John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 476

[We continue the Virginia travelogue with Francis Louis Michel.]

"Now I will turn to the land and report what animals are found there, starting with the tame animals.  The horses are very light-footed and they never ride them at a walk but at a gallop.  They are very common.  Not many people can be seen traveling on foot, even if they are going only an hour's distance.  They are seldom used to pull a plow or a wagon because the nature of the country does not demand it.  They cost from three to eight pounds sterling."

"Horned cattle are found in great numbers, so that in summer time much milk is used.  Butter is made but most people know nothing of cheese.  A few undertook to make it but it cannot compare to ours [that would be Swiss].  The common farmer usually has from ten to forty head of cattle [the estimate is probably on the high side].  The cows are easy to care for as they are left on the meadow all year long and no barns are used.  No hay is stored for the cows.  Sometimes they get very cold and hungry and in the worst case they are fed corn."

"I was astonished at the number of pigs.  They are not large individually, but their numbers are large.  Their meat is considered good and many live pigs are shipped to England.  They are fed with nuts, acorns, berries, apples, and corn.  They are better than the Carolina hams where the pigs are fed with fish.  The pigs are easy to care for as they run in the forest all of the time.  They come home about every eight weeks.  But many run away and sometimes the bears will do damage to the pigs.  Every farmer has his own crop or mark by which he marks their ears."

"Sheep are raised in constantly increasing numbers.  But because there is a lack of skilled workmen to use the wool, the sheep are grown only for their meat.  Turkeys, geese, ducks and chickens are very common."

"The game is very common and the land is a zoological garden filled with all kinds of animals.  The game is only half-wild because they are not shy of men.  Stags are very common, deer also.  Bears are found in large numbers.  They are not vicious, hence they are shot without fear.  There are wild boars and wild horses.  The raccoon is a fierce animal slightly larger than a cat.  The "monac" is a new animal that we do not have in Switzerland [it is a groundhog].  We tried to take one of these back to England but it died on the trip.  Foxes and hares are smaller in Virginia.  Fox squirrels are very numerous.  Then there are bats which fly only at night.  Instead of wings they have skin over their toes."

"The feathered game is very common and tame.  There are many turkeys.  It is large and weighs from twenty to forty pounds.  Many of them are killed because of the fine meat.  The first two that I met in the woods, I thought that I could catch by running after them but they are very fast runners.  Finally they flew away."