se to write a history of the Kafir War of the year
1835, for that has already been done by far abler hands than mine, and
with a fullness of detail which leaves nothing to be desired; moreover,
I have another and entirely different, although, as I think, equally
stirring story to tell. I will therefore dismiss the events connected
with my service in the ranks of the Somerset East Mounted Rifles with
the bare statement that during the nine months so covered I participated
in many deeply stirring episodes, and on several occasions found myself
involved in situations so desperate that nothing save the steadfastness
and invincible courage of every man present saved us from absolute
annihilation. It is not to be supposed that a mere handful of men
composed of burghers and farmers, with practically no knowledge of
military science, and quite unaccustomed to anything in the nature of
military discipline, could pass through so trying an ordeal as that
which we cheerfully faced without suffering heavy loss; and, as a matter
of fact, by the time that the campaign was so far over that the regular
troops were able to cope with the situation, and the Government had
therefore no further need of our services, the Somerset East Mounted
Rifles had become reduced to less than half their original strength: yet
fortune so far favoured me that when at length the corps was disbanded I
was one of the very few who escaped without so much as a scratch to show
for my nine months' service.

The corps was disbanded where it had originated, in the town of Somerset
East; and on the following day I found myself face to face with the
exceedingly perplexing problem of the future. I was, it must be
remembered, not yet quite eighteen years of age. I was therefore still
young enough to be able to start life afresh; but I was without a single
relative in the world, and my worldly goods consisted solely of two
thousand five hundred and sixty acres of pasture land which, although it
was undeniably an exceedingly valuable possession, and likely to
increase very greatly in value with the passage of the years, was just
then incapable of returning me a single penny of income. True, there
was a sum of a little over three hundred pounds sterling standing to my
credit in the bank, such being the proceeds of the sale of my wagon,
oxen, and the ammunition with which I had trekked into Somerset East
upon the outbreak of hostilities, though this was far too insigni