54 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



XOL. 68 



The poorer class of mountaineers frequently show characteristics 

 partly due to their Ijackwardness in education and their isolation, 

 and }jartlv })erha|js to hook-worm disease or other ahnormal condi- 

 tions. Some of the }-()un^- men are types of slouchiness. such as 

 would delic;ht the artist ; while the women disfig'ure themselves by 

 chewing" snuff and fre(|uently show uncouthness in dress, move- 

 ments, and behavior. Ikit the i)eople are hospitable and interest- 

 ing. In the course of a short ride of less than two miles through a 

 sparsel}' settled gorge, the writer and his local companion had no 



Fig. 53. — Mountaintt-r's shack and patcli of corn eastern Tenne'ssee. 



less than four invitations to lunch^n the other places there was no 

 one at home. Their language and intonation are characteristic and 

 <|uaint. and the people seem to be full of old and local folk-lore, 

 the study of which would probably prove most delightful. I'.eing 

 largely dependent on themselves and their few neighbors thev have 

 also many antiquated and strange curative ])ractices which would 

 repay investigation. 



Their worst enemies are the isolation. " moonshine " whiskew and, 

 in not a few cases, undouljtedly a poor hereditw The arm\- draft 



