[page 141]


101.

101.

These Batäters have roots as thick as an arm, and they have a nice natural taste, but it is not comparable to the natural taste of the Grundbieren! When these Batäters grow in a piece of land or a field, they reproduce by themselves[230]. One can find many other varieties of plants in this province.

Welche Batäters Wurztlen haben armsdick, und sie auch einen nathürlichen guten Geschmack haben, aber doch keinen Verglich gegen nathürlichen Grundbieren haben sie nicht ! Diese Grund-bieren wann sie in einem Stück Land oder Feld eingewurtzelt seyn pflantzen sie sich von selbsten. Im übrigen findet man noch allerley unterschiedliche Arten Gewächse alda in dieser Profintz.

Our stay in Williamsburg during this winter went very well; we had many kinds of entertainment, even just watching how the Moors live their lives.

Wir befanden uns diesen Winter durch gantz wohl und gut in Wiliamsburg allwo wir stets die gröste Zeit vertreib hatten, nur um zu sehen wie die Mohren ihren Lebenslauff zubringen thun.

That winter we had 2 large fires, the first of which was in a very beautiful building next to the college; the building burned to the ground, the fire having been caused by the French who, for that matter, had to pay for it[231]. The 2nd was in the building where the viceroy of England resided at the time when it was still English: the building burned to the ground, the fire having been caused by the Americans who had set up a hospital there; a few of the sick burned to death there, because the fire surprised them and there was not enough time to evacuate them.

Wir bekamen diesen Winter durch auch 2 starcke Feuersbrunste die erste ware : ein sehr schönes Gebäute neben dem Collegium welches gantz verbrandt und durch die Frantzosen angesteckt worden, welches sie auch bezahlen mußten. Das 2te ware das Gebäute des engellischen Vitzen-Königs welcher vorzeiten seine Ressidentz alda hatte da es noch engelisch ware : welches auch gantz abgebrandt und durch die Americaner angesteckt worden dann sie hatten ihr Spithal darinnen, wobey auch einige Krancken damit verbrennet seyn, weilen das Feuer sie zu plötzlich überfallen hatte und keine Zeit mehr ge-habt sie heraus zu bringen.

Concerning this region’s climate, it is very pleasant because it is not at all too cold, the coldest weather is comparable to what we have on Saint Martin’s day in Europe, when it threatens to snow, but the snow melts in the air before falling to the ground.

Was die Viettrung dieser Gegend anbelangt ist sehr lieblich weilen es gar nicht viel kalt wird, die gröste Kälte ist mitten im Winter als in Europa gegen Marthiny-Zeit wann es dan und wann mit Schnee träuen thut, so vergeht er in der Lufft ob er auf den

[réclame]

Erde

https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b10110846m/f71/pct:50,0,100,100/,700/0/native.jpg

Strasbourg, Médiathèque André Malraux, ms f 15, p. 141.

[agrandir]


 Notes

230. In German-speaking Rhineland, Flohr should have been accustomed to making the distinction between Erdäpfel, which were cultivated in gardens for the cattle and had tall stems, lovely yellow flowers and a slightly sweet taste, and Grundbieren, which were smaller in size and more numerous, buried in the ground, had white and red flowers, and were reserved for human consumption. Even if the two terms ended up becoming synonyms, the fact that Flohr found they had a different taste from that of potatoes can be explained by the fact that the distinction between those reserved for animals and those consumed by humans was no longer made and that new varieties appeared. Indeed, between 1785 and 1789, upon his return to America, Flohr must have been witness to a degeneration of the potato varieties that had been cultivated since the sixteenth century in Rhineland: agronomists advised replacing the plants every two years, allowing new varieties to appear (Boehler, Jean-Michel, Une société rurale en milieu rhénan: la paysannerie de la plaine d’Alsace (1648-1789), Strasbourg, PUS, 1995, t.3, p.767).
231. As the war was taking place on allied territory, the French army was required to pay for the reparations when it damaged equipment. In the same way France had to buy the provisions needed, being unable to ask the country to contribute. These elements can partly account for the particularly high cost of the war.