The Travels of William Bartram

Botanizing the civilized South

Back when Thomas Jefferson and colleagues were signing the Declaration of Independence, naturalist William Bartram was exploring the wilds of the Southeastern United States. From 1773 to 1777, Bartram, a Philadelphia naturalist, traveled throughout the South, from Charleston, South Carolina to Baton Rouge, and from the Everglades to the Great Smoky Mountains. Bartram published an account of his Travels (the original title is much longer) in 1791. His primary pursuit was botanizing—collecting and describing the plant species of the region. Bartram also, however, noted many observations about the animal life, topography, and human inhabitants of the places he visited. Although one might imagine Bartram trekking through remote, pristine wilderness, the picture he paints of the South is surprisingly populated and civilized. He never seems to lack for a hospitable plantation, convenient trading post, or sizable Native American settlement at which to spend the night or eat a hearty meal at the behest of generous hosts.

One really has to be a botanist to appreciate all of what Bartram has to say in his Travels. As many a nature-loving hiker might do, Bartram noted the different species of plant life he spotted on his outings. Each chapter contains about three or four of such species lists, but they are all in Latin. He also uses many Latin botanical terms to describe the characteristics of various plants. When he’s discussing animals, however, he writes in plain English, using the common names (some of which have changed over the past two and a half centuries). In particular, he has a lot to say about crocodiles, which were plentiful and hostile.

The Revolutionary War is not mentioned at all in Bartram’s Travels. Slavery is mentioned, though not as much as one would expect, given the locale. More often than not, when Bartram visits a plantation in Georgia or Florida, he just doesn’t mention the Black population at all. Only when he is loaned a slave as a temporary guide or paddler does he ever single out a Black person for mention, and never by name. Bartram gives much attention in this book, however, to the Native American population of the American South. He interacts with and discusses at length the people of the Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, and Muscogulge nations. Bartram frequently expresses a great respect for the Native peoples and takes particular care in his detailed descriptions of their lifestyle, customs, government, and society.

Many scholars consider the modern genre of nature writing to have begun with the writings of Alexander von Humboldt, the German Romanticist who combined empirical scientific observation with subjective emotional reflection in such works as Views of Nature. Bartram, however, writing a few decades earlier, was at least making baby steps in that direction. Though he doesn’t digress into extended flights of personal philosophy like Henry David Thoreau is wont to do, Bartram does take the time to note his personal impressions of place and often praises the glory of God as manifested in His natural creations. Bartram also mixes plenty of travel anecdotes among his scientific descriptions of the land and its wildlife.

Unfortunately, much of Bartram’s Travels consists of tedious descriptions of topography and waterways that wear on the reader after a while. The nature writing on plants and animals is much more interesting, even if one doesn’t have a fluent knowledge of botanical Latin. The most valuable aspect of Bartram’s Travels, however, is his writing on the Native Americans of the South. This book amounts to a time capsule of the delicate balance that existed between frontier settlers and Native civilization before the former drove away the latter.

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