New Jerjey, Raccoon. 97 



of the roots. A man of ninety-one years 

 of age, called Mis Gufiafson, 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 defired 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 after- 

 wards got fome of thefe roots roafted, and 

 in my opinion they tailed well, though they 

 were rather dry : The tafte was nearly the 

 fame with that of the potatoes. ¥fhen the 

 Indians come down to the coaft and fee the 

 turneps of the Europeans, they likewife 

 give them the name of katnifs* Their kat- 

 nifs is an arrow-head or Sagittaria, and is 

 only* a variety of the Swedifi arrow-head or 

 Sagittaria fagittifolia, for the plan t above 

 the ground is entirely the fame, but the 

 root under ground is much greater in the 

 American than in the European. Mr. Of" 

 beck in his voyage to China, vol. i. p. 334, 

 of the Englijh edition, mentions, that the 

 Chinefe plant a Sagittaria, and eat its roots. 

 This feems undoubtedly to be a variety of 

 this katnifs. Further in the north of this 

 Vol. U. G part 



