New Jerfey, Raccoon. 137 



hopped in numbers on the furface of wa- 

 ters which had a flow.courle. 



Dytiscus piceusy or, the great Water- 

 beetle, fwam fometimes in the water. 



About fixty years ago, the greateft 

 part of this country was covered with tall 

 and thick trees, and the fwamps were full 

 of water. But it has undergone fo great a 

 change, as few other places have under- 

 gone, in fo fhort a time. At prefent the 

 forefts are cut down in mofc places, the 

 fwamps drained by ditches, the country 

 cultivated, and changed into corn-fields, 

 meadows, and paftures. Therefore, it 

 feems very reafonable to fuppofe, that fo 

 fudden a change has likewife had fome ef- 

 fect upon the weather. I was therefore de- 

 lirous of hearing from the old Swedes, who 

 have lived the longeft in this country, and 

 have been inhabitants of this place during 

 the whole time of the change mentioned, 

 whether the prefent ftate of the weather 

 was in fome particulars remarkably diffe- 

 rent from that which they felt in their 

 younger years ? The following is an ac- 

 count which they all unanimoufly gave 

 me in anfwer to this quefiion. 



The winter came fooner formerly than 

 it does now. Mr Ifaac Norn's, a wealthy 

 merchant, who has a confiderable (hare in 



the 



