Part 5

March the 3d. The Swedes call a species of little birds, Snofogel, and the English call it Snow-bird. This is Dr. Linnæus’s Emberiza hyemalis. The reason why it is called snow-bird is because it never appears in summer, but only in winter, when the fields are covered with snow. In some winters they come in as great numbers as the maize-thieves, fly about the houses and barns, into the gardens, and eat the corn, and the seeds of grass, which they find scattered on the hills.

At eight o’clock at night we observed a meteor, commonly called snow-fire [15]. I have described this meteor in the memoirs of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, see the volume for the year 1752, page 154, 155.

Wild Pigeons, (Columba migratoria [16]), flew in the woods, in numbers beyond conception, and I was assured that they were more plentiful than they had been for several years past. They came this week, and continued here for about a fortnight, after which they all disappeared, or advanced further into the country, from whence they came. I shall speak of them more particularly in another place.

March the 7th. Several people told me, that it was a certain sign of bad weather here when a thunder-storm arose in the south or south west, if it spread to the east and afterwards to the north: but that on the contrary, when it did not spread at all, or when it spread both east and west, though it should rise in south or south west, yet it would prognosticate fair weather. To-day it was heard in south west, but it did not spread at all. See the meteorological observations, at the end of this volume.

Till now the frost had continued in the ground, so that if any one had a mind to dig a hole he was forced to cut it through with a pick-ax. However it had not penetrated above four inches deep. But to-day it was quite gone out. This made the soil so soft, that on riding, even in the woods, the horse sunk in very deep.

I often enquired among the old Englishmen and Swedes, whether they had found that any trees were killed in very severe winters, or had received much hurt. I was answered, that young hiccory trees are commonly killed in very cold weather; and the young black oaks likewise suffer in the same manner. Nay sometimes black oaks, five inches in diameter, were killed by the frost in a severe winter, and sometimes, though very seldom, a single mulberry-tree was killed. Peach-trees very frequently die in a cold winter, and often all the peach-trees in a whole district are killed by a severe frost. It has been found repeatedly, with regard to these trees, that they can stand the frost much better on hills, than in vallies; insomuch, that when the trees in a valley were killed by frost, those on a hill were not hurt at all. They assured me that they had never observed that the black walnut-tree, the sassafras, and other trees, had been hurt in winter. In regard to a frost in spring, they had observed at different times, that a cold night or two happened often after the trees were furnished with pretty large leaves, and that by this most of the leaves were killed. But the leaves thus killed have always been supplied by fresh ones. It is remarkable that in such cold nights the frost acts chiefly upon the more delicate trees, and in such a manner, that all the leaves, to the height of seven and even of ten feet from the ground, were killed by the frost, and all the top remained unhurt. Several old Swedes and Englishmen assured me they had made this observation, and the attentive engineer, Mr. Lewis Evans, has shewn it me among his notes. Such a cold night happened here, in the year 1746, in the night between the 14th and 15th of June, new style, attended with the same effect, as appears from Mr. Evans’s observations. The trees which were then in blossom, had lost both their leaves and their flowers in these parts which were nearest the ground; sometime after they got fresh leaves, but no new flowers. Further it is observable, that the cold nights which happen in spring and summer never do any hurt to high grounds, damaging only the low and moist ones. They are likewise very perceptible in such places where limestone is to be met with, and though all the other parts of the country be not visited by such cold nights in a summer, yet those where limestone lies have commonly one or two every summer. Frequently the places where the limestone lies are situated on a high ground; but they suffer notwithstanding their situation; whilst a little way off in a lower ground, where no limestone is to be found, the effects of the cold nights are not felt. Mr. Evans was the first who made this observation, and I have had occasion at different times to see the truth of it, on my travels, as I shall mention in the sequel. The young hiccory-trees have their leaves killed sooner than other trees, in such a cold night, and the young oaks next; this has been observed by other people, and I have found it to be true, in the years 1749 and 1750.

March the 11th. Of the genus of Wood-peckers, we find here all those, which Catesby in his first volume of the Natural History of Carolina, has drawn and described. I shall only enumerate them, and add one or two of their qualities; but their description at large I defer for another occasion.

Picus principalis, the King of the Wood-peckers, is found here, though very seldom, and only at a certain season.

Picus pileatus, the crested Wood-pecker; this I have already mentioned.

Picus auratus, the gold-winged Wood-pecker: This species is plentiful here, and the Swedes call it Hittock, and Piut; both these names have a relation to its note; it is almost continually on the ground, and is not observed to pick in the trees; it lives chiefly on insects, but sometimes becomes the prey of hawks; it is commonly very fat, and its flesh is very palatable. As it stays all the year, and cannot easily get insects in winter, it must doubtless eat some kinds of grass or plants in the fields. Its form, and some of its qualities, make it resemble a cuckow.

Picus Carolinus, the Carolina Wood-pecker. It lives here likewise, and the colour of its head is of a deeper and more shining red than Catesby has represented it, vol. i. p. 19. t. 19.

Picus villosus, the spotted, hairy, middle-sized Wood-pecker is abundant here; it destroys the apple-trees by pecking holes into them.

Picus erythrocephalus, the red-headed Wood-pecker. This bird was frequent in the country, and the Swedes called it merely Hackspick, or Wood pecker. They give the same name to all the birds which I now enumerate, the gold-winged wood-pecker excepted. This species is destructive to maize-fields and orchards, for it pecks through the ears of maize, and eats apples. In some years they are very numerous, especially where sweet apples grow, which they eat so far, that nothing but the mere peels remain. Some years ago there was a premium of two pence per head, paid from the public funds, in order to extirpate this pernicious bird, but this law has been repealed. They are likewise very fond of acorns. At the approach of winter they travel to the southward. But when they stay in numbers in the woods, at the beginning of winter, the people look upon it as a sign of a pretty mild winter.

Picus varius, the lesser, spotted, yellow-bellied Wood-pecker. These birds are much more numerous than many people wished; for this, as well as the preceding and succeeding species, are very hurtful to apple-trees.

Picus pubescens, or the least spotted Wood-pecker. This species abounds here. Of all the wood-peckers it is the most dangerous to orchards, because it is the most daring. As soon as it has pecked a hole into the tree, it makes another close to the first, in a horizontal direction, proceeding till it has pecked a circle of holes round the tree. Therefore the apple-trees in the orchards here have several rings round their stems, which lie very close above each other, frequently only an inch distant from each other. Sometimes these wood-peckers peck the holes so close, that the tree dries up. This bird, as Catesby remarks, is so like the lesser spotted wood-pecker, in regard to its colour and other qualities, that they would be taken for the same bird, were not the former (the Picus pubescens) a great deal less. They agree in the bad quality, which they both possess, of pecking holes into the apple-trees.

Rana ocellata are a kind of frogs here, which the Swedes call, Sill-hoppetosser, i. e. Herring-hoppers, and which now began to quack in the evening, and at night, in swamps, pools, and ponds. The name which the Swedes give them is derived from their beginning to make their noise in spring, at the same time when the people here go catching what are called herrings, which however differ greatly from the true European herrings. These frogs have a peculiar note, which is not like that of our European frogs, but rather corresponds with the chirping of some large birds, and can nearly be expressed by picet. With this noise they continued throughout a great part of spring, beginning their noise soon after sun-setting, and finishing it just before sun-rising. The sound was sharp, but yet so loud that it could be heard at a great distance. When they expected rain they cried much worse than commonly, and began in the middle of the day, or when it grew cloudy, and the rain came usually six hours after. As it snowed on the 16th of the next month, and blew very violently all day, there was not the least sign of them at night, and during the whole time that it was cold, and whilst the snow lay on the fields, the frost had so silenced them, that we could not hear one; but as soon as the mild weather returned, they began their noise again. They were very timorous, and it was difficult to catch them; for as soon as a person approached the place where they lived, they are quite silent, and none of them appeared. It seems that they hide themselves entirely under water, except the tip of the snout, when they cry. For when I stepped to the pond where they were in, I could not observe a single one hopping into the water. I could not see any of them before I had emptied a whole pool, where they lodged in. Their colour is a dirty green, variegated with spots of brown. When they are touched they make a noise and moan; they then sometimes assume a form, as if they had blown up the hind part of the back, so that it makes a high elevation; and then they do not stir, though touched. When they are put alive into spirits of wine, they die within a minute.

March the 12th. The bird which the English and Swedes in this country call Robin-red-breast [17], is found here all the year round. It is a very different bird from that which in England bears the same name. It is Linnæus’s Turdus migratorius. It sings very melodiously, is not very shy, but hops on the ground, quite close to the houses.

The Hazels (Corylus avellana) were now opening their blossoms. They succeeded best in a rich mould, and the Swedes reckoned it a sign of a good soil where they found them growing.

March the 13th. The alder (Betula Alnus) was just blossoming.

The Dracontium foetidum grew plentifully in the marshes and began to flower. Among the stinking plants, this is the most fœtid; its nauseous scent was so strong, that I could hardly examine the flower; and when I smelled a little too long at it, my head ached. The Swedes call it Byorn-blad (bear’s-leaf) or Byorn-retter (bear’s-root.) The English call it Polecat-root, because its effluvia are as nauseous and fœtid, as those of the polecat, which I have mentioned before. The flowers are purple-coloured; when they are in full flower, the leaves begin to come out of the ground; in summer the cattle do not touch it. Dr. Colden told me, that he had employed the root in all cases where the root of the arum is made use of, especially against the scurvy, &c. The Swedish name it got, because the bears, when they leave their winter habitations, are fond of it in spring: It is a common plant in all North America.

The Draba verna was abundant here, and now appeared in flower.

The Veratrum album was very common in the marshes, and in low places over all North America. The Swedes here call it Dack, Dackor or Dackretter, that is puppet-root, because the children make puppets of its stalks and leaves. The English call it Itch-reed or Ellebore. It is a poisonous plant, and therefore the cattle never touch it; however it sometimes happens that the cattle are deceived in the beginning of spring, when the pastures are bare, and eat of the fine broad green leaves of this plant, which come up very early; but such a meal frequently proves fatal to them. Sheep and geese have likewise often been killed with it. By means of its root, the maize is preserved from the greediness of voracious birds, in the following manner: The roots are boiled in water, into which the maize is put as soon as the water is quite cool; the maize must ly all night in it, and is then planted as usual. When the maize-thieves, crows, or other birds, pick up or pluck out the grains of maize, their heads grow delirious, and they fall, which so frightens the rest that they never venture on the field again; when those which have tasted the grains recover, they leave the field, and are no more tempted to visit it again. By thus preparing maize, one must be very careful that no other creatures touch it; for when ducks or fowls eat a grain or two of the maize which is thus steeped, they become very sick; but if they swallow a considerable quantity they die. When the root is thrown away raw, no animal eats it; but when it is put out boiled, its sweet taste tempts the beasts to eat it. Dogs have been seen to eat a little of it, and have been very sick after it; however they have recovered after a vomit, for when animals cannot free themselves of it by this means, they often die. Some people boil the root, and wash the scorbutic parts with the water or decoct. This is said to cause some pain, and even a plentiful discharge of urine, but it re-establishes the patient. When the children here are plagued with vermin, the women boil this root, put the comb into the decoction, and comb the head with it, and this kills them most effectually.

March the 17th. At the first arrival of the Swedes in this country, and long after that time, it was filled with Indians. But as the Europeans proceeded to cultivate the land, the Indians sold their land, and went further into the country. But in reality few of the Indians really left the country in this manner; most of them ended their days before, either by wars among themselves, or by the small-pox, a disease which the Indians were unacquainted with before their commerce with the Europeans, and which since that time has killed incredible numbers of them. For though they can heal wounds and other external hurts, yet they know not how to proceed with fevers, or in general with internal diseases. One can imagine, how ill they would succeed with the cure of the small-pox, when as soon as the pustules appeared, they leaped naked into the cold water of the rivers, lakes, or fountains, and either dived over head into it, or poured it over their body in great abundance, in order to cool the heat of the fever. In the same manner they carry their children, when they have the small-pox, into the water and duck them [18]. But brandy has killed most of the Indians. This liquor was likewise entirely unknown to them, before the Europeans came hither; but after they had tasted it, they could never get enough of it. A man can hardly have a greater desire of a thing, than the Indians have of brandy. I have heard them say, that to die by drinking brandy, was a desirable and an honourable death; and indeed ’tis no very uncommon thing to kill themselves by drinking this liquor to excess.

The food of these Indians was very different from that of the inhabitants of the other parts of the world. Wheat, rye, barley, oats, and rice-groats, were quite unknown in America. In the same manner it is with regard to the fruits and herbs which are eaten in the old countries. The maize, some kinds of beans, and melons, made almost the whole of the Indian agriculture and gardening; and dogs were the only domestic animals in North America. But as their agriculture and their gardening were very trifling, and they could hardly live two months in a year upon their produce, they were forced to apply to hunting and fishing, which at that time, and even at present, are their chief subsistence, and to seek some of the wild plants and trees here. Some of the old Swedes were yet alive, who in their younger years had an intercourse with the Indians, and had seen the minutiæ of their œconomy. I was therefore desirous of knowing which of the spontaneous herbs they made use of for food at that time; and all the old men agreed that the following plants were what they chiefly consumed:

Hopniss or Hapniss was the Indian name of a wild plant, which they ate at that time. The Swedes still call it by that name, and it grows in the meadows in a good soil. The roots resemble potatoes, and were boiled by the Indians, who eat them instead of bread. Some of the Swedes at that time likewise ate this root for want of bread. Some of the English still eat them instead of potatoes. Mr. Bartram told me, that the Indians who live farther in the country do not only eat these roots, which are equal in goodness to potatoes, but likewise take the pease which ly in the pods of this plant, and prepare them like common pease. Dr. Linnæus calls the plant Glycine Apios.

Katniss is another Indian name of a plant, the root of which they were likewise accustomed to eat, when they lived here. The Swedes still preserve this name. It grows in low, muddy and very wet ground. The root is oblong, commonly an inch and an half long, and one inch and a quarter broad in the middle; but some of the roots have been as big as a man’s fists. The Indians either boiled this root or roasted it in hot ashes. Some of the Swedes likewise eat them with much appetite, at the time when the Indians were so near the coast; but at present none of them make any use of the roots. A man of ninety-one years of age, called Nils Gustafson, told me, that he had often eaten these roots when he was a boy, and that he liked them very well at that time. He added that the Indians, especially their women, travelled to the islands, dug out the roots, and brought them home; and whilst they had them, they desired no other food. They said that the hogs, which are amazingly greedy of them, have made them very scarce. The cattle are very fond of its leaves. I afterwards got fond of these roots roasted, and in my opinion they tasted well, though they were rather dry: The taste was nearly the same with that of the potatoes. When the Indians come down to the coast and see the turneps of the Europeans, they likewise give them the name of katniss. Their katniss is an arrow-head or Sagittaria, and is only a variety of the Swedish arrow-head or Sagittaria sagittifolia, for the plant above the ground is entirely the same, but the root under ground is much greater in the American than in the European. Mr. Osbeck in his voyage to China, vol. i. p. 334, of the English edition, mentions, that the Chinese plant a Sagittaria, and eat its roots. This seems undoubtedly to be a variety of this katniss. Further in the north of this part of America, I met with the other species of Sagittaria which we have in Sweden.

Taw-ho and Taw-him was the Indian name of another plant, the root of which they eat. Some of them likewise call it Tuckah; but most of the Swedes still knew it by the name of Taw-ho. It grows in moist ground and swamps. Hogs are very greedy of the roots, and grow very fat by feeding on them. Therefore, they often visit the places where these roots grow; and they are frequently seen rooting up the mud, and falling with their whole body into the water, so that only a little of the back part was out of the water. It is therefore very plain, that these roots must have been extirpated in places which are frequented by hogs. The roots often grow to the thickness of a man’s thigh. When they are fresh, they have a pungent taste, and are reckoned a poison in that fresh taste. Nor did the Indians ever venture to eat them raw, but prepared them in the following manner: They gathered a great heap of these roots, dug a great long hole, sometimes two or three fathoms and upwards in length, into which they put the roots, and covered them with the earth that had been taken out of the hole; they made a great fire above it, which burnt till they thought proper to remove it; and then they dug up the roots, and consumed them with great avidity. These roots, when prepared in this manner, I am told, taste like potatoes. The Indians never dry and preserve them; but always take them fresh out of the marshes, when they want them. This Taw-ho is the Arum Virginicum, or Virginian Wake-robin. It is remarkable, that the Arums, with the plants next akin to them, are eaten by men in different parts of the world, though their roots, when raw, have a fiery pungent taste, and are almost poisonous in that state. How can men have learnt, that plants so extremely opposite to our nature were eatable; and that their poison, which burns on the tongue, can be conquered by fire. Thus the root of the Calla palustris, which grows in the north of Europe, is sometimes used instead of bread on an exigency. The North American Indians consume this species of Arum. Those of South America, and of the West Indies, eat other species of Arums. The Hottentots, at the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa, prepare bread from a species of Arum or Wake-robin, which is as burning and poisonous as the other species of this plant. In the same manner, they employ the roots of some kinds of Arum as a food, in Egypt and Asia. Probably, that severe but sometimes useful mistress, necessity, has first taught men to find out a food, which the first taste would have rejected as useless. This Taw-ho seems to be the same with what the Indians in Carolina call Tuckahoo; and of which see Vol. I. p. 287.

Taw-kee is another plant, so called by the Indians who eat it. Some of them call it Taw-kim, and others Tackvim. The Swedes call it always by the name of Taw-kee. The plant grows in marshes, near moist and low grounds, and is very plentiful in North America. The cattle, hogs and stags, are very fond of the leaves in spring; for they are some of the earliest. The leaves are broad, like those of the Convallaria, or Lilly of the Valley, green on the upper side, and covered with very minute hair, so that they looked like a fine velvet. The Indians pluck the seeds, and keep them for eating. They cannot be eaten fresh or raw, but must be dried. The Indians were forced to boil them repeatedly in water, before they were fit for use; and then they ate them like pease. When the Swedes gave them butter or milk, they boiled or broiled the seeds in it. Sometimes they employ these seeds instead of bread; and they taste like pease. Some of the Swedes likewise ate them; and the old men among them told me, they liked this food better than any of the other plants which the Indians formerly made use of. This Taw-kee was the Orontium aquaticum.