having received a reward of some tobacco, dakka, (or hemp leaves for smoking,) and, perhaps, two or three ewes, leaves the habitation of the colonist, drives the cattle into distant parts, with the fertility of which he is well acquainted; and, after an absence of some months, returns to the farmer his cattle in such an improved condition, that had they not his particular mark upon them, he would with difficulty credit that they were the same animals which, on account of their leanness, the Bushman could with difficulty remove from his farm. Sometimes the farmer has put the fidelity of the Bushman to the test, by sending one or other of his acquaintance to try whether he could not obtain a sheep, by promising him some reward; but the instances are rare in which he has succeeded. Many farmers on the frontiers declared to me, that were it not for the Bushmen, they saw no means of breeding cattle."

The following extract of a letter, dated 24th November, 1825, addressed to the author by Sir Jahleel Brenton, Baronet, giving an account of a Bushman boy brought by him from the Cape of Good Hope, may be adduced as strongly confirmatory of the opinions which have been advanced of the talents and disposition of the Bushman people :—

"Hermes is an honour to the race, and a distinguished proof of what this amiable people are capable of. He possesses the sweetest disposition, and the strongest attachments possible. With all the fun and merriment you remember in him, there is a depth of thought and solidity of understanding that is really astonishing. He has been living for the last year with my sisters at Bath, to whom he is invaluable as a

servant, and even as a friend. He heard, some time since, of an approaching confirmation, and expressed a wish to be confirmed. My sister mentioned it to the archdeacon, who requested to see him, and, after a long conversation, pronounced him to have attained a most extraordinary degree of knowledge in religion. He was accordingly confirmed, and became the subject of universal conversation. A clergyman, who had heard of the circumstance, begged to see him, and cross-questioned him in every way. He asked him which of all the characters in the Old Testament he should have wished to have been, had it been possible. Hermes reflected for some time, and then said firmly, "David, Sir.' 'What? sooner than Solomon, whose prosperity was so great?' 'Yes, Sir; both were sinners; but David, we know, repented of his sins; while there is no passage of scripture which gives us the same opinion of Solomon.' This is the substance of his answer, which greatly surprised his auditors. His memory is wonderful: he brings home every sermon, and comments upon it with extraordinary acuteness."

Colonel Collins, in his report to government, in 1809, which we have had occasion to quote more than once, speaks of the Bushmen as being most liberally gifted by nature with talents. To the same effect, the following passage, related to me as a part of an address delivered by a Bushman to his countrymen, at a missionary station, when some colonists were present, may be adduced as displaying a very considerable knowledge of scripture, and no mean share of natural ability. Why is it," said he, that we are persecuted and oppressed by the Christians? Is it because we live in desert lands, clothe ourselves with

66

66

skins, and feed on locusts and wild honey? Is there any thing morally better in one kind of raiment, or in one kind of food, than another? Was not John the Baptist a Bushman? Did he not dwell in a wilderness? Was he not clothed with a leathern girdle, such as we wear? And did he not feed on locusts and wild honey? Was he not a Bushman? Yet Christians acknowledge John the Baptist to have been a good man. Jesus Christ (whose forerunner he was) has said that there has not arisen among men a greater than John the Baptist. He preached the doctrine of repentance to the Jews, and multitudes attended his ministry; he was respected even by the Jews, and preached before a great king. It is true John the Baptist was beheaded, but he was not beheaded because he was a Bushman, but because he was a faithful preacher; and where, then, do the Christian Men find anything in the precepts or example of their religion to justify them for robbing and shooting us, because we are Bushmen?"

For a brief description of the manner in which these people were treated, when Sparrman travelled in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, I beg leave to refer the reader to the following extract from the Work of that writer:

"The slave business, that violent outrage against the natural rights of mankind, which is always in itself a crime, and leads to all manner of misdemeanours and wickedness, is exercised by the colonists with a cruelty toward the nation of Boshies-men, which merits the abhorrence of every one; though I have been told that they pique themselves upon it: and not only is the capture of the Hottentots considered by them merely as a party of

pleasure, but, in cold blood, they destroy the bands which nature has knit between husband and wife, and between parents and their children. Not content, for instance, with having torn an unhappy woman from the embraces of her husband, her only protection and comfort, they endeavour all they can, and that chiefly at night, to deprive her likewise of her infants; for it has been observed, that the mothers can seldom persuade themselves to flee from their tender offspring."

In the instructions given to Colonel Collins, by the colonial government, on his visit into the interior, among other subjects on which he was called to collect information, his attention was particularly directed to the Bushmen. Having studied their character, as far as his opportunities allowed him, he asserts, without the slightest qualification, what we have already stated as affirmed by him,-that there is not upon the face of the globe a people possessed of better natural abilities, or more susceptible of mental or moral improvement.

Having stated this officer's opinion on this subject, the reader must be anxious to know the measures he has recommended in his report to the colonial government, in 1809, to be adopted for their improvement; and they shall be stated in his own words:

"In adverting to our northern neighbours," says he, "I feel the sincerest pleasure in being enabled to recommend a more liberal line of policy than that which I think necessary to be observed, for a considerable time at least, towards those of the east. Different from the Kaffers and Tambookies, the Bosjesmen are mostly scattered over an immense tract of country, in small parties unconnected with each other: they may, therefore, be more safely introduced into the

colony, collected and instructed in institutions, and dispersed among the inhabitants.

"The report which I formerly had the honour to make, founded on the information that I had received of the state of those people living beyond the northern boundary, will, I believe, apply equally to those residing near the north-eastern limits. Although differing, in some degree, in language and appearance, their habits and manners are in few points dissimilar. They subsist on the same food, use the same arms, and are equally attached to a wandering life; they are alike bound by no authority, and are unconnected by all ties, except relationship, and such as tend to secure their individual safety. My sentiments have been already so fully delivered on the subject of missionary institutions, that, convinced as much as ever of their utility, under proper regulations, it remains for me only to point out the situations that seem most eligible for their establishment.

"The inhabitants of Hantam, and the Roggeveld, suffer most by the depredations of Bosjesmen, perhaps on account of their great distance from their usual haunts in the Karree mountains, which prevents the possibility of friendly communication; this should, I conceive, be the first point attended to. The situation. chosen by Mr. Kicherer was found convenient, and the happiest effects were felt during the continuance of his institution, which was abandoned for no cause but pecuniary difficulties. Should any objection arise to the reoccupying of this spot, the Bloom or Katel Fonteyn, at the distance of one or two days' journey east of it, might be chosen, and would, perhaps, be