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innumerable nameless branches or fpurs. The Kittatinny mountains run through the northern parts of New-Jerfey and Pennsylvania. All these ridges, except the Allegany, are feparated by rivers, which appear to have forced their paffages through folid rocks.

The principal ridge is the Allegany, which has been defcriptively called the back-bone of the United States. The general name for these mountains, taken collectively, feems not yet to have been determined. Mr. Evans calls them the Endless Mountains: others have called them the Appalachian mountains, from a tribe of Indians, who live on a river which proceeds from this mountain, called the Appalachikola But the most common, and without doubt the most proper name, is the Allegany Mountains, fo called from the principal ridge of the range. Thefe mountains are not confufedly fcattered and broken, rifing here and there into high peaks over-topping each other, but stretch along in uniform ridges, fcarcely half a mile high. They fpread as you proceed fouth, and fome of them terminate in high perpendicular bluffs. Others gradually fubfide into a level country, giving rife to the rivers which run foutherly into the Gulf of Mexico.

They afford many curious phænomena, from which naturalifts have deduced many theories of the earth. Some of them have been whimsical enough: M. Evans fuppofes that the moft obvious of the theories which have been formed of the earth is, that it was originally made out of the ruins of another. "Bones and fhells, which efcaped the fate of fofter animal fubftances, we find mixed with the old materials, and elegantly preferved in the loofe ftones and rocky bafes of the highest of the hills.” But with deference to Mr. Evan's opinion, these appearances have been much more rationally accounted for by fuppofing the reality of the flood, of which Mofes has given us an account. But Mr. Evans thinks this too great a miracle to obtain belief. But whether is it a greater miracle for the Creator to alter a globe of earth by a deluge when made, or to create one new from the ruins of another? The former certainly is not lefs credible than the latter." These mountains," fays our author," exifted in their prefent elevated height before the deluge, but not fo bare of foil as now." How Mr. Evans came to be fo circumftantially acquainted with thefe pretended facts, is difficult to determine, unless we suppose him to have been an Antediluvian, and to have furveyed them accurately before the convulfions of the deluge; and until we can be fully affured of this, we must be excused in not affenting to his opinion, and in adhering to the old philofophy of Mofes and his advocates. We have every reafon to believe that the primitive state of the earth was totally metamorphofed by the first convulfion of nature, at the time of the deluge; that the fountains of the great deep were indeed broken up, and that the various frata of the earth were diffevered, and thrown into every poffible degree of confufion and diforder. Hence those vaft piles of mountains which lift their craggy cliffs to the clouds, were probably thrown together from the floating ruins of the earth: and this conjecture is remarkably confirmed by the vaft number of foffils and other marine exuvia, which are found imbeded on the tops of mountains, in the interior parts of continents remote from the sea, in all parts of the world hitherto explored. The various circumftances attending these marine bodies, leave us to conclude, that they were actually generated,

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lived, and died in the very beds wherein they are found; and therefore these beds must have originally been at the bottom of the ocean, though now in many inftances elevated feveral miles above its surface. Hence it it appears that mountains and continents were not primary productions of nature, but of a very diftant period of time from the creation of the world; a time long enough for the ftrata to have acquired their greatest degree of cohesion and hardness; and for the teftaceous matter of marine fhells to become changed to a ftony fubftance; for in the fiffures of the lime-ftone and other ftrata, fragments of the fame fhell have been frequently found adhering to each fide of the cleft, in the very flate in which they were originally broken; so that if the feveral parts were brought together, they would apparently tally with each other exactly. A very confiderable time therefore must have elapfed between the chaotic ftate of the earth and the deluge, which agrees with the account of Mofes, who makes it a little upwards of fixteen hundred years. Thefe obfervations are intended to fhew, in one inftance out of many others, the agreement between revelation and reason, between the account which Mofes gives us of the creation and deluge, and the prefent appearances of nature. Those who wish to have this agreement more fully and fatisfactorily ftated, are referred to a very learned and ingenious "Inquiry into the original flate and formation of the earth," by John Whitehurft, F. R. S. to whom I acknowledge myself indebted for fome of the foregoing obfervations.

Soil and productions, vegetable and animal.] The foil of the United States, though fo various that few general obfervations will apply, may be faid to be equal to that of any country in the known world. Among the great variety of its productions are the following:

Indian corn, which is a native grain of America, from whence all the other parts of the world have been fupplied. It agrees with all climates from the equator to latitude 45°. It flourishes belt however between the latitudes 30 and 40°. The bunched Guinea corn, is a small grain cultivated by the Negroes in the fouthern states, and affords a fine food for poultry. The fpiked Indian corn is of a fimilar kind.

Rice, which was brought into Carolina first by Sir Nathaniel Johnfon, 1688; and afterwards by a fhip from Madagascar, in 1696; till which time it was not much cultivated. It flourishes only in Georgia and the Carolinas. Several unfuccefsful attempts have been made to cultivate it in Virginia.

The Wild Rice is a grain which grows in the greateft plenty in fome of the interior parts of North America, and is the most valuable of all the fpontaneous productions of the country. It is of a very fweet and nutritious quality, and in future periods may be of great fervice to infant colonies, in affording them a fupport until, in the courfe of cultivation, other fupplies may be obtained. This ufeful grain grows in the water where it is about two feet deep, and in a rich muddy foil. In its ftalk, ears, and manner of growing, it very much resembles oats. It is gathered by the Indians in the following manner: about the time that it begins to turn from its milky ftate and to ripen, they run their canoes into the midft of it, and tying bunches of it together juft below the ears, they leave it in this fituation for three or four weeks, till it is perfectly ripe. At the end of this time, commonly about the laft of September, they

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return to the river, and placing their canoes close to the bunches of rice in fuch pofition as to receive the grain when it falls, they beat it out with pieces of wood formed for that purpofe. Having done this they dry it with smoke, and then tread or rub off the outfide hufk, after which it is fit for use.

Wheat, rye, barley, and oats, are cultivated throughout the ftates, fome few parts excepted. In Pennsylvania is a kind of grain called fpelts, which grows much like wheat. The grain, however, is better covered, and is good food for horfes. The flour made from it is very white, and is frequently mixed with wheat flour for bread. This grain might probably be successfully introduced into the New England ftates.

Potatoes are faid to be aboriginal of America. They are of many kinds, and are raised in great quantities. The fweet, or Carolina potatoes, does not thrive well in northern climates, nor do the other kinds in the lower parts of the fouthern states.

The culinary roots and plants are beets, carrots, parfnips, turnips, radishes, peas, beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, endive, cellery, angelica, lettuce, afparagus, peppergrafs, leeks, onions, watermelons, mufkmelons, cantelopes, which are a fpecies of the mufkmelon, but much fuperior in richness and flavor, cucumbers, mandrakes, pumpkins, fquafhes, &c. Besides these are feveral other roots and plants of a medicinal kind, such as elecampane, spikenard, or petty-morrell, farfaparilla, ginfeng, liquorice, fnake root, gold-thread, folomon's-feal, devil's-bit, horfe-radifh, and blood root.

The gold-thread is of the vine kind, and grows in fwamps. The roots fpread themselves just under the surface of the morafs, and are easily drawn out by handfuls. They refemble a large entangled fkein of filk, and are of a bright yellow, It is exceedingly bitter in tafte, and is an excellent remedy for a foreness in the mouth.

Devil's-bit, is a wild plant that has the print of teeth in its roots. The Indians have a tradition, that this root was once an universal remedy for all diseases; but fome evil spirit, envying mankind the poffeffion of fo efficacious a medicine, gave the root a bite, which deprived it of a great part of its virtue: Hence its name.

Blood-root is a fort of plantain, that fprings out of the ground in fix or feven long rough leaves, the veins of which are red; the root of it is kike a small carrot; when broken, the infide is of a deeper colour than the ou fide, and distils several drops of juice that looks like blood. This juice is a strong, but dangerous emetic.

Of the various aromatic and other kinds of herbs are balm, favory, thyme, sage, balsam', fweet-marjoram, hyffop, tanfey, mint, penny-royal, fennel, yarrow, may-weed, gargit, fkunk-cabbage, or poke, wake-robin, bittany, fcabious, mullen, wild peafe, moufe-ear, wild indigo, cat-mint, or as it is fometimes called, catnip, nettles, cinque-foil, eyebright, fanikle, plantain of feveral kinds, maiden-hair, burdock, field-dock, rock-liverwort, no' le-liverwort, blood-wort, mother-wort, wild beans, ground-ivy, water-creffes, &c. &c.

Mr. Catesby observes, that the aromatic herbs in the southern states, are more highly flavoured, and more volatile than in Europe.

Apples

Apples are the most common fruit in the United States. They grow in the greatest plenty and variety in the northern and middle ftates, and in the interior, but not in the maritime parts of the fouthern. In the low country of Georgia, the Carolinas, and fome other states, grows a fort of wild crap-apple. The bloffoms are fragrant, the fruit is fmall and four, and makes an excellent preserve, or sweet-meat.

Befides apples, are pears, peaches, quinces, apricots, nectarines, plums, cherries of many kinds, currants, gooseberries, rasberries, blackberries, billberries, whortleberries, strawberries, mulberries, cranberries, &c. Of the nuts, are chefnuts, black walnuts, hiccory nuts, butternuts, beechnuts, hazlenuts, filberts, and Illinois nuts, or pecannuts. These fruit grow in great abundance and perfection in almost every part of North America.

The Illinois, or pecannut, is of the walnut kind, about the fize of an acorn, and of an oval form; the fhell is eafily cracked, and the kernel fhaped like that of a walnut. The trees which bear this fruit grow principally on the Illinois river. The butter or oil nut is much longer and larger than the walnut. Its shell is furrowed, and contains a large quantity of kernel, which is very oily, and of a rich and agreeable flavour. An oil, equal to that of olives, might be extracted from this nut. The infide bark of this tree is much used in dyes. A decoction of its bark or buds is a fafe and powerful cathartic; and is frequently used in the country instead of a more coftly medicine. Filberts are of the hazlenut kind, but larger and more richly flavoured.

Figs, oranges, lemons, and pomegranates, are not natural to any state north of the Carolinas. The pomegranate requires falt water. Grapes of feveral forts grow fpontaneously from latitude 25° to 45° north The various kinds of trees, fhrubs, and flowers, fo many of them as are worthy of notice, will be mentioned in the defcription of the several ftates.

The late Count de Buffon has advanced the opinion, that the animals in America are inferior, in almost every respect, to those on the eastern continent. Mr. Jefferson, in a very learned and elaborate manner, has confuted this opinion, and proved that the animals of America are, in most inftances, equal, and in many respects fuperior, to those of the old world; and has fhewn that out of two hundred fpecies of animals, which M. de Buffon fuppofes is the whole number exifting on the earth, one hundred fpecies are aboriginal of America.

The following catalogue of animals is collected principally from Catesby, Jefferson, and Carver.

Mammoth

Buffalo

Panther

Carcajou

Wild cat

Bear

Elk

White Bear
Wolf

Beafts common to North America.

Moose Deer
Stag
Carrabou
Fallow Deer

Greenland Deer

Rabbit

Bahama Coney
Monax

Grey Squirrel

Grey Fox Squirrel

Black Squirrel
Red Squirrel
Ground Squirrel
Flying Squirrel
Black Fox

Red Fox

Grey Fox

Racoon

Woodchuck

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1. Beafts of different genus from any known in the old world; of which are the Opoffum, the Racoon, the Quickhatch, &c.

2. Beasts of the fame genus, but of different fpecies from the eastern continent, of which are

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The MAMMOTH is not found in the civilized parts of America. It is conjectured, however, that he was carniverous, and that he ftill exifts on the north of the Lakes. Their tusks, grinders, and skeletons of uncommon magnitude, have been found at the falt licks, on the Ohio, in New-Jersey, and other places. The Indians have a tradition handed down from their fathers refpecting these animals. That in ancient times a herd of them came to the Big-bone licks, and began an univerfal deftruction of the bears, deer, elks, buffaloes, and other animals which had been created for the use of the Indians: that the Great Man above, looking down and feeing this, was fo enraged that he seized his lightning, defcended to the earth, feated himself upon a neighbouring mountain, on a rock, on which his feat and the print of his feet are ftill to be feen, and hurled his bolts among them till the whole were flaughtered, except the big bull, who prefenting his forehead to the fhafts, fhook them off as they fell; but at length miffing one, it wounded him in the fide; whereon, fpringing round, he bounded over the Ohio, the Wabash, the Illinois, and finally over the great lakes where he is living at this day.'

European naturalifts have fuppofed from the bones of this remarkable animal, that it is the fame with the Elephant; others, that it answers to the hippopotamus or river horfe; the tusk and skeletons have been afcribed to the former, while the grinders have been given to the latter. But Mr. Jefferson obferves, that the skeleton of the Mammoth (for fo the incognitum has been called) bespeaks an animal of five or fix times the cubic volume of the elephant, as Monfieur de Buffon has admitted; and that the grinders are five times as large as those of the elephant, and quite of a dif

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