rting like an arrow back to their
horses, for all round us our men were being shot down, and we did not
know where the enemy's camp was, nor could we tell the effect of our
shooting in the dark. A slight fog had arisen, through which the moon
occasionally succeeded in dimly appearing. The day had dawned; we
reached our horses in the greatest disorder, and heightened the
confusion by shouting inquiries to each other after friends and
relatives. Some did not wait to find their horses, but fled on foot;
others jumped on strange horses. Some even escaped on khaki horses that
had strayed from the camp.

As my brother and I galloped off, a man fell wounded close behind us,
and the bullet struck the ground between us. The burghers rallied at a
farm in the neighbourhood of the enemy's camp. Some of our men fled on,
but most of them retreated with the guns to the commissariat trolleys,
many without saddle, mackintosh or blanket, more hopelessly impoverished
than ever, but not discouraged, for although the attack had been
repulsed we were not defeated.

In this lay our strength, that we were not disheartened by our defeats,
but were able constantly to rally and to renew the attack. We kept on
exhausting the enemy by slight skirmishes that are not worth relating,
but their effect on the whole weakened him and strengthened us.

On our side that day there were forty wounded, but only a few killed. It
grieved us all that Commandant Botman had remained behind on the
battle-field. He was universally liked for his bravery and for his
simple Christianity. To our great joy, we heard later on that he had
recovered, and had somehow succeeded in reaching Krugersdorp.
Fortunately, the fog prevented the enemy from doing us much harm, and
towards afternoon our cannon put a stop to their advance.

The attack on Smith-Dorrien's camp was worthy of a better result. In
this, as well as in the Hekpoort and Boesmanskop battles, where also we
had no position, the burghers showed great courage and goodwill. In my
opinion, the officers should have given up the plan of attack after we
had missed our way the night before and been obliged to return. The
Kaffirs and traitors must have warned the enemy of our intention to
attack, so that they could be in readiness for us.

The enemy were now all round us. We heard the firing of cannon on all
sides, but that same night we undertook a cunning backward movement, and
when the enemy closed their cordon an hou