ii6 September 1748. 



the ttpper part, which is now at)6ve and 

 now under water, and is therefore more e*-- 

 pofed to putrefadtion, is made of red cedar 

 or Juniperus Firginiana, which is reckoned 

 the mod hardy wood in the country. The 

 bottom is made of black oak, becaufe that 

 wood is very tough. For the river being 

 full of ftones, and the boats frequently run- 

 ning againft them, the black oak gives 

 way, and therefore tioes not eafily crack. 

 But the cedar would not do for this pur- 

 pofe ; becaufe it is hard and brittle. The 

 oak likewife is not fo much attacked by 

 putrefadtion, when it is always kept under 

 water. 



In autumn, I could always get good 

 pears here ; but every body acknowledged, 

 that this fruit would not fucceed well in the 

 country. 



All my obfervations and remarks on the 

 qualities of the Rattk-fnakey are inferted in 

 the Memoirs of the Swedifh Academy of 

 Sciences, for the year ij^z, p. 316, and 

 for the year 1753, p. 54, and thither I re- 

 fer the reader.* 



Bears are very numerous higher up in 

 the country, and do much mifchief. Mr. 

 Bar tram told me, that when a bear catches 



a cow, 



* Vide Medical, &c. cafes ai^ experiments, tranflated from 

 the Svjidijh^ London 1758. p. 282. P. 



