to find out, _with as
small a loss as possible_, the position and strength of the enemy. Here
it may not be out of place to mention that acting as scouts and advance
parties, and drawing the fire of the enemy, has been the vocation of the
Imperial Yeomanry, also of the Colonial Mounted Troops. Then four of us
were ordered to ride slowly up the kopje, which was a wooded and very
rocky one, and find out if any of the enemy were there. This we did. It
is a peculiar feeling, not devoid of excitement, doing this sort of
thing, for our horses made much noise and very slow progress over the
boulders and rocks, and the possibility of a Brother Boer being behind
any of the stones in front of one with a gun, of course made one
reflect on the utter impossibility of shooting him or his friends, or of
beating a retreat. Still, the knowledge that the report of his Mauser
would warn one's comrades below was eminently satisfactory. There were
no Boers there, or I should hardly be inditing this letter. They had
built sangars and left them. We were posted on this kopje for the rest
of the day, and at night upon another.

[Footnote 3: From the first the mixture of cavalry and
infantry terms used in connection with the I.Y. has been most
amusing. As our officers from this date invariably referred
to us in cavalry terms, the words "squadron," "troop," etc.,
will be used to the end of the volume.]

[Illustration: "Stable Guard! There's a horse loose!"]

Our artillery had shelled them during the afternoon, and they did not
trouble us again. That night we were not allowed to have any fires and
our position being inaccessible to the waggons, we had no hot coffee or
tea, which by the way, is one, if not the greatest, of our treats--our
milkless and occasionally sugarless evening and morning coffee or tea.

On Saturday we advanced with the main body through a good deal of bush
country. Sunday was one of the hardest days we had during our little
fortnight's outing. We started early as advance to Ian Hamilton's
Division, and during the day covered a terrific amount of ground, got
well peppered on several occasions, once, during the afternoon, pushing
on rather too close to the enemy, the retreating Boers gave us some warm
rifle fire and then opened on us with a couple of field guns, and we had
to clear. The firing was excellent. A few of us got into a bunch, and a
shell whirred over our heads and str