ever, one may have them by bushels for little; they But to VI. The artificial produce of the country, is wheat, barley,* oats, rye, peafe, beans, fquafhes, pumpkins, water-melons, musk-melons, and all herbs and roots that our gardens in England usually bring forth. VII. Of living creatures; fish, fowl, and the beafts of the woods, here are divers forts, fome for food and profit, and fome for profit only: for food, as well as profit, the elk, as big as a small ox; deer bigger than ours; beaver, racoon, rabbits, fquirrels, and some eat young bear, and commend it. Of fowl of the land, there is the turkey, (forty and fifty pounds. weight) which is very great; pheasants, heath-birds, pigeons, and partridges in abundance. Of the water, the fwan, goofe, white and grey; brands, ducks, teal, also the snipe and curlew, and that in great numbers; but the duck and teal excel, nor fo good have I ever eat in other countries. Of fifh, there is the fturgeon, herring, rock, fhad, catfhead, fheepfhead, eel, fmelt, perch, roach; and in inland rivers, trout, fome fay, * Note, That Edward Jones, fon-in-law to Thomas Wynn, living on the Schuylkill, had with ordinary cultivation, for one grain of English barley, feventy ftalks and ears of barley: and it is common in this country, from one bufhel fown, to reap forty, often fty, and fometimes fixty: and three pecks of wheat fows an acre here. falmon, falmon, above the falls. Of fhell-fish, we have oyfters, crabs, cockles, conchs, and muscles; fome oysters fix inches long; and one fort of cockles as large as the ftewing-oyfters; they make a rich broth. The creatures for profit only, by skin or furr, and that are natural to these parts, are the wild cat, panther, otter, wolf, fox, fifher, minx, mufk-rat: and of the water, the whale for oil, of which we have good ftore; and two companies of whalers, whofe boats are built, will foon begin their work, which hath the appearance of a confiderable improvement. To fay nothing of our reasonable hopes of good cod in the bay. VIII. We have no want of horses, and fome are very good, and shapely enough; two fhips have been freighted to Barbadoes with horfes and pipe-staves, fince my coming in. Here is alfo plenty of cow-cattle, and fome sheep; the people plow moftly with oxen. IX. There are divers plants, that not only the Indians tell us, but we have had occafion to prove by fwellings, burnings, cuts, &c. that they are of great virtue, fuddenly curing the patient: and for fmell, I have obferved feveral, especially one, the wild myrtle; the other I know not what to call, but are most fragrant. X. The woods are adorned with lovely flowers, for colour, greatnefs, figure and variety: I have feen the gardens of London beft ftored with that fort of beauty, but think they may be improved by our woods: I have fent a few to a perfon of quality this year for a trial. Thus much of the country; next of the natives, or Aborigines. XI. The natives I fhall confider in their perfons, language, manners, religion, and government, with my sense of their original. For their perfons, they are generally tall, ftraight, well-built, and of fingular proportion; they tread ftrong and clever, and mostly walk walk with a lofty chin: of complexion, black, but by defign, as the gypfies in England. They greafe themfelves with bears-fat clarified; and ufing no defence against fun or weather, their fkins muft needs be fwarthy. Their eye is little and black, not unlike a ftraight-looked Jew. The thick lip and flat nose, so frequent with the Eaft-Indians and Blacks, are not common to them; for I have seen as comely Europeanlike faces among them of both, as on your fide the fea; and truly an Italian complexion hath not much. more of the white, and the nofes of feveral of them have as much of the Roman. XII. Their language is lofty, yet narrow; but, like the Hebrew, in fignification full; like fhort-hand in: writing, one word ferveth in the place of three, and the reft are fupplied by the understanding of the hearer: imperfect in their tenfes, wanting in their moods, participles, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections: I have made it my business to understand it, that I might not want an interpreter on any occafion: and I must fay, that I know not a language fpoken in Europe, that hath words of more sweetness or greatnefs, in accent or emphasis, than theirs: for inftance, Otocockon, Rancocas, Oricton, Shak, Marian, Poquefien; all which are names of places, and have grandeur in them. Of words of sweetnefs, anna, is mother; iffimus, a brother, netcap, friend, ufque oret, very good, pane, bread, metfa, eat, matta, no, hatta, to have, payo, to come; Sepaffen, Pafijon, the names of places; Tamane, Secane, Menanfe, Secatereus, are the names of perfons. If one afk them for any thing they have not, they will answer, Mattá ne battá, which to tranflate is, Not I have, inftead of, I have not. XIII. Of their customs and manners, there is much to be faid; I will begin with children: fo foon as they are born, they wash them in water, and while very young, and in cold weather to chufe, they plunge them in the rivers to harden and embolden them. Having wrapped them in a clout, they lay them on a VOL. IV. straight U straight thin board, a little more than the length and breadth of the child, and fwaddle it faft upon the board to make it straight; wherefore all Indians have flat heads and thus they carry them at their backs. The children will go very young, at nine months commonly; they wear only a fmall clout round their wafte, till they are big; if boys, they go a fishing till ripe for the woods, which is about fifteen; then they hunt, and after having given fome proofs of their manhood, by a good return of fkins, they may marry, elfe it is a fhame to think of a wife. The girls ftay with their mothers, and help to hoe the ground, plant corn, and carry burthens; and they do well to use them to that young, which they must do when they are old; for the wives are the true fervants of the husbands; otherwife the men are very affectionate to them. XIV. When the young women are fit for marriage, they wear fomething upon their heads for an advertisement, but fo as their faces are hardly to be feen, but when they please: the age they marry at, if women, is about thirteen and fourteen; if men, feventeen and eighteen; they are rarely elder. XV. Their houfes are mats, or barks of trees, fet on poles, in the fashion of an English barn, but out of the power of the winds, for they are hardly higher than a man; they lie on reeds or grafs. In travel, they lodge in the woods about a great fire, with the mantle of duffils they wear by day wrapped about them, and a few boughs ftuck round about them. XVI. Their diet is maize, or Indian corn, divers ways prepared; fometimes roafted in the afhes, fometimes beaten and boiled with water, which they call bomine; they alfo make cakes, not unpleasant to eat: they have likewife feveral forts of beans and pease, that are good nourishment; and the woods and rivers are their larder. XVII. If an European comes to fee them, or calls for lodging at their house, or wigwam, they give him the the best place, and firft cut. If they come to vifit us, they falute us with an itab, which is as much as to fay, Good be to you; and fet them down, which is moftly on the ground, close to their heels, their legs upright; it may be they speak not a word, but obferve all paffages: if you give them any thing to eat or drink, well, for they will not afk; and be it little or much, if it be with kindness, they are well pleased, elfe they go away fullen, but fay nothing. XVIII. They are great concealers of their own refentments, brought to it, I believe, by the revenge that hath been practifed among them: in either of thefe they are not exceeded by the Italians. A tragical inftance fell out fince I came into the country: a king's daughter thinking herself flighted by her hufband, in fuffering another woman to lie down between them, rose up, went out, plucked a root out of the ground, and eat it, upon which the immediately died; and for which, laft week, he made an offering to her kindred, for atonement, and liberty of marriage; as two others did to the kindred of their wives, that died a natural death: for till widowers have done fo, they muft not marry again. Some of the young women. are faid to take undue liberty before marriage, for a portion; but when married, chafte: when with child they know their hufbands no more, till delivered; and during their month, they touch no meat they eat but with a stick, left they fhould defile it; nor do their hufbands frequent them, till that time be expired. XIX. But in liberality they excel; nothing is too good for their friend: give them a fine gun, coat, or other thing, it may pafs twenty hands before it sticks: light of heart, ftrong affections, but foon fpent: the moft merry creatures that live, feaft and dance perpetually; they never have much, nor want much: wealth circulateth like the blood, all parts partake; and though none fhall want what another hath, yet exact obfervers of property. Some kings have fold, |