retrace our steps, for we could certainly go no farther on horseback. So
we slipped through the pursuing columns, and returned to the districts
of Jansenville, Graaff-Reinet and Cradock.

In February we were not so hotly pursued. De Wet had entered the Cape
Colony from the north-west; and like a magnet he drew most of the
British forces irresistibly to him. This gave us a short rest, which
was, alas! only too short. For De Wet, as well as Hertzog, had to fall
back on the Orange Free State, and with redoubled energy the British
came upon us like a mighty avalanche. The reader can hardly realise
what we had to undergo these first eight months in the Cape Colony.

It was a bitter disappointment to learn how De Wet had fared and that
both he and Hertzog had abandoned the Cape Colony. We knew it was not
their fault and so did not blame them. Still we were resolved to hold
out as long as possible. Gradually it went better; the colonists began
to enlist and our numbers swelled. We could now form other commandos,
and despatch these in various directions, and that prevented the enemy
from concentrating all their forces on us. At last we had gained such a
strong footing in the Colony that to expel us all was simply an
impossibility.

And how did General De Wet fare when he crossed the Orange River on the
11th of February, 1901? The following account given by one who
accompanied him will give the reader some idea of the unsuccessful
attempt at invasion.

"MY DEAR K.,--We are just back from the Cape Colony, and no doubt
you will be anxious to hear all about our recent experiences. I
daresay you have followed us all the while in thought, and have
carefully studied the papers to ascertain our movements and learn
what we were doing. As we have little faith in newspaper
war-reports, I shall take the trouble to give you a full account of
our short-lived colonial invasion.

"You will be surprised, and perhaps sorely disappointed, to hear
that De Wet's and Hertzog's commandoes are all back in the Orange
Free State. This means that you are going to have now ever so much
harder times, for the enemy will certainly concentrate their forces
on your small commando, to clear you out of the Cape Colony as soon
as possible. The odds, of course, will be so great to contend
against, that, humanly speaking, you will be bound to retreat
across the Orange River. Still I tr