the hands of the enemy. As we were reconnoitring
on one of the kopjes, I suggested to a friend that we should go to the
farm in front of us, where none of us had been since Olifantsnek was in
possession of the enemy. We had to ford a donga closed in by barbed
wire. When we got to the farm, we were told that the enemy had not been
there, with the exception of a khaki who had lost his way. He had taken
six eggs from a nest in a kraal and swallowed them greedily, and had
then passed on to the garden without speaking a word to the harmless,
inquisitive women of the farm.

For safety's sake I put the boys on guard and had the horses tied. The
view was so enclosed on all sides that the enemy could appear most
unexpectedly from Olifantsnek. We had been there only a short time, when
we were told that the enemy were coming in large numbers from the
direction of Rustenburg. We mounted at once and rode back, but could
not get back to our comrades on the hills because of the barbed wire in
the donga. We had gone only about 250 paces along the drift, when the
enemy came riding along. Fortunately, they were intent on plunder and
did not see us, as they kept their eyes fixed in the direction of the
house. If we had been a few seconds later we should have fallen into
their hands. The few burghers on the kopjes began to fire at them, and
when I got to the top of one of the kopjes I saw the enemy--about 100 in
number--fleeing in great disorder. This expedition cost them several
dead and wounded, besides their plunder--meal, fowls, and other
things--that they dropped in their flight.

When I went back to the farm later on, I was told that one of the girls
had clapped her hands with delight when the enemy fled past them. That
must have been the reason why she and her family were so cruelly
insulted and plundered by the khakies afterwards. We met with great
kindness during our stay in the Magalies Mountains. We always got
something to eat, and towards evening we bought some loaves of bread to
take back with us to our hiding-place. In those days we could always
get forage for our horses, and they were in very good condition.

Meanwhile General de la Rey had gone with a commando to the west of
Rustenburg, and had left two Commandants in the Zwartkoppen, to the
north-east of Rustenburg.

When we got the tidings that the enemy had taken possession of
Selikatsnek, we went as rapidly as we could to the Zwartkoppen. We had
many adventures on