New Jerfey, Raccoon. 119 



them, whofe name iignined a beaver, drew 

 a beaver, another of them drew a bow and 

 arrow, and a third a mountain, inftead of 

 their names. Their canoes they made of 

 thick trees ; which they hollowed out by 

 fire, and made them imooth again with 

 their hatchets, as has been before men- 

 tioned. 



The following account the old man gave 

 me, in anfwer to my queftions with regard 

 to the weather and its changes : It was his 

 opinion, that the weatlier had always been 

 pretty uniform ever lince his childhood ; 

 that there happen as great florms at prefent 

 as formerly ; that the fummers now are 

 fometimes hotter, fometimes colder, than 

 they v/ere at that time ; that the winters 

 were often as cold and as long as formerly; 

 and that ftill there often falls as great a 

 quantity of fnow as in former times. How- 

 ever, he thought that no cold winter came 

 up to that which happened in the year 

 1697 ; and which is often mentioned in the 

 almanacks of this country -, and I have 

 mentioned it in the preceding volume. For 

 in that winter the river Delaware was fo 

 ftrongly covered with ice, that the old man 

 brought many waggons full of hay over it, 

 near Chrifiina - y and that it was paflable in 

 fledges even lower. No cattle, as far as he 



H 4 could 



