There are none that beg in the Countrey, but there be Witches too many, bottle-bellied Witches amongst the Quakers, and others that produce many strange apparitions if you will believe report, of a Shallop at Sea man’d with women; of a Ship, and a great red Horse standing by the main-mast, the Ship being in a small Cove to the East-ward vanished of a suddain. Of a Witch that appeared aboard of a Ship twenty leagues to Sea to a Mariner who took up the Carpenters broad Axe and cleft her head with it, the Witch dying of the wound at home, with such like bugbears and Terriculamentaes.
[p. 183.] It is published in print, that there are not much less than Ten hundred thousand souls English, Scotch and Irish in New-England.
Most of their first Magistrates are dead, not above two left in the Massachusets, but one at Plimouth, one at Connecticut, and one at New-haven, they having done their generation work are laid asleep in their beds of rest till the day of doom, there and then to receive their reward according as they have done be it good or evil. Things of great indurance we see come to ruine, and alter, as great Flouds and Seas dryed up; mighty hills and mountains sunk into hollow bottoms: marvel not then that man is mortal, since his nature is unconstant and transitory.
The Diseases that the English are afflicted with, are the same that they have in England, with some proper to New-England, griping of the belly (accompanied with Feaver and Ague) which turns to the bloudy-flux, a common disease in the Countrey, which together with the small pox hath carried away abundance of their children, for this the common medicines amongst the poorer sort are Pills of Cotton swallowed, or Sugar and Sallet-oyl boiled thick and made into Pills, Alloes pulverized [p. 184.] and taken in the pap of an Apple. I helped many of them with a sweating medicine only.
Also they are troubled with a disease in the mouth or throat which hath proved mortal to some in a very short time, Quinsies, and Impostumations of the Almonds, with great distempers of cold. Some of our New-England writers affirm that the English are never or very rarely heard to sneeze or cough, as ordinarily they do in England, which is not true. For a cough or stitch upon cold, Wormwood, Sage, Marygolds, and Crabs-claws boiled in posset-drink and drunk off very warm, is a soveraign medicine.
Pleurisies and Empyemas are frequent there, both cured after one and the same way; but the last is a desperate disease and kills many. For the Pleurisie I have given Coriander-seed prepared, Carduus seed, and Harts-horn pulverized with good success, the dose one dram in a cup of Wine.
The Stone terribly afflicts many, and the Gout, and Sciatica, for which take Onions roasted, peeled and stampt, then boil them with neats-feet oyl and Rhum to a plaister, and apply it to the hip.
Head-aches are frequent, Palsies, Dropsies, Worms, Noli-me-tangeres, Cancers, [p. 185.] pestilent Feavers. Scurvies, the body corrupted with Sea-diet, Beef and Pork tainted, Butter and Cheese corrupted, fish rotten, a long voyage, coming into the searching sharpness of a purer climate, causeth death and sickness amongst them.