p a
position under cover of the nearest hill. Without suspecting any harm we
went into camp about seven miles from the English, keeping the Valsch
River between us and them.

I placed an outpost that night close to the river and told them to stay
there till the following day. The burghers of this watch returned in the
morning and reported that they had seen nothing but wreaths of smoke
ascending from the north bank of the river. They believed that these
came from the English camp.

We were still safe then--so at least we all believed.

But the corporal who had brought this report had but just left me, and
was scarcely one hundred paces off when I heard the report of rifles. I
thought at first that it was only some cattle being shot for food, but
all at once there were more shots, and what did we see? The English were
within three hundred paces of us, on a little hill near Bothaville, and
close to the spot from whence my outpost had just returned.

It was early morning. The sun had not risen more than twenty minutes and
many of the burghers still lay asleep rolled up in their blankets.

The scene which ensued was unlike anything I had ever witnessed before.
I heard a good deal about panics--I was now to see one with my own eyes.
Whilst I was looking for my horse to get him up-saddled a few of the
burghers were making some sort of a stand against the enemy. But all
those who had already up-saddled were riding away at break-neck speed.
Many even were leaving their saddles behind and galloping off bare-back.
As I up-saddled my horse I called out to them:--

"Don't run away! Come back and storm the enemy's position!" But it was
no use. A panic had seized them, and the victims of that panic were
those brave men who had never thought of flight, but only of resisting
the enemy!

The only thing I could do was to leap into the saddle and try to
persuade the fugitives to return. But I did not succeed, for as I
stopped them at one point others galloped past me, and I was thus kept
dodging from point to point, until the whole commando was out of range
of the firing.

The leader of the enemy's storming party was Colonel Le Gallais, without
doubt one of the bravest English officers I have ever met. On this
occasion he did not encounter much resistance, for only a very few of
the burghers attacked him, and that only at one point of his position.
Among these burghers were Staats-Procureur Jacob De Villiers, and
Veldtcornet Jan