Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/345

 Narrative of a Voyage to Maryland, lyo^-ijod 335 of itt as a novellty and to be sure there is either a good Bowie of Punch or else a great deale of good sider Drank att the eateing of this new sort of Venison. [13] There are abundance of fish in all those Rivers as Pearch of severall sorts, the white Bellied Pearch. the Red Bellied Pearch the Black Pearch and the Yellow Bellied Pearch; there is a sort of fish Much like to our Mulletts here in England which they there Call a Rock fish Much about the length of a Large Mackerell. itt is a verry firm fish and butt few Bones onely the great Boane downe the Back like a Mackerell. there is also the Catt fish which I beleived is so called from itts short thick Chubbed head like a Catt with also whiscars on each side of itts mouth, itt is a good fish butt eates much like an eele and found most an end in Muddy watter. there is also the fish Called a Drum, itt is a verry large fish about the bigness of a Cod with verry large scales about the Breadth of a shilling, they are an admirable fish, the inhabitance make much account of 'em indeavering to ketch as many as they can in a season salting 'em up to eat att other times ; there is a ffish there that they Call a sheeps head which is a noble fish beyond any I yett have named, they are nott verry Plenty onely to be Caught in the Months of June, and July, and sometimes in august. I had rather eat itt then any fish what so ever nott excepting any of our uropian fish, there are also a fish called a stingwray much like a thorne Back and also abundance of Eeles. in the month of Aprill there are great quantities of Herrings comes up to the heads of the Rivers into the fTreshes to spawne. the inhabbitants gett great numbers of 'em which are a mighty help to great Families, there are also abundance of shads in the month of May. they come also to spawn and to goe away again like the herrings ; sometimes there are large sturgeon taken there butt no body admires 'em so that they are nott much sett by. [14] The Come of that Cuntrey Comonly Called Indian Corne or maise which grows in great Eares as thick as ones wriste and 7 or 8 inches in length with severall rowes of large grains round itt as big allmost as horse beanes grows upon high stalks 7 or 8 foot high joynted like a large banboo Cane with large Broad long leaves like flags groweing out of each joynt and a high tassell att the top beareing four five or six eares a peice of this same Corne itt being I beleive the greatest increase of any grain in the world there comeing five or six hundred from one grain, itt is a pleasant sight to see a feild of this growing before itt become to high itt being planted att an exact distance one from another in rowes aboutt six foott distance one way and about 5 foott distance the other way makes a mighty pretty show when itt is nott much above two foot high from the ground. itt is the cheifest Diett they have in the Cuntrey espeshally where there are great fifamilies of Negroos for they Beat itt in a Mortar and gett the husks from itt and then Boyle itt with a Peice of Beefe or salted Porke with some Kidney Beanes which is much like to Pork and Pease att sea butt they Call it