190 TRAVELS IN THE CONFEDERATION 



in from the northern colonies and from Europe ; they 

 are little raised here, but battatas (Convolv. Battat.) 

 and ' tan-yards ' (Arum esculentum) in quantities, 

 and gourds, cashaws, squashes, melons, pease, and 

 beans of many sorts. And the nearness of the West 

 Indies brings to this town the manifold enjoyment of 

 the fruits of those regions. Finally, the rivers and 

 the ocean according to the season, yield a great abun- 

 dance of fish. But at this time of the year, there was 

 little to be seen but mullets (Mugil Albula L.). 



In the item of fish, there are said to have been dis- 

 agreeable occurrences here, (although more rarely), 

 such as have been remarked here and there in other 

 regions of North America. That is to say, certain fish, 

 otherwise of sound and edible species, seem at times 

 from some unknown cause to have injurious, almost 

 poisonous properties. Several instances of this sort 

 happened during my stay at Rhode Island, in the sum- 

 mer of 1779. In the family of a Jew, by the name of 

 Meyer, a sea-perch (Percae species) was got ready for 

 the table, this being commonly one of the best and 

 most gustable fishes of those waters. A short time 

 after the meal was over most of the family, but es- 

 pecially those who had eaten of the liver of the fish, 

 were seized with giddiness, head-ache, nausea, and 

 gripings, with some fever. A sort of rash appeared 

 on the skin, and the outer skin peeled. Emeticks were 

 given, and after a day or two the patients recovered. 

 The same thing happened, at another time, with a 

 German officer's mess, and from eating the same kind 

 of fish ; the symptoms were milder because they had 

 eaten less, but in this case also those who had had any 



