SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 223 



condemned, by the custom of the country, to carry burdens, pound corn, and 

 perform all the hard labor, they are universally masculine in appearance, 

 without one soft blandishment to render them desirable or lovely. (Swan, 

 1855, p. 274.) 



The traveler and botanist William Bartram was of a somewhat 

 romantic type and his conclusions differ from those of Swan accord- 

 ingly. In the appendix to the first London edition of his Travels he 

 has the following general account of the southern Indians : 



The males of the Cherokees, Muscogulges, Siminoles, Chickasaws, Chactaws, 

 and confederate tribes of the Creeks, are tall, erect, and moderately robust; 

 their limbs well shaped, so as generally to form a perfect human figure; their 

 features regular, and countenance open, dignified and placid ; yet the forehead 

 and brow so formed, as to strike you instantly with heroism and bravery; the 

 eye though rather small, yet active and full of fire; the iris always black, and 

 the nose commonly inclining to the aquiline. 



Their countenance and actions exhibit an air of magnanimity, superiority and 

 independence. 



Their complexion, of a reddish brown or copper colour ; their hair long, lank, 

 coarse, and black as a raven, and reflecting the like lustre at different exposures 

 to the light. 



The women of the Cherokees, are tall, slender, erect and of a delicate frame ; 

 their features formed with perfect symmetry, their countenance cheerful and 

 friendly, and they move with a becoming grace and dignity. 



The Muscogulge women, though remarkably short of stature, are well formed ; 

 their visage round, features regular and beautiful ; the brow high and arched ; 

 the eye large, black and languishing, expressive of modesty, diffidence, and 

 bashfulness ; these charms are their defensive and offensive weapons, and they 

 know very well how to play them off, and under cover of these alluring 

 graces, are concealed the most subtile artifice ; they are however loving and 

 affectionate; they are, I believe, the smallest race of women yet known, seldom 

 above five feet high, and I believe the greater number never arrive to that 

 stature; their hands and feet not larger than those of Europeans of nine or 

 ten years of age; yet the men are of gigantic stature, a full size larger than 

 Europeans, many of them above six feet, and few under that, or five feet eight 

 or ten inches. Their complexion much darker than any of the tribes to the 

 North of them that I have seen. This description will I believe comprehend 

 the Muscogulges, their confederates, the Chactaws, and I believe the Chicasaws 

 (though I have never seen their women) excepting however some bands of the 

 Siminoles, Uches and Savannucas, who are rather taller and slenderer, and 

 their complexion brighter. 



The Cherokees are yet taller and more robust than the Muscogulges, and by 

 far the largest race of men I have seen ; their complexions brighter and some- 

 what of the olive cast, especially the adults; and some of their young women 

 are nearly as fair and blooming as European women. (Bartram, 1792, pp. 

 481^83.) 



A more succinct statement is contained in his paper on the Creek 

 and Cherokee Indians (1909). It is as follows: 



The Cherokees are the largest race of men I ever saw. They are as comely 

 as any, and their complexions are very bright, being of the olive cast of the 

 Asiatics ; this is the obvious reason which I suppose led the traders to give them 



