hat I have ever heard.

From Waterval-Boven we went to Nelspruit, to which President Kruger had
moved in his railway-home. We gave our horses a week's rest and passed
the time fishing and hunting. We were content there, as we got plenty to
eat, and our horses, too, were well fed--an important matter to us just
then. Circumstances were forcing us to attach much value to all sorts of
trifles that we would formerly not even have noticed.

If once one has suffered the pangs of hunger, one learns to value the
comfort and luxury of home; and if one has wandered about for weeks
without seeing woman or child, one learns to appreciate their gentleness
and charm and to understand Schiller's Zuechtige Hausfrau in 'Das Lied
von der Glocke.' How often in our wanderings we longed for good
literature during our long, tiring, monotonous rides! And how terrible
was the thought of the moral hurt we were suffering--voluntarily in a
way, yet forced to it by a sense of honour and duty. For in this lay the
grievousness of the war, that a powerful nation--influenced by a few
unscrupulous leaders--was trying to annihilate a small nation that
demanded the right of existence, and was therefore forced to defend that
right. It was a happy time for us when we had the opportunity of turning
our thoughts towards literature and other things than commando work.

The privations that we had already endured were small indeed in
comparison to those which awaited us. It was well with the Uitlander
optimist who remained in our country while the Republics could give him
the comforts he demanded as his right, but who, as soon as things went
wrong, and he saw nothing but misery in the future, left for his own
country--there to sit in judgment on our peasant-nation. How I long for
the gift of being able to express myself, to give a true account of the
self-denial of our burghers and of the misery that we endured! How my
heart bleeds when I think of the great sorrow that has come upon my poor
people!

When the enemy approached the Delagoa railway-line, President Steyn left
with his escort for Hectorspruit. I had to follow with a trolley for
which there was no room on the train. Because of the disorder that
reigned everywhere I had to wait nearly three days before I could start.
I was pretty nearly famished on my arrival at Hectorspruit, and ate
greedily of the remains of the porridge left by some burghers, among
whom were two sons of State Secretary Reitz. Pre