The noble Liverwort, or Anemone hepatica, was now every where in flower. It was abundant; and the Swedes called it Blablomster, or Blue-flower. They did not know any use of it.
Near all the corn-fields on which I walked to-day, I did not see a single ditch, though many of them wanted it. But the people generally followed the English way of making no ditches along the fields, without considering whether the corn-fields wanted them or not. The consequence was, that the late rain had in many places washed away great pieces of the grounds, sown with wheat and rye. There were no ridges left between the fields, except a very narrow one near the fence, which was entirely over-grown [[105]]with the Sumach, or Rhus glabra, and with black-berry bushes, so that there the cattle could find very little or no food. The corn fields were broad-cast, or divided into pieces, which were near seventeen feet broad, and separated from each other only by means of furrows. These pieces were uniform, and not elevated in the middle.
Meloe majalis a species of oil-beetle, crept about on the hills.
Papilio Antiopa, or willow butterfly, flew in the woods to-day, and was the first butterfly which I saw this year.
Papilio Euphrosyne, or the April butterfly, was one of the scarce species. The other American insect, which I described this day and the following days, I shall mention on some other occasion. In the sequel I shall only mention those which were remarkable for some peculiar qualities.
The hay-stacks were commonly made here after the Swedish manner, that is, in the shape of a thick and short cone, without any cover over it. When the people wanted any hay, they cut some of it loose, by a peculiar sort of a knife. However, many people, especially in the environs of Philadelphia, had hay-stacks with roofs which could be moved up and down. [[106]]Near the surface of the ground were some poles laid, on which the hay was put, that the air may pass freely through it. I have mentioned before, that the cattle have no stables in winter or summer, but must go in the open air, during the whole year. However, in Philadelphia, and in a few other places, I have seen that those people who made use of the latter kind of hay-stacks, viz. that with moveable roofs, commonly had built them so, that the hay was put a fathom or two above the ground, on a floor of boards, under which the cattle could stand in winter, when the weather was very bad. Under this floor of boards were partitions of boards on all the sides, which however stood far enough from each other, to afford the air a free passage.
March the 27th. In the morning I went in order to speak with the old Swede, Nils Gustafson, who was ninety-one years of age. I intended to get an account of the former state of New Sweden. The country which I now passed through was the same with that which I had found in those parts of North America I had hitherto seen. It was diversified with a variety of little hills and vallies: the former consisted of a very pale brick-coloured earth, composed, for the greatest part, of a fine [[107]]sand, mixed with some mould. I saw no mountains, and no stones, except some little stones, not above the size of a pigeon’s or hen’s egg, lying on the hills, and commonly consisting of white quartz, which was generally smooth and polished on the outside. At the bottom, along the vallies, ran sometimes rivulets of crystalline water, the bottom of which was covered with such white pebbles as I have just described. Now and then I met with a swamp in the vallies. Sometimes there appeared, though at considerable distances from each other, some farms, frequently surrounded on all sides by corn-fields. Almost on every corn-field there yet remained the stumps of trees, which had been cut down; a proof that this country has not been long cultivated, being overgrown with trees forty or fifty years ago. The farms did not ly together in villages, or so that several of them were near each other, in one place; but they were all separated from one another. Each countryman lived by himself, had his own ground about his house, separated from the property of his neighbour. The greatest part of the land, between these farms so distant from each other, was over-grown with woods, confiding of tall trees. However, there was a fine space [[108]]between the trees, so that one could ride on horseback without inconvenience in the woods, and even with a cart in most places; and the ground was very plain and uniform at the same time. Here and there appeared some fallen trees, thrown down by the wind; some were torn up by the roots; others broken quite across the stem. In some parts of the country the trees were thick and tall, but in others I found large tracts covered with young trees, only twenty, thirty, or forty years old: these tracts, I am told, the Indians formerly had their little plantations in. I did not yet see any marks of the leaves coming out, and I did not meet with a flower in the woods: for the cold winds, which had blown for several days together successively, had hindered this. The woods consisted chiefly of several species of oak, and of hiccory. The swamps were filled with red maple, which was all now in flower, and made these places look quite red at a distance.
The old Swede, whom I came to visit, seemed to be still pretty hearty and fresh, and could walk by the help of a stick; but he complained of having felt in these latter years, some pains in his back, and limbs, and that he could keep his feet warm in winter only by sitting near the fire. [[109]]He said he could very well remember the state of this country, at the time when the Dutch possessed it, and in what circumstances it was in before the arrival of the English. He added, that he had brought a great deal of timber to Philadelphia, at the time that it was built. He still remembered to have seen a great forest on the spot where Philadelphia now stands. The father of this old man had been one of the Swedes who were sent over from Sweden, in order to cultivate and inhabit this country. He returned me the following answers to the questions I asked him.
Quere, Whence did the Swedes, who first came hither, get their cattle? The old man answered, that when he was a boy, his father and other people had told him, that the Swedes brought their horses, cows, and oxen, sheep, hogs, geese, and ducks, over with them. There were but few of a kind at first, but they multiplied greatly here afterwards. He said, that Maryland, New York, New England, and Virginia, had been sooner inhabited by Europeans than this part of the country; but he did not know whether the Swedes ever got cattle of any kind, from any of these provinces, except from New York. Whilst he was yet very young, the Swedes, as well [[110]]as he could remember, had already a sufficient stock of all these animals. The hogs had propagated so much at that time, there being so great a plenty of food for them, that they ran about wild in the woods, and that the people were obliged to shoot them, when they intended to make use of them. The old man likewise recollected, that horses ran wild in the woods, in some places; but he could not tell whether any other kind of cattle turned wild. He thought that the cattle grow as big at present as they did when he was a boy, supposing they get as much food as they want. For in his younger years, food for all kinds of cattle was so plentiful, and even so superfluous, that the cattle were extremely well fed by it. A cow at that time gave more milk, than three or four do at present; but she got more and better food at that time, than three or four get now; and, as the old man said, the scanty allowance of grass, which the cattle get in summer, is really very pitiful. The causes of this scarcity of grass have already been mentioned.
Quere, Whence did the English in Pensylvania and New Jersey get their cattle? They bought them chiefly from the Swedes and Dutch, who lived here; and [[111]]a small number were brought over from Old England. The form of the cattle, and the unanimous accounts of the English here, confirmed what the old man had said.