the
Hoogeveld. The discipline was much stricter. Cooper and Fanie Grobler,
who had been accused of high treason, promised to keep a sharper
look-out for spies and traitors. And we still always hoped for an
eventual rebellion in Cape Colony. That hope was our life-buoy on which
we kept our eyes fixed. We felt that there our safety lay, and the
enthusiasm of the commando was heightened by the desire to celebrate
Paardekraal Day in Krugersdorp on December 15. As a sailor longs for the
sea, so we longed for a meeting with the khakies when we left for the
Magalies Mountains in the beginning of December. Our commando was light
and mobile, with provisions for a short time only. Such heavy cannon as
the Long Toms were of no use to us now. Hence-forward we were to live on
the produce of the surrounding country, as there was no basis from which
we were to operate. Besides this, the khakies very kindly made over some
of their provisions, arms, and ammunition to us in a skirmish or battle,
so that afterwards we had more Lee-Metfords than Mausers in our
possession.

At Krokodil River I had the privilege of seeing how a honey-bird takes a
human being to a bees' nest. As we were lying under a tree, a honey-bird
settled close to us. Corporal Botman followed it as it flew chirping
from tree to tree, and called to it that he was following, until the
bird stopped at the hive. The grateful finder always rewards the bird
with a piece of honeycomb that he puts aside for it. But I have never
been able to discover whether the bird or the insects eat the honey. I
know that the 'bug-birds,' that are always seen on or near cattle, do
not feed on the bugs with which the cattle are covered, but on the
locusts that fly about the herd. Last week, when our guards took us for
a walk outside the fort, I noticed that a kind of sparrow in India has
the same trick of catching the locusts that are driven on ahead by the
cattle.

I shall not try to give a description of the works of the machinery that
moved mechanically to the Magalies Mountains, for I should have to guess
at the particulars in this historical little tale. Mechanical I call the
journey, for there were days and nights in which we were numbed, body
and soul, exhausted by hunger and thirst and want of sleep.

When we were at Bethany, a convoy of the enemy was seen moving in the
direction of Commandonek. When it noticed our guard, it dragged its
curved body with great zeal through the pass.