The making of the boat took up half yesterday, and all this day. To make such a boat, they pick out a thick tall elm, with a smooth bark, and with as few branches as possible. This tree is cut down, and great care is taken to prevent the bark from being hurt by falling against other trees, [[299]]or against the ground. With this view some people do not fell the trees, but climb to the top of them, split the bark, and strip it off, which was the method our carpenter took. The bark is split on one side, in a strait line along the tree, as long as the boat is intended to be; at the same time, the bark is carefully cut from the stem a little way on both sides of the slit, that it may more easily separate; the bark is then peeled off very carefully, and particular care is taken not to make any holes into it; this is easy when the sap is in the trees, and at other seasons the tree is heated by the fire, for that purpose. The bark thus stript off is spread on the ground, in a smooth place, turning the inside downwards, and the rough outside upwards, and to stretch it better, some logs of wood or stones are carefully put on it, which press it down. Then the sides of the bark are gently bent upwards, in order to form the sides of the boat; some sticks are then fixed into the ground, at the distance of three or four feet from each other, in the curve line, in which the sides of the boat are intended to be, supporting the bark intended for the sides; the sides of the bark are then bent in the form which the boat is to have, and according to that the sticks are either put nearer [[300]]or further off. The ribs of the boat are made of thick branches of hiccory, they being tough and pliable. They are cut into several flat pieces, about an inch thick, and bent into the form which the ribs require, according to their places in the broader or narrower part of the boat. Being thus bent, they are put across the boat, upon the back, or its bottom, pretty close, about a span, or ten inches from each other. The upper edge on each side of the boat is made of two thin poles, of the length of the boat, which are put close together, on the side of the boat, being flat, where they are to be joined. The edge of the bark is put between these two poles, and sewed up with threads of bast, of the mouse-wood, or other tough bark, or with roots. But before it is thus sewed up, the ends of the ribs are likewise put between the two poles on each side, taking care to keep them at some distance from each other. After that is done, the poles are sewed together, and being bent properly, both their ends join at each end of the boat, where they are tied together with ropes. To prevent the widening of the boat at the top, three or four transverse bands are put across it, from one edge to the other, at the distance of thirty or forty inches from [[301]]each other. These bands are commonly made of hiccory, on account of its toughness and flexibility, and have a good length. Their extremities are put through the bark on both sides, just below the poles, which make the edges; they are bent up above those poles, and twisted round the middle part of the bands, where they are carefully tied by ropes. As the bark at the two ends of the boat cannot be put so close together as to keep the water out, the crevices are stopped up with the crushed or pounded bark of the red elm, which in that state looks like oakum. Some pieces of bark are put upon the ribs in the boat, without which the foot would easily pierce the thin and weak bark below, which forms the bottom of the boat, for the better security of which, some thin boards are commonly laid at the bottom, which may be trod upon with more safety. The side of the bark which has been upon the wood, thus becomes the outside of the boat, because it is smooth and slippy, and cuts the water with less difficulty than the other. The building of these boats is not always quick; for sometimes it happens that after peeling the bark off an elm, and carefully examining it, it is found pierced with holes and splits, or it is too thin to [[302]]venture one’s life in. In such a case another elm must be looked out; and it sometimes happens that several elms must be stripped of their bark, before one is found fit for a boat. That which we made was big enough to bear four persons, with our baggage, which weighed somewhat more than a man.
All possible precautions must be taken in rowing on the rivers and lakes of these parts with a boat of bark. For as the rivers, and even the lakes, contain numbers of broken trees, which are commonly hidden under the water, the boat may easily run against a sharp branch, which would tear half the boat away, if one rowed on very fast, exposing the people in it to great danger, where the water is very deep, especially if such a branch held the boat.
To get into such a dangerous vessel, must be done with great care, and for the greater safety, without shoes. For with the shoes on, and still more with a sudden leap into the boat, the heels may easily pierce through the bottom of the boat, which might sometimes be attended with very disagreeable circumstances, especially when the boat is so near a rock, and close to that a sudden depth of water; and such places are common in the lakes and rivers here. [[303]]
I never saw the muskitoes (Culex pipiens) more plentiful in any part of America than they are here. They were so eager for our blood, that we could not rest all the night, though we had surrounded ourselves with fire.
Wood-lice (Acarus Americanus Linn.) abound here, and are more plentiful than on any part of the journey. Scarcely any one of us sat down but a whole army of them crept upon his clothes. They caused us as much inconvenience as the gnats, during the last night, and the short time we stayed here. Their bite is very disagreeable, and they would prove very dangerous, if any one of them should creep into a man’s ear, from whence it is difficult to extract them. There are examples of people whose ears were swelled to the size of the fist, on account of one of these insects creeping into them, and biting them. More is said about them in the description which I have given to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences[82].
The Whipperiwill or Whip-poor-Will cried all night on every side. The Fireflies flew in numbers through the woods at night. [[304]]
Fort Anne derives its name from Queen Anne; for in her time it served as a fortification against the French. It lies on the Western side of the river Woodcreek, which is here as inconsiderable as a brook, of a fathom’s breadth, and may be waded through in any part, during this season. The fort is built in the same manner as the forts Saratoga and Nicholson, that is to say, of palisades, within which the soldiers were quartered, and at the corners of which were the lodgings of the officers. The whole consisted of wood, because it was erected only with a view to resist irregular troops. It is built on a little rising ground which runs obliquely to the river Woodcreek. The country round about it is partly flat, partly hilly, and partly marshy, but it consists merely of earth, and no stones are to be met with, though ever so carefully sought for. General Nicholson built this fort in the year 1709; but at the conclusion of the war, then carrying on against the French, it shared the same fate with Saratoga and Fort Nicholson, being burnt by the English in 1711. This happened with the following circumstance: In 1711 the English resolved to attack Canada, by land and by sea, at the same time. A powerful English fleet sailed up the river [[305]]St. Lawrence to besiege Quebec, and General Nicholson, who was the greatest promoter of this expedition, headed a numerous army to this place by land, to attack Montreal, at the same time from hence; but a great part of the English fleet was shipwrecked in the river St. Lawrence, and obliged to return to New England. The news of this misfortune was immediately communicated to General Nicholson, who was advised to retreat. Captain Butler who commanded Fort Mohawk, during my stay in America, told me that he had been at Fort Anne in 1711, and that General Nicholson was about to leave it, and go down the river Woodcreek, in boats ready for that purpose, when he received the accounts of the disaster which befel the fleet. He was so enraged, that he endeavoured to tear his wig, but it being too strong for him, he flung it to the ground, and trampled on it, crying out Roguery, treachery. He then set fire to the fort, and returned. We saw the remains of the burnt palisades in the ground; and I asked my guides, Why the English had been at so great an expence in erecting the fort, and why they afterwards burnt it without any previous consideration? They replied, that it was done to get money from the government once [[306]]more, for the rebuilding of the fort, which money coming into some people’s hands, they would appropriate a great part of it to themselves, and erect again a wretched, inconsiderable fort. They further told me, that some of the richest people in Albany had promoted their poor relations to the places for supplying the army with bread, &c. with a view to patch up their broken fortunes; and that they had acquired such fortunes as rendered them equal to the richest inhabitants of Albany.
The heat was excessive to-day, especially in the afternoon, when it was quite calm. We were on the very spot where Fort Anne formerly stood; it was a little place free from trees, but surrounded with them on every side, where the sun had full liberty to heat the air. After noon it grew as warm as in a hot bath[83], and I never felt a [[307]]greater heat. I found a difficulty of breathing, and it seemed to me as if my lungs could not draw in a sufficient quantity of air. I was more eased when I went down into the vallies, and especially along the Woodcreek. I tried to fan the air to me with my hat, but it only encreased the difficulty of breathing, and I received the greatest relief when I went to the water, and in a shady place frequently sprinkled some water in the air. My companions were all very much weakened, but they did not find such difficulty in breathing, as I had done; however towards evening the air became somewhat cooler.
June the 29th. Having compleated our boat, after a great deal of trouble, we continued our journey this morning. Our provisions, which were much diminished, obliged us to make great haste; for by [[308]]being obliged to carry every thing on our backs, through the woods to Fort Anne, we could not take a great quantity of provisions with us, having several other very necessary things with us; and we did always eat very heartily. As there was very little water in the river, and several trees were fallen across it, which frequently stopped the boat, I left the men in the boat, and went along the shore with Yungstroem. The ground on both sides of the river was so low, that it must be under water in spring and autumn. The shores were covered with several sorts of trees, which stood at moderate distances from each other, and a great deal of grass grew between them. The trees afforded a fine shade, very necessary and agreeable in this hot season; but the pleasure it gave was considerably lessened by the numbers of gnats which we met with. The soil was extremely rich.
As we came lower down the river, the dykes, which the beavers had made in it, produced new difficulties. These laborious animals had carried together all sorts of boughs and branches, and placed them across the river, putting mud and clay in betwixt them, to stop the water. They had bit off the ends of the branches as [[309]]neatly as if they had been chopped off with a hatchet. The grass about these places was trod down by them, and in the neighbourhood of the dykes we sometimes met with paths in the grass, where the beavers probably carried trees along. We found a row of dykes before us, which stopped us a considerable while, as we could not get forwards with the boat, till we had cut through them.