that there were no
Boers within twenty miles,' says one who was present, 'when we heard a
roar of musketry and saw a lot of men galloping down on us.' The British
were surprised but not shaken by this unexpected apparition. 'I never
saw a more splendid attack. They kept a distinct line,' says the
eye-witness. Another spectator says, 'They came on in one long line four
deep and knee to knee.' It was an old-fashioned cavalry charge, and
the fact that it got as far as it did shows that we have over rated the
stopping power of modern rifles. They came for a good five hundred yards
under direct fire, and were only turned within a hundred of the British
line. The Yeomanry, the Scottish Horse, and the Constabulary poured a
steady fire upon the advancing wave of horsemen, and the guns opened
with case at two hundred yards. The Boers were stopped, staggered, and
turned. Their fire, or rather the covering fire of those who had not
joined in the charge, had caused some fifty casualties, but their own
losses were very much more severe. The fierce Potgieter fell just in
front of the British guns. 'Thank goodness he is dead!' cried one of
his wounded burghers, 'for he sjamboked me into the firing line this
morning.' Fifty dead and a great number of wounded were left upon the
field of battle. Rawlinson's column came up on Kekewich's left, and the
Boer flight became a rout, for they were chased for twenty miles,
and their two guns were captured. It was a brisk and decisive little
engagement, and it closed the Western campaign, leaving the last trick,
as well as the game, to the credit of the British. From this time until
the end there was a gleaning of prisoners but little fighting in De
la Rey's country, the most noteworthy event being a surprise visit to
Schweizer-Renecke by Rochfort, by which some sixty prisoners were taken,
and afterwards the drive of Ian Hamilton's forces against the Mafeking
railway line by which no fewer than 364 prisoners were secured. In
this difficult and well-managed operation the gaps between the British
columns were concealed by the lighting of long veld-fires and the
discharge of rifles by scattered scouts. The newly arrived Australian
Commonwealth Regiments gave a brilliant start to the military history
of their united country by the energy of their marching and the
thoroughness of their entrenching.

Upon May 29th, only two days before the final declaration of peace,
a raid was made by a few Boers upon