ood of Ohrigstad, a little town that we
left to our right, I asked a Boer woman whether the fever did not make
one's life impossible there, and I got a very naif reply: 'No; this
year the fever was not so bad. We all got ill, but not one of us died.'

The rest of our journey to the north of Lydenburg, over Spekstroom
River, along Watervalop, over Steenkampsberg to Roossenekal, was very
tedious. The uninhabited Boschveld was very interesting, and we had
sufficient provisions then, but the poor, uncivilized Boer inhabitants
of the Lydenburg district were unable to supply us with necessaries, the
want of which we were beginning to feel. We could not buy a loaf of
bread anywhere. And it is anything but pleasant in a time of war to come
across such lax and unenergetic people as they proved to be. The men
were nearly always at home, and appeared to be discouraged and unwilling
to fight. We had all lost our sweet tooth. That one could tell by such
expressions as: 'Even if you give me sugar:--' But occasionally we got a
more desirable substitute, when a beehive was discovered in a cleft of a
rock. Some of our men are particularly clever at discovering a hive. I
have often seen a man stand gazing up at the sky, walk on a short
distance, and again stand gazing, and after awhile appear with a bucket
of honey. By watching the flight of the bees they find out in what
direction the hive is. A practised eye can see the rising and settling
of the bees above the hive from a great distance.

X

FROM ROOSSENEKAL TO PIETERSBURG--WITH GENERAL BEYERS TO THE MAGALIES
MOUNTAINS

We went in a very different direction from that of General Ben Viljoen's
commando, which took the road to Pietersburg through Leydsdorp.
President Steyn celebrated the anniversary of his birthday at
Roossenekal, and addressed us in the same spirit as on the former
occasion at the Sabie.

Roossenekal is famous for its caves, or grottos, in which the Mapochers
hid themselves so well during the Mapoch War. We made use of the
opportunity to visit the grottos, of whose formation I should like to
know more. What appeared on the outside to be an ordinary hill proved a
most wonderful natural building containing many rooms. The old kraal
walls and the peach-trees and 'Turkish figs', (prickly-pears), overgrown
by wild trees, and an occasional earthen vessel, were the remains of the
Kaffir city. Of course we cut our names into the rocks by way of
becoming immortal.