64 REPORT OF NEW jERSEiY STATE MUSEUM. 



a record of it is preserved in a letter to Zaccheus Collins in the 

 possession of the Philadelphia Academy.* It runs as follows : 



New York, July pth, 1818. 



Dear Sir: , 



We arrived at South Amboy one week after we left Philadelphia, and, al- 

 though our journey was rather an arduous one, we think ourselves well 

 rewarded for all the privations we endured. The principal difficulty we 

 experienced was in keeping the right road. Hundreds of these little roads 

 cross each other in every direction like a labyrinth, so that it is next to a 

 miracle if you hit the right one. We remained two days at Thompson's Tav- 

 ern [at Quaker Bridge], where we were very well entertained. About this 

 time we found a considerable number of plants which were new to us, indeed 

 there were few plants but what we found here. The Drosera filiformis and 

 foliosa (?) were abundant, as well as two species of Utricularia, one of 

 which does not appear to be described. What pleased us more than any plant 

 we found was the Schizaea. Cooper found the first specimen. It is a singular 

 little plant, and I first doubted whether Pursh had referred it to^ the right 

 genus, but subsequent examination has convinced me that he is right. The 

 whole of the plant which we saw was confined to a very small space. There 

 is a small patch of it about forty-five yards from the west end of the bridge 

 on the left side as you approach it from Philadelphia and about twelve feet 

 from the road. I have been particular to mention its locality, as this is the 

 only spot where we found it. We found abundance of the Leiophyllum and 

 Hudsonia, some of them in flower. The latter plant I am inclined to think 

 is a different species from the one which grows on the seacoast. At first 

 sight you are struck with the long peduncled flowers of the one and the al- 

 most sessile flowers of the other. We found two species of Eriocaulon — one 

 common, tall and with large hemispherical heads and tuft of short leaves at 

 the base, the other smaller, with large leaves. They are both ten-striate. 



After we had left Quaker Bridge we fared pretty hard. Some places calle.d 

 Taverns that we put up at were not fit for an Arab. At a place called the 

 Ten-mile Hollow, or Hell Hollow, we expected to sleep in the woods, for it 

 was with difiiculty that we persuaded them to take us in. This was the most 

 miserable place we ever saw; they were too poor to use candles. No butter, 

 sugar, etc. A little sour stuff, which I believe they called rye bread, but 

 which was half sawdust, and a little warm water and molasses, were all we 

 had for breakfast. For supper I could not see what we had, for we ate in the 

 dark. From this place until we reached Monmouth we found scarcely a 

 single plant in flower. 



We found near Philadelphia a species of Plantago which may be new. It 

 is not described in Persoon, but it may be the P. linearifolia of Muhl. Cat. 2d 

 ed. I shall send you specimens of it together with most of the plants we col- 

 lected on our journey. I hope you will indulge me if I trouble you in this 

 way once in awhile. 



I remain, sir, with the greatest respect, etc., yours, 



John Torrey. 



* Published in Bull. Torr. Bot. Club VI, p. 83. 



