long Crabs Cockles some as big as Stewing Oysters of which are made a Choice Soupe or Broth Canok and Mussels with many other sorts of Fish which would be too tedious to insert There are several sorts of wild Beasts of great Profit and good Food viz. Panthers Woolves Fither Deer Beaver Otter Hares Musk-Rats Minks Wild-Cats Foxes Rackoons Rabits and that strange Creature the Possam she having a false Belly to swallow her Young ones by which means she preserveth them from danger when any thing comes to disturb them There are also Bears some Wolves are pretty well destroy'd by the Indians for the sake of the Reward given them by the Christians for that Service Here is also that Remarkable Creature the Flying-Squirrel having a kind of Skinny Wings almost like those of the Batt though it hath the like Hair and Colour of the Common Squirrel but is much less in Bodily Substance I have my self seen it fly from one Tree to another in the Woods but how long it can maintain its Flight is not yet exactly known There are in the Woods abundance of Red Deer vulgarly called Stags for I have bought of the Indians a whole Buck both Skin and Carcass for two Gills of Gunpowder Excellent Food most delicious far exceeding that in Europe in the Opinion of most that are Nice and Curious People There are vast Numbers of other Wild Creatures as Elks Bufalos c. all which as well Beasts Fowl and Fish are free and common to any Person who can shoot or take them without any lett hinderance or Opposition whatsoever There are among other various sorts of Frogs the Bull-Frog which makes a roaring noise hardly to be distinguished from that well known of the Beast from whom it takes its Name There is another sort of Frog that crawls up to the tops of Trees there seeming to imitate the Notes of several Birds with many other strange and various Creatures which would take up too much room here to mention Next I shall proceed to instance in the several sorts of Wild Fruits as excellent Grapes Red Black White Muscadel and Fox which upon frequent Experience have produc'd Choice Wine being daily Cultivated by skilful Vinerons they will in a short space of time have very good Liquor of their own and some to supply their Neighbours to their great advantage as these Wines are more pure so much more wholsom the Brewing Trade of Sophisticating and Adulterating of Wines as in England Holland especially and in some other places not being known there yet nor in all probability will it in many Years through a natural Probity so fixed and implanted in the Inhabitants and I hope like to continue Wallnuts Chesnuts Filberts Heckery-Nuts Hartleberries Mâ—lberries white and black Rasberries Strawberries Cramberries Plumbs of several sorts and many other Wild Fruits in great plenty which are common and free for any to gather to particularize the Names of them all would take up too much time tire not gratifie the Reader and be inconsistent with the intended Brevity of this little Volume The common Planting Fruit-Trees are Apples which from a Kernel without Inoculating will shoot up to be a large Tree and produce very delicious large and pleasant Fruit of which much excellent Cyder is made in taste resembling that in England press'd from Pippins and Pearmains sold commonly for between Ten and Fifteen Shillings per Barrel Pears Peaches c. of which they distil a Liquor much like the taste of Rumm or Brandy which they Yearly make in great quantities There are Quinces Cherries Goosberries Currants Squashes Pumpkins Water-Mellons Muskmellons and other Fruits in great Numbers which seldom fail of yielding great plenty There are also many curious and excellent Physical Wild Herbs Roots and Drugs of great Vertue and very sanative as the Sassafras and Sarsaparilla so much us'd in Diet-Drinks for the Cure of the Veneral Disease which makes the Indians by a right application of them as able Doctors and Surgeons as any in Europe performing celebrated Cures therewith and by the use of some particular Plants only find Remedy in all Swellings Burnings Cuts c. There grows also in great plenty the Black Snake-Root fam'd for its sometimes preserving but often curing the Plague being infused only in Wine Brandy or Rumm Rattle-Snake-Root Poke-Root called in England Jallop with several other beneficial Herbs Plants and Roots which Physicians have approved of far exceeding in Nature and Vertue those of other Countries The Names of the Counties are as followeth First Philadelphia County Second Bucks County Third Chester County Fourth New-Castle County Fifth Kent County Sixth Sussex County The chiefest and most commodious places for raising Tobacco as also for Breeding and Improving all sorts of Cattle are the Counties of Kent and New-Castle the other chiefly depend upon Raising and Improving English Grain of which they have a prodigious Encrease which I have particularly instanced in the beginning of this Book both as to their Quality and Quantity All those Counties also very much abound in all sorts of Cattle both small and great for the Use and Service of Man Their sorts of Grain are Wheat Rye Pease Oates Barley Buck-Wheat Rice Indian-Corn Indian-Pease and Beans with great quantities of Hemp and Flax as also several sorts of eating Roots as Turnips Potatoes Carrats Parsnips c. all which are produc'd Yearly in greater quantities than in England those Roots being much larger and altogether as sweet if not more delicious Cucumbers Coshaws Artichokes with many others most sorts of Saladings besides what grows naturally Wild in the Country and that in great plenty also as Mustard Rue Sage Mint Tanzy Wormwood Penny-Royal and Purslain and most of the Herbs and Roots found in the Gardens in England There are several Husband-Men who sow Yearly between Seventy and Eighty Acres of Wheat each besides Barley Oates Rye Pease Beans and other Grain They have commonly Two Harvests in the Year First of English Wheat and next of Buck or French Wheat They have great Stocks both of Hogs and Horses kept in the Woods out of which I saw a Hog kill'd of about a Year old which weigh'd Two Hundred weight whose Flesh is much sweeter and even more luscious than that in England because they feed and fatten on the rich though wild Fruits besides those fatned at home by Peaches Cherries and Apples Their Horses are very hardy insomuch that being very hot with riding or otherwise they are turn'd out into the Woods at the same Instant and yet receive no harm some Farmers have Forty some Sixty and from that Number to Two or Three Hundred Head of Cattle Their Oxen usually weigh Two Hundred Pounds a Quarter They are commonly fatter of Flesh and yield more Tallow by feeding only on Grass than the Cattle in England And for Sheep they have considerable Numbers which are generally free from those infectious Diseases which are incident to those Creatures in England as the Rot Scab
An Historical and Geographical Account OF THE PROVINCE and COUNTRY OF PENSILVANIA AND OF West-New-Jersey IN AMERICA The Richness of the Soil the Sweetness of the Situation the Wholesomness of the Air the Navigable Rivers and others the prodigious Encrease of Corn the flourishing Condition of the City of Philadelphia with the stately Buildings and other Improvements there The strange Creatures as Birds Beasts Fishes and Fowls with the several sorts of Minerals Purging Waters and Stones lately discovered The Natives Aborogines their Language Religion Laws and Customs The first Planters the Dutch Sweeds and English with the number of its Inhabitants As also a Touch upon George Keith's New Religion in his second Change since he left the QUAKERS With a Map of both Countries By GABRIEL THOMAS who resided there about Fifteen Years London Printed for and Sold by A. Baldwin at the Oxon Arms in Warwick-Lane 1698. THE DEDICATION Friend William Penn I Here present Thee with a succinct yet compleat Account of the late Improvement and Present State of the Noble Province and Fertile Countrey of Pensilvania with the strange things that have been found there as the Salamander-Stone and several others mentioned in this Treatise discovered since thou camest out of those Parts I desire Thee to excuse me for addressing to Thee such a Plain and Peasant-like Piece yet however homely or coarse it may appear Thou wilt find here a true and genuine Description of that once obscure tho' now glorious Place So considering how generous and candid a Man Thou art I know thou wilt bear with my weak and imperfect Performance and accept of my good Meaning and kind Intention which may encourage me in time to come to add some more Memoirs to this rough Essay of mine Being unwilling to tire Thee with any long or tedious Epistle I take my Leave of Thee Most Noble and Excellent Governor and am Thy hearty Well-wisher ever ready to serve Thee on all Occasions in the way of Truth Gabriel Thomas THE PREFACE Reader THere never having been any fair or full Account given to the World of Pensilvania I thought the Curious wou'd be gratified with an ample Description thereof For tho' this Country has made little Noise in Story or taken up but small room in Maps yet thus much with great Justice may be said of it that notwithstanding the Difficulties and Inconveniencieâ— the First English Collonies met with before they were well settled there yet the mighty Improvements Additions and Advantages that have been made lately there are well worth Communicating to the Publick and I am sensible they will be well receiv'd The late Tedious Hazardous and Expensive War in which England in Conjunction with the Allies was so deeply engag'd was without doubt no small Bar or Obstacle to the Flourishing of this New Country The great Discouragements the Traders thither lay under together with the frequent Capture of their Ships out and home cou'd not chuse but baulk them in their honest Endeavours which now Peace is restor'd they may pursue with greater Security and Satisfaction Nor is there the least question or doubt to be made but this Noble Spot of Earth will thrive exceedingly and that in a short time too and advance considerably to the mighty Advantage of the Present and Future Propietors who have and are willing to give all due Encouragement to any that shall Transport themselves thither I cou'd say much here in Praise of that sweet Tract of Land but having spoken so largely and particularly thereof in the Book it self I shall forbear the least mention in this place Nor will I Anticipate or forestal thee by presenting thee here with what thou wilt find there with the greater Satisfaction And so I bid thee heartily farewel Gab. Thomas PENNSYLVANIA and WEST JERSâ—â— THE HISTORY OF Pensilvania c. PEnsilvania lies between the Latitude of Forty and Forty five Degrees West-Jersey on the East Virginia on the West Mary-Land South and Canada on the North. In Length three hundred and in Breadth one hundred and eighty Miles The Natives or first Inhabitants of this Country in their Original are suppos'd by most People to have been of the Ten Scattered Tribes for they resemble the Jews very much in the Make of their Persons and Tincture of their Complexions They observe New Moons they offer their first Fruits to a Maneto or suppos'd Deity whereof they have two one as they fansie above good another below bad and have a kind of Feast of Tabernacles laying their Altars upon Twelve Stones observe a sort of Mourning twelve Months Customs of Women and many other Rites to be toucht here rather than dwelt upon because they shall be handled more at large at the latter end of this Treatise They are very Charitable to one another the Lame and the Blind amongst them living as well as the best they are also very kind and obliging to the Christians The next that came there were the Dutch who call'd the Country New Neitherland between Fifty and Sixty Years ago and were the first Planters in those Parts but they made little or no Improvement applying themselves wholly to Trafique in Skins and Furs which the Indians or Natives furnish'd them with and which they Barter'd for Rum Strong Liquors and Sugar with others thereby gaining great Profit till near the time of the Wars between England and Them about Thirty or Forty Years ago Soon after them came the Swedes and Fins who apply'd themselves to Husbandry and were the first Christian People that made any considerable Improvement there There were some Disputes between these two Nations some Years the Dutch looking upon the Swedes as Intruders upon their Purchase and Possession which was absolutely terminated in the Surrender made by John Rizeing the Swedes Governour to Peter Styreant Governour for the Dutch in 1655. In the Holland War about the Year 1665. Sir Robert Carr took the Country from the Dutch for the English and left his Cousin Captain Carr Governor of that place but in a short time after the Dutch re-took the Country from the English and kept it in their Possession till the Peace was concluded between the English and them when the Dutch Surrendered that Country with East and West-Jersey New-York with the whole Countries belonging to that Government to the English again But it remain'd with very little Impovement till the Year 1681. in which William Penn Esq had the Country given him by King Charles the Second in lieu of Money that was due to and signal Service done by his Father Sir William Penn and from him bore the Name of Pensilvania Since that time the Industrious nay Indefatigable Inhabitants have built a Noble and Beautiful City and called it Philadelphia which contains above two thousand Houses all Inhabited and most of them Stately and of Brick generally three Stories high after the Mode in London and as many several Families in each There are very many Lanes and Alleys as first
Huttons-Lane Morris-Lane Jones's-Lane wherein are very good Buildings Shorters-Alley Yowers-Lane Wallers-Alley Turners-Lane Sikes-Alley and Flowers-Alley All these Alleys and Lanes extend from the Front Street to the Second-Street There is another Alley in the Second Street called Carters-Alley There are also besides these Alleys and Lanes several fine Squares and Courts within this Magnificent City for so I may justly call it As for the particular Names of the several Streets contained therein the Principal are as follows viz. Walnut-Street Vine-Street Mulberry-Street Chesnut-Street Sassafras-Street taking their Names from the abundance of those Trees that formerly grew there High-Street Broad-Street Delaware-Street Front-Street with several of less Note too tedious to insert here It hath in it Three Fairs every Year and Two Markets every Week They kill above Twenty Fat Bullocks every Week in the hottest time in Summer for their present spending in that City besides many Sheep Calves and Hogs This City is Situated between Schoolkill-River and the great River Delaware which derives its Name from Captain Delaware who came there pretty early Ships of Two or Three Hundred Tuns may come up to this City by either of these two Rivers Moreover in this Province are Four Great Market-Towns viz. Chester the German Town New-Castle and Lewis-Town which are mightily Enlarged in this latter Improvement Between these Towns the Water-Men constantly Ply their Wherries likewise all those Towns have Fairs kept in them besides there are several Country Villages viz. Dublin Harford Merioneth and Radnor in Cumbry all which Towns Villages and Rivers took their Names from the several Countries whence the present Inhabitants came The Air here is very delicate pleasant and wholesom the Heavens serene rarely overcast bearing mighty resemblance to the better part of France after Rain they have commonly a very clear Sky the Climate is something Colder in the depth of Winter and Hotter in the height of Summer the cause of which is its being a Main Land or Continent the Days also are two Hours longer in the shortest Day in Winter and shorter by two Hours in the longest Day of Summer than here in England which makes the Fruit so good and the Earth so fertil The Corn-Harvest is ended before the middle of July and most Years they have commonly between Twenty and Thirty Bushels of Wheat for every one they Sow Their Ground is harrowed with Wooden Tyned Harrows twice over in a place is sufficient twice mending of their Plow-Irons in a Years time will serve Their Horses commonly go without being shod two Men may clear between Twenty and Thirty Acres of Land in one Year fit for the Plough in which Oxen are chiefly us'd though Horses are not wanting and of them Good and well shap'd A Cart or a Wain may go through the middle of the Woods between the Trees without getting any damage and of such Land in a convenient place the Purchase will cost between Ten and Fifteen Pounds for a Hundred Acres * Here is much Meadow Ground Poor People both Men and Women will get near three times more Wages for their Labour in this Country than they can earn either in England or Wales What is Inhabited of this Country is divided into Six Counties though there is not the Twentieth Part of it yet Peopled by the Christians It hath in it several Navigable Rivers for Shipping to come in besides the Capital Delaware wherein a Ship of Two Hundred Tuns may Sail Two Hundred Miles up There are also several other small Rivers in number hardly Credible these as the Brooks have for the most part gravelly and hard Bottoms and it is suppos'd that there are many other further up in the Country which are not yet discover'd the Names of the aforesaid Rivers are Hoorkill-River alias Lewis River which runs up to Lewis Town the chiefest in Sussex County Cedar-River Muskmellon-River all taking their Names from the great plenty of these things growing there abouts Mother-kill alias Dover-River St. Jones's alias Cranbrook-River where one John Curtice lives who hath Three Hundred Head of Neat Beasts besides great Numbers of Hogs Horses and Sheep Great Duck-River Little Duck-River Black-Bird-River these also took their Original Names from the great Numbers of those Fowls which are found there in vast quantities Apequinemy-River where their Goods come to be Carted over to Mary-Land St. George's River Christen-River Brandy-Wine-River Vpland alias Chester-River which runs by Chester-Town being the Shire or County-Town Schoolkill-River Frankford-River near which Arthur Cook hath a most Stately Brick-House and Nishamany-River where Judge Growden hath a very Noble and Fine House very pleasantly Situated and likewise a Famous Orchard adjoyning to it wherein are contain'd above a Thousand Apple Trees of various sorts likewise there is the famous Derby-River which comes down from the Cumbry by Derby-Town wherein are several Mills viz. Fulling-Mills Corn-Mills c. There is curious Building-Stone and Paving-Stone also Tile-Stone with which latter Governor Penn covered his Great and Stately Pile which he call'd Pennsbury-House the Name it still retains There is likewise Iron-Stone or Oar lately found which far exceeds that in England being Richer and less Drossy some Preparations have been made to carry on an Iron-Work There is also very good Lime-Stone in great plenty and cheap of great use in Buildings and also in Manuring Land if there were occasion but Nature has made that of it self sufficiently Fruitful besides here are Load-Stones Ising-Glass and that Wonder of Stones the Salamander-Stone found near Brandy-Wine-River having Cotton in Veins within it which will not consume in the Fire though held there a long time As to Minerals or Metals there is very good Copper far exceeding ours in England being much Finer and of a more glorious Colour Not two Mile from the Metropolis are also Purging Mineral-Waters that pass both by Siege and Vrine all out as good as Epsom And I have reason to believe there are good Coals also for I observ'd the Runs of Water have the same Colour as that which proceeds from the Coal-Mines in Wales Here is curious Diversion in Hunting Fishing and Fowling especially upon that Great and Famous River Suskahanah which runs down quite through the heart of the Country to Mary-Land where it makes the Head of Chesepeck-Bay in which place there are an Infinite Number of Sea and Land Fowl of most sorts viz. Swans Ducks Teal which two are the most Grateful and most Delicious in the World Geese Divers Brands Snipe Curlew as also Eagles Turkies of Forty or Fifty Pound Weight Pheasants Partridges Pidgeons Heath-Birds Black-Birds and that Strange and Remarkable Fowl call'd in these Parts the Mocking-Bird that Imitates all sorts of Birds in their various Notes And for Fish there are prodigious quantities of most sorts viz. Shadds Cats-Heads Sheeps-Heads Herrings Smelts Roach Eels Perch As also the large sort of Fish as Whales of which a great deal of Oyl is made Salmon Trout Sturgeon Rock Oysters some six Inches
or Maggots They commonly bring forth two Lambs at once some twise in one Year and the Wooll is very fine and thick and also very white Bees thrive and multiply exceedingly in those Parts the Sweeds often get great store of them in the Woods where they are free for any Body Honey and choice too is sold in the Capital City for Five Pence per Pound Wax is also plentiful cheap and a considerable Commerce Tame Fowls as Chickens Hens Geese Ducks Turkeys c. are large and very plentiful all over this Countrey And now for their Lots and Lands in City and Countrey in their great Advancement since they were first laid out which was within the compass of about Twelve Years that which might have been bought for Fifteen or Eighteen Shillings is now sold for Fourscore Pounds in ready Silver and some other Lots that might have been then Purchased for Three Pounds within the space of Two Years were sold for a Hundred Pounds a piece and likewise some Land that lies near the City that Sixteen Years ago might have been Purchas'd for Six or Eight Pounds the Hundred Acres cannot now be bought under One Hundred and Fifty or Two Hundred Pounds Now the true Reason why this Fruitful Countrey and Florishing City advance so considerably in the Purchase of Lands both in the one and the other is their great and extended Traffique and Commerce both by Sea and Land viz. to New-York New-England Virginia Mary-Land Carolina Jamaica Barbadoes Nevis Monserat Antego St. Cristophers Barmudoes New-Found-Land Maderas Saltetudeous and Old-England besides several other places Their Merchandize chiefly consists in Horses Pipe-Staves Pork and Beef Salted and Barrelled up Bread and Flower all sorts of Grain Pease Beans Skins Furs Tobacco or â—â—t-Ashes Wax c. which are Barter'd for Rumm Sugar Molasses Silver Negroes Salt Wine Linen Houshold-Goods c. However there still remain Lots of Land both in the aforesaid City and Country that any may Purchase almost as cheap as they could at the first Laying out or Parcelling of either City or Country which is in the Judgment of most People the likeliest to turn to account to those that lay their Money out upon it and in a shorter time than the aforementioned Lots and Lands that are already improved and for several Reasons In the first place the Countrey is now well inhabited by the Christians who have great Stocks of all sorts of Cattle that encrease extraordinarily and upon that account they are oblig'd to go farther up into the Countrey because there is the chiefest and best place for their Stocks and for them that go back into the Countrey they get the richest Land for the best lies thereabouts Secondly Farther into the Countrey is the Principal Place to Trade with the Indians for all sorts of Pelt as Skins and Furs and also Fat Venison of whom People may Purchase cheaper by three Parts in four than they can at the City of Philadelphia Thirdly Backwards in the Countrey lies the Mines where is Copper and Iron besides other Metals and Minerals of which there is some Improvement made already in order to bring them to greater Perfection and that will be a means to erect more Inland Market-Towns which exceedingly promote Traffick Fourthly and lastly Because the Countrey at the first laying out was void of Inhabitants except the Heathens or very few Christians not worth naming and not many People caring to abandon a quiet and easie at least tolerable Life in their Native Countrey usually the most agreeable to all Mankind to seek out a new hazardous and careful one in a Foreign Wilderness or Desart Countrey wholly destitute of Christian Inhabitants and even to arrive at which they must pass over a vast Ocean expos'd to some Dangers and not a few Inconveniencies But now all those Cares Fears and Hazards are vanished for the Countrey is pretty well Peopled and very much Improv'd and will be more every Day now the Dove is return'd with the Olive-branch of Peace in her Mouth I must needs say even the present Encouragements are very great and inviting for Poor People both Men and Women of all kinds can here get three times the Wages for their Labour they can in England or Wales I shall instance in a few which may serve nay and will hold in all the rest The first was a Black-Smith my next Neighbour who himself and one Negro Man he had got Fifty Shillings in one Day by working up a Hundred Pound Weight of Iron which at Six Pence per Pound and that is the common Price in that Countrey amounts to that Summ. And for Carpenters both House and Ship Brick-layers Masons either of these Trades-Men will get between Five and Six Shillings every Day constantly As to Journey-Men Shooe-Makers they have Two Shillings per Pair both for Men and Womens Shooes And Journey-Men Taylors have Twelve Shillings per Week and their Diet. Sawyers get between Six and Seven Shillings the Hundred for Cutting of Pine-Boards And for Weavers they have Ten or Twelve Pence the Yard for Weaving of that which is little more than half a Yard in breadth Wooll-Combers have for combing Twelve Pence per Pound Potters have Sixteen Pence for an Earthen Pot which may be bought in England for Four Pence Tanners may buy their Hides green for Three Half Pence per Pound and sell their Leather for Twelve Pence per Pound And Curriers have Three Shillings and Four Pence per Hide for Dressing it they buy their Oyl at Twenty Pence per Gallon Brick-Makers have Twenty Shillings per Thousand for their Bricks at the Kiln Felt-Makers will have for their Hats Seven Shillings a piece such as may be bought in England for Two Shillings a piece yet they buy their Wooll commonly for Twelve or Fifteen Pence per Pound And as to the Glaziers they will have Five Pence a Quarry for their Glass The Rule for the Coopers I have almost forgot but this I can affirm of some who went from Bristol as their Neighbours report that could hardly get their Livelihoods there are now reckon'd in Pensilvania by a modest Computation to be worth some Hundreds if not Thousands of Pounds The Bakers make as White Bread as any in London and as for their Rule it is the same in all Parts of the World that I have been in The Butchers for killing a Beast have Five Shillings and their Diet and they may buy a good fat large Cow for Three Pounds or thereabouts The Brewers fell such Beer as is equal in Strength to that in London half Ale and half Stout for Fifteen Shillings per Barrel and their Beer hath a better Name that is is in more esteem than English Beer in Barbadoes and is sold for a higher Price there And for Silver-Smiths they have between Half a Crown and Three Shillings an Ounce for working their Silver and for Gold equivalent Plasterers have commonly Eighteen Pence per Yard for Plastering Last-Makers have
to build Ships with some of which are between Fifty and Sixty Foot long and clear from Knots being very straight and well Grain'd In this famous City of Philadelphia there are several Rope-Makers who have large and curious Rope-Walks especially one Joseph Wilcox Also Three or Four Spacious Malt-Houses as many large Brew-Houses and many handsom Bake-Houses for Publick Use In the said City are several good Schools of Learning for Youth in order to the Attainment of Arts and Sciences as also Reading Writing c. Here is to be had on any Day in the Week Tarts Pies Cakes c. We have also several Cooks-Shops both Roasting and Boyling as in the City of London Bread Beer Beef and Pork are sold at any time much cheaper than in England which arises from their Plenty our Wheat is very white and clear from Tares making as good and white Bread as any in Europe Happy Blessings for which we owe the highest Gratitude to our Plentiful Provider the great Creator of Heaven and Earth The Water-Mills far exceed those in England both for quickness and grinding good Meal their being great choice of good Timber and earlier Corn than in the aforesaid Place they are made by one Peter Deal a Famous and Ingenious Workman especially for inventing such like Machines All sorts of very good Paper are made in the German-Town as also very fine German Linen such as no Person of Quality need be asham'd to wear and in several places they make very good Druggets Crapes Camblets and Serges besides other Woollen Cloathes the Manufacture of all which daily improves And in most parts of the Countrey there are many Curious and Spacious Buildings which several of the Gentry have erected for their Country-Houses As for the Fruit-Trees they Plant they arrive at such Perfection that they bear in a little more than half the time that they commonly do in England The Christian Children born here are generally well-favoured and Beautiful to behold I never knew any come into the World with the least blemish on any part of its Body being in the general observ'd to be better Natur'd Milder and more tender Hearted than those born in England There are very fine and delightful Gardens and Orchards in most parts of this Countrey but Edward Shippey who lives near the Capital City has an Orchard and Gardens adjoyning to his Great House that equalizes if not exceeds any I have ever seen having a very famous and pleasant Summer-House erected in the middle of his extraordinary fine and large Garden abounding with Tulips Pinks Carnations Roses of several sorts Lilies not to mention those that grow wild in the Fields Reader what I have here written is not a Fiction Flam Whim or any sinister Design either to impose upon the Ignorant or Credulous or to curry Favour with the Rich and Mighty but in meer Pity and pure Compassion to the Numbers of Poor Labouring Men Women and Children in England half starv'd visible in their meagre looks that are continually wandering up and down looking for Employment without finding any who here need not lie idle a moment nor want due Encouragement or Reward for their Work much less Vagabond or Drone it about Here are no Beggars to be seen it is a Shame and Disgrace to the State that there are so many in England nor indeed have any here the least Occasion or Temptation to take up that Scandalous Lazy Life Jealousie among Men is here very rare and Barrenness among Women hardly to be heard of nor are old Maids to be met with for all commonly Marry before they are Twenty Years of Age and seldom any young Married Woman but hath a Child in her Belly or one upon her Lap. What I have deliver'd concerning this Province is indisputably true I was an Eye-Witness to it all for I went in the first Ship that was bound from England for that Countrey since it received the Name of Pensilvania which was in the Year 1681. The Ship 's Name was the John and Sarah of London Henry Smith Commander I have declin'd giving any Account of several things which I have only heard others speak of because I did not see them my self for I never held that way infallible to make Reports from Hear-say I saw the first Cellar when it was digging for the use of our Governour Will. Penn. I shall now haste to a Conclusion and only hint a little concerning the Natives or Aborigines their Persons Language Manners Religion and Government Of Person they are ordinarily Tall Straight well-turn'd and true Proportion'd their Tread strong and clever generally walking with a lofty Chin. Of Complexion Black but by design Gypsie-like greasing themselves with Bears-Fat Clarified and using no defence against the Injuries of the Sun and Weather their Skins fail not to be Swarthy Their Eyes are small and black Thick Lips and flat Noses so frequent with Negroes and East Indians are rare with them They have Comely Faces and Tolerable Complexions some of their Noses having a rise like the Roman Their Language is Lofty and Elegant but not Copious One Word serveth in the stead of Three imperfect and ungrammatical which defects are supply'd by the Understanding of the Hearers Sweet of Noble Sound and Accent Take here a Specimen Hodi hita nee huska a peechi nee machi Pensilvania huska dogwachi keshow a peechi Nowa huska hayly Chetena koon peo Thus in English Farewel Friend I will very quickly go to Pensilvania very cold Moon will come presently And very great hard frosts will come quickly I might Treat largely of their Customs and Manners but that will not agree with my proposed Brevity As soon as their Children are born they wash them in cold Water especially in cold Weather To harden and embolden them they plunge them in the River they find their Feet early usually at Nine Months they can go The Boys Fish till Fifteen then Hunt and having given proof of their Manhood by a large return of Skins they may Marry else 't is ashame to think of a Wife which is usually at the Age of Seventeen or Eighteen the Girls stay with their Mothers and help to hoe the Ground Plant Corn bear Burdens and Marry about Thirteen or Fourteen Their Houses are Matts or Barks of Trees set on Poles Barn-like not higher than a Man so not expos'd to Winds They lie upon Reeds or Grass In Travel they lodge in the Woods about a great Fire with the Mantle of Duffils they wear wrapt about them and a few Boughs stuck round them They live chiefly on Maze or Indian Corn rosted in the Ashes sometimes beaten and boyl'd with Water called Homine They have Cakes not unpleasant also Beans and Pease which Nourish much but the Woods and Rivers afford them their Provision they eat Morning and Evening their Seats and Tables are the Ground they are reserv'd apt to resent and retain long Their Women are Chaste at least after Marriage and
when with Child will not admit of their Husbands Embraces any more till Deliver'd Exceeding Liberal and Generous Kind and Affable uneasie in Sickness to remedy which they drink a Decoction of Roots in Spring-Water forbearing Flesh which if they happen to eat it must be the Female they commonly bury their Kettles and part of their Goods with their Friends when they die suspecting poor Souls they shall make use of them again at the Resurrection They Mourn a whole Year but it is no other than blacking their Faces Their Government is Monarchical and Successive and ever of the Mothers the surest side to prevent a Spurious Issue The Distaff as in France is excluded the Regal Inheritance Their Princes are Powerful yet do nothing without the Concurrence of their Senate or Councils consisting chiefly of Old but mixt with Young Men slow and deliberate Spaniard-like in resolving naturally wise and hardly to be out-witted Their Punishments are Pecuniary Murder may be aton'd for by Feasts and Presents in Proportion to the Quality of the Offence Person or Sex injur'd for if a Woman be kill'd the Mulct is double because she brings forth Children They seldom quarel when Sober and if Boozy which of late they are more apt to be having learn'd to drink a little too much Rum of the Christians to their shame they readily pardon it alledging the Liquor is Criminal not the Man The way of Worship the Sweeds use in this Countrey is the Lutheran the English have four sorts of Assemblies or Religious Meetings here as first The Church of England who built a very fine Church in the City of Philadelphia in the Year 1695. Secondly the Anabaptists Thirdly the Presbyterians and two sorts of Quakers of all the most numerous by much one Party held with George Keith but whether both Parties will joyn together again in one I cannot tell for that Gentleman hath alter'd his Judgment since he came to England concerning his Church-Orders in Pensilvania by telling and shewing them Precepts that were lawful in the time of the Law but forbidden under the Gospel to pay Tithes or Ministers to Preach for Hire c. As also to sprinkle Infants and he tells the Presbyterian Minister That he must go to the Pope of Rome for his Call for he had no Scripture for it and that Water-Baptism and the Outward Supper are not of the Nature of the Everlasting Gospel nor essential Parts of it see his Truth Advanced page 173. He gives likewise a strict Charge concerning plain Language and plain Habit and that they should not be concern'd in the compelling part of the Worldly Government and that they should set their Negroes at Liberty after some reasonable time of Service likewise they should not take the Advantage of the Law against one another as to procure them any Corporeal Punishment These Orders he tells his Followers would make Distinction between them and Jews and Moral Heathens this was in the Year 1693. in Pensilvania But now the Year 1697. since he came to England his Judgment is chang'd for he tells his Disciples that Water-Baptism is come in the room of Circumcision and by so doing they would distinguish themselves from either Jews Pagans or Moral Heathens He keeps his Meeting once a Week at Turners-Hall in Fill-Pot-Lane London on Sundays in the Afternoon he begins between Two and Three of the Clock and commonly ends between Four and Five Friendly Reader by this thou mayst see how wavering and mutable Men of great Outward Learning are if the Truth of this be by any Body question'd let them look in the Creed and the Paper against Christians being concern'd in Worldly Government and the Paper concerning Negroes that was given forth by the Appointment of the Meeting held by George Keith at Philip James's House in the City of Philadelphia in Pensilvania and his Letter also in Mary-Land against the Presbyterian Catechism Printed at Boston in New-England in 1695. with the Answer to it bound up together in one Book and in Truth Advanced page 173. And for what relates to him since in England let them look into the Quakers Argument Refuted Concerning Water-Baptism and the Lord's Supper page 70. And now Reader I shall take my leave of thee recommending thee with my own self to the Directions of the Spirit of God in our Conscience and that will agree with all the Holy Scriptures in its right place and when we find our selves so we have no need to take any Thought or Care what any Body shall say of us The End of the History of Pensilvania An Historical Description OF THE PROVINCE and COUNTRY OF West-New-Jersey IN AMERICA A short View of their Laws Customs and Religion As also the Temperament of the Air and Climate The fatness of the Soil with the vast Produce of Rice c. The Improvement of their Lands as in England to Pasture Meadows c. Their making great quantities of Pitch and Tar as also Turpentine which proceeds from the Pine Trees with Rozen as clear as Gum-Arabick with particular Remarks upon their Towns Fairs and Markets with the great Plenty of Oyl and Whale-Bone made from the great number of Whales they yearly take As also may other Profitable and New Improvements Never made Publick till now By GABRIEL THOMAS LONDON Printed in the Year 1698. To the Right Honourable Sir John Moor Sir Thomas Lane Knights and Aldermen of the City of London and to the rest of the Worthy Members of the West-Jersey Proprietors Worthy Friends TO whom can the History of West-Jersey with more Justice pertain than to you the Noble and Generous Proprietors That was the chief Motive that inclin'd me to this Dedication which I hope will be the more acceptable to you because the Account of that Country is so Sincere and Candid I have endeavour'd by setting forth the great Encouragements there are to persuade the Poor the Idle the Lazy the Vagabonds of these Kingdoms and of Wales to hasten thither that they may live plentifully and happily and I doubt not but they will hearken to it because it is their true Interest I have done my best endeavours to possess them and others of the great Fertility and Plenty in those Parts which I need not repeat to you who must needs be well ac quainted with the State of that Place That it may Flourish and mightily tend to your Advantage as also to the Benefit of England the hearty desire of your Friend Gabriel Thomas THE PREFACE TO THE READER Courteous Reader MY Chief Design in writing this short Account of West-New-Jersey is to inform all but especially the Poor what Ample and Happy Livelihoods People may gain in those Parts whereby they may subsist very well without either Begging or Stealing for if they Steal they are Whipt and oblig'd to pay Four Fold and if they are not of Ability to do that they must abide in Servitude till they have made Satisfaction to the injur'd Person And if