SECRETARY'S REPORT. 41 



another six families were burned out. As early as the 5th of 

 July there began to be fear of an absolute famine, on account 

 of the -melancholy dry time." Smith says, July 7, "A fast, 

 on occasion of the grievous drought. Fires continue."' 22. — 

 "Fires continue." 28. — "Famine feared." .°>(). — "A steady 

 rain for several hours." But there was no very considerable 

 rain till the 18 th of August, "when a plentiful rain remarkably 

 renewed the face of nature. 



The succeeding winter also was very trying. Our journal- 

 ist describes it as being as " severe as any we have had ; " he 

 says that " people were reduced to the last and extremest dis- 

 tress;" that there was " scarce a bushel of corn in the whole 

 eastern country ; " that there were "" deep snows and difficult 

 travelling ; " that " hay was scarce, and sold at one hundred 

 and twenty pounds a ton.'* But although the following sum- 

 mer (1763) was very wet, so much so, indeed, that on the 1st 

 of July we find the record, " No summer yet," and on the 14th, 

 " Not a hot night this summer ; indeed, no hot weather at all, 

 but constantly wet," and on the 21st, "There have not been 

 for two months past forty-eight hours of fair weather at one 

 time:'* and on the 9 th of August, "Weather continues foggy 

 and wet,*' yet we are told that every thing was "very plenty 

 except money." 



A very dry time occurred again in 1764, beginning early in 

 August, and continuing through the month, and again in 1765, 

 in April and August. The month of July, 1767, was exceed- 

 ingly dry, and much alarm was felt. After this there was no 

 "very melancholy dry time " till 1770 ; in July and August of 

 that year came a drought of such severity that there was little 

 prospect of corn. The worms had done much injury in the 

 spring, and a "very uncommon sort of worm, called the canker 

 worm, ate the corn and grass all as they went, above ground, 

 which cut short the crops in many places." But rain fell on 

 the 18th of August. 



In 1772 we find complaints of the drought in the vicinity of 

 Boston. In July the pastures were all dried up ; there was but 

 very little corn, and all kinds of grain suffered very much. 

 July, 1773, was also very dry, and in 1774 there was little or 

 no rain from the 7th of July to the 17th of August. The 

 pastures looked like winter, and very little corn was harvested 



