Part 13

June the 12th. This morning we proceeded with the tide, but against the wind. The river was here a musket-shot broad. The country in general is low on both sides, consisting of low rocks, and stony fields, which are however covered with woods. It is so rocky, stony, and poor, that nobody can settle in it, or inhabit it, there being no spot of ground fit for a corn-field. The country continued to have the same appearance for the space of some miles, and we never perceived one settlement. At eleven o’clock this morning we came to a little island, which lies in the middle of the river, and is said to be half-way between New York and Albany. The shores are still low, stony, and rocky, as before. But at a greater distance we saw high mountains, covered with woods, chiefly on the western shore, raising their tops above the rest of the country; and still further off, the Blue Mountains rose up above them. Towards noon it was quite calm, and we went on very slow. Here, the land is well cultivated, especially on the eastern shore, and full of great corn-fields; yet the soil seemed sandy. Several villages lay on the eastern side, and one of them, called Strasburg, was inhabited by a number of Germans. To the West we saw several cultivated places. The Blue Mountains are very plainly to be seen here. They appear through the clouds, and tower above all other mountains. The river is full an English mile broad opposite Strasburg.

They make use of a yellow Agaricus, or mushroom, which grows on maple-trees, for tinder; that which is found on the red-flowering maple (Acer rubrum) is reckoned the best, and next in goodness is that of the Sugar-maple (Acer saccarinum), which is sometimes reckoned as good as the former.

Rhinbeck is a place at some distance from Strasburg, further off from the river. It is inhabited by many Germans, who have a church there. Their clergyman at present was the Rev. Mr. Hartwig, who knew some Swedish, having been at Gothenburg for some time. This little town is not visible from the river-side.

At two in the afternoon it began again to blow from the south, which enabled us to proceed. The country on the eastern side is high, and consists of a well cultivated soil. We had fine corn-fields, pretty farms, and good orchards, in view. The western shore is likewise somewhat high, but still covered with woods, and we now and then, though seldom, saw one or two little settlements. The river is above an English mile broad in most places, and comes in a strait line from the North, so that we could not sometimes follow it with our eye.

June the 13th. The wind favoured our voyage during the whole night, so that I had no opportunity of observing the nature of the country. This morning at five o’clock we were but nine English miles from Albany. The country on both sides the river is low, and covered with woods, excepting a few little scattered settlements. Under the higher shores of the river are wet meadows, covered with sword-grass (Carex), and they formed several little islands. We saw no mountains; and hastened towards Albany. The land on both sides of the river is chiefly low, and more carefully cultivated as we came nearer to Albany.

As to the houses, which we saw, some were of wood, others of stone. The river is seldom above a musket-shot broad, and in several parts of it are sands, which require great experience for governing the yachts. At eight o’clock in the morning we arrived at Albany.

All the yachts which ply between Albany and New York, belong to Albany. They go up and down the river Hudson, as long as it is open and free from ice. They bring from Albany boards or planks, and all sorts of timber, flour, pease, and furs, which they get from the Indians, or which are smuggled from the French. They come home almost empty, and only bring a few merchandizes with them, among which rum is the chief. This last is absolutely necessary to the inhabitants of Albany; they cheat the Indians in the fur trade with it; for when the Indians are drunk, they will leave it to the Albanians to fix the price of the furs. The yachts are pretty large, and have a good cabbin, in which the passengers can be very commodiously lodged. They are commonly built of red Cedar, or of white Oak. Frequently, the bottom consists of white oak, and the sides of red cedar, because the latter withstands putrefaction much longer than the former. The red cedar is likewise apt to split, when it hits against any thing, and the river Hudson is in many parts full of sands and rocks, against which the keel of the yacht sometimes hits; therefore they choose white oak for the bottom, as being the softer wood, and not splitting so easily: and the bottom being continually under water, is not so much exposed to putrefaction, and holds out longer.

The Canoes which the yachts have along with them, are made of a single piece of wood, hollowed out; they are sharp on both ends, frequently three or four fathoms long, and as broad as the thickness of the wood will allow. The people in it do not row sitting, but commonly a fellow stands at each end, with a short oar in his hand, with which he governs and brings the canoe forwards. Those which are made here at Albany, are commonly of the white Pine; they can do service for eight or twelve years, especially if they be tarred and painted. At Albany they make them of the white pine, since there is no other wood fit for them; at New York they are made of the tulip-tree, and in other parts they are made of red or white cedars: but both these trees are so small, in the neighbourhood of Albany, that they are unfit for canoes; there are no seats in the canoes, for if they had any, they would be more liable to be overset, as one could not keep the equilibrium so well.

Battoes [66] are another kind of boats, which are much in use in Albany: they are made of boards of white pine; the bottom is flat, that they may row the better in shallow water; they are sharp at both ends, and somewhat higher towards the end than in the middle. They have seats in them, and are rowed as common boats. They are long, yet not all alike, commonly three, and sometimes four fathoms long. The height from the bottom to the top of the board (for the sides stand almost perpendicular) is from twenty inches to two feet, and the breadth in the middle about a yard and six inches. They are chiefly made use of for carrying goods, by means of the rivers, to the Indians; that is, when those rivers are open enough for the battoes to pass through, and when they need not be carried by land a great way. The boats made of the bark of trees, break easily by knocking against a stone, and the canoes cannot carry a great cargo, and are easily overset; the battoes are therefore preferable to them both. I saw no boats here like those in Sweden, and other parts of Europe.

The frost does frequently a great deal of damage at Albany. There is hardly a month in summer during which a frost does not happen. The spring comes very late, and in April and May are numerous cold nights, which frequently kill the flowers of trees and kitchen-herbs. It was feared that the blossoms of the apple-trees had been so severely damaged by the frost, last May, that next autumn there would be but very few apples. The oak-blossoms are very often killed by the frost in the woods. The autumn here is of long continuance, with warm days and nights. However, the cold nights commonly commence towards the end of September, and are frequent in October. The people are forced to keep their cattle in stables, from the middle of November, till March or April, and must find them hay during that time [67].

During summer, the wind blows commonly from the South, and brings a great drought along with it. Sometimes it rains a little, and as soon as it has rained the wind veers to North West, blowing for several days from that point, and then returning to the South. I have had frequent opportunities of seeing this change of wind happen very exactly, both this year and the following.

June the 15th. The enclosures were made of boards of fir-wood, of which there is abundance in the extensive woods, and many saw-mills to cut it into boards.

The several sorts of apple-trees grow very well here, and bear as fine fruit as in any other part of North America. Each farm has a large orchard. They have some apples here, which are very large, and very palatable; they are sent to New York, and other places as a rarity. They make excellent cyder, in autumn, in the country round Albany.

All the kinds of cherry-trees, which have been planted here, succeed very well.

Pear-trees do not succeed here. This was complained of in many other parts of North America. But I fear that they do not take sufficient care in the management and planting of them; for I have seen fine pears in several parts of North America.

Peach-trees have often been planted here, and never would succeed well. This was attributed to a worm which lives in the ground, and eats through the root, so that the tree dies. Perhaps the severity of the winter contributes much to it.

They plant no other fruit-trees at Albany besides these I have mentioned.

They sow as much hemp and flax here, as they want for home consumption.

They sow maize in great abundance: A loose soil is reckoned the best for this purpose; for it will not grow in clay. From half a bushel they reap a hundred bushels. They reckon maize a very good kind of corn, because the shoot recovers after being hurt by the frost. They have had examples here of the shoots dying twice in spring, to the very ground, and yet they shot up again afterwards, and afforded an excellent crop. Maize has likewise the advantage of standing much longer against a drought, than wheat. The larger sort of maize which is commonly sown here, ripens in September.

They sow wheat in the neighbourhood of Albany, with great advantage. From one bushel they get twelve sometimes; if the soil be good, they get twenty bushels. If their crop amounts only to ten bushels from one, they think it very trifling. The inhabitants of the country round Albany, are Dutch and Germans. The Germans live in several great villages, and sow great quantities of wheat, which is brought to Albany; and from thence they send many yachts laden with flour to New York. The wheat-flour from Albany is reckoned the best in all North America, except that from Sopus or King’s Town, a place between Albany and New York. All the bread in Albany is made of wheat. At New York they pay the Albany flour with several Shillings more per hundred weight, than that from other places.

Rye is likewise sown here, but not so generally as wheat.

They do not sow much barley here, because they do not reckon the profits very great. Wheat is so plentiful that they make malt of it. In the neighbourhood of New York, I saw great fields sown with barley.

They do not sow more oats than are necessary for their horses.

The Dutch and Germans who live hereabouts, sow pease in great abundance; they succeed very well, and are annually carried to New York, in great quantities. They have been free from insects for a considerable time. But of late years the same beetles which destroy the pease in Pensylvania, New Jersey, and the lower parts of the province of New York [68], have likewise appeared abundant among the pease here. It is a real loss to this town, and to the other parts of North America, which used to get pease from hence for their own consumption, and that of their sailors. It had been found that if they procured good pease from Albany, and sowed them near King’s Town, or the lower part of the province of New York, they succeeded very well the first year, but were so full of worms the second, and following years, that nobody could or would eat them. Some people put ashes into the pot, among the pease, when they will not boil, or soften well; but whether this is wholesome and agreeable to the palate, I do not know.

Potatoes are generally planted. Some people preferred ashes to sand for keeping them in during winter.

The Bermuda Potatoes (Convolvulus Batatas) have likewise been planted here, and succeed pretty well. The greatest difficulty is to keep them during winter; for they generally rot in that season.

The Humming-bird (Trochilus Colubris) comes to this place sometimes; but is rather a scarce bird.

The shingles with which the houses are covered are made of the White Pine, which is reckoned as good and as durable, and sometimes better, than the White Cedar (Cupressus thyoides). The White Pine is found abundant here, in such places where common pines grow in Europe, I have never seen them in the lower parts of the province of New York, nor in New Jersey and Pensylvania. They saw a vast quantity of deal from the White Pine on this side of Albany, which are brought down to New York, and from thence exported.

The woods abound with vines, which likewise grow on the steep banks of the river in surprising quantities. They climbed to the tops of trees on the bank, and bent them by their weight. But where they found no trees, they hung down along the steep shores, and covered them entirely. The grapes are eaten after the frost has attacked them; for they are too sour before. They are not much used any other way.

The vast woods and uninhabited grounds, between Albany and Canada, contain immense swarms of gnats, which annoy the travellers. To be in some measure secured against these insects, some besmear their face with butter or grease; for the gnats do not like to settle on greasy places. The great heat makes boots very uneasy; but to prevent the gnats from stinging the legs, they wrap some paper round them, under the stockings. Some travellers wear caps which cover the whole face, and have some gauze before the eyes. At night they lie in tents, if they can carry any with them; and make a great fire at the entrance, by the smoke of which the gnats are driven away.

The porpesses seldom go higher up the river Hudson than the salt water goes; after that, the sturgeons fill their place. It has however sometimes happened, that porpesses have gone quite up to Albany.

There is a report, that a whale once came up the river quite to this town.

The Fireflies (Lampyris) which are the same that are so common in Pensylvania during summer, are seen here in abundance every night. They fly up and down in the streets of this town. They come into, the houses, if the doors and windows are open.

Several of the Pensylvanian trees are not to be met with in these woods; viz.

Magnolia glauca, the Beaver-tree.

Nyssa aquatica, the Tupelo-tree.

Liquidambar styraciflua, the Sweet-gum tree.

Diospyros Virginiana, the Persimon.

Liriodendron tulipifera, the Tulip-tree.

Juglans nigra, the black Walnut-tree.

Quercus ——, the Swamp Oak.

Cercis Canadensis, the Sallad-tree.

Robinia pseudacacia, the Locust-tree.

Gleditsia triacanthos, the Honey-locust tree.

Annona muricata, the Papaw-tree.

Celtis occidentalis, the Nettle-tree. And a number of shrubs, which are never found here.

The more northerly situation of the place, the height of the Blue Mountains, and the course of the rivers, which flow here southward into the sea, and accordingly carry the seeds of plants from north to south, and not the contrary way, are chiefly the causes that several plants which grow in Pensylvania cannot be found here.

This afternoon I went to see an island which lies in the middle of the river, about a mile below the town. This island is an English mile long, and not above a quarter of a mile broad. It is almost entirely turned into corn-fields; and is inhabited by a single planter, who, besides possessing this island, is the owner of two more. Here we saw no woods, except a few trees which were left round the island on the shore, and formed as it were a tall and great hedge. The Red Maple (Acer rubrum) grows in abundance in several places. Its leaves are white or silvery on the under sides, and, when agitated by the wind, they make the tree appear as if it was full of white flowers. The Water-beech (Platanus occidentalis) grows to a great height, and is one of the most shady trees here. The Water-poplar [69] is the most common tree hereabouts, grows exceedingly well on the shores of the river, and is as tall as the tallest of our asps. In summer it affords the best shade for men and cattle against the scorching heat. On the banks of rivers and lakes it is one of the most useful trees, because it holds the soil by its extensive branched roots, and prevents the water from washing it away. The Water-beech and the Elm-tree (Ulmus) serve the same purpose. The wild Prune-trees were plentiful here, and were full of unripe fruit. Its wood is not made use of; but its fruit is eaten. Sumach (Rhus glabra) is plentiful here; as also the wild vines, which climb up the trees, and creep along the high shores of the river. I was told, that the grapes ripen very late, though they were already pretty large.

The American Elm-tree (Ulmus Americana) formed several high hedges. The soil of this island is a rich mould, mixed with sand, which is chiefly employed in maize plantations. There were likewise large fields of potatoes. The whole island was leased for one hundred pounds of New York currency. The person who had taken the lease, again let some greater and some smaller lots of ground, to the inhabitants of Albany, for making kitchen-gardens of; and by that means reimbursed himself. Portulack (Portulaca oleracea) grows spontaneously here in great abundance, and looks very well.

June the 20th. The tide in the river Hudson goes about eight or ten English miles above Albany, and consequently runs one hundred and fifty-six English miles from the sea. In spring, when the snow melts, there is hardly any flowing near this town; for the great quantity of water which comes from the mountains during that season, occasions a continual ebbing. This likewise happens after heavy rains.

The cold is generally reckoned very severe here. The ice in the river Hudson is commonly three or four feet thick. On the 3d of April some of the inhabitants crossed the river with six pair of horses. The ice commonly dissolves about the end of March, or beginning of April. Great pieces of ice come down about that time, which sometimes carry with them the houses that stand close to the shore. The water is very high at that time in the river, because the ice stops sometimes, and sticks in places where the river is narrow. The water has been often observed to rise three fathom higher than it commonly is in summer. The ground is frozen here in winter to the depth of three, four, or five feet. On the 16th of November the yachts are put up, and about the beginning or middle of April they are in motion again. They are unacquainted with stoves; and their chimnies are so wide that one could drive through them with a cart and horses.

The water of several wells in this town was very cool about this time; but had a kind of acid taste, which was not very agreeable. On a nearer examination, I found an abundance of little insects in it, which were probably Monoculi. Their length was different; some were a geometrical line and an half, others two, and others four lines long. They were very narrow, and of a pale colour. The head was blacker and thicker than the other parts of the body, and about the size of a pin’s head. The tail was divided into two branches, and each branch terminated in a little black globule. When these insects swim, they proceed in crooked or undulated lines, almost like Tadpoles. I poured some of this water into a bowl, and put near a fourth part of rum to it. The Monoculi, instead of being affected with it, swam about as briskly as they had done in the water. This shews, that if one makes punch with this water, it must be very strong to kill the Monoculi. I think this water is not very wholesome for people who are not used to it, though the inhabitants of Albany, who drink it every day, say, they do not feel the least inconvenience from it. I have been several times obliged to drink water here, in which I have plainly seen Monoculi swimming; but I generally felt the next day somewhat like a pea in my throat, or as if I had a swelling there; and this continued for above a week. I felt such swellings this year, both at Albany and in other parts. My servant, Yungstroem, likewise got a great pain in his breast, and a sensation as from a swelling, after drinking water with Monoculi in it: but whether these insects occasioned it, or whether it came from some other cause, I cannot ascertain. However, I have always endeavoured, as much as possible, to do without such water as had Monoculi in it. I have found Monoculi in very cold water, taken from the deepest wells, in different parts of this country. Perhaps many of our diseases arise from waters of this kind, which we do not sufficiently examine. I have frequently observed abundance of minute insects in water, which has been remarkable for its clearness. Almost each house in Albany has its well, the water of which is applied to common use; but for tea, brewing, and washing, they commonly take the water of the river Hudson, which flows close by the town. This water is generally quite muddy, and very warm in summer; and, on that account, it is kept in cellars, in order that the slime may subside, and that the water may cool a little.

We lodged with a gunsmith, who told us, that the best charcoals for the forge were made of the Black Pine. The next in goodness, in his opinion, were charcoals, made of the Beech-tree.

The best and dearest stocks for his muskets were made of the wood of the wild Cherry-tree; and next to these he valued those of the Red Maple most. They scarce make use of any other wood for this purpose. The black Walnut-tree affords excellent wood for stocks; but it does not grow in the neighbourhood of Albany.

June the 21st. Next to the town of New York, Albany is the principal town, or at least the most wealthy, in the province of New York. It is situated on the declivity of a hill, close to the western shore of the river Hudson, about one hundred and forty-six English miles from New York. The town extends along the river, which flows here from N. N. E. to S. S. W. The high mountains in the west, above the town, bound the prospect on that side. There are two churches in Albany, an English one and a Dutch one. The Dutch church stands at some distance from the river, on the east side of the market. It is built of stone; and in the middle it has a small steeple, with a bell. It has but one minister, who preaches twice every Sunday. The English church is situated on the hill, at the west end of the market, directly under the fort. It is likewise built of stone, but has no steeple. There was no service at this church at this time, because they had no minister; and all the people understood Dutch, the garrison excepted. The minister of this church has a settled income of one hundred pounds sterling, which he gets from England. The town-hall lies to the southward of the Dutch church, close by the river side. It is a fine building of stone, three stories high. It has a small tower or steeple, with a bell, and a gilt ball and vane at the top of it.