nt were a joy to the General's
eye.[9]

[Footnote 9: _Vide_ General Hart's letter in Appendix.]

[Illustration: First Entry into Krugersdorp. Captain and Adjutant
Fetherstonhaugh in foreground.]

In the same way, whenever a halt was ordered, it was the regiment's
custom to lay out their kits, mess-tins, belts, &c., in lines outside
their tents. Each Colour-Sergeant had a ball of string, which was
stretched between a couple of pegs; the kits were laid along it, the
string was rolled up and pitched into a tent, and neatness and
regularity prevailed without any extra trouble to any one. This
neatness in camp, in addition to its other soldierly qualities,
endeared the battalion in the eyes of General Hart, a soldier of the
old school, to whom order and regularity particularly appealed.

On the 2nd the column made another short march to Greysdorp, where
there were two or three good wells, but where the water in the pan was
of a most peculiar green colour.

The Mafeking relief column was met on the way, and very hard and
serviceable they looked, while several officers met old friends,
amongst others Prince Alexander of Teck, whom we had known at
Maritzburg before the war.

A longish march of nineteen or twenty miles on the 3rd, with a halt
midway, brought us in the evening to a place called Barber's Pan,
somewhat superior to the generality of these places. There was a
certain amount of water in the pan, but brackish and unpleasant to
drink. Round it were scattered some half-dozen houses, but the most
remarkable thing in connection with it was the sunset. As the light
faded, a mist rose from the veld, which after a few minutes began to
change colour, until at last it settled down to a most beautiful shade
of light green. None of us had seen anything similar before, nor did
we ever see anything like it again.

A march of about fourteen or fifteen miles on the 4th brought us to a
most uncomfortable camp. On the way, Captain Fetherstonhaugh (acting
Adjutant since Captain Lowndes was hit at Talana) rode off some
distance to a flank to try and get some supplies. He returned with a
great story of his reception by crowds of women and one or two men;
the latter stated they had been reluctantly compelled to fight against
us at Modder River, on pain of being shot, but that their sympathies
were entirely with us, &c. They even gave him a pound of butter. And
we believed this story at the time.

But, for that matter, w