fully well! At sunset our convoy almost fell into the
hands of the enemy. What a pity it did not! It would have saved us
so much needless trouble, and we would have been far better off
without it.

"Most of the night we remained in the saddle. The General was
anxious to get as far away as possible from the columns, to rest
his horses for a few hours. But the British, so it seemed, were
resolved that neither we nor our horses should have a rest, for
early the next morning they were on our heels. We could not offer
any resistance, because we had no positions, and could not
recklessly expose ourselves to the enemy's fire without any cover
at all. On the open plain our horses would have been swept away by
the enemy's guns, and in a short time we would have been all
infantry. Hence, on their approach we withdrew, hoping to find a
place where we could make a stand. Unfortunately we failed to find
the wished-for positions. For miles and miles the country is just
one vast plain; when you get to the end of that plain you may find
a ridge, a hill or slight elevation, which, however, did not
signify much. The enemy could easily outflank and surround us, if
we did not abandon it in time. With eyelids "heavy and dim," and
bodies "weary and worn," exposed to the dazzling rays of a burning
sun, we rode on, driven occasionally as a herd of cattle. At last
night fell and we could enjoy a short rest.

"The next morning the same story was repeated: the English hot on
our track--no rest for body or soul. The country being as flat as
the part we had traversed the previous day, we had to march again
the whole day under a burning sun. Now and then we dismounted for a
few minutes, in order that our horses might snatch a few mouthfuls
of grass.

"At the hour of sunset there was something to relieve the monotony
of fleeing all day. Two burghers--bread spies as we call them--had
gone ahead to buy some bread at a farm where a party of the enemy
was stationed. Not aware of that, they rode up to the house, with
the result that one got captured, while the other returned under a
hail of bullets at a breakneck pace to relate the fate of his
comrade. De Wet immediately sent in a note asking the enemy to
surrender, since they numbered only about twenty. They answered
sh