a bs Pe Be é = nF, k ft i Huey . G34 = ag. H Z £307 PURSH’S JOURNAL "y ¢ ge VARS Phin tone WHR The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN apr 1197 MARS Reet L161— 0-1096 JOURNAL OF A Botanical Excursion IN. THE Northeastern Parts of the States of Pennsylvania and New York During the Year 1807 By FREDERICK PURSH PHILADELPHIA, PA. CUTTS 1100 any BRINCKLOE & MAROT, Printers | es JAN ao mi © 28 199% EDITED BY Rev. Wm. M. Beauchamp, S.TD., LLD. SYRACUSE, N. Y. FOR THE Onondaga Historical Association 1923 REPRINTED BY THE DEHLER PRESS SYRACUSE, N. Y. 4 ; oe’ - i 4 or on Ss Ss § i 2 oS + Be nn yn ng . «HT ,f§ Of “ ¢ . E. Pe iat ew S| ~~ ie F “ hot f Pras i i 7Fab ay Tf, INTRODUCTION The manuscript journal of the eminent botanist, Fred- erick Pursh, came into the possession of the American Philosophical Society, among some papers accompanying the herbarium of the late Dr. B. S. Barton. An entry occurs on the first page of thig manuscript, made probably by the executor of Dr. B., viz: “MS Journal of a Botanical Excursion in the Northeastern parts of Pennsylvania and in the State of New York, By an unknown person who appears to have been a German, & a friend of the late Dr. Benj. S. Barton. Found among the Books of Dr. Barton after his death in 1819.” Being the acting Librarian of the Society, this interesting little volume has recently fallen under my eye, [and] my attention was directed to the following remark which occurs under date of July 20th, by a gentleman who had previously, and casually read the manuscript: “Mr. Geddeg brought me to a deep valley, about one mile from his house, where we ascended a steep, very rocky hill; there large masses of rock seem to be piled up or tumbled over one and another in such a confused manner, that it has left large chasms between them, which sometimes appear like caves.” After enumerating a number of plants collected, he con- tinues: ‘And what I thought most of, Asplenium scolopen- drium. This Fern, which I don’t find mentioned by any one to grow in America, I always had a notion to be found here, and indeed I was quite rejoiced to find my prejudice so well founded in truth.” | And upon reading the observations of Mr. Paine, in the American Journal of Sciences and Arts, for September, 1866, on the discovery of the Scolopendrium officinarum by Mr. Pursh, and connecting and comparing the two para- graphs, the paternity of the MS. proved to be that of Mr. Pursh. But there are other confirmatory evidences of this fact. The Journalist relates that he had written to Dr. Barton—had received letters from him on several occasions, conveying the means for prosecuting his explorations, and 4 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION that he had consigned packages of plants to Dr. Barton from time to time. To settle the point, reference is made to the following paragraph, in the Preface to F. Pursh’s “Flora Americe septentrionis,” p. vill: “Within this period I had also formed a connection with Dr. Benjamin S. Barton, Professor of Botany in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, &c., whose industrious researches in all the different branches of Natural History are so well known to the literary world. . . . I was enabled by the kind assistance of this gentleman to take a more extensive range for my botanical excursions.” “The following season, 1806), (1807 evidently—the labels on the original plants in the herbarium, also an entry in the MS. bear that date), I went in like manner over the Northern States, beginning with the mountains of Penngy]l- vania, and extending to those of New Hampshire.” Having obtained permission of the Society, this Journal is now published. The terse, quaint, simple and peculiar language renders it the more interesting. It exhibits the character of the man in the light of an outspoken, kind-hearted person. To alter and anglicize its idiomatic phrases—to correct the many misspelt words, or change the structure of the sen- tences, would deprive it of half its interest. I therefore purpose giving it verbatim et literatim, and conceive the perusal cannot fail to please, amuse and instruct. Mr. Pursh was born at Tobolski, in Siberia, and was edu- cated at Dresden. He resided in this country from 1799 to -1811. During which time he made various botanical excur- sions. He went to England and published his Flora. He returned to America, and while engaged in collecting material for a Canadian Flora, died at Montreal, JUNE 11, 1820, aged 46 years. . THOS P. JAMES. (On the next page the Journal will begin and this will be followed separately, by my notes, and this by Onondaga Indian names of trees and plants, and this by P.’s names of Onondaga and Oswego plants, concluding with my brief notes on Mrs. L. L. Goodrich’s “Plants of Onongaga County,” published a few years before her lamented death. Several plants have been added to our local flora since its publication, and these will be added in my notes. W. M. B.) PURSH’S JOURNAL May 26.—Prepared myself for the yourney, & but my things to the stage office, in which place I stayd over night. 27.—At 4 o’clock this morning we left Philadelphia, the stage being remarkable full of passengers & goods, which made it very disagreable travelling; the road about 25. m. from the city got bad & hilly; we brok down the stage twice, but lukyly without any injury to us; arrived at 10 o’clock in the evening at Easton. Took up lodging at Abraham Horn’s Sign of the Golden Swan. All this day I dit not observe anything in flower what I had not seen about Philada. 28.—The cramp ride in so full a stage, & the unaccus- tomed shaking of the body by the bad, rough roads made me feel more sore & stiff as I would have been if travelled on foot. I delivered my letter to Judge Wagener, who prom- ised to give me all assistance in his power. Crossed the Lehigh and ascended a very steep rock opposite the town; vegetation here seemed to be somewhat later than at Philada. In flower, Sisyrinchium mucronatum. Mx.; Azalea nudifl., Cornus Florida, Cerastium vulgatum & glabrum P., Carex, 2 or 3 species, Arabis lyrata, Veronica. arvensis & sedpyllifolia, Arenaria serpyllifolia, Senecio obovatus, Muhl., Viola palmata, pedata, cucullata, Erigeron pulchellum, Mx.; Krigia Virginica, Phlox subulata, Gera- nium maculatum, Oxalis corniculata, Potentilla repens. This plant I never could satisfy myself about its species; it. grows very common about Philada. on dry hills. = The hills about here are generally covered with Hemlock, Spruce and Cedars, mixed with Oak. Beginning to flower —Hydrophyllus canadense, Arneraria setacea, Muhlb., Seandix dulcis. Out of flower—Mitella diphylla, Arabis faleata. On a walk up the Lehigh I observed nothing remarkable —a few trees of the Nazareth Quercus macrocarpa, on a hill about two miles from town. 29.—Took an excursion up the Bushkill Creek. Observed 6 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION the former plants, together with Aquilegia canadensis. Senecio obovatus very frequently occurs here without ray, & seems to be at first appearance a very different plant. Crategus glandulosa, Oxalis violacea, Convallaria polygona- tum (?) & racemosa; Hypoxis erecta, a species of Silene, Lithospermum arvense in great plenty; a species of Viola with very long spur, not described, but if I am not mistaken I have seen this plant in the collection of Mr. Hamilton among the rarities of the mountains. In the same range of hilly I observed another species, a much taller plant & the spur shorter and thicker, which I supposed to be the V. de- bilis, Mx. The banks of this Creek are covered with Hem- lock, Oak, Hickory, & here and there, Betula lanulosa. I found a few bushes of Direa palustris, which I did not ex- pect here. The banks are covered with Cacaliareniformis —Hypoxis trecta in flower. 30.—Mr. Wagner was endeavoring to get me an oppor- tunity of getting my trunk forwarded beyond the Water Gap; about noon we found a wagon going that way & I sent it off, intending to go to-morrow the same rout. After din- ner I took an excursion on the Yergey side, but observed nothing new. I ascended two very steep rocks below Easton near the river, which convinced me so much the more in my Idea which I had made before, of the River Delaware having been of a much larger size in former ages then it is now. The bed of the river is plainly seen, & the fields on the east side are covered with rounted stones, similar to a river get- ting dry; those fields may extend about half a mile, & in some places a mile & a half, & are about 20. to 40. feet higher than the highest fresh now showing. The rocks I had ascended seem to have been Islands nearly in the mid- dle of the old river, & have all the signs of their sides having been washed upwards of 50. feet high from the water, if not a great deal more. These rocks are covered with ferns of the common sorts, & shrubby trees common to this neigh- borhood. The view from those rocks is most charming— the neat town of Easton with its surrounding hills, the junc- tion of the Lehigh with the Delaware, on the last of which an elegant new bridge has been erected on the same plan as the one over the Schuylkill at Philada., & the view of the distant mountains over all this is most charming. 31.—Early this morning I left Easton, the weather very PURSH’S JOURNAL ih y 7 ‘sultry & warm; by the time I came to Richmond, about 13. m. from Easton where I took dinner, I was overtaken by a thunder shower, which continued very severe for two or three hours, & afterward turned into a drizling rain; being prevented so long from going on & having about 13 or 14. m. to travel to the place where I had sent my trunk to, I thought it best to stay over night & take my leisure in going through the gap, which I was very anxious to examine strictly. On my road to Richmond I observed nothing new. ‘The Podophyllum was in full flower. The road goes all the way over barren and dry hills, producing the same plants in general as near Philada. Jun. 1.—When I got up, I found it very cloudy, with ‘drizling rain; after breakfast it looked somewhat better. I took the road, but I had not went past 4. m. it began to rain again pretty hard; about two miles farther I came to a pub- lick house on the River, where I stood for some time to get dry & let the rain over, wishing very much to come to my trunk beyond the gap, I ventured out again, at the distance of about 2 miles the road began to get interesting, being on the foot of the mountain which forms the Water gap; But I was very much disappointed in my intention of spending a good part of the day here, the rain beginning again very hard, I had to make the best & the quickest of my road. I observed nothing new, a species of White Violet with thick cordated leaves I think I have seen before; on the rocks I found Nephrodium lanosum Mx. & Spirea trifoliata for the first time in flower this season; a species of Erigeron is very plenty here, but suppose it nothing else than E. purpuras- cengs. The scenery of this gap did not answer my expecta- tions in grandeur; the mountain makes a very spacious opening for the river & the declivities of the rocks & hills on both sides are not deep, but very gradually descending, so much so that I thought I could ascend it in any place re- quired. Since I had to be in a hurry, on account of the weather, I determined to return some day this week back to it, & have an attentive examination. I arrived after a short but disagreeable day’s travelling at Mr. Houser’s, where I found my trunk. This place is about 2 miles from the gap, & I have chosen it for a place of making my stand for excur- sions in this neighborhood, as long as I think it worth my while. 8 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 2.—This morning still rainy; about 10 o’clock it seemed to clear off; took an excursion on some of the hills & along the Smithfield creek; Ranunculus philonotis, Anemone thalictroides, &c. in flower; on the creek I seen the Acer- glaucum with its seed shed; this maple seems to be a differ- ent species, though in general taken as a variety. Justicia pedunculosa in great plenty just sprouting up. The sandy banks covered with Equisetum hyemale & arvense, Scrophu- laria nodosa? (flowering). After dinner I took an excursion up the Delaware on the road to the Manysinks. I begin to despair of getting any- thing interesting in this quarter, even the plants common to the banks of the Schuylkill, which are any ways interesting, I don’t observe here; it is an arid slate & lime stone barren, though very finely timbered. However I expect to try to morrow the gap again, if the weather will permit it. 3.—This morning I set out for the Gap; I ascended the west side of the mountain in several places, to have the ad- vantage of all kinds of situations, but my expectations of this place were still disappointed. A very rapid run, which makes beautiful little cascades, & nearly rises at the top of the mountain, was the place where I expected to see some- thing new; but after all pains & trouble I found it to be the old story again. I made the following list of all the plants in their order, as I observed them. The Geranium Robertia- num is the only plant I think not common; it grows in great plenty on wet rocks & makes a very handsome appearance. The banks of the river are covered with Hemlock, Black Birch, Beach, Chestnut, Hickory, Walnut, Carpinus, Oaks, &c., in great variety, & the sides of the hill with the same timber in proportion to their more or less fertile soil. I found in full flower Potentilla reptans, Rubus trivialis, Geranium maculatum—Fragaria virgin. Viola palmata, Erigeron bellifol, Cerastium vulgatum, Arabis lyrata, Sani- cula marylandica (b.) Menispermum canadense, (b) Ra- nunculus abortivus, Houstonia ccerulea, Spergulastrum lanuginosum? Mx., Rubus odoratus (b) Aquilegia canad., Henchera americ., (b.) Oxalis stricta, Myosotis virgin ?— Veronica agrestis, Oxalis violacea, corniculata, Hieracium venosum (bf.) Rumex acetosella, Cratzegus coccinea, Leon- todon Taraxacum, Anemone thalictriodes, Aralia nudicaul, PURSH’S JOURNAL 9 A. racemosa, Smyrnium integerr., Panax quinque folia (b.), Medeola Virgin. three of the stamina, which are placed alternate with the inside petals, are longer than the three which are opposite them. The three side stigma is sessile. —Poa trivialis, viridis, compressa, Elymus canadensis without flower. In seed—Thalictrum dioicum, Sanguinaria, Saxifraga virginiensis, Betula lanulosa, Mispilus canadensis, Acer glaucum, Gnaphalium plantagincum, Arabis faleata, Azalea nudif. Without flowers—Rhus tryphinum, radicans, Verbascum Thapsus, Rubus sp., Actea racemosa, Clematis virginica, Ampelopsis quinquef., Allium cernuum, Eupatorium perfo- liatum, ageratoides, Rosa, Hypericum perforatum, Collin- sonia, Impatiens, Marrubium vulgare, Sambucus, Mentha, Lysimachia quadrifolia, Pernanthes, Kalmia latifolia (b.) Rhododendron maxim., Veronica virg., Ptelea trifol, Spireea salicifolia, Sonchus spec., called Lyonsheart, good for the snake bite, taken in milk. The species of ferns I obesrved were Nephrodium thelyp- teroides, achrostrichoides, marginale, lanosum, bulbiferum, punctilobulum, Filix femina, Adiantum pedatum, Polypo- dium vulgare, Asplenium trichomanoides, Trichomanes, Osmunda interrupta, cinnamomea, Pteris aquilina, atropur- purea, Onoclea sensibilis, Marchantia, a species new to me. I went three miles beyond the gap and, as I found it use- less to clime up the mountain any longer, I thought to pay all attention to the situation of the gap & its turns in my return; accordingly, after taken some refreshment at Dills’s ferry, I followed the main road through the gap; this ferry is three miles from the mountain. About here the River runs from N. N. W. (the direction of the River were taken with a simple small pocket compass, not noticing the varia- tions). The banks high & the ground covered with loose stone, mixed with rounded off peples of all sizes. The Yersey shore seems to be lower & not much broken. One mile further on from the ferry a chain of high hills comes at some distance towards the shore, on both sides of the water. Two miles from the ferry the shore very steep, cov- ered with Rhododendron, &c., great quantitys of loose stone, woren by the water. The chain of hills draws closer to the 10 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION water; about three miles from the ferry the gap begins; the kind of bottom land which lays between the water & the high hills, is of a sandy slaty nature, mixed with rounded peples. A considerable large Island lays at the mouth of the gap; The River runs more from the north; The main ridge of mountains, through which it breaks is about a mile over, & the two faces of the mountain, in respect to their strata, quit corresponding. Those strata make about an angle of nearly 45° from N. W. to S. E. & consist of indu- rates lime stone granit. Within about 40 yards apparently from the top, the face of these rocks is rotten slate; which cuts off on both sides into a straight line; this slate cannot lay under granit, but must have been a vain, on which the water worked & made the present bed of the River. [The diarist here gives a rough sketch.]| After passing this place the side of the mountain forms the banks of the river & an artificial road leads along the steep banks; the river soon after hag its course more from the N. W. & keeps in this direction more or less for a mile & a half, where an island is by which it turns more from N. After passing 2 miles along this close mountain road, the valley opens into a kind of a bottom, terminates, & sur- rounded by hills & the river, which keeps now close to the main ridge, receives several large creeks, coming from all directions. In this bottom is the house of Mr. Howser, where I but up at; it is called 6. miles to Dills’s ferry, from where I began my description. Jun. 4.—This day I made some small excursions about the neighborhood of Mr. Howser’s. Having been pretty much fatigued yesterday, & intending to go to Minisinks tomor- row, I dit not do much; but even the little I was about con- vinced me more & more that this were not a place for new discoveries. The Ideas which I have allways formed about the valleys beyond the blue ridge of having been large rivers or lakes, still come with more proofs to my mind; the water gap, which probably has been a large cascade in former ages, & the country behind it, have so much weight in this conjecture ag any I know; a well which old Mr. Howser dug about 40. feet, the house standing on an elevated spot may be 80 or 100 feet above the river, was found to be entirely river sand, which still can be seen on the bank raised there- with. PURSH’S JOURNAL 11 Jun. 5.—This morning I set out on an excursion up the River. I had to call on a man who took my trunk from Easton here, who had told me, that in his neighborhood was a very rich valley; J went through it, to his house about 8. m. from Howser’s, but observed nothing materially new; a svecies of Ranunculus with very long limber branches, which I suppose to be the R. repens & a Viola like the debilis of Michx; which grows near Mr. Johnes’s mill in Blockley. At the house of Mr. Coolbaugh, the man above mentioned, I took dinner, & a man coming who wanted to go as far as the beginning of Minnisink that night, I availed myself of the opportunity of having company, to get there this night yet. We had about 19. or 20. m. to come to the place of his destination, it being one o’clock when we left the tavern, & yet we reached it before it was quit dark; when we came within 6. or 7. m. of it it began to rain very hard, but we kept travelling on. The Minisinks I flrst understood were on the Pennsylvania side; but there is no such thing; the country called so lays in Sussex county, New Yersey & ex- tends from the New York line about 16. or 18. m. down the river, & about from 3 to 11 m back. This course I seen nothing new, the hills along the road are covered close with timber & Cimicifuga serpentaria (Actzea racemosa) Aralia nudiflora & here & there patches of Podophyllum, here called Mandarach, mixed with abundance of Houstonia coerulea & other common plants of similar situation, are the only cover of the ground. We crossed the river at dark & took up lodging at Mr. Ennis’s, who keeps a ferry & a house much frequented by the raftsmen. It looked very much for a heavy & settled rain. sun. 6.—Rain all day, my anxiety of seeing this place was disappointed for to day, but being pretty much fatigued, I expected that the disagreeable rest I had in a house I did not much like, would still be so more to my advantage; I slept most all day. Jun. 7.—Sunday. Set out for an excursion up Delaware through the Minisinks. Following nearly the banks of the river, without road, I expected to see something interesting —but nothing occurred tome. In several places the Salsola grows in the sands, Cistus canadensis beginning to flower— I went up as far as the line of New York. Crossed the 12 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION River & went down it to a small village called Millford; here I stood over night. N. B.—The soil through this part of Minisink is similar to the lower part of Yersey. The banks are covered with Silver or White maple, Prunus virg., Tilia americana, Platanus & Chestnut Oaks, Humulus lupulus, Celastrus, Uvularia perfoli in flower. ‘ Jun. 8.—Shortly before I left this to return to Ennis’s, down the river, I learned that a Post office were kept in the tavern I had stopped: I wrote a few lines to Dr. Barton to inform him of my progresses in a few words: I set out from here, along the banks of the river on a very interesting road, going sometimes along a precipice of immense height down to the river. Millford lays on Saw Creek 1. m. below a small creek call’d White brook; 4 or 5 lower down the Connechea- gue. 6m. lower Reamannskill—from there to Dingmanns bushkill—along the river hills Tragopogon virginicum, a very hand some coloured plant, Serophularia nodosa; here I took an excursion up through the mountains, which are very high here: The berries of Gaultheria ripe, very good eat- ing. On the highest knob, which was exceeding barren, I found Lycopodium rupestre. The Pyrola umbellata, called here Princess pine—Cistus canadensis. In descending the top I came to plenty of Kalmia angustifolia, & soon after to a gpringy piece of ground which led me to a stream of water, which finally forms a beautiful Cascade, which I ad- mired the more as I was very dry & the water most excel- lent. A great abundance of the different sort of ferns & mosses common to wet shady places cover the rocks, & Arum triphyllum in full flower, with several other common plants. At Dingmanns I crossed the river, over to Ennis’s, where I, after a long & fatiguing journey, arrived late in the evening. This day I killed a monstrous large snake, which I seen likewise in Virginia, called there Black Viper; here they call it blowing Atter; it is not common, but I was not able to examine it, partly for want of time & chiefly on account of the most horrid smell it emitted; they are said to be very poisenous, but on opening the mouth I could not observe the structure of that kind in her teeth. Jun. 9.—After breakfast I took to the road on my return tu the water gap; going the same road as I had come up the PURSH’S JOURNAL River, the day exceeding warm & the fatigues of yesterday made me feel itso much the more. I took my course several times up the water courses to the mountains, but observed nothing interesting. IJ arrived in the afternoon at Hellers on the Bushkill. Here I stood over night; from this place I would have to turn off to the beach woods, so I inquired for the route, but could not get any satisfactory informa- tion. I had to return to Howsers on the Water gap, to sent off my trunk from there, so I expected to find information by some body there. All the country about here is nothing but heaps of mountains, interspersed by small streams of water, some of them so wild that there is no access to them; the vegetation generally the same as near Philadelphia. Jun. 10.—About noon I arrived back at Howsers. Rested myself for the rest of the day, to make myself ready to set out for the beach woods to morrow. Packed up my trunk & made up my wallet to be ready to be absent from my trunk for some time; at least untill arived at Tyoga. Jun. 11.—I had to wait for an opportunity to sent my trunk back to Easton, having no chance of gending it from this place to Tyoga; about noon a wagon arrived to go to Easton, with which I sent it oft; & immediately after set out for my journey. After ripe consideration, & being not able to get any good information about the route through the beach woods from above the river, I concluded to take the route to Wilkesbarre; being besides informed to meet with a great part of the route that way, similar to the beach woods, and to have to pass the very high mountain Pokono, which abounds in very large swamps, I thought it best to take that route. I travelled along side a ridge of hills & mountains, having a pleasant cultivated valley, bordered by the blue ridge to my left hand. I only travelled about 12m. to Shafer’s tavern, where the road from Easton comes in. The valley along the ridge, though only watered by little springs now, seems to have been a bed of a very fine large river, which probably emtied itself through the wind gap; all the stone found about here are roundet off, by the rolling in the bed of this large river; & even large rocks of several yards diameter, have the mark of having been worked upon by the water. 12.—I left Shafers’ early in the morning, though, it being 14 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION very cloudy, I expected it might clear off, but having gone a little ways it began to rain & I was obliged to take shelter at another public house, only 3m. distance, call’d Huths. It formed itself into a rainy day alltogether, & having pro- cured an old toren map of the tract of my journey at Mini- sink, which I found would all fall to pieces immediately, I betuck myself to making a copy of it, which occupied me nearly all day. (Here Mr. James writes as follows: ‘This veritable copy of the map, with the route traced upon it by Mr. Pursh, has been presented to the American Philosophical Society, by Prof. A. Gray, to whom it was given by Prof. Tucker- man, of Amherst College. This gentleman, attending the sale of the Botanical Museum of the late Mr. Lambert, pur- chased two collections of American plants—one of which contained Pursh’s duplicate specimens, and among them this map was found. A singular incident where things are brought together after a long period of separation: in this case a term of 60 years hag elapsed.’’) 13.—Still rainy; but after breakfast it beginning to look likely for clearing oft, I went on towards Pokono mountain, only 5m. distance. Frequent showers interrupted me all the way. When I came to the foot of the mountain I ob- served the Kalmia latifolia beginning to flower. In a wet meadow Senecio aureus, Stellaria graminea’? decandria 3 gynia petalis bifidis—Remains of Trillium erythrocarpum, Diervilla,—leafs of Draccena borealis, Pyrola rotundifolia— without flowers—Anemone nemorosa, Orchis bifolia? I found only one specimen, though I searched for more of this singular species of this tribe, but I expect to find a chance for more further on. The ascend of the Pokono lately has been turnpiked to the top, where they are still going on to meet the turnpike through the great swamp. I observed nothing particular, but coming to the barrens, in the top, I soon found Cornus canadensis fl—Rhodora cana- densis grows here in great plenty & might easily been taken for Azalea when out of flower; it nearly is done now flower- ing: Trientalis sp. I begin to doubt of its being the same as the European. This country being so high a spot, I thought it worthy of making some stay here, to have a full examina- tion of it; accordingly I took lodging at a small hut, newly erected there for the accommodation of travellers. After PURSH’S JOURNAL 15 taking some refreshment I took a walk towards the pine swamp. Those swamps, as far as they are accessible, are full of wet holes, filled with Sphagnum and other mosses, between which the Cornus, on high hillocks, shows its beautifull white flower: Trientaligs in. great plenty—here and there a plant of Polygala grandiflora, Walt. fl_—Panax 3-foliata fl. Rubus Dalibarda, R. saxatilis?—fl. the Helonias erythros- perma Mx. very frequent in more dry situations—just now drowing up its flowers,—they call it here Unicorn & say it poisens cows & other cattel. A species of Trillium, which I think has not been taken notice of by Michaux, & which I call T. pictum, on account of the beautifull red stripes which the the petals are marked with on their base, grows all over these swamps. Kalmia angustifolia is natural to these grounds, either wed or dry. It is just beginning to flower. A species of Viburnum. In a small run Chryso- plenium oppositifolium,—Thesium corymbulosum fl. Vac- cinum disomorphum, resinosum, stamineum, pennsylvani- cum, in full flower. I observed a species of umbelliferous plant very common here, which seemed new tome. Leaves of Ephilobium angustifolium as I supposed.—Before even- ing I found in a very boggy wet place, among the shade of bushes, a species of Convallaria entirely new to me: It has a raceme of sparsed white flowers, & from 1 to 3 leaves on the stem; its roots go through the sphagnum & mud to such a depth, that with all my endeavors I could not get one wholly out of the ground. Jun. 14.—In sight of this house there appeared a high mountain or knob, called Bimble hill, which I was anxious to ascend, it being only at a small distance from the place I stood at; the landlord & another man made up parthis with me, with their rifles, to go up to it & from it to the ponds, which are at a small distance from here; in ascending the mountain I observed nothing new, the sides & top are com- posed of a thin soil over loose stones & rocks; I found on ~ moist places the Cornus canadensis up to the very top. Dier- villa & the common mountain Gooseberry grow among the top rocks, though, the country being so very high, I dit not observe the Sorbus or Sambucus pubens common to such places. On the N. W. side of this mountain several deep 16 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION holes, like wells, some of them above 30 feet deep, have been observed by the hunters; we were in pursuit of them, but could not find them; none of the company ever had been upon this mountain. The Vaccinium stamineum was here in flower in great abundance. After having spent some time in examination of the top, we descended on the E. side to get to the ponds & Cranberry marshes. In coming near to the foot of the hill I observed strong plants of the umbelliferous kind above mentioned, which soon persuaded me to be nothing else but the Aralia hispida, though I don’t know this plant, having never seen it, but the habitat shows this to be a species of Aralia; the people here call it Swamp Elder. Coming down near the ponds I observed several of the former mentioned plants, & for the first time in this neighborhood, the Epigzea repens. In crossing the main road I observed among the washed stones a kind of black lead ore, very heavy & but little apt to blacken the things rubbed with it; probably lead may be found in this part, if searched for diligently. Dalibarda fragaroides, out of flower, grows very frequently on mossy hillocks in company of Mitchellarepens—& very often Helle- borus trifolius; when we came to the ponds & cranberry marshes all my attention was paid to the plants of the spag- nous places. These marshes are covered with a thick coat of spagnum, floating in a manner on a more or less watery mud, which easily gives way & let you sink through one to four feet deep; below this a hard and sound bottom is found, which makes those places somewhat different from those, of a similar description, I have been used to see. At first I was somewhat timid, to go through, for fear of sinking deeper in, than I would be able to get out again, but finding so solid a base we went from one side to the other without any danger; the Cranberrys of last year’s growth were now in such a condition to make a very agreeable & pleasant re- past; I never thought to eat so much of this fruit raw, as I dit this day. On the edges towards the water, the Orontium aquaticum was in full bloom, which I suppose has been done : flowering long ago in the neighborhood of Philada., amongst the Cranberry patches the Sarracenia purpurea was begin- ning to flower—farther off, & more near to the dry ground the Andromeda pulverulenta, & still more farther back from it the Kalmia angustifolia made very thick & low cov- PURSH’S JOURNAL 17 ers of the ground:—Here & there I observed some of the Larix americana called here Tamarack tree—-& a great deal of that kind of Pines called here double spruce; for want of descriptions I can not recollect which it is—Several species of Carices grew among the moss—& in the ponds itself the Nymphea lutea began to show its flowers.—Those ponds unite their water & fall down Pokono to furnish one of the branches of Lehigh river. This mountain seems to be a good deal higher than the blue ridge & its vegetable produc- tions show the relation of its climate with that of Canada. I dont know whether Rhododora canadensis has been found nearer to Philada. than this place but I almost doubt it has. 15. I intended to leave this, this morning, but it set in for rain which made me give up the Idea of leaving it this day: I wrote on the letter for Dr. Barton & finished it so as to have it ready, if any oportunity of sending it on, should offer. About noon it looked for clearing off; I took the road, but was soon overtaken by heavy showers which obliged me to take up lodging near Tobyhannah creek. Be- fore I arrived there I fell in company of a gentleman on horseback going to Easton, to whose care I intrusted the letter, finished this morning, desiring him to be so kind as to but it in the post office there. Nothing remarkable seen all this day; as I descended down Pokono, gradually the plants, so interesting to me there, left me, one after the other, & only more common Pennsyivania plants made the cover of the ground. 16h.—The morning promising a fair day, I was anxious of seeing the great Wilkesbarre swamps; after entering it I soon found that I would have no more chance than just to walk the main road, which is generally made artificially with logs & ground on it; the Tiarella cordifolia grows here in great plenty; now in full bloom. I observed a white vio- let, similar to the one seen in the Water gap, but near to it & seemingly connected with the stolones of this, I observed leafs & roots of an other species with very large & thick leaves, quite different from the one mentioned. Here, for the first time, I seen the Oxalis acetosella, as { supposed -Michaux calls it; this very handsome flowering species seems, to the best of my recollection of the same plant in Europe, to be quite another thing; the flowers of this species are fare larger, inside white, outside purplish, some quite 18 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION purple, both with dark purple stripes, which terminate near the base of the Lamina in a yellow eye. The flowers of the O. acetosella of Europe are clear white, without the stripes” or the yellow eye, & far smaler as I recollect; the leaves may be the same shape, but as I suppose the specimens of. Michaux were compared, in a dryed state & likely bad ones, with the European sort, made the error. Tomarix glauca. and-sempervirens in full flower. The ground in any open place is covered with different species of Fern, Osmundas & Nephrodiums of the more common kind. I dit not observe any of the Cornus canadensis here, untill I had crossed the Lehigh, when I med with a few plants of it, & the Convallaria bifolia in full bloom. Here I likewise: observed the Azalea nudiflora yet in full flower, which is: done, almost everywhere else. The Trientalis is here in 2: larger & more european like shape, than I seen it at Pokono. —The chief timber of this swamp is, as far as I could see,. Hemlock mixed with water beach (Carpinus) Aspen, &c. I think even if I would have taken the trouble to penetrate for some distance into it, I would not have found any thing” more interesting, as I seen along the main road, with but very little deviation from it, now and then, when chance & oportunity required or allowed it. Late in the evening, after crossing several very high ridges, I arrived at Wilkes-. barre & took up my quarters at Mr. Fell’s. Jun. 17th.—Wilkesbarre lays in a most charming situa-- tion, the rich and spacious bottom, which the mountains front here, on the Susquehanna is indeed picturesque. I have not seen a town in Pennsylvania so pleasantly situated as thisis. Harrisburg, on the Susquehannah, is the nearest: to it, but by no means equal in every respect; the newly opened turnpike to Easton, will bring the trade of the: upper part of this river into the Delaware, as the land car- riage of all kind of produce will be easier than the very diffi-- cult water carriage down the River. Early this morning Mr. Fell, who had got an Idea of my pursuits, introduced me to Mr. Jacob Hart, an acquaintance of Dr. Barton, who expected to see a letter in my hands directed tohim. Mr. Hart told me that he, at his journey to: Philada. had heard of my coming to that place, & offered me, very kindly, all assistance in his power, to forward the. PURSH’S JOURNAL 19 intend of my journey. I soon got into conversation with him about the petrefactions of shells, & he proposed a walk along the river, where he would show me plenty. Accord- ingly we took a walk about 10 o’clock. The impressions of the shells are plenty fully in a kind of loose Iron Ochre stone; it is the nature of slate, & opens almost any way you would wish; some of the shells are very well preserved, while others fall to pieces as soon as opened. I layd by gome of the best specimens, as I intended to have an other walk along the shore, on purpose to collect some. On the rocks here I observed a species of Galium foliis quaternis liniari lanceolatis, floribus albis—which I, for the present, call Gallium Mollugo, though I think I am wrong in the name. I never seen this plant before, excepting in dryed specimens in the collection of Dr. Barton. In going up the river we came to a bed of coal, which points out close to the edge of the water. Mr. Hart observed that there was an open Coal pit at about 2m. from there, & if I choosed we would go to it; this was as welcome an offer to me as could be. Wecrossed Mill creek & turned off from the river. In this walk I found Convolvulus spithamacus—Asclepias quadrifolia & Gratiola officinalis in full flower. In crossing Mill creek & coming up the hill by the saw mill, I observed on the slaty gneis a good many signs of copper being in this neighborhood; the bloom of vertigriss showed itself in several specimens of stone & alltogether the stone seemed to be of the same kind as that near Mr. Hughes’ Iron Works at Antietam, in which place copper has been found. We at last arrived at the Coal mine, the sight of which I admired more than I could have expected. It lays in a draught or hollow, where one of the faces of the stratum of coal has been opened, by a little stream of water running with great swiftness alongside of it, & down a deep hollow by a kind of cascade. The face of this hill or stratum of coal is about 26 feet, from the surface of the ground to the level of the little run; the coal begins about 3 feet below the surface & its stratum goes below the level of the run; so that it may be judged to be a bed of coal more than 30 feet thick, & probably more strata below this, as it is even in this solid thickness very often interspersed with a layer of coal slate, or more properly premature coal. The blacksmiths of this place make use of it principally, & 20 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION like it for their work very much, & I expected if the mine was to be opened coal of a fare superior kind, than it is used now, might be found—not only in this place & along the river, as I stated before,—the vein of coal has been observed here, but in almost every place in this neighborhood. A very mighty bed of it seems to lay all through this bottom & along the ascend of the mountain, which, in a future perid, will make this place very rich & convenient for fuel. In ex- amining this place a particulare impression on the slate, near the place where the water runs down a deep hollow, struck my eyes very much; it appeared but very slightly & seemed to be worn away a great part by time & water: these impressions were very much sunk in the slate & about 8 or 10 inches wide & from one to three feet long, marked throughout by very regular rows of deeper depressions in a diagonal direction. I observed 4 or 5 of these pieces of im- pressions, close to one another, laying in an irregular direc- tion. . These impressions but me in mind of the large stone in your possession, with the net form’d impression which we supposed to be a species of Cactus; but these here are not exactly the same figure, but as regulare. I had a great wish to get a piece of this slate out, but as I had no tools I deter- mined to come out again, provided with tools & plaster of paris, that, in case I should not succeed in getting a piece of stone, to make a kind of a cast of it. This day was exceed- ing warm; in the afternoon we arrived back to Wilkesbarre, having made a tolerable long excursion. I observed noth- ing new in vegetation, excepting the above mentioned plants in flower & some others most common everywhere. 18.—Having had a very restless night, & feeling very undisposed this morning, I kept in the house all day, resting myself. I apprehend a large drink of very cool butter milk, which I took yesterday when very warm, has done me a good deal:of injury; colik made me to keep the bed in the afternoon, connected with a feverish heat. 19.—This morning I still feel very sick, & without any apetite for eating; I vomited frequently very heavy, & got so weak that I expected nothing else than to be laid up all- together. But still I thought that exercise, if I could stand it, might do me more good than to nurse myself. I got a PURSH’S JOURNAL 21 hammer & chissel & some plaister to go out to the coal mine, to see if I could get some of that impression. Mr. Fell, the landlord, dit go with me; he is a man of some learning & observation, his company was so much the more usefull to me. When we arrived there, I set to work, but was not able to get a piece of a square inch entire out, it being so very brickle that it flew in small fragments; I made a paste of the plaister, & cast a good large piece; main time that were a drying we looked about the place for more curiosi- ties; after climing down the deep hollow, below the rock where the above impressions are on, we found the bed of the brook full of fragments of slate, coal and other stone; amongst these we soon observed numerous impressions of vegetables; some pieces of this slate consisting entirely out of a congregation of grass & reeds. I collected a number of the best pieces, among which were four different species of fern, very distinct: Asplenium ebeneum, Polypodium vulgare, Pteris aquilina, Osmunda interrupta & a sort of Nephrodium, with some pieces of reed or grass; there were large pieces with a kind of scitaminous plant, with very | large leaves longitudinally & very finely nerved, but they were too large for us to carry this day. But the greatest pleasure I had, when by looking over these fragments of drowned vegetation, I found a piece with the same impres- gion as the one in possession of Dr. Barton, & which was supposed to be a Cactus; by looking about I found more pieces, but all more or less defaced or worn. This impres- sion, when seen with the Dr., I allmost doubted to be nat- ural, but now, finding so many fragments of it among other vegetable impressions, makes it a proof to be a true impres- sion of a vegetable; the above mention impressions on the horizontal rock above the hollow seem to belong to it, & have only been defaced by the water running over them, which has worn off the nett like figures, & only has left the holes between the mashes of the nett; the cast with plaister being not very dry, I left it standing to come out in the evening again, to get it. I carried a whole handkerchief full of impressions with me, & returned to the town, almost exhausted to faint away. I went to bed & in the cool of the evening I took another walk to the coal pit to see whether my cast of the impression got dry; but I found it was not, neither could I get a piece off; & as I had found, to my satis- 22 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION faction that it was not only a worn piece of the Cactus im- pression, as I for convenience call it now, I went back to town, not much disappointed. Mr. Hart, who keeps a store on the mouth of Lawahannock River, about 10m. from Wilkesbarre, at a place called Pittstown, intended to go there to morrow, & I promised to come out there likewise, if my health would allow it, as it would be so much on my towards the Beachwoods, which I was determined to visit. In the neighborhood of the town I observed frequently Tris,—Leonurus Cardiaca—Prinos verticillatus? Eupato- rium perfoliatum—Andromeda paniculata, Spirea salicifo- lia, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Veronica scutellata, &. I left the collection of Impressions to the care of Mr. Hart to sent them to Dr. Barton. 20.—Still very ill & weak, being not able to bear the least nourishment in my stomach; but I ventured to go to Pitts- town on the Lawahannock. I travelled on slowly, & still I thought those 10m. a very good day’s work in my weak situation; I found Mr. Hart there, & took lodging at Mr. Dulcers, the tavern where he keeps his store at. The road leading the greater part through cultivated lands, I ob- served nothing this day but the common weeds. The Sus- quehanna breaks, at this place, through a ridge of moun- tains called the Lakawannah mountain. Sunday, Jun. 21.—I was very anxious of examining this seemingly interesting part of country; & being informed of a very handsome cascade called the falling spring, on the other side of the Lawahannock, I, in company of the land- lord, set out for that place; this man was led to go with me, in hopes of finding out the place, where, by tradition of this place, a silver mine has been worked on the brook which forms this remarkable cascade. We went through very fertile fields & meadows; Strawberries were found ripe here; Pentstemon pubescens—Erigeron bellidifolium—&c. The shores of the Lawahannock were covered with Vibur- neum—Cornus—sSilver Mapple—& a few Oaks mixed here & there with Ash.—The Elder is in these parts more plenty full than near to the Sea Shores. About a mile & a half on the other side of the Lawahannock, we came to the gap where the Susquehanna comes through,—& soon after to the cove in which this remarkable spring comes down; the side PURSH’S JOURNAL 23 -of the mountain is here very steep & comes cloge to the bank of the river; in a small recess or cove, this small brook falls over a nearly perpendicular rock of from 80 to 100 feet high down; it forms one of the most picturesque & lovely cas- cades I ever beheld; the place is surrounded with shady trees & the rocks covered with ferns & moss of different kinds. The Nephrodium bulbiferum & marginale are the principal Ferns; Stellaria graminea grows among the moss, with Mitella diphylla, &c. I observed a Orchis, growing in the crevices of the rock, not in flower, but supposed to be O. fimbriata. Acer Pensylvanica, under the falls in flower. ‘We climed round the precipice to the top of the fall & fol- lowed this run up to the top of the mountain. This brook has so many smaler falls, that we hardyly were able to come along, but we persisted in it, to the top of the mountain, where we found it having its origin in an altogether im- penetrable & inaccessible swamp. I found here Diervilla tournefortii in flower & Acer montanum in seeds; from here we went over the mountain in another direction & home towards the tavern. This walk has been, in my present weak situation, very fatiguing to me. On our route home I found Anemone pensylvanica & Geum canadense. The river shore is covered with Carpinus americana, Water beach & White Mapple & Buttonwood. 22.—As I thought the neighborhood about the falling ‘spring very interesting, I took an other excursion to it, to day. Hydrocotyle americana, not yet flowering, covers a great part of the wet rocks about it. I observed nothing new, & as I felt myself very ill, made the best of my way towards the tavern. Very much exhausted I arrived there, & indeed I apprehended the greatest danger from my situa- tion of health. From the time I was taken with this sick- ness of stomach & colical complaint at Wilkesbarre, to this day I used the infusion of Eupatorium perfoliatum, which has done me good so often, very freely; but it would do no help this time, my stomach remaining in the same situation, not bearing the least of food or drink without vomiting. Notwithstanding all this I concluded, if possible, to leave this place to morrow, & go on towards the beach woods, which I was very anxious to gee, without a day’s time lost, for fear of loosing a chance of seeing something interesting. 24 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 23.—Not finding myself sufficiently fit for setting out on the journey, I deferred it for to morrow, main time I took a walk to a very rich swamp, belonging to one Mr. Browne. I observed a species of Ranunculus, ceemingly new to me— Veratrum viride in full bloom—Asclepias quadrifolia— Panicum lotifol., Lobelia claytoniana—Viburnum & Cornus —vide collection—Calla palustris, the white spatha of this plant has a beautiful appearance in the water. On my return I made preparations for getting on my yourney to morrow. A small collection of dryed plants I packed up, & left them to the care of Mr. Hart. I observed on the River- bank a plant without flowers, of a strong turpentine like smell; I took it to be Chenopodium Botrys. Mr. Hart fur- nished me with a letter to a gentleman in the Beach woods, Bloomfield Millbourne, who, he said, was a man of some information & very much acquainted in that country. 24,.—Early this morning I paid my reckoning & went on my route up the Susquehanna. I had to keep the banks of the river for above 10. miles, to a creek called Butter milk Falls. Along the steep banks I observed Viola lanceolata on the shore—Geum floribus albis on the rocks; this species has large flowers & is new to me—Campanula folliis lincari- bus—this may be the rotundifolia. I could not find the radical leaves alive; it is beautifull—Thalictrum (pfl.).— Spireea trifoliata & opulifolia—Polymnia canadensis (afl.) Lilium flore erecto patente, foliis verticillatis sparsisque— Pyrola rotundifolia (afi.) Pentstemon pubescens in great plenty—Hydrangea vulgaris (afl.) Hieracium venos.\, Among all plants the Rubus odoratus made a most brilliant ~ show; its beautifull crimson or rose colored flowers, among the very large showy leaves, ornament those steep hills in a most elegant manner. The Ribes Cynosbati, with prickly fruit, grows plentifully among the rocks, Lobelia Clayto- niana very frequent, & the first specimen of Orchis fimbriata beginning to open its flowers; this is a very different plant from the tall sort I collected last year in the natural meadows on the Alleghany; I suppose this last one Muhlen- burg has called Orchis dentata, or incisa, I cannot recollect which. Buttermilk Falls is a small creek, coming out of a pond on the mountains; it runs over a bed of rocks & forms a num- PURSH’S JOURNAL 25 ber of falls; it is calculated by nature for mill seats; several of them have been erected on it, chiefly saw mills. From here the timber begins to be chiefly Hemlock, mixed now & then with Beach. I came as far as one Wm. Wall, where I lodged; thig place is near the waters of Tunkhannock creek, where the Beachwood properly beginns. The rocks & stones in this tract of country are generally a coarse grained limestone granit, mixed in several places with wacke & glimmer. In the creeks and small runs peples of a basal- tick blackish blue wacke, quit clear of any quarz or glim- mer, are frequently found. Large lumps of budding stone, mixed of various colored peples, laying in a bed of gray clay, mixed with coarse white sand are found plenty. Ap- pearances of real lime stone is scarce. 25.—This morning I proceeded on my yourney by paths: narrow, undistinct, and though in a dry season, very muddy,. on account of the springy nature of the soil in this part,, calld the beach woods, & the impregnable shade of the trees.. The beautiful Oxalis acetosella made its appearance again with her elegantly painted flowers. I have seen above 20. of the species of this genus from the Cape of Good Hope, but non with so handsomely marked a flower; I still think it must be a different plant from the Oxalis acetosella of Europe, as I never admired this common sort there for its colours, &, as far as my recollection goes, the flower ig clear white & a great deal smaller than ours here. Michaux, I suspect, has made a mistake there. Mitchella repens, the first in flower. Nephrodium femineum & thelypteroides cover the ground in open woods. It is remarkable that all those places which are covered on the Oak lands with the Osmunda cinnamomea & interrupta, are here covered with the different species of the more common sorts of Nephro- dium. Among the rotten heaps of wood, drifted by water or fallen by wind, I found frequently the Fumaria fungosa (afl.) —Caulophyllum thatictroides (pfl.)---Potentilla hirta? Veronica scutellata—Dalibarda fragarioides, Iris... Viola circeifolia V.—the same as I seen last year at Shenan- doah & then called V. populifolia. This is a very elegant species, the inside of the flower ig milk white, with purple stripes & yellow eyes at the bottom of the petals, the outside 26 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION of a fine, pale purple; can it be the true Viola striata of Aiton ?—Rhus vernix grows very tall; I seen this 25. feet high, if not more. Hydrophyllum virginicum—Cornus, the Carpinus americana & the Betula carpinifolia is very fre- quently mixed among the beach & Hemlock. Viburnum lantanoides, called here Shin hoble, or Hobblebush, on ac- count of its branches taking root and impeding the walk through the woods very much, forms large thickets in sev- eral places. I crossed the Tunkhannock & proceeded on up Martin Creek; on the heath waters of this is the place called Hop bottom, where Mr. Milbourne lives, & where I intended to make some stay, to make excursions for further observa- tions. All this country has been lately began to be settled, the roads are heavy, bad, & difficult to pass, & so much more to find, as the most of them are only blind paths. It got evening when I came to Hop bottom creek, & I give up the idea of reaching Mr. Millbourne’s place, as. it was three miles further on, but finding on enquire Mr. Millbourne to be at a house there himself, & just now ready to go to his place, I went there & delivered my letter from Mr. Hart; he offered me his horse to ride to his place, but I only accepted the offer of carrying my wallet on his horse, as I was ex- ceedingly fatigued, & he, riding slowly on, I made the rest of the road to his house, through a very bad piece of road, full of roots & mire holes, in the dark. He appeared to be a very fine man, though of but little education, yet of a great deal of natural good sense. Mr. Hart had mentioned in his letter, to make me acquainted with the Leek & the Pigeon berry of this country, which he told me he would venture to show me, but thought that both of them were dyed down, as both are the earlyest productions of the season. N.B. The Tiarella cordifolia is as common to this country as it is to the great swamps of Wilkesbarre. They call it here Rough leaf. 26.—This morning I took an excursion, accompanied by Mr. Millbourne, who wanted to show me the Leek & Pigeon pea, as he calls it. Wecould not find either of them, though he brought me to places where he said they were once found in great plenty. We tore up the ground in several places, & at last succeeded to find some of the roots of the leek. It PURSH’S JOURNAL 27 is a long bulb, of a very strong garlick smell, with a black skin outside; the leaves are broad & long, as he says, & ap- pear the earlyest of anything in this country; it grows in moist, shady places, along side the hills, near the bottom of the creeks. I cannot suppose it to be Allium tricocca, as that prefers a rocky situation. By the way, in looking for these I observed Streptipus lanuginosus & roseus, (p. fl.) Botrypus viginiosus, Scan- dix dulcis,—Trillium erythrocarpum (p. fl.) which flowers white & red here, & is called Bathroot, & thought to possess great power in diseases of the lungs & liver. Acer monta- num, very common throught these woods, called Elkwood.— Orchis bifolia? This very singular plant has, without doubt, the handsomest leaf of any of our natives; the two leaves lay opposite one another flat on the ground, are nearly cir- culare of a handsome lurid green, with darker longitudinal nerves, & sometimes 6. inches wide; the under side of those leaves seems to be set with very minute cristallizations, which, when magnified, are nearly of the structure of the Ice plant, which gives it a very striking appearance. The stock is generally from 12. to 15. inches high, angulated & naked. The spike of flowers is considerable long & loose; the bracte is lanceolate linear, acute, of the same texture as the leaf, only finer & as long as the germes. The germen is linear & lively green; the corolla is silvery white, with a green hue over it, & very open when in full bloom. The 3 outside petals or calyx leaves, are more greenish outside than the rest, the upper one is broad, ovate deltoide, or of a heart shap without sinus, & acuminate, the other two side petals are longer & oblique, seemingly only the half of the shape of the upper one; the three inside petals are nar- rower, the two upper ones oblonge & acute & oblique on their base; about the length of the lower outside one, the lower one or the labium longer than the rest, lineare oblonge & obtuse:—the spur is longer than the germen, & thicker towards the end; the anthers 2. laying in a groove on the upper end of the nectary or stigma, which seems to be only a continuation of the labium; they are of a clavate form, & at the time of fecundation burst out of their cases, & attach themselves to any part of the flower by way of a kind of clasper or foote on one end, which will get hold of any thing, in the eame manner as the claspers of Bignonia radicans 28 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION will do to a wall. This emigration of the anthers is very easely & distinctly seen in this species. Sometimes even the anthers will stick to the stem or the bracteis, or almost any part of the flower. It is almost certain that it is not possi- ble any impregnation can find place, until they have burst out of their cases, as they are very closely confined there. This plant is called here Allheal or Healall, & used by the people in fresh wounds, where it is found the most healing thing they would wish to have; they use the leaf & suppose one side will draw & the other heal, but I could not learn which sides they were. It is exactly the same talk as about the leaf of Erythroriza in Virginia. The root is fleshy & strong fibrous, with an ovate small & white bulb in the cen- tre for the next year plant. Mr. Milbourne told me that, two years ago, one of his neighbors, having himself cut very badly with an ax, ap- plyed to him to get him some of the Healall, but as those leaves had decayed at that season, he took a leaf seemingly allyed to the true one in texture, & succeeded in curing the wound in a very short time; after that, he thought as much of that plant & more: as the leaves could be got at any sea- son than of the true Healall (Orchis bifolia.) When he showed me this leaf, I found it was the same species of Viola I had taken notice in Wilkesbarre swamp, with large spread- ing cordate & very thick fleshy leaves, which growing then in company of a white flowering Violet, of another species altogether, I was mislead to take only for outgrown & old leaves of that same white Viola. But no other Viola leaves appearing in the neighbourhood of those plants shewn to me by Mr. Millbourne, I began to suspect my error. On examination I found young flower buds, & at the same time half formed seed vessels on some of these plants, which brought me to the determination of examining this doubtful plant more closely; & as it grew plenty and near hand, I deferred this examination for another day. Ginseng was in berries—Uvularia perfoliata & sessilifolia (p. fi.) Geum rivale—Sium canadense (a. fl.) Orchis specta- bilis (p. fl.) Urtica spec—Black & Red Raspberries in flower. The Pigeon berries or Pigeon peas we could not find, until we returned to the house, where a place wag where they commonly grow, in howing up some ground they PURSH’S JOURNAL 29 showed me the roots, by which I found them to be probably nothing else than the tuberculis of a species of Glycine, re- sembling marrofat peas very much: the pigeons scrach them up at certain times of the year, & feed upon them very greedyly. . 27.—The heath waters of Martin creek come wxt of sev- eral ponds laying in the highest parts of the beach woods. I was very desirous of seeing them. Mr. Millbourne, in expectation of getting some Venison, dit go along with me: as there is no road or path leading in particular to those ponds, I was very glad to get him as guide: though I would have been able to find them, it would have taken a night to stay on the road, which was now unnecessary, as he could find a more direct way to them without following the water, as [ would have been obliged to do. We ascended grad- ually, crossing some of the branches now & then, on one of which was a very handsome cascade, on whose banks nearly the same plants grew, which I found about the falling springs at Lawahannock. The Oxalis acetosella frequently occurs here, with quite purple flowers, which colour in some instances is quite deep. Mr. Millbourne made me attentive to a root which he calls Pepperoot. ’Tis a white, longe & articulated root, creeping on the surface of the ground, under the rotten leaves, & has but one leaf, which is three-lobed. I could not find any signs of flowering or any remains of a flower part, on it; but I suspected it to be a species of Dentaria. The root, especially the young shoots, have a very pleasant pungent taste; it grows very plenty here, in shady, moist places. When we come to the first pond we kept ourselves quiet, to watch for deer coming in sight: we seen but two, but both out of reach on the other side of the pond. I observed Nymphaca lutea & odorata in flower, the latter only begin- ning to expand :—Pontederia cordata, (a. fl.) which I dit not expect to find here. Brasenia peltata (a fl.) this plant I always had an Idea to be a more Southern one, but it grows here to great perfection. Schcenus cyperoides? &c. On the second pond I went on a Cranberry marsh, which produced nearly the same plants as those mentioned on the marsh on Pokono mountain. Mr. Millbourne told me that he had seen quit white Cypripedium on this marsh, &, by 30 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION his account, it seems to be a sort nearly related to the C. acanle. The borders of these lakes are very difficult to come at, excepting on those marshes, where you have to wate through the swamps & mire, sometimes to the middle. We went up to third pond, which is the highest; nothing new but a species of red currants with hispid fruit, quit new to me. It grows in wet, marshy ground. I found it after- wards in descending from three lakes or ponds, quite in a hollow, on one of the branches of creek, in marshy, muddy, rich land. The berries are very good to eat, at they say. Nephrodium Filix mas, as I suppose, grows here very tall & frequent. Besides this a variety of the more common ferns. We returned to the middle pond in expectation of seeing deer, but finding none there, Mr. Millbourne, being provided with hook & line, made a dryal at fishing, as it were on the top of the mountain. He soon brought out some fine Sun- fish & gold Pearch & a fish they call here Bull or Hornfish; it resembles a catfish very much, & grows sometimes to the lenght of 12 to 14. inches; the skin is black, he has 4. feelers above & 4. below the mouth, two of the upper ones are very long; the two brast finns are very hard & bony, from which it has been called Hornfish. On our return from the ponds we came across a stoud bear, which we killed, but it getting late & beginning to rain, we were obliged to hang him there on a tree, & leave him there till the morning next. Before we reached home we got wet all through, & it got so dark that we had a good deal of trouble to come through the bushes without running our eyes out. About the ponds Lycopodium complanat. & Circa alpina, Hydrocotyle americana, Drosera rotundifolia were fre- quent. The latter had the most of her leaves containing a fly or muscidoe, which they ketch in a similar manner as the Dionza does. I don’t think any place can be more infested with muscidoes & gnats, or as they call them here, Punks, as this country is. The people are obliged to make fires be- fore their doors to keep them out of the houses, & them who milk cowes are obliged to kindle fire & make a smock to be able to stand milking, in the evening and morning. 28.—This day I was busy in drying & arranging the plants collected since I came here; Mr. Millbourne went to PURSH’S JOURNAL 31 the place where we killed the bear to fetch him home; he weighed 208. pound, with the skin, his meat tasted most ex- cellent. In a small excursion I made I found plenty of the All-heal, & Pyrola secunda beginning to show his flowers. I collected a number of plants of the Viola with thick leaves, to have a close examination of it in the house, which made me sure that it is a new species, very easy to be overlooked by any botanist on account of its singular way of flowering; the fleshy root is full of tuberculls, between which the numerous fibres have their origin; between the foot stalks of the leaves, on the top of the roots, are several lanecolate stipulis, or scales involving the footstalk. From three to 6. leaves spread themselves out flat on the ground, their foot- stalks are long, semi-cylindrical & smotth. The leaves are ovate, cordate, répand, crenate, nervous, the sinus on their base small and narrow; the upper side hirsute or covered with scattered single short hair, the under side nearly smooth. They are of a strong fleshy texture, more so than any of the other species of this genus, to my knowledge; the flower stem or scape comes out between the leaves & creeps close to the surface of the ground, mostly under cover of the leaves, almost in the manner of stolones; it is cylindrical & sparsedly beset with lanceolata bracteis, of a membraneous texture & mostly of purplish brown colour; near the end of those seeming stolones, most commonly, they have a small leaf similar to the larger ones, in whose axilla a partial peduncul is formed, which, with its flower on the end, bends down to ground & almost covers the flower in the ground: from there the peduncul goes on in a similar manner, with opposite bracteis & one partial peduncul on each joint, so that it forms a kind of racem, with 3 or at most 4. flowers; in this manner of flowering it differs from all the rest. The flowers are small & very inconspicuous, they are allways nodding down & never open entirely; the calyx consists out of 5 unequal leaves in size but equal in length; they are acute & two or three of them have a projection behind, in the same manner as some of the plants of Tetradynamia siliquosa have; they are of a purplish green & very fre- quently spotted. The 5 petals are lineare & acute; the upper one is the longest, but only equal in length to the calyx, & likewise the broadest; generally white with red & purple stripes, & red or pink towards the point; the two lateral 32 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ones shorter and narrower, white with but little red in them; the two lower ones very short, & very narrow & white. The 5 stamina have purple filaments & large yellow anthers, with a conical white projection or process on the top; they are entirely free, the germen is as long as the filament, 3-angulare & greenish. The style short, & with his hairy stigma only the length of the filament. The cap- sule is 3-angulare with rounded angles, smooth & consider- ably large for the size of the flower; it is green, spotted with purple, & sometimes entirely purple. The seeds round & white. I call this species, as I really think it to be a new one, from singular & hidden away of flowering, Viola clan- destina, or if this would not be applicable, I should propose the name, though not used before, V. stoloniflora. It grows in rich stony & shady woods. In the same places I observed another species similar to the former, yet materially different, which I called V. assari- folia in the collection. I regretted very much, not to have been earlyer in the season in thig very interesting country. A monographia of Viola would give a beautifull & interest- ing work, if it were possible to collect them all together, from all parts of the world, as they seem to be very gener- ally dispersed. I think we could muster above twelve species towards it. This day kept on cloudy, with showers, & the evening got to be very cold for the season. 29.—I had intented to proceed on my yourney to day, but it looked to much for settld rain. My intention was to go from here over the high lands which divide the north & southern waters of Susquehanna & then strike to the left down Meshopen creek, where some New England people settlements are, which would have brought me out below Tyoga point. But by advice of the people, who stated the badness & intricacy of the roads, beside the temper of those settlers at this time, being very yealous of their settlements, having lost them by a lawsuit, which has made them swear to kill ayn man who would undertake to convey the grounds, —this made me abandon the project, & I concluded to go to the Big bend & down the Susquehannah to Tyoga.—In an excursion to the woods I found Nephrodium Dryopteroides, Mx. as I suppose. I had never observed this Fern before. In the afternoon I went t a place where I understood the PURSH’S JOURNAL 33 Cypripedium spectabile, or canadense of Michx grew; I found but one bunch of it. This beautiful plant is the same I observed last year at Capon Springs. 30.—Still rainy, but looking again noon somewhat better, I took the road; this led up through winding valleys to the high lands, where I found considerable settlements; nothing new. The Rarunculus acris is here sometimes so plenty that it destroyes the natural meadows. I seen whole meadows looking at a distance like a field of Rape in flower, with it. Here I first saw some Cistus canadensis in flower. I had put up about 10. m. from Big bend, on account of the frequent showers, at one Mr. Carr. I seen to day, a few plants of Cornus canadensis, out of flower. July 1—From here I soon reached the Susquehannah: the road leads close along the north side of the river. Oak & Pine are more prevalent here, & along with them the wet spots are more covered with Osmundas, whereas in the Beach woods, & similar places where Beach & Hemlock makes the chief timber, the several species of Nephrodium occupy the places of the Osmunda. Pentstemon pubescens & Scrophularia nodosa in great plenty along the banks. I made way to Chenango, a: very handsome little village. July 2.—From Chenango I would have had a strait road to the Salt lakes, but my appointed place was at Tyoga. I proceeded on down the River. Populus tremuloides, Tilia americana, Crategus Crus-galli, Cornus aspera—& fasti- giata,—Thalictrum nigricans—were the plants not ob- served before. The banks on both sides of the river alter- nately higher & lower, & the mountains, especially on the south side—which approach near the river—in some places considerable high. The timber on high places is chiefly Oak, mixed in the most places with pitch pine, more or less according to the soil. I staid this night at Owego, a small village, situated in a very beautifull place. Close to the water-edge of the river I found plants which in foliage ap- peared to be Potentilla anserina. July 3—From Owego I had but 17 m. to Tyoga Point.— Hieracium venosum, Cistus canadensis, Cornus fastigiata? —the Asclepias quadrifolia—this plant dit grow in the late cleared grounds, higher here than I seen it anywhere else. I found several specimen branching out in a number of um- 34 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION brellas, that it appeared to be quit a different plant. While I was walking along the river this morning, a black squirrel crossed the river, which I, anxious to know what it were, dit kill. It seemed strange to me for a squirrel to take the water. Cnothera fruticosa & parviflora in flower. A little after noon I arrived at Tyoga, & but up at Mr. Tutile’s, where I had directed my trunk to be sent to; it had not ar- rived. On my calling on the post office I found a letter: from Dr. B.S. B., with instructions to proceed cn to Onon- daga. July 4.—I took an excursion from the house to the point, its meadows & banks of the river. Along the river I found similar petrifactions in the loose, rolling stones similar to those at Wilkesbarre; some specimens [ laid aside if I should’ find opportunity to send a collection from here; they were: some beautifull large shells, remarkably well preserved. Several large stones were run over with a calcareous shell. or cover, on which smaller peples had attached themselves, in a manner of rough cast. Anemone dichotoma—Galium Mollugo?—Smyrnium in-- tegerrimum—Euphorbia corollata—Thalictrum nigricans. which has a very heavy smell—Lobelia Claytoniana & Hera-. cium lanatum were in flower.—I seen a species of Hyperi-. cum along the river, which I supposed to be the H. ascy- roides.—In the same places Pulmonaria Virginica—Acer: glaucum—a species of dwarf Chestnuk Oak & large bushes. of Crategus coccinea. Alltogether I dit not find this place, as far as I had seen, answering my expectations, & con-. cluded not to delay any time in or about it, but to proceed. on to more interesting scenes. July 5.—This day I devoted to writing & drying plants :—- small excursion,—nothing new. 6.—Left Tyoga, up Cayuta Creek—Apocynum androse-. mifoli (.b.) very plentiful in the cleared woods; in the Oak. Woods I observed the Lily, often seen before, but I cannot recollect which species it is; it is Lilium foliis sparsis verti-. cillatiue; caule uniflora; floribus erectis; corollis cam- panulatis, semipatentibus, petalis unguiculatis. The valley, formed by Cayuta Creek is in soil & vegetation similar to the beach woods—Oxalis acetosella, but not. PURSH’S JOURNAL 35 plenty—Dracena borealis—Helleborus viridis—Orchis fim- briata in full bloom—Dalibarda violeoides in fruit—The woods about with Sugar Maple. The valley is in some places very narrow & the creek very winding, which obliged me to wate it several times to keep the road.—I heartyly expected to reach the house this night, which had been recommended to me to stay at, but I dit come to it before it got dark.—I observed in a small run a species of Sium, as I suppose, without flowers, whose leaves under the water were very fine divided, & the upper ones only pinnate; I call it S. heterophyllum. From a small tavern, which is kept here, it is about 22. miles to the head of Cayuga, which I intend to reach to morrow.— 7.—Having opportunity of going in company of a wagon, who would carry my things, I set out early this morning. The road leads through a very romantick valley, the moun- tains sometimes very high. After following the course of Cayuta cr: for 9. miles, we turned oft to the right. The vegetation similar to what I mentioned yesterday, 8. miles this side of Cayuga city, or as it is called sometimes Ithaca, we crossed a place very peautifully situated, called Sapony Hollow: this place has been once cleared & probably settled by Indians, but it is now grown up with small white pine very handsomely mixed with Populus tremuloides & Magno- lia acuminata. The last is very scarce about here & the trees here in this place & two or three others I seen, are of a creeply, small & old growth, nothing like to what they are in Virginia. At this place we refreshed ourselves and feed the horses. As far as this I had this days travel very agree- able, as on account of the roughness of the road & the deep mire holes in some places, the wagon could not go on as fast as I could walk, having plenty of time to look about myself: besides being unincumbered with any baggage. But the road getting now good & evening drawing nigh, I had to get into the wagon & we travelled tolerable fast.—About 3 or 4 miles from Sapony Hollow the timber changes into Oak & from there to Ithaca it is all Oak timber mixed with pine, with the rest of plants similar to Tyoga point. We arrived at Ithaca at night fall. 8.—Being now on the heath of Cayuga I remembered your information about Erica cerulea growing on the high lands 36 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION between Cayuga & Seneca lake; I was very anxious to see- ing this plant in its native place, but having not received the particular directions for finding the place, as I had been promised of, besides that, being rather afraid of running myself out of money necessary to come to Onondaga, as my pocket was but low & the distance yet considerable, I had, to my own mortifition, to give up all Ideas of a search for it. The morning was rather suspicious for rain as it had rained some all night. I was detained at Ithaca until 11 o’clock, when I set out for the lake, which ig only 2 miles distance. My route was going on the east side of it. After having crossed Cayuga creek, with a great deal of difficulty to per- form it, & coming on the rising grounds on the other side, I heard a very strong noise of falling water: I followed the sound & came to one of the most romantick & beautiful falls of this Creek I ever had seen; the access, even only to a sight ' of it, is very difficult; but I regretted very much, that I had not had the best information about these falls at the town, as I should have made it my business to visit them unincum- bered with my baggage, though I might have spent the day by it. The ledge of rocks confined in a very narrow cove, & surrounded by high hills: (impossible to ascend with a load on my back on account of their steepness;) over which this considerable stream drows itself down, is a very inter- esting scene, & I doubt not if time & opportunity had al- lowed me to make an examination of it, 1 might have been paid for the trouble with something or other interesting or new in my line; but to go back to the town I thought to be to much; so I had to go on & be satisfied with having had only a peep at it. I got in my road again, where I observed, along the banks of the creek, plenty of Pentstemon pubescens. About a mile further I came to the banks of the lake. The shore which I came to was clear & gravelly, with some weeds growing near it, as Thistles, Mulleins, &c. I followed the shore of it for several miles, being in my route. It is gen- erally covered with oak, maple & hickory. Buphthalmum helianthoides is the first yellow syngenesia plant I geen this year, Taraxacum excepted. A small Rosa, similar to the one which I called last year R. monticola, is very plenty here, & spreads a most agreeable fragrancy through the air. A species of Crategus—Ludwigia nitida—Ceanothus amer- PURSH’S JOURNAL 37 icanus—Lilium canadense—Apocynum androszemifolium with a Galium Mollugo?—Orchis fimbriata—Cornus with white berries—EHrigeron corymbosum! P.—Typha angusti- folia—Smyrnium cordatum—Mimulus alatus—Galium his- pidum.—Veronica scutellata & some more common plants, I observed in the meadows leading to the lake. I travelled as far as the town of Milton, where I stood over night. The road, as soon as I had left the banks of the lake, be- gan to be quit uninteresting, as the fences on both sides & cultivated fields, with continued plantations & farms occa- sion the road only to be covered with common weeds, amongst which the Verbascum thapsus, Anthemis cotua,l & Polygonum hydropiper have the upper hand.—TIn one of the woods on this road I collected specimens of Nephrodium filixmas ?— 9.—I set out early this morning to make as much way as possible through this, for my purpose, to much settled coun- try; Carpinus americana & Ostrya, which last I called C. hispida, on account of the cover of the young branches, with stiff hairs, are common in the woods; the timber very fre- quent, beach & Betula lanulosa, mixed now & then with Oak —Morus rubra frequent. On one of the farms I observed the mulberry cultivated in orchards, may be for the raising of silk worms & planted in regular close rows. Cicuta maculata I found on the road side in several places. Noth- ing new in flower. Lodged about 8 m. this side of Harden- berg’s corner, or the outlet of Owasco lake. 10.—About 10. 0 clock I arrived at Hardenberg’s corner or the outlet of Owasco; the day got exceeding hot, more so than I had experienced this season. I stayed to rest myself, feeling exceedingly fatigued; about 11 a stage from Cana- daugua came in, & as I found the road but very little inter- esting, being all a continued range of cultivated land, I con- cluded to take a seat in the stage, which would bring me to Onondaga this night yet, which I would not have been able to accomplish until tomorrow night, the distance being 22 or 23. miles. Here I observed the first plants of theMyo- sotis lappula for this season, growing along the road side in great plenty as a common weed. At Skeneatiles lake we took dinner. This is a most charming situation. At even- ing we arrived at Onondaga hollow, having had two hours 38 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION rain before we came there. Here I took up my lodging with John Adams. The post office being nearly opposite of this, I enquired for letters, but to my great disappointment found none. 11.—This day I rested & made some necessary arrainge- ments about specimens which I had collected, either dry or in their green state. Enquired for the places of Capt. Web- ster & Squire Geddes. July 12—Very anxious of seeing the Salt springs, which are only 5 m. from this place, to the north. I took a walk to them; but being Sunday & knowing that I would have further opportunity of collecting specimens, I dit not pro- vide myself with the tin box to collect any to day. The road goes chiefly through Oak woods, and crosses a considerable piece of swamp, through which the Onondaga creek runs, close to the road side. I observed plenty of Zanthoxylum fraxinifol. on its banks—several sorts of Carex & Scirpus— Samolus Valerandi,—Asclepias tuberosa—Turritis falcata, Apocynum androsemifol.—&e. When I came to the springs, the place is called Salt point. I found them to be situated in a low piece of a swamp, which is clear for a great part of all timber; The works for boil- ing being erected along the edge of this swamp, on a high bank & the water conveyed to them in pipes from a pump work, which is erected near one of the principal! springs; some of the works are supplied by other smaller springs, the water being pumped by hand. They boil the salt in potash kettles, holding from 60 to 100. gallons; 5 or 8. kettles form what they call a block, which has two fires to it; each kettle produces from a bushel to a bushel and a half of salt each boiling. The water is by far superior to any water I have tasted, where salt is manu- factured. Near the springs themselves the Salicornea herbacea is the only plant which grows, but further oft in the mash, a variety of plants I am in expectation to find, but as I had only shoes on to day & intended to be back to my lodging, I deferred the examination of the mash to an- other day. July 13.—My anxiety of seeing a letter from Dr. Barton was so great, that I thought it would be best to call on PURSH’S JOURNAL 39 Squire Geddes to-day, and see whether there was not one in his hands. He lives about 6 m. from the Hollow, north- west; I set out for it. Near Onondaga Court house plenty of Cynoglossum officinale, calld here Tory weed, & Myosotis lanpula, which is everywhere common along the streets. Verbascum Thapsus common on the waste grounds, & V. Blattaria flore albo is here and there to be seen about Onon- daga. Epilobium parviflorum with red & white flowers, among the Sonchus Canadensis, which covers all clear spots in the woods; this Sonchus is the same as they call to the south Richweed, Milkweed & Buttonweed. Cornus scabrosa? & fastigiata? Silphium laciniatum—not yet in flower.— Verbena urticifolia—V. hastata—Triosteum perfoliatum— Asclepias multiumbellata P. the same as I called so last year from the Peaked mountain—A. umbellis pluribus nutantis laxifloribus, longe pedunculatis; calyx laciniis acutissimis; petalis reflexis calyee duplo longior, ovato oblongis, vires- centes extus purpurascens: columna nectarifera basi pur- purea, netctarea ovoidea alba, crassa, corniculis longis, con- vergontibus—Asclenias syriaca is common about here. I likewise observed a plant which only seems to be common to limestone land & which I had observed last year through- out the great valley of Virginia frequent, but never had a chance then to see its flowers and seeds; it is the one which I have calld in Dr. B. collection, but suppose wrongly, Litho- spermum latifol. of Michaux: this plant is, as I then sup- posed, a Cynoglossum, & I calld it in my journal] last year, C. parviflorum, which name I shall use for it in the future— Cynoglossum corollis pallide czerulea calyce subeequantes urecolatis fauces callis clausa; antheris intra tubum corolle, nigricantes. In fact I see no difference in the parts of fructification among this species, the Cynoglossum officinale & the plant which I take to be Myosotis Lappula. The seeds of these plants are very much alike in structure like- wise, for which reason I think the Myosotis Lappula to be a Cynoglossum too. Near Mr. Geddes I found the Blitum virgatum in fruit, & in his mill dam a monstrous thick covering of Chara fra- gilis, which emitted a most horrid smell, the dam being broke & dry, & the whole of this Chara turn’d to the sun, & changed its green colour, which it has, when under water, to a clear white; at my first coming to the creek, I thought 40 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION - the bottom of the pond or dam was a kind of marle by its colour; but getting down to it, I found it to be the Chara which had covered the bottom all over. Mr. Geddes was not at home & would not return untill next day: Mrs. Geddes, however told me, that if any letter of the kind I expected had been come to her husband’s hands, she should have heart something about it, but she had not. I therefore returned towards the Hollow again. I observed plenty of Chenopodium anthelminticum along the road sides, which ig very common about here; Potentilla hirta or Norwegica—Geum floribus albis parvis & the Tha- lictrum dioicum mas & femina in full flower. 14.—This day I visited Capt. Webster, he lived about 3. m. south of the Hollow. I found him to be a plain, friendly man; he was to bussy, occupied in his work, else he would, as he said, take a walk with me through the woods; but if I would come & see him again, he would go with me to the Indian village, which I was anxious to see: I enquired about the Indian dog; but he told me that not one genuine one was to be found among those Indians any more, having degen- erated by mixing with others to such a degree that hardyly the traces could be seen in them. The Hydrastis canadensis grows in great abundance in the woods here; they call it Curcume; Sanicula Marilandica,—Geum flore albo—Poly- mnia canadensis—Elymus canadensis—Potentilla Norwe- gica—Ascelpias tuberosa—Galium circzezans, &s., were in flower. The Caulophyllum thalictroides grows in abund- ance in these woods. It is called here Cohosh. Capt. Web- ster informed me that there was one sort of Cohosh growing here without berries, which I suppose to be the Actea spi- cata: I dit not see any. The Botrypus virginicus, which is plenty here, is used by the Indians as a principal remedy in the venereal disease. On my return to the Hollow I ob- served Cornus alternifolia, which is calld Green Osier; the other species of Cornus, whose branches are always speck- led, & which I suppose to be the sort with white berries, grows plenty in the woods hereabouts. 15.—As I had to get my boots mented I kept the house all day & wrote a letter to Dr. B, having as yet heart nothing from him. In the evening I took a walk to a store to get some paper. In going along Onondaga creek I observed a PURSH’S JOURNAL 41 species of Potamogeton, which I suppose either the mari- num or graminifol I describe it Potamogeton ramis dichoto- mis, foliis longis, crasis gramincis superioribus vaginantes; cum ligula longa membranacea spica pedunculata, anthers 4. crassa, subsessiles. 2 loculares folialis calycis opposita, alba; stylis 4. stigmata pelatata atrorubra. This species - abounds hereabouts very much. 16.—This day I set out to have a thorough examination of the Salt marshes on Salt point. In going through the swamps between the Hollow & the Point I observed the Mimulus alatus in great plenty; Ranunculus aquatilis in flower, on the branches of the creek; at the point I went along a Causway made through the marsh & occasionally in the marsh itself, whenever I could get to it; but this season having been so much rain, makes it almost impossible to get in; last year, I was in formed, one might have went every where through it, without much trouble, the season having been so very dry. Cephalanthus occidentalis & Osmunda regalis, fill up a great part of the swamp where any bushes grow. Uttricularia minor I found but only one specimen in flower. Potamogeton gramincum, Lemna arrhiza & polyrrhiza, Triglochin maritimum; calyx 3—phyllus; un- there 3, calycis foliolis opposita & breviora, sessiles, squamis 3, basigerminis inserta coque adpressa, germen longum 38—gonum, stigma barbatum.—Ipomeea rosea foliis hastatis; Vicia Cracca & Lathyrus ?—Xanthium spinosum? Campanula crinoides, Veronica scutellata, Alisma Plantago, Sagittaria sagittifolia? Galium Mollugo & Galium foliis quaternis lincaribus.—Hibiscus palustris ,putting forth his flowers. Polygonum amphibium—Juncus & Scirpus lacus- tris, Galium 3 fidum, a very small leaved species & truely 3 fid. & triandrous. Ranunculus, a very small creeping sort, in the salt marsh, with leaves lyke Chrysoplenium. I calld it stoloniferus. It grows in thick tuffts together, & covers the ground. Asclepias syriaca & purpurascens? Scutella- ria galericulata?—Lysimachia racemosa,—Glycine apios, without flowers—Apocynum cannabium—which is used by the Indians as a purifyer of the blood. Sparganium ramo- sum—Arundo—Panicum—Seirpus, &c. Eupatorium perfo- liatum & maculatum.—A grass which I suppose to be a species of Trachynotia of Michaux. This is a grass I never seen before. 42 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION A species of Sium fills up a great part of the marsh; it appears the same as I observed at Cayuta creek & calld S. heterophyllum.—Sisymbrium amphibium very frequent.— Lysimachia racemosa; this appears to be the same as the bulbifera. I dit not find one single specimen with bulbs here, though I purposely searched for it; may be they are different after all?? A species of Rose, growing pretty tall, grows in the most wet places, among Sparganium and Typha, which appeared very strange to me; it is in great abundance through the swamps. A Rumex, which for want of aname I! call R. polygonoides, is very plenty in the marsh. A plant unknown to me I found near the Salt works, in the marsh amongst Iris & Scirpus, with a long radial leaf like a beet, & the stem somewhat like Lythrum verticillatum; no flowers to be seen. Having myself sufficiently satisfied for this day, in this very disagreeable & stinking marsh, the day besides being very hot, I took some refreshments, & went towards my lodging at the Hollow again. In my return through the swamps I observed Pyrola ro- tundifolia—Epilobium angustifolium, beginning to flower— Aster conyzoides—Chara—Monarda coccinea & beautiful plants of Lilium superbum.—In going to the Point this morning I observed a Geranium in foliage like the G. caroli- nianum, but with considerable large red flowers. I took but a small sprig of this intending to collect some on my return, but I could not find the plant again. 17.—This day I was bussy of drying & butting by the plants collected yesterday. I received a letter from Dr. B. including 20. dollars, which I was very much in want of. 18.—Having promised this day to see Capt. Webster, I set out for his place. We took a walk to the Castle or In- dian Village: this tribe is but very weak, they are very gen- teel & well behaved people, & industry beginns to propagate among them: they have some very good fields of corn, which they keep in good order. My object was, for a great part, of learning the name of some herbs in their language: but Capt. Webster told me he knew the name of most trees him- self & some of the more noted plants, which he could give me by & by. Phryma leptostachia grows very tall & large here :—Polygonum aviculare, the variety with upright stem & large leaves.—Cicuta maculata grows in great abundance PURSH’S JOURNAL 43 throughout Onondaga: the Indians use it to poison them- selves, when they have an inclination in going out of this world: it is a most powerfull poison, as Capt. Webster tells me, who has seen the case on some Indians which had eaten the root, & was lost without being able to get anything as a remedy against it; it occasions Lockjaw & the patient is soon done. Elder bark or a Muskrat skin chopped fine, with the hair on is reckoned a remedy if soon applyed to. Buthalmium helianthoides in full bloom. Hedysarum acuminatum & a species of Lespedeza without flowers—Cis- cea alpina?—Triosteum majus—Nephrodium dentatum— Agsplenium salicifolium & polypodioides P—the former I could not find with fructifications. On my return I ob- served the same plant which puzzled me so much last year, and which I took then to be a species of Batschia. It hap- pened, as then, that I came too late for seeing its flowers, but foliage & seeds indicate it to be very nearly related to it. After diligent search I found one small flower on the top of a small shoot remaining, which I carefully examined & found the following character: Batschia parviflora P— corollis pallide luteis, tubus calyce subzequante, limbus sub- clausus, callosus; staminibus inclusis. The Cynoglossum parvéflorum in plenty. This night Sqr. Geddes calld on my lodging, having returned from his yourney & hearing, at the post office, a stranger having enquired for him. I promised to be at his place in a day or two. July 19.—Rested myself & wrote, &c. 20.—To day I took the excursion to Sqr. Geddes, & intend to go from there across the country to the Salt point again. —The Viola circeeifolia P., as mentioned in the beach woods, is yet in flower here. I observed all before mentioned plants on this route, & the remains of Sanguinaria. The Carpinus Ostrya is calld Ironwood here & sometimes Lever- wood—the Caprinus Americana is, in common, Waterbeach. In a swamp near Mr. Geddes’s the Cupressus thyoides in a Hemlock wood—Pyrola rotundifolia & Orchis bifolia. Mr. Geddes brought me to a deep valley about 1 m. from his house, where we ascended a steep, very rocky hill; here large masses of rocks seem to be piled up, or tumbled over one & another in such a confused manner, that it has left large chasms between them, which gometimes appear like 44 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION caves: as it has a north aspect & overshadet with trees, all the rocks are covered with moss and vegetables: & I sup- pose this must be a very interesting place for the botanist in the spring; the walking is very precarious, as, in some places, large holes are hid by weeds & bushes, & every step one is in danger of breaking a leg or falling into a gulph. Here I found plenty of Actea spicata, chiefly with red ber- ries, but some of the plants had beautiful white berries, looking like wax work. This is the Red & White Cohosh: the blue Cohosh likewise grows in plenty here: Xylosteum tartaricum is in abundance, Ptelea trifoliata, Geranium Robertianum, Lonicera glauca, with very narrow leaves, Taxus bacecata or procumbens, calld Ground Hemlock— Polypodium Dryopteris,—a species of Clematis seemingly new to me. Satyrium repens—Circcea alpina—Chrysople- nium alternifolium—Pyrola umbellata—Arum triphyllum. Asplenium rhizophyllum, & what I thought the most of, Asplenium Scolopendrium.—This fern, which I dont find mentioned by any one to grow in America I allways had a notion to be here; & indeed I was quit enjoyed to find my prejudice so well founded in truth. It appears to be the same as the european, only smaler; is the european auricu- lated at the base, like this species? The Choak cherry is plenty on these rocks & another species of Prunus—A spe- cies of Urtico or Boehmeria, which I got from Virginia in similar places likewise. In going towards Mr. Geddes’ house again I observed a Ranunculus which I call R. geoides. Dirca palustris grows here likewise. On the old rotten wood I observed a very singular Clavaria. I stood this night at Syr. Geddes. | July 21.—After breakfast I set out from here to Salt point.—On the road there I observed nothing but what I have mentioned before. Along road sides in general here, Carduus lanceolatus—Verbena hastata—Cynoglossum offi- cinale & parvifolium. Myosotis lappula—Verbascum Thap- sus—Polygonum Persicaria—Anthemis Cotula, &c. cover , the ground. At the Point I crossed the mash to visit the banks of the lake—here I observed Potentilla anserina—Stachys spec.— Sisyrinchium bermudiana? Cornus albida—Viburnum calld Cranberry tree—Pantago major—Teucrium canadense. I PURSH’S JOURNAL 45 think this is materially different from T. virginicum—Soli- dago odora—Galium floribus ochro leucis, petalis acu- minatis—a very tail species of Scirpus—& several other plants mentioned before. In my return I found some more of the unknown plant, which looked like Lythrum verticilla- tum—it had flower buds in the axillis, which by dissection showed plainly to be Lythrum, & I suppose that very species I supposed. On the shore of the Lake I visited, several salt works are erected, which are supplied from the main works with water, which is carried for that purpose about 114 mile. As it was late when I returned to the point I stood there over night. July 22.—Returned to the Hollow, where I examined & dryed those plants collected the last two days. 23) It being rainy I wags confined to the house, writing, 24( drying plants, &e. 25.—Made an other excursion to Salt point. As I ob- served nothing new through the swamp & marsh, I went to a place calld Little Ireland or Liverpool—Here they have Salt Springs on the edge of the lake, most of them covered by the fresh water of the lake; there are about 150 kettles at work here. The shore of the lake & the bottom near the shore consists entirely of a white calcareous mud, which in some places is tolerably hard; this sediment is formed of disorganized shells & snails, & is the same process as, I sup- pose, by which in times of old our limestone beds are formed. I sometimes thought it would be more common to gee petrifaction or impressions on the limestone as it really _is, if it had been formed this way, by the sediment of dis- composed shells & snails; but since I have seen nature going on here, in a manner demonstrative to the eye, all my doubts are over: this sediment, in some places, especially a little below the surface, is such a complete pap of lime or calcar- eous earth, that it wants nothing else than the drainage of the lake, to form a very solid bed of limestone, I think in a very little time. Observed nothing new in flower to day, except the Cimicifuga seprentaria, a species of Helianthus very common, & Ceanothus americanus. 46 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION July 26.—Spent the Sunday in the house, having only this morning returned from Salt point, very much fatigued. 27.—Was bussy among the specimens. I expected to day a letter from Dr. B., but was disappointed. 28.—Having contemplated to go & visit Oswego & the Lake Ontario, as I dit not find it well to spent so much time, without having something more interesting than to see the same thing & same places, over & over again; but I was dis- appointed by rain; consequently kept close house. 29.—It looking likely to get fair again I set out for Os- wego; when I came to the Salt Point I concluded to go down with one of the boats which steady go from here in the Salt trade; but waiting & waiting for one to go, I was obliged to stay over night on the point. 30.—No boat being ready to go this morning, I took my way on foot as far as Liverpool, 3. miles; the road was good & I was acquainted with it; here I took breakfast; & from here a path beginns, cut through the woods, leading down the river to Oswego. I observed Gerardia flava & Helian- thus squarrosus in flower. After getting rightly into the path, I found the woods, in respect of timber & vegetation, as well as in respect of bad, miry road, similar to the Beach Woods. The land is springy and very rich; the path some- times comes close to the Seneca river & sometimes is pretty distant from it; the travelling exceeding fatiguing, having to go for geveral rods round mire holes, to find a place to cross, & then to look, with all precaution, to get in the right path again: it is very seldom travelled, & in some places so blind, as if never a man had went that road. Dalibarda violoides I found yet in flower; the flowers are exceeding handsome & neat. I observed a Juggermannia not noticed before. Specimens preserved. Nothing new. After a tedious journey I came to three Rivers point. This is a beautifull place—but only one house, who keeps tavern near it—here I took dinner. Seneca river from the S. W. & Onondaga River, or the outlet of Oneida Lake from S. E., come here together nearly at right angles & form the Os- wego River to the North. Finding company at the tavern, in a man who was going as far as Oswego falls, with a cou- ple cattle, having lately removed to live there, I undertook PURSH’S JOURNAL 47 to take it through with him, though the distance of 12. miles, in such bad road, at so late an hour, was rather more as I should have undertaken without it. After crossing Oneida River, or as they call it, Onondaga river, which I think very wrongly, I found plants of Anona triloba, the first I seen this season. Crategus Crus-galli is very fre- quent here, & varies in the shape of its leaves most wonder- fully, according to the more rich & poor, or wet & dry soil it grows in. I had to drudge on as well as I could, since I once had undertaken to go along. The man who drove the cattle was on horseback, but walked the chifest part of the way, as it was almost as tedious to write, as it was to walk. We liked to be overtaken by night, but were luky enough just to clear our distance. When we came to the falls, which are very small, I had to go a mile farther to come to a tavern below the falls. The man who had moved there was in a situation not able to accommodate me. But though it was dark I had the comfort of a good road, as all the salt is here carried from the head of the falls, to this landing by carts. At the landing I took up lodging for to night, being in a manner almost worn down by fatigue. I collected, to day, the round leaved variety of Veronica serpyllifolia. July 81.—This morning, after breakfast, I went down the river on board a boat. This River, though deep & large, having all the body of water in it, which is discharged by all the small lakes, is very much impeded by rifts or ledges of rock, which go across it, sometimes for a considerable dis- tance. The bottom is, in deep & shallow water, covered with aquatic plants; some of them, chiefly Potamogetons, grow to an exceeding length in deep water.—Eels & Water snakes, both of a most enormous size, are the chief inhabi- tants of it. I thought to have observed some leaves of Valis- neria floating on the water. The banks of the river are very romantick; in showing the woods & River in its primi- tive state, exactly as much so as when it was not known to white people. Here is no house or any sign of cultivation to be seen until you come near Oswego. At Oswego Rift I quitted the boat, being only a mile to that place then by land. When I came ashore I observed a species of Hydrocotyle, with peltated leaves, without flow- ers, growing along the edge of the water. My walk dit go ” 48 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION along the shore which was covered with Chestnut, Oak, Hemlock—Populus candicans, heterophylla & tremuloides— Scrophularia nodosa in flower—Hypericum perforatum even hag found his way to this retired place, in company with some more obnoxious foreign weeds. Soon after my arrival & having refreshed myself at Oswego, & went to see the lake, which indeed has a noble & grand appearance, & without knowing it previous to be only a lake, one would take it for the shore of the main ocean. The shore here is rocky & pretty high. As I wished to get something to eat & nothing had been ready before I went, I could only make a small excursion. I soon found Hippophe canadensis, which is a very singular shrub. The different above men- tioned Poplars, mixed with other wood, make the timber. Cornus several sorts, among which is the Osier rouge or Red Osier—one which has white berries, several sorts of Salix—Rubus odoratus in flower & fruit—Hamamelis vir- ginica, &c., form the shrubbery—a species of Gnaphalium, unknown to me & very handsome, is in plenty. Vaccinum frondosum & Pensylvanicum—Hyeracium Kalmia—Soli- dago spec.—Equisetum sylvaticum, &c. I had to wait till nearly sunset, before I could get any- thing to eat & then it was nothing but eel, which I never could eat. I had to do as well as I could, among people whose life was very rough, & who think about nothing but making some money, but the little trade they have here, which is chiefly salt. It is a place I dislike the most of any I have ever been at, in the United States. I was not able to get one civil man by whom I could get some information. Augt. 1.—yYesterday & to day I made enquiries about a sandy beach, but all information I could get was, that it was above 30. miles distance. Though I was anxious of seeing such a place here, I had to give up the idea, as I had injured one of my feet very much on the day before yesterday. The big toe had inflamed itself to an alarming & painfull degree, the chief part of her skin having been rubbed off in travel- ling. I took another walk toward the lake, but observed nothing more than mentioned before. In the town the Hyoscyamus niger grows as a common weed in the streets. There are several specimens of very curious granit on the Lake shore in large blocks; they are red, mixed with black, PURSH’S JOURNAL 49 greenish black & white. They would look betutifull if vorked into some monument. A small peple of similare construction I kept as a specimen. It does not appear to be any limestone in the banks of this lake, but I only seen a very small part of it, so I cannot exactly tell. My foot get- ting exceeding sore I concluted to return, as the place alto- gether was disagreeable to me. I could not stay to get it well here & so I sooner might return than stay, as I could do nothing here, I got on board a boat & proceeded up the river. At Oswego rift the Justicia pedunculosa was in flower— pedunculis longitudine foliorum, floribus capitatis, calyx 5 —phyllus, subeequalis; foliolis lanceolatis tuba corolle lon- gio; corolla bilabiata, lab; superius planum, apice reflexum purpurascens, bifidum 1. emarginatum; lobis lateralibus erecto palentes, oblongo rotundato obtuse. Lab. inferius ovato oblongum, obtusum lateribus reflexum, eleganter rubro-purpurascens punctatum; anther gemine. I fished up several specimens of Valisneria, which grows in abundance in this river. Plantago major grows in the banks & sometimes in the water itself, with leaves so large as the Pothos feetida. I, at first, could hardly believe it to be Plantago. Pontederia cordata is very frequent. Pota- mogeton natans, gramincum & crispum cover the bottom of the water in large beds. The navigation up this river is very tedious on account of the rappids or rifts: we arrived in the evening at Oswego falls, where I stood over night. Augt. 2.—No boats going up to day, it being Sunday, I stood at the falls, as I was not able to undertake it on foot, on account of my sore toe. To spent the time to some pur- pose I got into a small boat & went in pursuit of aquatic plants. In a cove the river forms here, I found a field of Nymphea odora, beautifully in bloom. It is astonishing in how deep water some of these grow. I pulled up flower stems 11 feet long, which did not seem to be entire nighter. Potamogeton pectinatum has done flowering. I observed this plant likewise last year in Virginia. A species of E.qui- setum, growing in four feet water, seemed to me strange; maybe it is a stem of the Hippuris? Sagittaria lancifolia— this plant was quite new to me, having never seen it before. A singular aquatic plant, with serrated leaves, I never could 50 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION quite make out what this is. I seen it frequently in New River last year. On some of the stones I found a curious plant attached to the rocks under water: it is articulated &. consists of green joints, like blatters: may be it is a zoophyte! Ranunculus aquatilis, &c. On a gravelly island I found the Lobelia cardinalis in flower. About the shore I observed a Silene without flowers; specimens preserved. Augt. 3.—This morning I got on board a boat again; ob- served nothing new excepting a long leaved grass which was. floating on the water; the boatmen calld it Wild rice & said I would see plenty of it farther up, which was the case. It covers here the shore, & is, when in flower, quit upright. I suppose it to be the Zizania fluitans—at any rate it is a Ziza-. nia. Water snakes are very plenty in this river, & lay sometimes on the logs in swarms. It is very disgusting to. see them & eat eel afterward. It soon began to rain, & I was exposed to it all this day, till we came to Three River’ Point, where we stopped & took dinner. It keeping on rain-: ing we stood here over night. 4.—We left Three Rivers this morning. I seen several ducks which are apt of alighting on trees; for this they are: calld wood ducks. As we had good wind I had not much oportunity of observing any water plants: all I seen, how-- ever, were the same observed yesterday. When we came to: the outlet of Onondaga lake, the Creek was coverd at its: bottom with Chara, which the boatmen call Feather beds. The lake has exceeding clear water & a white bottom, which,,. I suppose, consist of shells, as above mentioned. We ar- rived at the Salt point about noon. Having taken some- thing to refresh myself here, I proceeded on to the Hollow, being very anxious of getting a letter which would allow me: to proceed on my yourney, as I thought this place & neigh- borhood sufficiently explored. I found a letter from Dr. B. containing 10 Doll. but not leave to go on, or any direction whatever. I likewise got letters from Mr. Hart at Wilkes-- barre, & Mr. Wagner at Easton, concerning my trunk, which I intend to order to be sent back to Philadelphia, as it: is only a vexation of letting it follow on. 5.—Having plenty of plants to take care of. 6. I devoted the first part to it. Wrote letters, &c. 7. These 4 days were constantly raining; PURSH’S JOURNAL | 51 8. I was not able to do any thing out of doors. 9.—Having no other persuit and the weather getting fair again, I went to Salt Point. I observed, besides the plants mentioned before, a species of Andropogon, very tall— Monarda clinopodia, as I suppose; the stem is solid & looks different from M. allophylla—Hydrophylum canadense, Stag Cabbage—Blitum—Silene pensylvanica—Chenopo- dium anthelminticum—dAster conyzoides—Hieracium spec. —Hedysarum nudicaule—acuminat. & very tall large flowering sort, which makes a very fine show.—Urtica pro- cera P. which I seen with Mr. Hamilton, who calls it U. gracilis. This evening set in raining again, which obliged me to stay at the Point. 10.—Rain all day; was confined to the house in conse- quence. 11.—Returned to the Hollow. Being sick & tired of this place, I expected to find letters for me, which would put me in a way to leave it, but wag disappointed. 12.—Having been informed about the town of Pompey, having the highest land in this neighborhood, I concluded to visit it, as I had nothing else to do; accordingly I set out & arrived there about noon. The rise which the road makes, after leaving the main turnpike, is indeed astonishing. Be- fore reaching the highest part of it I had a view of Onon- daga & Oneida lake. The whole of the hill is under cultiva- tion, consequently not very well answering my persuits. When I arrived at the town every thing was in a bustle about the militia parade, for to draft the number required towards the N. Y. state militia, as required by proclamation. I spent the afternoon in looking at their proceedings; noth- ing new this day. A Sonchus, common almost every where, grew here to the astonishing hight of 10. feet & more. The ground, generally, is exceeding rich & the timber, to the highest top of the hill, is beach & maple. Very handsome formed trees of Crategus Crus-galli, I observed very fre- quent.—Urtica procera—Helianthus squarrosus—Rud- beckia laciniata, Circzea alpina, &c. Augt. 13.—Having been informed about a very high fall of water at Pratts Mills, I went to see it: it is about 3 m. from the place I stood at over night. I crossed several high 52 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION lands, interrupted by valleys, & came to the little stream which forms these falls. When I came to it I could not per- ceive where it could have so powerfull a fall, as it was told me, as the ground seemed to go very gently downwards, as far as the eye could reach, & bordered at the East & West, or rather hemd in by a ridge, over which it could not run, & through which there was no opening. But when I came to the mill I was very agreeably surprised, by seeing the water fall down a precipice nearly perpendiculare, to the depth of above 300 feet, in a deep gloomy hollow all at once. I was anxious of getting down to the bottom, which I with some difficulty dit, & indeed a more romantick scene I never be- held; the vegetation is chiefly Hemlock & Maple. I ob- served here a beautifull species of Hypnum, which covered the ground: Pyrola secunda & umbellata in great plenty; Lycopodium serratum & complanatum likewise. Nothing new in vegetation. I expected to find some impressions here, as the bed of the brook looked somewhat like slate ob- served at Wilkesbarre, but I turned up several stones & found none. The rocks consists of a grey slate, which sometimes gives very good wet stones. This hollow follows the run, with very steep banks as far as I dit trace it. From here, after having my curiosity satisfied, I proceeded down the hill again & arrived at night at Onondaga. In my way there I observed Onosmodium— Amaranthus albus, &c. 14.—| These three days being very interrupted with rain, 15.—\I dit but little go out; & when I dit, seen nothing 16.—| worth noticing. My anxiety of getting away from here is beyond all description. 17.—This day all the place was alive with the muster of militia for a drafting of them. I was not well all day. 18.—Having nothing else to do, & being almost out of patience of staying any longer at this place, I took a walk to Salt point; went through the marshes & along the banks of the lake, without any thing materially worth notice. I had not before observed the Gymnocladus canadensis grows on the banks of this lake, but I dit not see one large tree of all, being very criply & small. I found Lobelia Ciaytoniana—Gerardia purpurea—Lysi- PURSH’S JOURNAL 53 machia ciliata, &c. Most every body in this place is in- flicted with a bad cold or catarrh, which they call the in- fluenza. 19.—Those days I spent in expectation of letters for my 20.—departure; not being able to account for the delay I 21.—was out of all patience, & if it had not been for want of money I should return to Philadelphia the nearest route IT could find. I wrote the 21st to Dr. B. on the subject. I have not the heart of doing any thing for spleen & sorrow. On a walk I found near Onondaga court house, Dipsacus laciniatus? Willd. 22.—To day, at last, I received a letter I so long had looked for with anxiety, including 20 Dll. As my rent and expenses here were high, not much was left to me to go upon; but still when I am on the Road, I can make my way cheaper than when I stay at a place. I set about preparing myself immediately & beginn my journey to Vermont on Monday next. 23.—This morning I found myself very ill: the Influenza prevalent to a very high degree hereabouts got hold of me likewise, & attacked me with the most violent headache ever I have felt. I was forced to lay down; as soon as I got somewhat over the fever I got some Thoroughwort, set up with gin, which I used very freely, bathing my feet at night in warm water, & drank a large portion of sage tea. 24.—Felt somewhat better this morning, but affected with violent headache still; all apetit for eating lost. 25.—Somewhat recovered; headache ceasing; as I found people getting more & more sickly I concluded to leave this as soon as I could any ways be able to stand the yourney. 26.)—Recovering some I prepared for leaving this to red (morrow, with the stage, as I thought it the best way, in my present situation, to go on with it as far as it would be in my route. 23,.—_-_Having inclosed specimens, seeds & minerals in a good box, which I left to the care of Mr. Geddes, I settled my bill here, & in the evening went off with the stage, which only goes about 7 m. farther on from here. 54 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION - 29.—This morning we passed through the beautiful vil- lage of the Oneidas; it lays in a most charming situation. At night arrived at Utica; as the stage lays here over Sun- day I had to stay to, which would give me a chance of seeing some.of the plants of this neighborhood. 30. Took an excursion about the town. Among other common plants I observed here Clematis virginiana, Inula helenium, Rudbeckia laciniata, &c., but nothing worth any particular notice. In the walk I experienced the weakness which my sickness had occasioned, very much, which low- ered my spirits very considerable, as I thought what a situa- tion I must come to if I,should fall sick now, & be deprived of going on in my persuits. I really have never been more alarmed by my illness than I am now, which must be owing to the relaxation & debility of all the frame, which this In- fluenza occasions. 31.—From Utica I had about 50 m. to come where the road turns off to Johnstown, the route recommended me to go to Ruttland & the heath of lake Champlain. I arrived at the falls of the Mohock, where we dined about 2 o’clock. While they were preparing dinner I took a short excursion back to the falls—Here I observed Verbena officinalis, Ver- bascum Blattaria, Mentha spec. Potamogeton natans & sev- eral species of Aster & Solidago, all very familiar to me; different sorts of the more common ferns covered the rocks: viz. Polypodium vulgare, Nephrodium dentatum, marginale, &c. Here I left the stage & took up my lodging at the tav- ern for night, with intentions of going on towards Saratoga, on foot to morrow. Sept. 1.—From Palatine church, where I stayd last night, I proceeded this morning on foot, to the left of the stage road. The road passes through a Pine woods, consisting chiefly of white Pine, & in place of beach & Hemlock. The Coreopsis bidens, or I suppose what is called now connate, got very common along the roadside, in wet places. In the same situation Gnaphalium inundatum is common; where the water is more plenty the Leersia oryzoides, among the species of Juncus & Scirpus, is a common grass. I ob- served, along fences, a species of Galeopsis, with flowers different from all the european, as I recollect. Hydrocotyle americana is common here. PURSH’S JOURNAL 55 After reaching Johnstown, a considerable village, I went on about 6 or 7. m. further, where I put up for night. Along the road sides here, Tanacetum vulgare, Inula hele- nium, Sonchus canadensis, &c., are common plants. In the valleys the productions are similar to the beach woods. 2.—This day I travelled through nothing but Pine Woods, interspersed here & there with barrens of Dwarf Oak (Quercus prinos pumila:) nothing new. The plants in flower, mentioned in the general Index, arrived at night at ‘Balltown. 3.—Balltown springs lay in a deep hollow. The situation very romantick. I expected to get something curious about this place and Saratoga. The excursions about the grounds produced nothing new. I observed Veronica—Anagallis aquatica—Bidens frondosa & bipinnata—Clematis. virgin. —Buphthalmum helianthoides—mimulusalatus — Veroica scutellata. The road from Balltown to Saratoga goes through barren pine woods, where I observed a species of Hieracium, which I suppose is called H. scabrum, Mich.— Glycine comosa is frequent. About Saratoga Springs, Cam- panula erinoides—Rudbeckia, lacinita, several species of Nephrodium—Spirea salicifolia—Eupatorium maculatum —Cornium maculatum? in great abundance. One of the springs, calld the Rockspring at Saratoga, is a great natural curiosity. The rock projects, in the shape of a flat cone about 4. feet above ground, & has an apature of about 10. inches in the middle, out of which they get the water, which is about 3. feet down & makes a continued noise, like it were boiling.—The country about here is bar- ren, & not answering my expectations of finding some curiositys. The soil is full of limestone & the rocks chiefly consist of this & a granit, like wake, mixed with calcareous particles. 4.—Left Saratoga—the road through barren pine woods, mixed some time with Shrub Oak, Podalyria tinctoria, Helianthus frondosus—Lobelia Claytoniana, &c. Nothing new. Stayed over night 6. m. from Gleens falls. 5.—Gleens Falls are very interesting to see them. I de- tained myself for about two hours here, to see if I could not find something new on the rocks, but was disappointed. The 56 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Juniperus comenunis, or else a variety of it, grows on the rocks below the falls. I got exceeding week & tired, & see- ing a chance of riding in a wagon to Fort Ann, I took it. I arrived there at night fall. 6.—Rested myself at Fort Ann. Potamogeton grami- neum & natans—Humulus Lupulus—a species of Carduus, with small flowers & very spinous leaves, calld here Canada thistle, beginns here. It was quit new to me. 7.—F rom Fort Ann the road leads chiefly along the banks of Wood creek—with rocky shores of indurated clay & lime stone; high hills in sight on all sides—soil very stony & ap- pearantly poor. At Skeansborough, which is the head of lake Champlain, I made a short stay to examine the meadows & banks of the lake. Lilium superb.—Iris vir- giniana—Sagittaria—Mimulus—Viburnum nudum — Len- tago—Cephalanthus & some more common plants men- tioned in other places. I arrived at Fairhaven at night. 8.—The white pine is here the chief timber. I observed here in the woods a species of Willow new to me. All this day I travelled through cultivated lands on the side of the mountains. When I came near to Ruttland I pased the Ira mountain, which appears to be a very interesting spot, & though necessity forced me to go on, I was determined to return to it some other day to ascend it. The timber here is chiefly Hemlock—Pine—Spruce—Beech—Poplar—Sugar Maple, &c.—no Oak. Arrived at night at Ruttland, having travelled all day in the rain & fatigued myself to the utmost. Sept. 9.—After enquiring in the Post office for letters for me & finding none, I took a small walk about the town. Ob- served nothing new tome. The road sides are covered with Canada thistle & Verbena hastata. It having not ceased raining, beside my not feeling very well after getting so very wett yesterday, I was obliged to keep the house & rest myself. Killington peak, which is said to be the highest part of Vermont, is in sight of the town & makes a very respect- able figur. I wrote a letter to Dr. B. as I am destitute of cloathes & the weather beginning to get very raw & cold, I will not be able to stay long here unless I get means of buy- ing cloathes fitt for the season. 10.—It clearing off very fine but the air very cold; a very PURSH’S JOURNAL 57 bad cold makes me afraid of having a relapse of Influenza. I felt so ill that I kept the house most all day. 11.—Feeling somewhat better, I dryed how a good exer- cise on the mountains might agree with me. I set out after breakfast. The foot of the mountain beginng about 2. m. from the town. In a Hemlock swamp I found Cypripedium canadense or spectabile—Orchis latifolia? Nephrodium Dryopteris, Vaccinium hispidulum. This plant had beauti- ful white berries like wax work. I dont know whether this plant all ways bears white berries or not, as I am but little acquainted with it. Most all the plants & shrubs mentioned on Pokono mountain & the beach woods grow here. In ascending the mountain I found Epilobium angustifol. in flower & seed. Aster surculosus, which I observed last sea- son on Salt Pond mountain, grows in plenty here. Aster flexuosus, &c., & several species of Solidago, among which the principal sort is S. canadensis. I ascended a very high ridge, near which one of the peaks is, but feeling weak & to much in apprehension of being obliged to stay out all night if I should attempt to ascent it, I deferred it to an other day, when I might be better in health & more provided with cloathes to stand the cold weather over night. I took my route over the ridge & went a north course along the side of the mountain, for about 6. m. crossing a number of wild mountain creeks & brooks, seemingly very interesting for plants, but the season is to late; every thing worth notice has decayed & disappeared all ready, & the few plants I took notice of I had seen in abund- ance before. I arrived out of the woods in a road that leads over the mountains, & took up my lodging the first tavern I came to. — 12.—Returned to Ruttland again. I had collected yester- day a very singular species of Equisetum, which appears new. The Medeola virginica has here all ways a red centre, which Mr. Lyon took for a remarkable variety, but I believe it is all ways the case when the berries are ripe. Along the main street of Ruttland I found a species of Artemisia. 14.—The morning very cold. I took an excursion to Meets falls. Hamamelis in plenty & beginning to flower. I observed all the flowers to be hermaphrodites. Quercus 58 ONONDAGA HISTCRICAL ASSOCIATION alba in a dwarfish state. Oak timber is very scarce to be seen hereaboutgs. Viola debilis in flower; Ilex canadensis— A species of Prunus like P. acuminata, &c. I returned to Ruttland very ill disposed: cold & without cloathes & money, & no letters arrived, made me more sick than I actually would have been. 15.—My illness turned out into a fever & bloody flux, which alarmed me very much in the present situation. 16.—Very cold night & morning. Killington peak was covered with snow; which stood all day, though the sun came out for several hours. 17.—By using several medicines I got so much better of the flux that I took a walk. I chewed most all day the tops of the branches of Spruce, which seemed to do good to me. Populus candicans & balsamifera are planted in the streets of Ruttland, & grow about here frequent. I observed the Verbena hastata to be a truly didynamous & tetrandous plant. Got somewhat warmer to day. 18.—Took an excursion towards the mountain. Aralia hispida in berries—Ilex canadensis—Orobranche virginica —Observed Aster infirmus—Circsea alpina—Xylosteum tartaricum—Gentiana saponaria—Axalia racemosa, &c. 19.—Staid in the house, worn down with sickness & vexa- tion of mind about not receiving any support whatever. 20.—However disappointed I had been in former excur- sions, I wished to ascend one of the highest peaks in this part. I went about 7. m. from here to one which is called Pico. Arrived there in the afternoon & spent the rest of the day on the foot of the peak, to ascend early in the morn- ing. 21.—With a great deal of fatigue I ascended the peak, the morning very cold & damp. Observed nothing new; the Hemlock & Spruce towards the top of a cripply growth, being depressed by heavy snows & cold air & very difficulte to come through. My expectations being not answered I soon descended & returned to Ruttland. 22.—Seeing no other means of getting away from here, than to contrive some way to get money to go on with, & pay my reckoning here, I, with great reluctance, sold my fowl- PURSH’S JOURNAL 59 ing piece this day. God knows whether the money will be enough to bring me on, but I must rough it through as well as [ can. 23.—This night I received at last & almost to late, a letter. My mind has been made up to return as quick as possible to Philadelphia, & I will do it now, the letter notwithstanding. 24.—Left Ruttland. 25.—Through Timouth to Battonkill. 26.—Arrived at Troy. 27.—From Troy to Albany, & Baltimore, a small landing place. 28.—Come to Cattskill. 29.—When I came to Kingstown I took stage to New York, being to much tired to go on longer on foot. 30.—On the road to New York. Octb. 1.—Arrived at New York. 2.—Rain. 3.—Seen the houses of the Botanick garden at New York. 4,.—Left New York with the Packet. 5.—Arrived at Philadelphia wharf after 12 0 clock in the night, & staid on board untill the 6, when I went ashore. 60 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NOTES ON PURSH’S JOURNAL BY THE REV. WM. M. BEAUCHAMP At the head of the fly leaf of the little volume of 87 pages, which I have just copied and compared, appears the name of L. Leonora Goodrich, long the honored president of the famous Syracuse Botanical Club. Below this we read the autograph presentation of the book by her daughter :— “Presented to the Onondaga Historical Association, Syra- cuse, N. Y., by Mrs. J. G. Barker, April 28, 1928.” At the head of the 39th page Mrs. Goodrich’s autograph again appears. She was born July 2, 1831, and died April 5, 1923. The book was given her by Mr. Thos. P. Jones, for whom it was privately printed. in 1889, as an appreciation of her valued local work. She was long a director and libra- rian of the Onondaga Historical Association, and in 1912 issued the FLORA Of Onondaga County as Collected by the Members of the SYRACUSE BOTANICAL CLUB COMPILED, CLASSIFIED AND CATALOGUED BY Mrs. Leonora Hutchinson Goodrich President of Syracuse Botanical Club 1912 Printed by THE McDONNELL CO. Syracuse, N. Y. A few additions have been made to this and more should follow, but it represents a great and painstaking work, in the face of many difficulties. Since the middle of February and the end of April, 1923, the Club has lost four faithful members. In editing a new edition of Pursh’s Journal, which covers about 414 months of the year 1807, my method has been to PURSH’S JOURNAL 61 commence in the spring and end in the fall, some days get- ting little attention, and others a good deal. I have made some changes in punctuation and corrected some evident errors. Apparently Pursh never wrote “and,” and always used Y for J in journey. Such changes in use may be passed over as of little consequence. It is curious, however, to see how small a field Pursh explored in this county. He went to Oswego, indeed, but for the most vibrated between Onondaga Hollow and Salt Point. He found the Scolopen- drium on the Geddes farm but knew nothing of Scolopen- drium Lake and other haunts of that and other rare ferns. He heard nothing of Rockwell Springs or the great Cicero Swamp, though he did reach Liverpool. He confined him- self to a small and disagreeable field while unseen floral treasures lay all around him. There were difficulties, ‘of course. + I find that he was fairly equipped for his work. He had a pocket compass. Incidentally I learn that he had a pai. of shoes as well as boots; then that he had a tin box for specimens; then that he had a fowling piece, which he valued, much but never used. I wonder why he carried it around.. A squirrel he killed I suppose died in some more primitive* {*% wr de way. Mr. Pursh resided as a botanist in the United States, 1799-1811, and published Flora Americe Septentrionalis in London, 1814, before his return to Canada, where he hoped to prepare a Canadian Flora. These notes of the Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont journey follow. He made a good beginning by taking his baggage to the station, May 26, and remaining with it over night, thus get- ting a fairly good seat when the crowded coach left at 4 o’clock in the morning. At Easton he saw the attractive sign of the Golden Swan. A good bed and a swan’s down quilt! What a charming prospect for a weary man. He rested well that night. May 28 he left the stage, crossed the Lehigh river and did some botanizing, had a good time but no wonderful results. The next day he went up the Bush Kill and found the Leather wood, much more frequent farther north. a Kt 4 ie ‘an’ ea t. } hws Wey ye ail aipetn Spite 1a * i 62 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION May 30, he was impressed by the scenery and said not a word about plants. Geological changes in river formation gave him food for thought, as he trudged on, but he was not well informed in deeper geological questions. However he hoped to examine the Water Gap quite closely the following day, but failed in this. The next day also was rainy, and thus he was not impressed with the grandeur of the scene. June 2 he did some botanical work but found nothing new, and this was the case the next day, when he climbed the rocks at the Water Gap. He described the latter in de- tail and mentioned all the plants he saw. June 4 he was still at the Gap, where he reasonably thought there might have been a great cataract in earlier days. The next day he ascended the valley to the Minisink country, which was in New York and New Jersey. Rutten- ber said of this name, ““Minnisink is from Minnis, an island, and ink, locality . . . The name has a very general application to lands, in Pennsylvania as well as in New York, known as the Minnisink country. It had its origin in the tradition that the land was covered with water and broke through the mountain at the Water Gap or Poho- qualin, and is said to mean the land from which the water is gone.” This can only be sustained by going back to the primary meaning of an island as a dry place. In my Chip- pewa New Testament Minisink is used for an island. This day he found Podophyllum called Mandrake. Nothing spe- cial for several days. | June 9, he found Pyrola umbellata taking its N. Y. name Prince’s Pine. The next day the Beach woods are men- tioned. This is always Pursh’s spelling, but Mr. James occasionally corrects this and I find no fault. Two days later he wisely got rid of his trunk. He then determined to go by way of Wilkesbarre and Mount Pokono, there being, on the top of the latter, some large and attractive swamps. June 138.—For the first time he mentions Orchis bifolia, but found but one plant. Later he found many and gave a very full account of it. It is rare here, but I will speak of it again. He found a good road to the top of Pokono, which is now a favorite summer regort. He was delighted with the flowers. One Trillium he called T. pictum on account of the red stripes at the base of the petals. It is one of the PURSH’S JOURNAL 63 loveliest of the species and is found here. The Trailing Arbutus grew there, too, a commoner plant here than many suppose. When he left the mountain top he soon came down to common things again. With Wilkesbarre he was charmed and foretold a great future for it. Of course the ferns he found in the coal slate were not the modern ones he supposed, but they delighted his eye, even while they lacked the rich hues of a later life. He visited a coal pit, but in the little mining done methods were rude. Here he became very weak and ill, and was no better for many days. Naturally his old remedies failed when he would not give up work and at last he realized that he was in a very dangerous condition. His account of Oxalis acetosella, as found here, differs greatly from any I have seen. One curious aid he used at times, a fl. for anteflowering; p. fl. for post flowering. June 26 he gave his elaborate account of Orchis latifolia which at Hopbottom was called Allheal. The Pigeon Pea, at the same place, seems to have been the Squirrel Corn. The next day he was told of quite white Cypridediums in a Cran- berry marsh, which he thought, from the description, re- lated to C. acaulc, as it probably was, such a distinct variety occurring in Onondaga county. Chenango Point (July 1) is now Binghamton, and I remember it as a pleasant and flourishing village in 1850. In 1860 its population was 8,818; and it is now a city of im- portance. Its first name came from the Chenango river, which passed through it. Chenango, as an Onondaga name, means Bull Thistles. He came next to Owego, an early Indian name which, according to Morgan, means Where the Valley widens. It was in the Cayuga territory, and in the historic period the Cayugas shifted their village there about the mouth of the creek as convenience required. Tioga Point is at the confluence of the Chenango and Sus- quehanna rivers and has historic importance from its con- nection with the Sullivan expedition in 1779. The name means At the Forks, or perhaps more exactly, Meeting of the Waters, thus forming a point or fork by the union of two large streams. The Iroquois give this name to several places in New York. Some mistakenly translate it A Gate. Thig is not the meaning and a much longer word would be 64 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION required, but, on the other hand, through this historic gate- way the N. Y. Iroquois sent their war parties against their southern foes. July 6th he left the Susquehanna valley and went north- ward up Cayuta Creek. This Iroquois word meant simply a creek or river, and it was the outlet of Cayuta Lake. This day he found a lily which he described because he did not remember its name. I call it the Wood Lily, because I have found it only in woods; Mrs. Goodrich preferred the Red Lily from its color. Both names are in common use. On the 7th he got a ride, but for the most part of the way merely placed his impedimenta in the wagon, which he could easily outwalk. In Sapony Hollow he found traces of some- what recent Indian occupation. The Saponies were a southern tribe, adopted by the Cayugas, but changing their village sites often. They were still at Sapony Hollow in 1771, and for some time longer. Here Pursh saw the Mag- nolia acuminata for the only time in his trip. I shall speak of this again. July 8.—The beautiful gorge and waterfall which so charmed Pursh, on the north side of Cornell University, is well worth a visit, even if it involves hard climbing. I cor- rect here an evident mistake. He wrote interesting when he meant the reverse. The next day he observed the Mul- berry cultivated in orchard rows. It was extensively adver- tised more than 80 years ago, and on a place I owned in Skaneateles, 65 years ago, trees still grow in rows. These were of the white fruited kind, and quite delicious. Hardenburgh’s Corners had the name changed to Auburn in 1805, but this did not immediately affect general use. Owasco, for the lake and outlet had this name from early days, varying slightly in form, but persistent in meaning. Cammerhoff, in 1750, wrote it Achsgo, as a Moravian natur- ally would; Charlevoix called it As-co; A. Cusick gave it to me as Os-co, Bridge over Water, and Morgan wrote it Was-co, Floating Bridge, from the Cayuga dialect. It ig probable that there was a permanent bridge there, of some kind, in quite early days, but with the use of horses there came a change, and a simple bridge was made only when needed. PURSH’S JOURNAL 65 Skaneateles is one form of an Iroquois word, meaning long lake. The Cayuga and Onondaga dialects climinate the 1. Onondaga, On the Mountain, in old times had Ronon added, to express People. As a place name it varied slightly in form. While he talked with many, Pursh mentioned the names of but three residents of Onondaga County: John Adams, his landlord, but once; Squire Geddes and Captain Webster, several times but without their first names. James Geddes was born in Carlisle, Pa., July 23, 1763, and first came to Onondaga in 1798, to see the salt springs, was well pleased, returned home and organized a salt company, and in 1794 came back by way of Seneca Lake, well equipped with salt kettles, founded the village of Geddes and built his salt blocks there. Dr. Barton may have been one of the stock- holders. To know anything of Onondaga was to know about Ephraim Webster, and I need say nothing more of this in- teresting man, save to say that one purpose of my éditing this journal is to carry out his promise to Pursh, which cir- cumstances prevented his fulfilling. In fact they met no more after that day. | July 12, Pursh saw the salt springs for the first time and gave an interesting account of them, somewhat different from what Father LeMoyne found, Aug. 16, 1654, when he gaid: “We arrive at the entrance of a small lake, in a great basin half dried; we taste the water of a spring which they dare not drink, saying that there is a demon within which renders it fetid; having tasted it, I found that it was a fountain of salt water; and in fact we made salt from it as natural as that from the sea, of which we carried a sample to Quebec.” Thus commenced the manufacture and exporta- tion of salt from these springs. On this day he first mentioned his useful botanical tin case. July 14, he visited Webster, who was not then living on his Mile Square, at the Hollow, but three miles south, on his 300 Acre Tract. There I once met his youngest son, Halen, about 80 years later. 66 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION On his second visit to Webster, July 18, came the mention of Onondaga names of trees and herbs, and also of the deadly Cicuta maculata, found then throughout Onondaga and still frequent on the Reservation. We yet hear of fatal results from chewing or eating the root. It is frequently COL mentioned in Seneca stories and distinguished as ‘“‘the root.” July 20 was a memorable day, for he had a guide and made a wonderful “find.” Mr. Geddes took him to a rough and dangerous place where he found the Scolopendrium or Hart’s Tongue Fern. He did not know, indeed, that it grew in abundance within a few miles, but if he had known that. a hundred years later, all the botanists of the United States had been unable to find more than three stations for it, in all North America, he might have shown more elation. He asked one question: “Is the European auriculated at the base, like this species?”?’ Now I find no difference in the base of our plants when compared with an English speci- men lying before me, though the frond is a little wider. But Mr. H. E. Ransier, of Manlius, has examples where the auricle, on either side, becomes a pointed projection, giving’ the whole frond a kind of halbert-like appearance. Was Pursh’s query suggested by finding fronds of this unusual type? The whole rocky gorge was full of botanical trea--. sures. In 1880, at Hon. George Geddes’s desire, the S. B. C. went to the Geddes Gorge and re-discovered it after the lapse of 73 years. Mrs. G. said it was afterward found at James-. ville and Chittenango Falls, a slip of the pen, for A. Gray, 1848 edition, mentions the Chittenango Falls station as then well known. I myself got this fern at the Jamesville Green lakes, Aug. 3, 1881, and met a botanist looking for it at. what is now Green Lake Park, June 11, 1866. He came from a distance but he knew it was there. It is usual to: class these neighboring stations as one group. July 30 he was fairly on his way to Oswego. Below Three Rivers Point he found plants of Anona triloba, the North American Papaw, east of its usual range and never reported here since. Next day, near Oswego, he saw Hydrocotyle umbellata, but without flowers. It is one of the rarest of Onondaga plants. He had a disagreeable time, and “was. not able to get one civil man by whom” he could get desired. PURSH’S JOURNAL 67 information. I doubt whether, from what he said, he was very civil himself. He had a sore toe, poor man, and thus “the place altogether was disagreeable to” him. He tooka boat and went up the river. In spite of all he accomplished it is interesting to see how much he missed. Near Oswego Falls he saw the white Water Lily for the first and only time in his Onondaga wan- derings. There, too, he found a few of the Scarlet Cardinal flowers. The full omissions are many in number. Birds were out of his line but he did mention the beautiful wood duck. The Chara in the Onondaga outlet, which the boat- men called Feather Beds, I have been unable to identify by Pursh’s usual name. Aug. 12 he went to Pompey Hill, where a military parade was going on. He said it included a draft of militia, a new idea to me. He was boy enough to watch the parade all the afternoon. The next day he went to Pratt’s Falls. which interested him greatly. He thought them over 300 feet high, the actual height being 137 feet. On the 17th came a militia parade at the Hollow, but, being unwell, he took no interest in this, and on the 29th he left the place, going to Lake Champlain by way of the Mohawk valley and Sara- toga. At Fort Ann, Sept. 6, for the first time, he saw the Canada Thistle. The limit of his journey was Rutland, Vermont, where he sold his gun. Luckily he had a remit- tance on the 23d and thus reached Philadelphia, Oct. 6, in comparative comfort, though walking much of the way. ONONDAGA INDIAN NAMES OF TREES, PLANTS “AND FLOWERS, RECEIVED BY REV. W. M. BEAUCHAMP FROM ALBERT CUSICK, SA-GO-NA-QUA-DE My good friend, Albert Cusick, one day showed me his first attempts at recording and translating Indian names. He had done work of this kind for another of my friends, Dr. Horatio Hale of Canada, in the preparation of “The Iroquois Book of Rites.” In this Mr. Cusick was an inter- mediary between Dr. Hale and some Onondaga chiefs, not so much translating words and sentences as eliciting infor- mation and solving difficulties. Dr. Hale already had a 68 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION manuscript copy of the Iroquois Condolence, with a fair translation, but came to Onondaga twice to perfect this for publication. For his own purposes Mr. Cusick had also a plan which he laid before me. He was fond of flowers, and wished to record the Onondaga names of some of these, but to add to their value by giving the primitive meaning of the names. Of course he soon found the limitations. First meanings were often lost and the name was a name and nothing more. After that we worked together, gradually enlarging our field of action, but since his death I have done but little. The proper listing of names would follow botanical lines, but the more convenient alphabetical mode will be used here, and minor matters will be cared for. I take some words from Zeisberger and others, but indicate but a few of his. Cusick’s are syllabled. | Acorn.—O-so-kwah. (Z.) Orichtizera. Adder’s Tongue or. Dog-tooth Violet.—Je-gah-kwi-tah. The Tuscarora name for this is Yu-tya-nah-re, Crooked shin. Alder, Black.—Ka-nus-ta-che, Black stick. It may be Acer or Viburnum, but I do not quite make it out. De- scribed as a shrub or small tree, with leaves like a maple but with black bark. Alder.—Too-see-sa. Anise.—Os-ta-yah. Apple-tree.—Swa-hu-na, Big Apple. Apple, Wild Crab.—O-yah On-we, Real Apple or fruit; i. e. Original Apple-—Transferred also from the wild to the Siberian Crab Apple. Ash, Black or Swamp.—Ga-hoon-wa-yah. Ash, White—Ka-nek, and also a variety growing by water and used for baskets—Ka-neh-ho-yah, Another kind of Ash. Ash Tree.—Ka-hen-we-yah. This differs a little from another form, and may refer to a boat. Ash, Prickly.—Ke-un-ton. PURSH’S JOURNAL, _ 69 Aspen.—Nut-ki-e, or Noisy leaf. Aster, Wild.—Ka-sa-ha-yen-tuk-wah, It brings the frost. Balsam Fir.—Cho-koh-ton, Blisters. Bark.—O-skon-tah. Also Rough Bark.—Go-en-wa. Barley.—Ta-ka-no-ska-e, Long whiskered. Barren Tree.—He-yah-ten Wah-tah-yone-yah-hah. Basswood.—Ho-ho-sa, It peels. The bark was used in eovering cabins, and the inner for cords. Beans.—Os-sa-ha-tah. Beside use in food, they were used as counters in games. Beech Tree.—O-ech-keh-a. Beech, White.—(Z.) Sraquaris. Beech Drops.—Och-ke-ah-kik-hah, It grows on beech grounds. Berry.—O-yah. Berry, Partridge.—Noon-yeah-ki-e-oo-nah-yeah. The first four syllables stand for the bird. Berry, Sheep.—Tone-da-we, Bushes in a cluster. Berry, Black.—Sa-he-is, Long Berry. Berry, Huckle-—O-hyah-che, Black Berry. Big Tree.—Ne-ah-te-en-tah-go-nah, Oneida council name. Birch Tree.—Oo-nah-koon-sah. Birch for Canoe.—Ga-nah-jeh,kwa, Birch that makes canoes. — Bittersweet.—Ko-noon-tas, Stick that makes you see. Black Walnut.—Dyut-soo-kwa-no-ne, Round nut. Blossom, To.—Ah-weh-ha. Boughs.—O-en-gah. Boughs, Along on.—Osgohageshon. Bower, He made.—Wahanoshen. Bower, She made a.—Waenoshen. 70 ONONDAGA) HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Box Tree.—Ka-hone-sa. Braid of Corn.—Kah-sten-sa., Bramble.—Sajis ohunta. Branch.—O-en-gah. Brushwod.—Ode-ko-hah. Buckthorn.—Ohecta. Buckwheat.—Te-ya-nah-cha-too-ken-ha, Square seed, i. e. angular. Bud.—Ose-kwa-yeah. Burdock.—Oo-nu-kwa-sa-wa-nehs, Big burr. Bush.—O-hoon-tah. Butterfly Weed.—Ah-wa-hi-da-gah. Butternut.—Oo-sook-kwa. Butternut Tree.—Oo-a-wat-hah. Buttercup.—O-jeht-kwa-ne-ah-wen-ho-tak. Cabbage.—Oo-na-soo. Cardinal Flower.—Ah-wen-ha-tah-kee, Dark red flower. Carrot.—O-jeet-kwah-ne-uk-ta-ha-ta, Yellow root. Catkins.—Ta-koose, Little cats, or kittens. Cat Tails.—Oo-na-too-kwa, Rushes that grow high, or Plenty of flags growing. Perhaps Much rushes in the Onondaga idiom, applying to either size or quantity. Catnip.—Ta-koos-ka-na-tuks, Cat-eating leaf. Cedar, White.—Oo-soo-ha-tah, Feather leaf. Cedar, Red.—O-nen-don-da-gri. Chestnut.—O-ha-yah-tah, Prickly burr. Chestnut, Horse.—O-ha-yah-tah-goo-na, Great prickly burr. Cherry.—He-ri, Cherry (fruit) .—Eri ochia. PURSH’S JOURNAL. YY 71 Cherry Tree.—Eri. Cherry, Wild.—A-e. Cherry, Red.—Ja-e, Perhaps attempt at English name. Cherry, White.—Ja-e-goo-nah. Cherry, Choke.—Ne-a-tah-tah-ne, Somethink that chokes. Claytonia or Spring Beauty.—Ko-sah-tes-kon-kose-kas, Like something stale. Clematis.—Ka-nok-we-en-tah, Foggy, or Like the opened head of the Cat-tail. Clover, Red.—Ah-seh-ne-u-na-toon-tah, Three leaves. Clover, White.—Add word for white. Cluster.—Ote-ho-kwah. Cluster of Grapes.—Ojinquisere. Cohosh, Blue.—Oo-kah-ta, Not ripe. Applied to red and white kinds also. Cohosh.—Ka-koh-sah-tes-kas, Smells like a horse. Un- certain of kind. Cord-wood.—Ta-ka-en-ha-tah. Cork.—Ka-che,hah, To stop up hole. Corn.—O-ne-hah. White Corn.—O-na-hah-ka-ha-tah. Corn-cob.—O-no-kwen-yah. Corn-husk.—O-no-yah. Corn leaves.—Jo-wah-ses. Pop Corn.—One-ten-son, or Wah-te-sunk. Corn Meal.—O-chet-kwi-kon-ot-hach-ha. Corn, Ear of.—Onuchquaja. Corn ladle.—Ken-sto-kwah. Corn basket.—A-nen-oh-hite-ah. Cowslip, or Caltha palustris.—Ka-rah-wah-hawks, It opens the swamp. 72 ONONDAGA) HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Cranberry.—A-to-ka. Creeping Blackberry.—O-kah-hak-wah, Eye, or Eyeball. Crinkle Root, (Dentaria) .—O-ech-ken-tah, Braid, allud- ing to zigzag roots. Cucumber.—Ooct-no-skwi-ne, With prickles on it. Currant.—Ska-hens-skah-he. Daisy, Ox-eye.—Ko-hen-tuk-wus, It takes away your field. Applied to weeds, Dandelion.—O-we-wen-sah. Dicentra, Dutchman’s breeches and Squirrel corn.—The name for both is Hah-ska-nah-ho-ne-hah, Food for ghosts, or Ghost corn. Dogwood, Fiowering.—Kaw-see-saw. Down of Cat-tail.—O-nah-kwe-ah. | Elder Bush.—Qs-sa-ha, Frost on the bush. Elecampane.—Ook-to-ha-wa-ne, Big root. Also called Ko-a-wa-soont-hap, Flower coming from Sunflower. Klm.—Oo-koh-ha-tah. Klm, White.—Ohoskera. Elm, Swamp.—Garatkwa. Elm, Great Swamp.—Ga-yut-kwa-go-na. Elm, Red or Slippery.—Oo-hoosk-ah, It slips. The rude Iroquois canoes were made of the bark when it slipped in the spring. False Mitrewort.—Oo-goon-why-e, Hairy. Same name as the peach. Flag, Sweet.—Oo-a-hoot-tah. Flax.—Oo-skah, Thread-like, or Making threads. Flower.—Ah-weh-hah; in Oneida it is Ozizio. Flowers, It is full of —Awehahagi. Flowers, It has full-bloom.—Deiawehahagi. Forest.—Kah-hah. Add go-na for great. PURSH’S JOURNAL | // , 73 Forest Spruce.—Onoehntonnie. Fruit.—Ohia or Ochia. Fruitful. K a-wah-che-a-wan-ne. Fungus on trees.—O-nah-sah. Applied also to a cock’s comb, which it resembles. Gentian.—Garoentoge. Ginseng.—Da-kien-too-keh, Forked plant. In Oneida, Ka-lan-dag-goo. It is curious that Zeisberger, who dug and sold this at Onondaga, left no name for it. Golden Rod.—O-yun-wah. Gooseberry.—Ska-hens-skah-he-goo-na, Large currant. The wild kind adds something to express the thorny fruit. Grain.—O-nah-cha. Grape, Wild.—O-heunt-kai-sa, Long vine, and well named. Add Goona for cultivated vine, and it becomes Large Grape. Grass at full height.—O-win-o-kah. Grass, short, as in turf.—O-je-go-chah. Grass Land.—As-ton-da-yakt-hah. Green Osier, (Cornus alternifolia) —Twa-ha-he-he, Broken flower or leaf. Ground Hemlock.—O-ne-te-o-ne, Hemlock that lies down. Grove.—O-hen-da-ha. Harvest.—Ha-yent-whah-kwas. Hazel Nut.—O-nya-stah in Seneca. Hazel, Witch.—Oo-a-nah-kwe-hache, Spotted stick. Hemlock Spruce.—O-ne-tah, Greens on the stick. Hemp.—O-se-kah, To make cloth of. Hepatica, or Shaiaties Beauty.—Che-che. Herb.—Hahwennokera. Hickory, Shell or shag bark.—A-nek or Anonoka. Morgan 74 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION also gives O-nan-no-gi-is-ka, for Shag Bark Hickory, as place names for Cortland and the Tioughnioga river, O-nan-o-gese, Long Hickory for Apulia, perhaps meaning tall. Baptist Thomas, however, gave me O-nea-no-ka-res- geh, as Hickory Grove, somewhat resembling the last. Hickory, Bitter Nut.—Us-teck. Morgan has Us-te-ka, thus defined, as a place name for Marcellus and Nine Mile Creek. Zeisberger has Anonoka as a general name for the hickory nut. Hop.—Ah-weh-hah, Flower. In Oneida, Ojejea. Hound’s Tongue.—Teu-te-nah-ki-en-tun-so-noo-kwa-ya, or Sheep burr, the first six syllables meaning sheep. This is the Tory burr of my boyhood. Huckleberry, Black.—O-yah-chee, Blackberry. The same for the Blue. Huckleberry, Black——O-kwa-yes-yah, Bearberry. Tris, Wild.—Oo-wa-hoot-kwa, Like Cat-tail and Sweet Flag. - Tron Wood.—Skien-tah-gus-tah, Everlasting wood. Ivy, Poison.—Ko-hoon-tas, Stick that makes you sore. Usually rendered Poison. Bitter Sweet and Virginia Creeper the same. In the Woods.—Kah-hah-goon-wah, June Berry or Shad Bush.—Ka-ton. J uniper.—Onendionni, Jack in the Pulpit—kKah-ah-hoon-sah.—Indian Cradle, from resemblance to cradle board and child. Kernel of Corn, or Nut.—O-ny-a-ah. Lady’s Slipper or Cypripedium.—Kwe-ko-hyah-o-ta-kwa, Whippoorwill Shoe, which is also a Connecticut name. Leaf.—O-na-tah. Leatherwood, Dirca palustris.—Che-ka-se, Rotten wood. A Tuscarora name for this. Cusick said it was all a tough bark. Leeks, in low lands.—Oo-noh-so-yah, A queer Onion. PURSH’S JOURNAL 75 Lettuce.—Oo-na-tah-kah-te, Raw Leaf; i. e. eaten raw. Limb of Tree.—O-en-kah. Locust Tree.—O-neh-ta-gwen-ten or Sa-ya-des. Log.—Ka-ine-tah. The Log floats.—Ga-en-do. Maize.—Oo-ne-hah. Mandrake.—O-na-when-stah, Soft fruit. Maple, Soft.—Ah-weh-hot-kwah, Red flower, from Ah- weh-hah, Flower, and Hot-kwah, Red. Melon, Water.—Oo-nyo-sa-hah-te, Green Melon, or Melon eaten raw. Melon, Musk.—Wah-he-yah-yees, Thing that gets ripe. Milk Weed.—O-wah-kwen-stah, Milk that sticks to the fingers. Mulberry, Red.—So-yes, Long berry. Mulberry, Fruit of.—O-hi-a-ri. Mullein.—Ki-sit-hi, Flannel, and Oo-da-teach-ha, Stock- ings. Mushroom or Toadstool.—O-yah-ken-tah. Muskrat Root or Water Hemlock.—O-nah-san-a. Mustard, Yellow.—Ko-hen-tuk-wus, It takes away your field. Nettle.—O-yen-ha-tah, Hairs that will catch you if you are not careful. Nut.—Oo-sook-wah. Oak.—Ki-on-da-ga. Oak, White.—Ki-en-tah-ken-ah-tah, White-looking tree. Oak, Black.—Ga-ron-ta-sun-tah. Onion.—Oo-noh-sa. Garlic the same. Onion, Wild.—Oo-noh-sah-kah-hah-koon-wa-ha, Onion that grows in woods. Osier, Red.—Kwen-tah-ne-yu-hoon-to-te, Red Tree. 76 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Pansy.—Tent-kah-kah-ha, He looks at me. Parsnip.—O-ta-ra-ga-wi. Parched Corn.—One-ha-tah, Baker corn flour. Partridge Berry.—Noon-yeah-ki-oo-nah-yeah, The first four syllables stand for the bird. Peach.—Oo-goon-why-e, Hairy. Peach Stone.—Gone-twi-e-o-nen-stah, Hairy seed. Pear.—Koon-de-soo-kwis, Long life. Peas.—O-na-kwa. Pepper.—Ta-yu-side, Sour stuff. Peppermint.—Kah-nah-noos-tah, Colder, or that which makes cold, from first sensation, Pine.—O-neh-ta, Like porcupine holding to a stick. Plant.—Wah-ni-o-ta or A-hen-ni-o-tin. Plantain.—Tu-hah-ho-e, It covers the road, in allusion to the white man’s foot. Plantain, Heart-leaved.—Juk-ta-ha-gah-te, Half-root. A Seneca name for a Tuscarora medicinal plant. | Poke Weed.—Oo-ju-gwah-sah, Color weed, their principal vegetable dye. Poplar.—Sque-jo-na, Large flower, Zeisberger’s Onon- daga name for this tree. The name and definition clearly show he had the Tulip tree in mind. Pop Corn.—One-ton-son or Wah-te-sunk. Pleurisy Root or Butterfly Weed.—Ah-wa-hi-da-gah. Plum, Wild.—Ka-ha-tak-ne, Dusty fruit. Plum, Wild Red.—Tis-cho. Plum Tree.—Thi-chi-onk. Pumpkin.—Oo-new-sah-oon-we, Real Melon or Pumpkin; i. e. Original. Raspberry, Red.—Oo-nah-joo-kwa, Cap. The definition suggests R. odoratus. PURSH’S JOURNAL 77 Raspberry, Black.—Teu-tone-hok-toon, That which bends over. Red Maple.—Oot-kwen-tah-he-an-yo, New growth is red; a name for a small variety. Rose, Wild.—Ah-we-ha-tah-ke, Red flower. Also Ko-tot- hot-ah, It stops diarrhoea, from medicinal virtues. Samphire.—O-hyah-gwe-yah, Fingers. Commonly with kit-kit, thus meaning chicken’s fingers. Sapling.—O-den-don-ni-a. Sarsaparilla.—Ju-ke-ta-his, Long root. Some other plants the same. Sassafras.—Wah-eh-nah-kas, Smelling stick. Shrubs.—O-de-ko-hah and O-hoon-tah. Spice Bush.—Da-wah-tah-ahn-yuks, Stick that breaks itself or is brittle. Sprout.—Wah-ten-hine-ya. Squash or Pumpkin.—Oo-new-sah. Distinctions, as with us. Strawberry.—Noon-tak-tek-hah-kwa, Growing where the ground is burned, or Knoll burned. Succotash, Boiled.—O-ne-ho-kwa. Suecotash, Dry.—O-no-na-tah. Sumac.—Ote-ko-tuh, or Ot-go-ta, Witch stick. Sunflower.—O-ah-wen-sa, or O-a-wen-sa. Sycamore.—Oo-da-te-cha-wun-nes, Big stockings. Also Ka-nen-skwa. Stone Root, or Collinsonia.—Hunt-gas-kwah. Teasel, Wild.—Gan-at-tah, Comb; also, cultivated, A-yen- sa-nyt-ha, It cleans cloth. Thistle.—Ooch-ha-ne-tah, Something that pricks. Thistle, Bull—Ooch-ha-neh-too-wah-neks, Many big thistles. Thistles, Canada—Ooch-ha-ne-tas-as, Small thistles. 78 ONONDAGA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Thorn Bush.—Je-kah-ha-tis, Long Eyelash, from the long thorns. Timothy Grass.—O-teh-a-hah, Tail at the end. Tobacco.—O-yen-kwa. Add Hon-we for Real Tobacco. Nicotiana rustica, the native species, still cultivated and used in ceremonies. Tree.—Kai-ehn-ta, Schoolcraft has it Kai-un-ta, but early writers retain the R, making it Ga-ron-ta, as the Senecas still do. Tulip Tree or Whitewood.—Ko-yen-ta-ka-ah-ta, White- wood. Tree, Barren.—He-yah-ten Wah-tah-yone-yah-hah. A flowering tree producing no seed, Tree Trunks, Long.—Ga-en-he-djis. Tree, He has a standing.—Ho-da-he. Trillium, White.—O-je-gen-stah, Wrinkles on the Fore- head. Trillium, Purple—Kwen-tah Ne-yah-wen-ho-ten O-je-gen- stah, Red Wrinkles in the Forehead. The red and white Trilliums are said to be husband and wife, and the same idea is held of other related plants. Turf.—O-cha-ko-cha-ka, Green place. Turnip.—O-je-kwa, Round or Hammer root. Twig.—Ote-ko-hah. Violets.—Ta-kyah-noon-wi-tahs, Two heads entangled, from a childish game. Water Hemlock.—O-nah-san-a, Cicuta maculata.