- A calf
A calf - A Cow
A Cow - A family enjoying a meal, about 1650
A family enjoying a meal, about 1650. Many of the eating and drinking vessels portrayed, together with much of the tableware, are types which have been excavated. (conjectural sketch by Sidney e. King.) - A horse
A horse - A physician bleeding a patient.
A physician bleeding a patient. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) One of the members of the first colony was a surgeon, William Wilkinson by name. As the colony grew, other surgeons, physicians, and apothecaries, emigrated to Virginia. Their lot was not easy, for it appears that they were seldom idle in an island community having more than its share of “cruell diseases, Swellings, Flixes, Burning Fevers, warres and meere famine.” During archeological explorations, drug jars, ointment pots, bleeding bowls, mortars and pestles, small bottles and vials, and parts of surgical instruments were recovered. These, undoubtedly, were used countless times at Jamestown by unknown “chirurgions,” doctors of “physickes,” and apothecaries—men who tried to keep the colonists well with their limited medical equipment and scant supply of drugs. - A Silversmith weighing clipped coins
Making lime from oyster shells in a kiln, about 1625. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) - A Wharf scene
A wharf scene—arrival of a ship from the mother country. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) During the 17th century, active trade was carried on between the Virginia colony and the mother country. Local commodities of timber, wood products, soap ashes, iron ore, tobacco, pitch, tar, furs, minerals, salt, sassafras, and other New World raw materials were shipped to England. In exchange, English merchants sold to the colonists, tools, farm implements, seeds, stock and poultry, furniture and household accessories, clothing, weapons, hardware, kitchen utensils, pottery, metalware, glassware, and certain foods and drinks. There is also good evidence that some trade was carried on with Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Mexico, and the West Indies. Many artifacts unearthed (especially pottery) were made in the countries mentioned. It is believed that certain commodities were acquired by direct trade with the country where made, in spite of the strict laws by which the Colonial Powers sought to monopolize the colonial trade for the benefit of the mother country. - Alfred in the Neat-Herds hut
Alfred in the Neat-Herds hut - Angora goat
Angora goat Shortly after the Angora goat became known in Europe, efforts have started to acclimatize it on our continent. So far, there has been no reason to complain about the results of these experiments, which have led to the breeding of this breed in Spain, Italy, France and Sweden; it is even said that the wool of animals born in France is finer than that of their ancestors. - Anlaff entering the Humber
he Danes by this time had formed settlements in Ireland as well as England, and we are told that one of their kings, named Anlaff, whom some think to be identical with Anlaff, the son of Sithric, others a different person, arrived from Ireland with many ships, and was joined by Owen of Cumberland, and Constantine, the king of the Scots. According to a late, and not very trustworthy, account of the campaign, it would appear that it was arranged so secretly that Anlaff entered the Humber with a fleet of six hundred sail, and invaded Northumbria before Athelstan had any intelligence of his landing; and with such forces, and the assistance of the Danes settled there, he easily became master of several small ill-guarded towns. - Assasination of Edward the Martyr
Assasination of Edward the Martyr - Attack on Brookfield.
- Baking Bread
Baking bread in an outdoor baking oven about 1650. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) - Battle of Lake George
- Battle of Muddy Brook
- Bear
Bear - Bear Cub
Bear Cub - Beisa
Beisa - Bezoar goat
The Bezoar goat ( Capra aegagrus) is smaller than the European Capricorn, but still considerably larger than our House Goat. The length of the adult buck is about 1.5 M. the height of the withers is 95 cm. and that of the cross 2 cM. more. The very large and robust, compressed on both sides, sharply edged on the back and front, but rounded and arched horns on the outside, the length of which already exceeds 40 cm in the case of medium-sized animals, and in the old often more than 80 cm. are strongly and uniformly curved from the root. - Bison
Bison (Forest americanus) Fate, which has fallen into the Wisent over the centuries, has affected his one-part relative the Bison, in unbelievable shortness, one could even say in a period of ten years. Before the age of man, millions of these colossal animals crossed amazingly vast tracts of North America;—today, only hundreds of Bisons roam around. - Bison
Bison ( Bos bison ). - Wisent t; it can be seen with certainty that the Wisent used to be widespread throughout Europe and much of Asia. In the heyday of Greece, he was frequent in the present-day Boelgarije; in Middel-Europe, he was found almost everywhere at the time. Aristotle calls him "Bonassus", and gives him a clear description; Pliny mentions him under the name "Bison"; ancient writings mention this animal, in the 6th and 7th centuries; According to the Nibelungen song, it appeared in Waasgau. - Blowing Glass
Blowing glass at Jamestown in 1608. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) - Boy and Girl feeding a horse
Boy and Girl feeding a horse - Braddock's Defeat
- Breads
Breads - Brewing Beer
Brewing beer at Jamestown. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) - Britons with Coracles
Britons with Coracles - Building a wharf
Building a wharf, about 1650. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) Piers and Wharfs.—In order to accommodate such large sailing vessels, piers and wharfs had to be built at Jamestown. A 1,300-pound iron piledriver was found in the basement of a 17th-century building in 1955. It was probably used three centuries ago for driving piles in the James River during construction of a small wharf. - Burning of Schenectady
- Cakes
Cakes - Camanche Wigwam
- Cape Buffalo
Cape Buffalo - Captain Atherton in the Wigwam of Ninigret
- Captain Church and his men hemmed in by Indians
- Captain Mason and his Party attacking the Pequod Fort in the Swamp
- Capture of Annawon
- Capture of Mr. Williams
- Cereals
Cereals - Charles II. signing the Charter of Pennsylvania
The tract of country west of the Delaware was, in 1681, granted to William Penn, son of the distinguished Admiral Penn, as a reward for the services of his father. The boundaries of the tract are definitely given us in the charter, but are too minute to be here specified. The whole region was afterwards called Pennsylvania, constituting a state of very large and regular dimensions. The origin of the name is beautifully and ingeniously accounted for, in a letter written by William Penn: "This day (January 5, 1681)," says he, "after many waitings, watchings, solicitings, and disputes in the council, my country was confirmed to me under the great seal of England, with large powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsylvania; a name the king would give it in honor of my father - Chinese Procession
I have hereto annexed the print of a Chinese procession taken from the description of a traveller into that country; by which a good composer would well know how to make a proper choice of what might be exhibited, and what was fit to be left out; especially according as the dance should be, serious or burlesque. In the last case; even the horses might be represented by a theatrical imitation. - Columbus
Columbus - Columbus and Cabot
Pictures of Columbus, Cabot - Columbus before Ferdinand and Isabella
With this grand object before him, he first submitted his theory of a western route to the Indies, to John the Second, king of Portugal. He met with no countenance from this quarter. His project, in its vastness, was in advance of the comprehension of the age. John was not unwilling clandestinely to avail himself of information communicated to him by Columbus, but he would enter into no stipulation to aid him in the enterprise. Leaving the court of Lisbon in disgust, in the latter part of 1484, Columbus repaired to the Spanish sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella. The time of the application was peculiarly unfavorable, as the nation was then in the midst of the Moorish war, and needed for its prosecution all the pecuniary resources of the state. The persons of influence also in the court, were destitute of those enlarged views, which are essential to a just appreciation of the scheme that fired the great mind of Columbus. With these causes of discouragement, and the submission of his proposal on the part of the sovereigns to a council chiefly of ecclesiastics, he had little reason to expect a favorable issue. After waiting years in the most agitating suspense and doubt (for the council would come to no decision), he was preparing to abandon the suit. Pressing the court for a definite answer at that juncture, they at last gave him to understand, that his scheme was "vain, impracticable, and resting on grounds too weak to merit the support of the government." In deep despondency he quitted the court, and took his way to the south, as if in desperation, to seek other patronage in other quarters. - Columbus casting a barrel into the sea
The Pinta, being separated from the Nina, was supposed to have been lost; but this proved to have been a mistake, as she reached Spain nearly at the same time with the other caravel. At the time of their greatest extremity, when all hope of safety had departed, Columbus, anxious that the knowledge of his discovery might be communicated to the world, wrote a brief account of his voyage; and having properly secured it in a barrel, committed the latter to the ocean, in the hope that it might afterward be found, should he and his crew never see land again. But they were mercifully preserved, as the storm at length subsided, and, within a few days, they reached the island of St. Mary's, one of the Azores. - Columbus sets sail
The fleet consisted of three vessels, one furnished by himself, through the assistance of his friends, and was to sail from the little port of Palos in Andalusia. Two of the vessels were caravels—that is, light vessels without decks—the other was of a larger burden, though not amounting even to an hundred tons. How such craft could survive the waves and storms of the Atlantic, is one of the marvelous circumstances of the undertaking. The number of men received on board amounted to one hundred and twenty. The preparations having been finished, the undaunted navigator set sail on the morning of the 3d of August, 1492, having first with his whole crew partaken of the sacrament. - Common Deer or Red Deer
Common Deer or Red Deer - Cultivating a small garden in Virginia.
Cultivating a small garden in Virginia. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) - Culvert
Culvert - Custard and Creams
Custard and Creams - Danish Ships
Danish Ships - Deer boar
Deer boar - Drawing of Jamestown
Drawing of Jamestown - Dromedary
The Camel derives its food exclusively from the plant kingdom and is not at all picky. It is safe to say that the sobriety of this animal is its greatest virtue: it is satisfied with the worst food. It can live for weeks on the thirst and driest plants of the desert. In some cases it seems an old dish or mat, woven from the long palm fronds of the date palm, into a tasty dish. - Dunstan rebuking Edwy in the presence of Elgiwa
Dunstan rebuking Edwy in the presence of Elgiwa - Eggs
Eggs - Electric Eel
The electric eel. There are several species inhabiting the water, and which have the power of producing electric discharges by certain portions of their organism. The best known of these are the Torpedo, the Gymnotus, and the Silurus, found in the Nile and the Tiger. In the Surinam eel, the electric organ goes the whole length of the body along both sides. It is able to give a very severe shock, and is a formidable antagonist when it has attained its full length of 5 or 6 feet. - Enjoying a smoke in a tavern, about 1625.
Enjoying a smoke in a tavern, about 1625. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) The first colonists were quite familiar with the use of tobacco, and it is believed that many of them smoked clay pipes. Evidently there was some demand for tobacco pipes by the early planters as one of the men, Robert Cotten, who reached Jamestown in January 1608, was a tobacco pipemaker. In 1611-12 John Rolfe had experimented with tobacco plants in Virginia (he used Virginia plants as well as varieties from the West Indies and South America), and was successful in developing a sweet-scented leaf. It became popular overnight, and for many years was the staple crop of the infant colony. There was a prompt demand for the new leaf in England, and its introduction there was an important factor in popularizing the use of clay pipes. After 1620 the manufacture of white clay pipes in England increased by leaps and bounds. - Ethelwulf's Ring
Ethelwulf's Ring - Fashions for April 1841
Fashions for April 1841 - Fashions for March 1841
Fashions for March 1841