der continued for about a quarter of an hour, and
then our battery opened with a roar and silenced them in about two
minutes. And all the while the convoy jolted along the road, and the
rest of the action, or the chief part of it, remained with the right
flank. But I could see the Boers galloping along the ridge in front of
us to be ready for the convoy when it should come up, and certainly that
ought not to have been possible. It is ungrateful to criticise the
Yeomanry who had been doing so very well and learning so quickly, but,
if the truth must be told, their work on the right flank that day was
not beyond reproach. Once, when the fire was slack, I went across to the
right, and rode back very quickly, for I found kopjes which, according
to all military rules, should have been occupied by us, held by the
enemy.

Of course to guard efficiently the flank of a marching column is not
easy for untried troops, especially when a running fight has to be kept
up. In this kind of country, where a line of kopjes runs parallel with
the road, the best plan is for two flanking parties to occupy them by
turn. Thus A party should occupy No. 1 kopje and B party No. 2; when No.
1 needs no longer to be held A leaves it and seizes No. 3, and then B
leaves No. 2 and occupies No. 4, and so on. But the Yeomanry were
strolling aimlessly along the foot of the kopjes, while the nimble Boer
was climbing up the other side to the top, and shooting down upon
them--or over their heads at the convoy--as he pleased.

It is a marvel that of our twenty casualties only two were killed. If
the Boers had known of our movement just a little sooner I fear we
should have suffered heavily, or at least lost many cattle and perhaps a
few waggons. At the same time we were taken at the usual disadvantage of
a moving force that has to defend itself, and, with the exception of the
flanking, our work was done really well. The guns at once silenced the
Boer artillery, and they were brought into action so expeditiously that
the Boers never got the proper range. It is true that one shell plumped
into the middle of a flock of sheep, but I believe it killed only two.
And our rear-guard fought manfully. The fire was heavy there, and one
could not see much, but I saw enough to realise that theirs was stiff
work. They and darkness finished the engagement, and we went on to
Boshof, arriving there just as night closed in.

I shall never forget riding down the main street i