Chap. in. of the E N G L I S,H /;? AMERICA, 
229 
be given hereafter. As to Birds, they have Eagles of three 
Sorts : I'he firft is , the grey Eagle about the Size of a 
Kite ; the fecond the bald Eagle, fo called becaufe the 
upper Part of the Neck and Head is covered with a Sort 
of white Down ; the third a black Eagle, refembling 
thofe in England, very ravenous, and which do a great deal 
of Mifchief ; moft Sorts of Hawks, two kind of Owls, 
both very large j and the white Owl very beautiful, all 
the Feathers of her Back and Breaft being bright as Sil- 
ver, except a black Spot immediately below the Throat. 
They have a large Bird of Prey, which they call a Buf- 
tard, but it is rather a kind of Kite ; they have wild 
Turkies very large, fome of them weighing forty Pounds ; 
their Partriges are fmaller than ours, but to the full as 
well tailed ; they have a Bird called the Mocking-Bird, 
of two Sorts, grey and red, eileemed the fineft iinging 
Bird in the World j it receives its Name from imitating 
the Notes of all other kind of Birds it hears ; The hum- 
ming Bird with a long Bill and very fine Feathers. As to 
Water-Fowl they have of all Sorts, fuch as Elerns, Bit- 
terns, Curlews, Wild Swans, Geefe, Ducks, Teal, Wi- 
geons, Cormorants, and Gulls. 
As for Fifh, no Country in the World has greater 
Plenty ; In February, March, April, and May, there are 
Shoals of Herrings come up into their very Brooks, fome of 
the Size of ours, but for the moft Part much bigger. There 
are alfo plenty of Cod-fifti and Sting-grafs ; which laft is 
faid to be peculiar in this Country, being fo called from 
having a Sting in its Tail ; it is efteeqied good Food. In 
their Rivers there are the old Wife, the Sheep’s-head, an 
excellent Fifh ; Trouts, Green-fifh, Sturgeons in great 
Plenty ; Plaice, Flounders, Whitings, Carp, Pikes, Mul- 
lets, and Perch. And for Shell-fifti, they have Oyfters, 
Crabs, Cockles, and Shrimps. Of thofe that are not 
eaten, they have in their Seas Whale, Dog-fifli, Sharks, 
Porpufles, Gar-fifti, and Sword-fifh : There is alfo a Fifh 
they call the Toad-fifh, from his fwelling monftroufly 
when taken out of the Water ; and the Rock-fifh, fome 
Species whereof are poifonous, and have been fatal to 
thofe that have eaten them ; though others, which are 
not eafy to be diftinguifhed from the former, are very 
wholefome Food ; the Skip-jack, To called from his 
Ikipping out of the Water, is tolerable good Food j and 
fo is the Tobacco-pipe-fifh, fo called from its being long 
and flender, like a Tobacco-pipe. They have many Infefts, 
fuch as Muflcetoes, Buggs, Seed-ticks, Red-worms, 
which lie only on old Trees and rotten Logs j on which, 
if a Man fits down in the Midft of Summer, he is fure 
to catch them, but they are eafily got off with warmWater. 
We may add to thefe the Worm that eats Plank, which 
has a kind of Horn or Screw in its Head, with which it 
forces a Paffage through any Wood to which it flicks ; 
and as we have heard much of thefe Worms, and perhaps 
not a little concerning them that is wide of the Truth ; it 
may not be amifs to give an Account of them, from a 
Gentleman who refided long in Virginia, and made very 
exadl Obfervations. In the Month of June, annually, 
there rife up in the Salts vaft Beds of Seedling Worms, 
which enter the Ships, Sloops, or Boats, wherever they 
find the Coat of Pitch, Tar, or Lime worn off the Tim- 
ber, and by degrees eat the Plank into Cells, like thofe of 
an Honeycomb. Thefe Worms continue thus upon the 
Surface of the Water, from their Rife in June, until the 
firft great Rains after the Middle of July \ but after that 
do no frefii Damage till the next Summer Seafon, and 
never penetrate farther than the Plank or Timber they firft 
fix upon. 
The Damage occafioned by thefe Worms may be four 
feyeral Ways avoided ; ift. By keeping the Coat (of Pitch, 
Lime, and Tallow, or what ever elfe it is) whole upon 
tne Bottom of tne Ship, or VefteL for thele AVorms 
never fatten or enter but where the Timber is naked, zdly, 
By anchoring the large Veflels in the Strength of the Tide, 
during the worm Seafon, and haling the fmaller afhore ^ 
for m the Current of a ftrong Tide the Worms cannot 
fatten. 3dly, By burning and cleaning immediately after 
the Worm Seafon is over, for then they are but juft ftuck 
into the Plank, and have not buried themfelves in it \ fo 
that the leaft Fire in the World deftroys them entirely, 
VoL. II. Numb. LXXXY. 
and prevents all Damage that would otherwife enfuefrom 
them. 4thiy, By running up into the Freilies with a Ship 
or Veffel, during tlie five or fix Weeks that the Worm 
is thus above Water; for they never enter, or do any 
Damage in frefli Water, or where it is not very fait. 
We come now to fpeak of what is produced by their 
Soil. And firft with refpedt to Trees ; of which, we 
may affirm, few Countries- are better ftocked, or afford 
greater Variety. As to Timber, they have Oaks, Cedars, 
Firs, Cyprefs, Elm, Afh, and Wallnut ; fome of their 
Oaks meafure two Feet fquare and fixty Feet in height. 
They have alfo Beach, Poplar, Hazel, iAc. befides Saffa- 
fras, Sarfaparilla, and many other fweet Woods, and 
fuch as are ufed in Dying. Their Fruits are, Grapes of 
feveral Kinds, Cherries of various Sorts, Plumbs from the 
Bignefs of a Damfon to that of a Pear ; Peaches in fuch 
Plenty that in fome Places they feed their Hogs with them , 
Qiiinces in abundance, and Apples and Pears in as great 
Plenty as can be wiftied. Their Corn is of two Sorts, 
Englijh Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, which all thrive very 
well, and yield from fifteen to thirty fold Increafe ; and 
Maize, or Endian Corn, which is not unlike our Peafe in 
Tafte, but grows in a great Ear or Head as big as the 
Handle of a large Horfe-whip, having from three hundred 
to feven hundred Grains in one Ear, and fometimes one 
Grain produces two or three fuch Ears or Heads ; it is of 
various Colours, Red, White, Yellow, Blue, Green and 
Black, and fome fpeckled and ftriped, but the White, 
and Yellow, are moft common ; the Stalk is as thick as 
an ordinary walking Cane, and grows fix or eight Feet 
high, in Joints, having a fweet Juice in it of which a 
Syrrup is fometimes made, and from every Joint there 
grow long Leaves in the Shape of Sedge Leaves : The 
manner of Planting is in Holes or Trenches, about five 
or fix Feet Diftance from each other ; the Earth is opened 
with a Hoe (and of late Years, with a Plough), four 
Inches deep, and four or five Grains thrown into each 
Hole, or Trench, about a Span diftant from each other, 
and then covered with Earth: They keep it weeding from 
time to time, and as the Stalk grows high they keep the 
Mould about it like the Hillocks in a Hop-Garden: 
They begin to plant in April, but the chief Plantation is 
in May, and they continue to plant till the Middle of 
June : What is planted m April is reaped in Augujl-, what 
is planted in May is reaped in September ; and the laft in 
Obiober. 
But as the great Produce of this Country is Tobacco," 
and as that of Virginia is looked upon as the beft in the 
World, it is but juft that we fliould give a more par- 
ticular Account of it. It is certain that the Country pro- 
duced vaft Quantities of it before any Europeans went 
thither, and that the Ufe of it was taught them by the 
Natives ; but in what manner they cultivated it, or how 
they cured it, is now no longer known, fince at prefent 
they buy what they confume from the Englijh, and there- 
fore it is of their manner of Managing this Plant, that 
we fliall Ipeak. The Tobacco Seeds are firft fown in 
Beds, where having remained a Month, the Plants are 
tranfplanted into the little Hillocks, like thofe in our 
Hop-gardens, the firft rainy Weather ; and being grown 
a Foot high there, within the Space of another Month 
they top them, and prune off all the bottom Leaves, 
leaving only feven or eight on the Stalk, that they may 
be the better fed *, and thefe Leaves, in fix Weeks time, 
will be in their full Growth ; the Planters prune off the 
Suckers, and clean them of the Horn-worm twice a 
Week, which is called Worming Suckering ; and this 
Work lafts three Weeks or a Month, by which time the 
Leaf from Green begins to turn brownifh, and to fpot ' 
and thicken ; which is a Sign of its ripening • As fail as 
the Plants ripen, they cut them down, heap them up, 
and let them lie and fweat a Night, and the next Day 
they carry them to the Tobacco-houfe, where every Planf 
is hung up at a convenient Diftance one from another, 
for about a Month or five Weeks ; at the End of which 
Time they ftrike, or take them down, in moift Weather, 
when the Leaf gives, or elfe it will crumble to Dull ; 
after which they are laid upon Sticks, and covered up 
clofe in the Tobacco-houfe for a Week or a Fortnight to 
N n n ' fweatas 
1 
