August.] SCOTCH ANECDOTE. 
243 
hand, the Griquas urge in their defence, when ac- 
cused of cruelty toward the Bushmen, — " That 
their chief dependence for subsistence is on their 
cattle ; that it is hard to be deprived in one night 
of their principal means of support, by those 
savages, who will neither sow nor rear cattle." 
The Bushmen are not the first that have em- 
ployed the same kind of reasoning under similar 
circumstances. I believe there is still in the family 
of Grant, of Grant, (in the north of Scotland,) a 
letter from Cameron, of Lochiel, defending his 
conduct in having allowed his vassals to carry off 
a number of cattle belonging to Sir James Grant, 
in which the Highland chieftain has recourse to 
the same ingenious sophistry : he tells Sir James 
that he never allowed his men to touch any of the 
cattle belonging to his Highland estates ; but he 
reminds him, at the same time, that the low coun- 
tries were once the property of the Highlanders, 
and that they have a right to all they can capture 
there. 
All agree that if there were a separate mission, 
solely for Bushmen, it would put an end to the 
robberies and murders which are now committed 
by this people ; that, wild as they are, they 
are more docile than any of the other nations, 
and more grateful for kindness shown to them. 
R 2 
