e important post of
Governor of the Orange River Colony. From that town we drove across to
Kimberley, taking two days to accomplish this somewhat tedious journey.
We stayed one night with a German farmer, who had surrendered to the
English when Bloemfontein was occupied by Lord Roberts, and his case was
typical of many similar awkward predicaments which occurred frequently
during the ups and downs of the war. When Lord Roberts's army swept on
from Bloemfontein, the Boers in a measure swept back, and our host was
for months persecuted by his own people, finally made a prisoner, and
was within an ace of being shot; in fact, it was only the peace that
saved his life.

Next day we made our noonday halt at Poplar Grove, the scene of one of
Lord Roberts's fights, and farther on we passed Koodoos Rand Drift,
where General French had cut off Cronje and forced him back on
Paardeberg. All along these roads it was very melancholy to see the
ruined farms, some with the impoverished owner in possession, others
still standing empty. A Boer farmhouse is not at any time the
counterpart of the snug dwelling we know in England, but it was
heartbreaking to see these homes as they were at the conclusion of the
war, when, in nearly every instance, the roof, window-frames, and doors,
were things of the past. When a waggon could be espied standing near
the door, and a few lean oxen grazing at hand, it was a sign that the
owner had returned home, and, on closer inspection, a whole family of
children would probably be discovered sheltered by a tin lean-to fixed
to the side of the house, or huddled in a tent pitched close by. They
all seemed wonderfully patient, but looked despairing and miserable. At
one of these houses we spoke to the daughter of such a family who was
able to converse in English. She told us her father had died during the
war, that two of her brothers had fought for the English, and had
returned with khaki uniforms and nothing else, but that the third had
thrown in his lot with the Boers, and had come back the proud possessor
of four horses.

At Kimberley we had motors placed at our disposal by Mr. Gardner
Williams, manager of the De Beers Company, and were amused to hear how
excited the Kaffirs had been at the first automobile to appear in the
Diamond City, and how they had thrown themselves down to peer underneath
in order to discover the horse. These motors, however, were not of much
use on the veldt, and we soon found Ki