dow in the heart of civilisation at the evening
sun that glorifies the Pretoria green kopjes, the scene dissolves. In
its place comes the picture of the first gaunt daylight on the 26th of
March last at fifteen kilometres, just going into Swakopmund. The mist
from the coast had rolled inland; through it after dawn came miles of
horsemen and wagons, guns, limbers, lorries, ambulances. Every human
unit in that column was covered in white dust, and every horse was
weary. And except for the staccato "click-click" of bits and an
occasional deep hum from a passing motor the army moved in perfect
silence through the sand.

The official history of the South-West campaign remains to be written,
of course; in the meantime I am convinced that the actions on the
twenty-one mile Pforte-Jakalswater-Riet front were practically the
deciding factors of the campaign.

[Illustration: A Typical Parade of the Germans in South-West Africa]

SECTION III

THE RECORD TREK TO WINDHUK

On the 27th of March General Botha left Northern Force Headquarters at
Swakopmund for Luderitzbucht, the landing-place of the Central Force
under the commands of Brigadier-General Mackenzie.

The whole plan of campaign was very much this. The Protectorate was to
be invaded from several angles, the route of these various forces being
quite clear, I hope, in the diagram given. Roughly speaking there were
three forces: the Northern (General Botha, Commander-in-Chief), working
inland from Swakopmund; the Central (Brigadier-General Mackenzie)
working inland from Luderitzbucht; and the Southern and South-Eastern
converging on Keetmanshoop from Raman's Drift-Warmbad-Kalkfontein
(Hartigan's Horse), from Upington (Brigadier-General van Deventer and
Colonel Celliers) and from Kimberley-Hasuur (Colonel Berrange's
column). As a result of this great concentration on Keetmanshoop and
northwards from all sides, the Germans would be forced to decisive
action, to retreat northwards, or be cut off. Upon these forces
reaching a certain distance inland a general move would be made in the
direction of Windhuk--and again the enemy would have to fight or
retreat to the limits of his railway system.

[Illustration: Typical captured German Infantry]

[Illustration: The Great Trek. Otjimbingwe: its Palms and Wells]
[Illustration: The Great Trek. Otjimbingwe: the Commander-in-Chief at
the old German capital]
[Illustration: The Great Trek. Getting Milk from a Goat. Milk was
p