chase
boots, socks, flannel shirts, and a waterproof, more than half of my 10
had melted away; it would be necessary, therefore, to exercise the
strictest economy.

From Lydenburg and through the Eastern Transvaal I was fortunate in
finding wagons going Natalwards on which I could load my swag. Once or
twice I got a lift myself but this I was not particularly anxious for.
I had my small Low Country tent with me. For its capacity this was the
lightest thing of the kind I have ever seen. It weighed with poles,
pegs, and whipcord guys about six pounds. Its height was two feet six
inches; its poles were of bamboo which had been split in two and
rejoined, the split pieces being relatively reversed. Its pegs were
made of a very hard but comparatively light wood which I had found in
one of the forests of the Blyde River Valley.

When about half-way to the Natal border I encountered heavy rain.
One-tenth of the thunderstorms that broke over my luckless head would,
had they but visited the mountain saddle a couple of weeks previously,
have made an independent man of me. This was quite typical of my luck.

Mosquitoes were a terrible plague in the Transvaal. I shall never
forget my experiences one night close to the source of the Vaal River.
The sun was hardly down before the tormentors came out in myriads. They
seemed to thrive on smoke; at all events they were less incommoded by
it than I was. I closed my tent up tightly and placed some live embers
inside. On these I laid some tobacco and damp grass, at the same time
pulling at my pipe as furiously as I could. 'But all was in vain; the
wretched insects crowded in as though they enjoyed the dense reek.

Although dead tired after an exceptionally fatiguing day, I struck the
tent, repacked my swag, and tramped on until morning. Then I left the
road and made for a kopje about a mile away, on which were some very
large rocks. I flung myself down under a ledge, and was fast asleep
almost before I reached a recumbent position. It was late in the
afternoon when I was awakened by the heat of the sun. Then, after a
hearty meal of askoek and tea, I tramped on again until another morning
broke.

I passed Laing's Nek and Majuba Hill, the slopes of which were destined
within a few years to flow with the blood of brave men, and to be the
scene of feats of arms which startled the world, and, in a certain
respect, revolutionized warfare. But it was water that was there
flowing on the day I