n was formed about three miles out of the town, Lord Roberts at
the head of the cavalry brigade which preceded the army. I shall never
forget that ride down the sloping country into Bloemfontein; the little
white-haired man sitting his horse like a rock, leading; then the
personal staff; then the general staff; then the foreign attaches; then
the correspondents; then the cavalry staff; then the cavalry; then the
main body of the army--artillery, infantry, engineers, commissariat, and
baggage.

As we came into the first street of the town it was apparent that the
day was regarded as a festival. One could hardly imagine a stranger
reception of an invader. Flags flew at every window, and the people were
all decked out as though for a holiday. Half-way towards the Presidency
there was a little diversion. Some Kaffirs, thinking that this was a
good opportunity of paying off old scores, had begun to loot and pillage
a large building like a school-house, which belonged to the Free State
Government. As we swung round the corner of the street they were in the
act of bundling out mattresses, bedsteads, linen, chairs, desks, and
tables, and carrying them off. A few dozen Lancers were let loose
amongst them; they dropped their booty and fled, only to be driven back
at the point of a lance and made to replace the stolen property. Then
the march was resumed until the procession drew up in front of the
Presidency. The Federal flag had been struck some time before, and the
flagstaff now stood gaunt and undecorated. There was a pause of about
ten minutes while Lord Roberts went in and transacted some necessary
formalities; then the little silk Union Jack, made by Lady Roberts, was
run up to the truck amid a great sound of cheering. The singing of the
National Anthem ended the ceremony. The town seemed altogether
English--English shops, English manners, the English language, and
English faces. All that day enthusiasm bubbled in the town like water
boiling in a pot; all day the troops continued to march in; shabby and
dusty and dirty and tired, they were nevertheless all stamped with some
nameless quality which they had not when they left England. All day the
population of Bloemfontein eddied through the streets like a crowd at a
fair; all day the sounds of rejoicing continued, and far into the night
the streets resounded to the cries of people who made merry.

XII

RETRACING THE STEPS OF THE ARMY

With its independence, hande