372 CHEROKEE NATION OF INDIANS. 
was simple, his wants were easily supplied; and, in consequence, the 
largest measure of his existence was spent in indolence and frivolous 
amusements. Such proportion of the family food as the chase did not 
supply was found in the cultivation of Indiancorn. The pride of awarrior 
scorned the performance of menial labor, and to the squaw was this 
drudgery, as well as that of the household, assigned. His general 
character has been much misunderstood and misrepresented. He 
was in fact possessed of great ingenuity, keen wit, and rare cun- 
ning. In the consideration of matters of public importance, his conduct 
was characterized by a grave dignity that was frequently almost ludi- 
crous. The studied stolidity of his countenance gave the spectator no 
clew to the inward bent of his feelings or determination. The anxious 
prisoner, from a watchful study of his face and actions, could read 
nothing of his probable fate. He was physically brave, and would 
without hesitancy attack the most dangerous beasts of the forests or 
his still more ferocious human enemies. In the hands of those enemies 
he would endure, with the most unflinching nerve, the cruelest tortures 
their ingenuity could devise, and at the same time chant his death 
song in the recital of his numerous personal acts of triumph over them. 
His methods of warfare were, however, very different from those 
which meet the approval of civilized nations. He could not understand 
that there was anything of merit in meeting his antagonist in the open 
field, where the chances of victory were nearly equal. It was a useless 
risk of his life, even though his numbers exceeded those of his enemy, to 
allow them to become advised of his approach. His movements were 
stealthy, and his blows fell at an unexpected moment from the hidden 
ambush or in the dead hours of the night. His nature was cruel, and 
in the excitement of battle that cruelty was clothed in the most ter- 
rible forms. He was in the highest degree vindictive, and his memory 
never lost sight of a personal injury. He was inclined to be credulous 
until once deceived, after which nothing could remove his jealous dis- 
trust. 
His confidence once fully secured, however, the unselfishness of his 
friendship as a rule would put to shame that of his more civilized 
Anglo-Saxon brother. His scrupulous honor in the payment of a just 
debt was of a character not always emulated among commercial nations. 
His noble qualities have not been granted the general recognition they 
deserve, and his ignoble traits have oftentimes been glossed over with 
the varnish of an unhealthy sentimentality.t 
For many years following his first contact with the whites the daily 

! William Bartram, who traveled through their country in 1776, says (Travels in 
North America, p. 483): ‘‘The Cherokees in their dispositions and manners are grave 
and steady, dignified and circumspect in their deportment; rather slow and reserved 
in conversation, yet frank, cheerful, and humane; tenacious of the liberties and nat- 
ural rights of man; secret, deliberate, and determined in their councils; honest, just, 
and liberal, and always ready to sacrifice every pleasure and gratification, even their 
blood and life itself, to defend their territory and maintain their rights.” 
