Most sorts of Fish are
here in aboundance, some not usual in England ; one sort call'd
Sheepshead,
from its having teeth in its upper and nither jaw not unlike a sheep, and is
supposed to eat grass in ye bottom of ye rivers, it is in shape something like
a bream, tho'
much thicker ; one
will weigh sometimes
twelve pound ; they are taken here
by ye sea side in great
quantityes, in June, July, and Au-
gust, with netts, and
are excellent food ; here is also an-
other Fish called here
black-fish, is of tast and shape not
unlike a Tench, and has
also teeth like ye Sheepshead, but
not above one 8th part
so big, is also a Seafish, and is taken
generally among ye
Rocks, where sea grass grows. The
Indians tell us of
several medicinall herbs excellent for
green or old sores, but
are very sparing of their informa-
tion where they find
them ; some that are conversant with
them, pretend to know
them ; I have heard of very admi-
rable cures performed by
ye Natives with herbs. Shoe-
mach and Saxifras is
here in aboundance also, and most
sorts of Trees usual in
England ; ye common sorts here are
Canow or white wood,
(not unlike Spruce, being soft, but
of a white colour,)
Walnutt, red and white Oak ; our wood is
of shorter growth and by
far not so durable as in England,
which we find by
experience ; a ship built of European
Timber will last thrice
as long as one built of this timber,
altho' it is as fair to
ye Eye, Doubtless this country has
Gold and Silver, tho'
not any thing material yet discover'd,
several Iron Mines are
here (of which is made excellent
Iron,) and other
ponderous Mineralls, a yellow and a myrry
red clay, very good
Marble, Isinglass and several shining
Stones, which are most
used here for building. Our har-
bour is made by Long
Island Southward of ye Town, where
ye tide flowes South
East makes high water att — a clock, at
full or change ; ye
usual spring tides rise abt 9 foot, un-
less a strong Easterly
wind blow, which considerably
raises ye water,
sometimes 2, sometimes 3 foot, or that
a strong Nor-West wind
blow which decreases it as
much ; at nip tides ye
water rises about 7 foot and 1/2, along
ye coast, and several
leagues to ye Eastward, is a con-
tinual currant which
runns commonly East, sometimes more
North, or South, ye tide
of Flood comes commonly along
Shore from ye East and
by South, and ye tide of Ebb runs
again W. by N. nearest ;
ye tide is not perceiv'd abt 3 or 4
leagues at most of ye
Shore.
We have little fishing
on our coast of at Sea, (I mean
from ye Government of
New York,) altho' here is at ye
Seasons, cod, haddock,
herring and mackrell, but plenty
of Fish at our doors makes
us less industrious to fetch them
from abroad ; all ye
winter we have Perch when ye Ice
hinders not ; in ye
Spring, Basse and Shadds, which first
continue generally most
of ye Summer, and are taken be-
fore ye Town, going up
ye River, into ye fresh water to
spawn : May, June, July
and August, we have those black-
fish and Sheepsheads
before mention'd, and a Sea Perch,
which is ye only [word
omitted] which is taken of ye coast in
8 fathom water. Sturgeon
is here in aboundance almost
all ye year, both in
Salt and fresh water, but ye greatest
quantity in Spring and
Fall, altho' we cannot arrive to that
perfection of curing
them as in Danzig, as we lye here
in ye Lat: of 40 Deg: 40
Min:, we should consequently
have but little hard
winter, were it not for those many moun-
tains and Lakes of fresh
[water] lying north of us, which
engender strong Nor-
West winds, which prove extream
boisterous and cold, and
produces great Snows and hard
Frosts, and is ye most
common wind we have all ye win-
ter long ; Nor-East
winds are our Rainy winds. Southerly
and South East blasting,
tho' it seldom happens, all ye
Summer long we have
little but S. and S. S. E. winds ;
our Sea breazes, which
cools and refreshes ye air, and
makes ye heat tollerable
; this country is much subject
to thunder gusts all ye
Summer long, rising in ye N. W.
with extream gusts, and
rain yet lasts not above 7 or 8
minutes, tho' sometimes
half an hour. The Country is
generally healthy, tho'
2 years ago ye Small Pox, which was
very mortal, especially
to grown people, a sort of pleurysye,
(not cured but
increasing by bleeding,) and violent fevers
took away a great many,
v."^ is rather to be lookt upon as
a particular hand of
God, than any inclination of ye cli-
mate ; a hott summer,
sometimes caused by ye want of our
usual sea breazes,
causes violent fevers, yet not generally
mortall ; sweating is
counted ye quickest and safest rem-
edy if ye Patient be not
too weak ; the Ague has been lately
ryfe amongst us, tho'
with much less cold than in Europe,
and ye most common every
other day.
The Natives were very
numerous att the Christians first
sitting down here, tho'
since, their number is much de-
creased, by reports from
one hundred to one : ye small
pox took many of them
away lately, and they yet dayly de-
crease, some think by their takeing to drink rum, (a Liquor
we have from Barbadoes,
distilled off their sugar canes.)
which they exceedingly
covet ; and will not be satisfyed till
they are very drunk with
it. As to their Religion, they are
heathens ; and thro'
ignorance, are seduced to worship
the Devil, who, as
themselves report, often appears to them
in a shape ; they have
some blind apprehensions of a supe-
riour being whom they
fear, because they think he is able
to do them hurt. I could
never observe any sett form of
Worshipp amongst them,
or any sett apart for Priests, tho'
when they go to War, or
fear some sudden destruction, they
have their pouwaw, which
is more properly a conjuration,
where many of them dance
in a ring, singing, and some
howling in Antic
postures, while others invoke their Mo-
netto, or God, praying
him not to hurt or kill them. This
is perform'd generally
by their Cap’t and great Man ;
formerly, they
sacrificed one another, which has been dis-
used now some years.
Their manner of habitt is ye Men
naked except a small
peece of Duffetts which comes be-
tween their Legs, and is
tyed with a string abt their loyns
to cover their secret
parts ; the women have short petty-
coats of duffetts to
their knees ; each have a blankett or a
fato length of duffetts
abt their shoulders like a mantle;
they have no more in ye
coldest wheather ; they anoynt
their bodyes with bears Greece
to harden their skinn, that
cold may less penetrate;
they are generally healthy, lusty
tall men and women,
strong bodyed, rarely one crooked
amongst them, and by
what we can understand of them,
(for they can neither
read nor write,) some have lived 100
years ; their women
bring strong children, tho' not so
many generally as Women
in Europe ; they are often de-
liver'd as they travel
from one place to another ; if they
find their pains coming,
they step aside under a Tree all
alone, and sometimes in
less than [ ½] an hour, they follow
their company with their
newborn babe, lapp'd up in a
corner of their
blankett, having first washt that and them-
selves att ye next
brooke of water they come att ; their cheif
food is Maiz, or Indian
Corn, which they plant ; it is about
ye bigness of a horse
bean, is a very fruitfull grain; one
corn planted often yielding
2000 fold ; Venison dryed in ye
sun without salt, clams
and oysters, also dryed, is their
usual food for
travelling, tho' they generally eat ye flesh
of what they kill by ye
way, and till lately did also eat
mairs flesh, when they
took any of their Enemys Prison-
ers. Their houseing
where they reside are most Hutts or
Wigwams as they call
them, with long thin poles bent,
and both ends stuck in
ye ground arch manner, not unlike
our Arbers in England,
and these covered with bark, make-
ing their fire under it
; in their travells they only cutt down
a few boughs, sticking
them in ye ground to windward,
and makeing a good fire,
lye down to sleep on ye bare earth,
covering themselves with
ye blanketts ; they generally
carry their utensills
with them, ye Man wath his gun,
hatchet, and knife, ye
woman a kettle, a small wooden,
dish, and their dryed
provision and some maiz ; to grind
their corn they use only
2 stones to pound it, and then
boyl it with water and
so eat it ; they are generally of good
natural parts, strong
memories and very apprehensive ;
they trouble themselves
not about Religion : their languages
are different each
nation, as there are, I believe, 10 or
12 ; have their peculiar
speech, tho' they have a Lingua
Franca, (as I may call
it,) by which they all understand one
another. Their w'omen
are obliged to prepare their Land,
and plant their corn ;
ye Men hunt and provide provisions,
which ye women again
must carry ; they have a sort of
Despotic Government
among them by a Sacamaker, who
is over their nation ;
his word is a law, tho' in cases of
great consequence, all,
both Men and Women, are often
consulted ; they are
very cruel in their Warrs, tormenting
and often burning their
prisoners in cold blood; if any of
them have lost a friend
or Relation in ye Warrs, ye others
offer their Prisoners to
such, as if a Man has lost his Son,
a Prisoner is offered to
him. If he wall accept ye Prisoner
as his Son, ye loss is
supposed to be made up, and ye per-
son so taken is lookt
upon in all respects as ye Relation lost,
but if he refuses, ye
Prisoner must immediately be burnt,
and this sentence is
irrevocable. They labour not much, but
in absolute necessity,
are generally lazy, affect not any
Sports, but mostly
employ themselves in hunting and fish-
ing, in which they are
very dexterous, and as good marks-
men as most Christians ;
they have no occasion to preserve
any food unless for
their journeys, haveing always game-
enough in ye woods. —
finis.
No comments:
Post a Comment