There were men enough in New-Orleans who would give five thousand dollars for such an extra, handsome, fancy piece as Emily would be, rather than not get her. No, no, he would not sell her then. She was a beauty—a picture—a doll—one of the regular bloods—none of your thick-lipped, bullet-headed, cotton-picking niggers—if she was might he be d--d.[My emphasis]I suppose that's another way of sating "brute" with "brutish intelligence". And interesting that this would be some of the same things said about black women today.
(17 years of informed commentary)