$b On the supposed CJiange 



John Megapolensis, a Dutch clergyman, who resided 

 at Albany, and wrote an account of the Ivlohawks, in 

 1644, a translation of which is in Hazard's CollectioUy 

 vol. i. 517, says, of the climate, " the summers are 

 pretty hot, and the winters very cold. The summer 

 continues till All Saints' Day, (Nov. 1,) but then the 

 winter sets in, in the same manner as it commonly does 

 in Decem^ber^ and freezes so much in one night that the 

 ice will bear a man. The freezing commonly continues 

 three months — sometimes there comes a warm and pleas- 

 ant day, yet the thaw does not continue ; but it freezes 

 again till March, and then commonly the river begins to 

 open, seldom in February." According to this account,, 

 the winters have not moderated ; for the Hudson, at Al- 

 bany, usually freezes early in December, and continues 

 closed till March» A common winter is of three months 

 duration. 



Professor Kalm, who came to America in 1748, was 

 very particular in his inquiries on this subject ;. and to 

 the best information he could obtain, he added his own 

 observations. He relates, vol. i. p. 21. Lond. 1772. that 

 at Newcastle, the Delaware seldom froze in winter so as 

 to obstruct navigation ; but at Philadelphia, that river 

 was, almost every winter, covered with ice, so as to in- 

 terrupt navigation for some weeks together. In page 

 36, he says, the climate of Philadelphia was then tempe- 

 rate ; the winter "w^as not over severe, and its duration 

 short — September and October were like August in 

 Sweden, and the first days in Februar}'" frequently as 

 pleasant as the end of April and beginning of May in the 

 middle of Sweden. 



In page 38 he says,, the only disadvantage which the 

 trade of Philadelphia suffers, is, the freezing of the river 

 almost every v/inter for a month or more. In page 83 

 he states, that the winters he spent in the country were 

 none of the coldest, but common ones, and that during 

 his stay, the Delaware was not covered with ice strong, 

 enough to bear a carnage. ^ In the next page, he adds, 

 that the winters, tho severe, did not continue above two 

 months, and at Philadelphia, sometimes less. Cherries, 

 were ripe about the 25th of May — (probably old style.]- 



