...be divinely ordained to pick his cotton: In the first place, his skull has a hardness and thickness greater than our own, which defy the arrowy sunbeams of the South. Then his skin . . . secretes a far greater quantity of moisture, which like dew, throws back the heat absorbed by...

...discovered some remarkable characteristics that made him especially suited for labor in a tropical climate: "In the first place, his skull has a hardness and...which, like dew, throws back the heat absorbed by us." " Hentz uses the journey to the plantation to speak directly to traveler accounts of the Georgia backwoods....