neutrality.

I came across an old acquaintance of mine in the lager--Phister, who had
served under Commandant Boshoff. I knew that he had been wounded in the
leg at the Battle of Stompies and taken by our men to Rietpan. On the
trek from Ventersdorp to Potchefstroom I discovered him lying on his
back in the blazing sun on an open trolley, near to Potchefstroom; he
shouted to me that he had had nothing to eat during the whole of the
eighteen hours' trek.

In Potchefstroom our trolley, with the twelve 'hands-uppers,' the
ambulance doctor, and myself, was sent in the direction of the prison.
People came towards us from all directions. Some women called out to us:
'Why were you so stupid as to let yourselves be caught?' Others
inquired, weeping, after husbands and sons.

When we got to the prison I alone was detained, and had the disagreeable
experience of being locked up. The ambulance doctor was dismissed, as he
was 'Not guilty'; and the 'hands-uppers' were taken to the refugee camp.

The treatment that the prisoners of war receive varies, and depends very
much on the prisoners themselves and on the men into whose hands they
fall. I was allowed to see my mother and sister, who obtained a pass to
come from Pretoria to see me. But I have seen the guards roughly send
away weeping women who were begging to be allowed a few words only with
their dear ones.

At Elandsfontein Station the Transvaal colours worn by some of the
prisoners of war were taken away by force. On the long journey to
Ladysmith we were packed like herrings in open trucks, with insufficient
covering for the cold nights.

The Ladysmith camp contained chiefly burghers who had been 'tamed' by
the enemy, and were ready to take the oath of allegiance. They were well
treated.

On April 3 I was taken prisoner, and on May 6 I was on board the
_Manila_, together with 490 other prisoners of war, on our way to India.

The burghers, accustomed to a free, independent life, suffered horribly
from want of space and insufficient and bad food. They could not get
over the idea of having to appear twice daily for the roll-call,
although there was no escape possible. But their sense of humour did not
suffer.

Our burghers acknowledge that travelling is an education in itself, but
they one and all prefer travelling as free men--first or second
class--and they even prefer the high walls and limited space of the
fortress to being a prisoner-of-war passenger on board the