this would lead
them to all sorts of dangerous designs against their masters, and to
value themselves too much.
The Negroes were formerly brought from Africa, as I mentioned before;
but now this seldom happens, for they are bought in the West Indies, or
American Islands, whither they were originally brought from their own
country: for it has been found that on transporting the Negroes from
Africa, immediately into these northern countries, they have not such a
good state of health, as when they gradually change places, and are
first carried from Africa to the West Indies, and from thence to North
America. It has frequently been found, that the Negroes cannot stand
the cold here so well as the Europeans or whites; for whilst the latter
are not in the least affected by the cold, the toes and fingers of the
former are frequently frozen. There is likewise a material difference
among them in this point; for those who come immediately from Africa,
cannot bear the cold so well as those who are either born in this
country, or have been here for a considerable time; for the frost
easily hurts the hands or feet of the Negroes which come from Africa,
or occasions violent pains in their whole body, or in some parts of it,
though it does not at all affect those who have been here for some
time. There are frequent examples that the Negroes on their passage
from Africa, if it happens in winter, have some of their limbs
destroyed by frost on board the ship, when the cold is but very
inconsiderable and the sailors are scarce obliged to cover their hands.
I was even assured, that some Negroes have been seen here, who have had
an excessive pain in their legs, which afterwards broke in the middle,
and dropt entirely from the body, together with the flesh on them. Thus
it is the same case with men here, as with plants which are brought
from the southern countries, and cannot accustom themselves to a colder
climate.
The price of Negroes differs according to their age, health and
abilities. A full grown Negro costs from forty pounds and upwards to a
hundred of Pensylvania currency. There are even examples that a
gentleman has paid hundred pounds for a black slave at Philadelphia,
and refused to sell him again for the same money. A Negro boy, or girl,
of two or three years old, can hardly be got for less than eight or
fourteen pounds in Pensylvanian currency. Not only the quakers, but
likewise several christians of other denominations sometimes set their
Negroes at liberty. This is done in the following manner: when a
gentleman has a faithful Negro who has done him great services, he
sometimes declares him independent at his death. This is however very
expensive; for they are obliged to make a provision for the Negro thus
set at liberty, to afford him subsistence when he is grown old, that he
may not be driven by necessity to wicked actions, or that he may be at
any body’s charge, for these free Negroes become very lazy and indolent
afterwards. But the children which the free Negro has begot during his
servitude are all slaves, though their father be free. On the other
hand those Negro children are free whose parents are at liberty. The
Negroes in the North American colonies are treated more mildly, and fed
better than those in the West Indies. They have as good food as the
rest of the servants, and they possess equal advantages in all things,
except their being obliged to serve their whole life time, and get no
other wages than what their master’s goodness allows them: they are
likewise clad at their master’s expence. On the contrary, in the West
Indies, and especially in the Spanish Islands they are treated very
cruelly; therefore no threats make more impression upon a Negro here,
than that of sending him over to the West Indies, in case he would not
reform. It has likewise been frequently found by experience, that when
you show too much remissness to these Negroes, they grow so obstinated,
that they will no longer do any thing but of their own accord:
therefore a strict discipline is very necessary, if their master
expects to be satisfied with their services.
In the year 1620, some Negroes were brought to North America in a Dutch
ship, and in Virginia they bought twenty of them. These are said to
have been the first that came hither. When the Indians who were then
more numerous in the country than at present, saw these black people
for the first time, they thought they were a true breed of Devils, and
therefore they called them Manitto for a great while: this word in
their language signifies not only God, but likewise the Devil. Some
time before that, when they saw the first European ship on their
coasts, they were perfectly persuaded that God himself was in the ship.
This account I got from some Indians, who preserved it among them as a
tradition which they had received from their ancestors: therefore the
arrival of the Negroes seemed to them to have confused every thing; but
since that time, they have entertained less disagreeable notions of the
Negroes, for at present many live among them, and they even sometimes
intermarry, as I myself have seen.
The Negroes have therefore been upwards of a hundred and thirty years
in this country: but the winters here especially in New England and New
York, are as severe as our Swedish winters. I therefore very carefully
enquired whether the cold had not been observed, to affect the colour
of the Negroes, and to change it, so that the third or fourth
generation from the first that came hither, were not so black as their
ancestors. But I was generally answered, that there was not the least
difference of colour to be perceived; and that a Negro born here of
parents which were likewise born in this country, and whose ancestors
both men and women had all been blacks born in this country, up to the
third or fourth generation, was not at all different in colour, from
those Negroes who are brought directly over from Africa. From hence
many people conclude, that a Negro or his posterity do not change
colour, though they continue ever so long in a cold climate; but the
mixing of a white man with a Negro woman, or of a Negro with a white
woman has a different effect, therefore to prevent any disagreeable
mixtures of the white people and Negroes, and that the Negroes may not
form too great an opinion of themselves, to the disadvantage of their
masters, I am told there is a law made prohibiting the whites of both
sexes to marry Negroes, under pain of death, and deprivation of the
clergyman who marries them: but that the whites and blacks sometimes
mix, appears from children of a mixed complexion, which are sometimes
born.
It is likewise greatly to be pitied, that the masters of these Negroes
in most of the English colonies take little care of their spiritual
welfare, and let them live on in their pagan darkness. There are even
some, who would be very ill pleased at, and would by all means hinder
their Negroes from being instructed in the doctrines of christianity,
to this they are partly led by the conceit of its being shameful, to
have a spiritual brother or sister among so despicable a people, partly
by thinking that they should not be able to keep their Negroes so
meanly afterwards; and partly through fear of the Negroes growing too
proud, on seeing themselves upon a level with their masters in
religious matters.
Several writings are well known, which mention, that the Negroes in
South America have a kind of poison with which they kill each other,
though the effect is not sudden, but happens a long time after the
person has taken it: the same dangerous art of poisoning is known by
the Negroes in North America, as has frequently been experienced.
However only a few of them know the secret, and they likewise know the
remedy against it, therefore when a Negro feels himself poisoned and
can recollect the enemy, who might possible have given him the poison,
he goes to him, and endeavours by money and entreaties to move him to
deliver him from the poison; but if the Negro is malicious, he does not
only deny that he ever poisoned him, but likewise that he knows a
remedy against it: this poison does not kill immediately, for sometimes
the sick person dies some years after. But from the moment he has the
poison he falls into a consumption and enjoys few days of good health:
such a poor wretch often knows that he is poisoned, the moment he gets
the poison. The Negroes commonly employ it on such of their brethren as
behave well, are beloved by their masters, and separate as it were from
their countrymen, or do not like to converse with them. They have
likewise often other reasons for their enmity; but there are few
examples of their having poisoned their masters. Perhaps the mild
treatment they receive, keeps them from doing it, or perhaps they fear
that they may be discovered, and that in such a case, the severest
punishments would be inflicted on them.
They never discover what the poison consists of, and keep it secret
beyond conception. It is probable that it is a very common thing which
may be got all the world over, for wherever they are they can always
easily procure it. Therefore it cannot be a plant, as several learned
men have thought; for that is not to be met with every where. I have
heard many accounts here of Negroes who have been killed by this
poison. I shall only mention one incident which happened during my stay
in this country. A man here had a Negro who was exceedingly faithful to
him, and behaved so well, that he would not have given him for twenty
other Negroes. His master likewise shewed him a peculiar kindness, and
the slave’s conduct equalled that of the best christian servant; he
likewise conversed as little as possible with the other Negroes; on
that account they hated him to excess, but as he was scarce ever in
company with them, they had no opportunity of conveying the poison to
him, which they had often tried. However on coming to town during the
fair (for he lived in the country) some other Negroes invited him to
drink with them. At first he would not, but they pressed him till he
was obliged to comply. As soon as he came into the room, the others
took a pot from the wall and pledged him, desiring him to drink
likewise: he drank, but when he took the pot from his mouth, he said
what beer is this? It is full of ******. I purposely omit what he
mentioned, for it seems undoubtedly to have been the name of the poison
with which malicious Negroes do so much harm, and which is to be met
with almost every where. It might be too much employed to wicked
purposes, and it is therefore better that it remains unknown. The other
Negroes and Negro-women fell a laughing at the complaints of their
hated countryman, and danced and sung as if they had done an excellent
action, and had at last obtained the point so much wished for. The
innocent Negro went away immediately, and when he got home, said that
the other Negroes had certainly poisoned him: he then fell into a
consumption, and no remedy could prevent his death.
End of Vol. I.