March 1749. 



Some of the JLnglijh ftill eat them in ft card of po- 

 tatoes. Mr. Bartram told me, that the Indians 

 who live farther in the country do not only eat 

 thefe roots, which are equal in goodnefs to po- 

 tatoes, but likewife take the peafe which lie in 

 the pods of this plant, and prepare them like 

 common peafe. Dr. Linn&us calls the plant 

 Gfycine dpios. 



KATNISS is another Indian name of a plant, 

 the root of which they were likewife accuftomed 

 to eat, when they lived here. The Swedes ftill 

 preferve this name. It grows in low, muddy, 

 and very wet ground. The root is oblong, com- 

 monly an inch and an half long, and one inch 

 and a quarter broad in the middle ; but fome of 

 the roots have been as big as a man's fifts. The 

 Indians either boiled this root or roafted it in hot 

 afhes. Some of the Swedes likewife eat them 

 with much appetite, at the time when the /#- 

 titans were Ib near the coaft > but at prefent none 

 of them make any ufe of the roots. A man of 

 ninety-one years of age, called Nils Gujiqfson, 

 told me, that he had often eaten thefe roots when 

 he was a boy, and that he liked them very well at 

 that time. He added that the Indians, efpecially 

 their women, travelled to the iflands, dug out the 

 roots, and brought them home ; and whilft they 

 had them, they deiired no other food. They faid 

 that the hogs, which are amazingly greedy of 

 them, have made them very fcarce. The cattle 

 are very fond of its leaves. I afterwards got ibrn& 

 of thefe roots roafted, and in my opinion they 

 tafted well, though they were rather dry: the 

 tafte ^ r as nearly the fame with that of the pota- 

 toes. 



