uliarity; it possesses a huge tail, which
sometimes weighs as much as ten pounds.

We were unable to obtain bread, and our flour had remained behind in the
waggons. The sound of an explosion had told us that General Fourie had
not been able to save them, and that by now they must have been burnt.

I heard later on that General Fourie had been attacked by the English
and had not been able to set fire to the waggons himself. But the
English, so my scouts informed me, had done the work for him, and so
thoroughly that they had also burnt some of their own waggons which had
got into the swamp.

After we had helped ourselves to a good "African boutspan," and had
slept with our saddles as pillows, we were all in good spirits again,
although we could not forget our experiences in the swamp.

The burghers whom I had with me were of the right stamp, and were
prepared to sacrifice everything for the freedom of the people. If any
one had asked them whether they were ready to undergo any further
hardships, they would have replied that a hundred swamps would not
discourage them. They knew that freedom was a pearl of such value that
no man since the world began had been able to set a price upon it.

When General Fourie had abandoned the waggons, he retreated to the
south, crossing the railway at De Aar. He joined me again near
Petrusville when I was returning to the Free State.

As the English had to march round the swamp, leaving their waggons
behind, we were not pressed for time, or obliged to march very far. We
took advantage of this respite to give our horses a little rest.

I now proceeded to the west of Hopetown, in the direction of
Strijdenburg. The following day the English were again on our heels in
greater numbers than ever, and advancing more speedily than before. I
was obliged to engage their vanguard for nearly the whole of that day.

That evening we arrived at a spot about ten or twelve miles to the
north-west of Strijdenburg. Here I left Commandant Hasebroek behind
with three hundred men, till the following morning, with orders to watch
the enemy and hold them back if necessary. This would give my burghers
who were on foot, or whose horses were exhausted, a chance of getting
away.

I might here explain to the uninitiated our methods of checking the
advance of the enemy.

The burghers who had the best horses would remain behind any rise or
kopje they could find in the neighbourhood. When the enemy approached