proceeded to the capital. The roads to Pretoria were crowded with men,
guns, and vehicles of every description, and despondency and despair
were plainly visible on every human face.

CHAPTER XV.

OCCUPATION OF PRETORIA.

The enemy naturally profited by our confusion to pursue us more
closely than before. The prospect before us was a sad one, and we
asked ourselves, "What is to be the end of all this, and what is to
become of our poor people? Shall we be able to prolong the struggle,
and for how long?"

But no prolongation of the struggle appeared to have entered into our
enemy's minds, who evidently thought that the War had now come upon
its last stage, and they were as elated as we were downhearted. They
made certain that the Boer was completely vanquished, and his
resistance effectually put an end to. At this juncture Conan Doyle,
after pointing out what glorious liberty and progress would fall to
the Boers' lot under the British flag, wrote:--

"When that is learned it may happen that they will come to
date a happier life and a wider liberty from that 5th of
June which saw the symbol of their nation pass for ever from
the ensigns of the world."

Thus, not only did Lord Roberts announce to the world that "the War
was now practically over," but Conan Doyle did not hesitate to say the
same in more eloquent style.

How England utterly under-estimated the determination of the Boers,
subsequent events have plainly proved. It is equally plain that we
ourselves did not know the strength of our resolution, when one takes
into account the pessimism and despair that weighed us down in those
dark days; and as the Union Jack was flying over our Government
buildings we might have exclaimed:--"England, we do not know our
strength, but you know it still less!"

Nearly all the commandos were now in the neighbourhood of Pretoria,
General Botha forming a rearguard, and we determined to defend the
capital as well as we could. But at this juncture some Boer officer
was said to have received a communication from the Government,
informing us that they had decided not to defend the town. A cyclist
was taking this communication round to the different commandos, but
the Commandant-General did not seem to be aware of it, and we tried in
vain to find him so as to discover what his plans were. The greatest
confusion naturally prevailed, and as all the generals gave different
orders, no one knew what was goi