er the most insanitary race
laying claim to a civilisation of any standard, the squatters who
settled upon Hopetown as a site suitable for a village chose a
situation as insalubrious as any to be found on the fringe of the
Karoo. In a cup-valley of mean dimensions, the little collection of
shanties which group round the church and town-hall lay tucked away in
the folds of the bare dusty hills, so that if tracks did not converge
upon the village with consistent regularity there would be no evidence
outside a narrow radius of its existence. It was not until the
advance-guard covering the New Cavalry Brigade topped the actual bluff
above the hamlet that the temporary importance of Hopetown was
realised. The dip in which the village lay was black with the
transport of many columns, and the dust and smoke raised by the
thousands of animals and hundreds of cooking fires formed a heavy haze
which, covering the township as with a pall, hung half-way between the
level of the valley and the overhanging brae where the advance-guard
stood halted. It was not an inviting picture. The dust and vapour
seemed unable to face the perpendicular violence of the midday sun;
the only perceptible movement in the middle distance was the shimmer
of the atmosphere, squirming as it were under the relentless heat;
while the great pall of dust and smoke, as if ashamed to raise its
head, mushroomed out against the hillsides with undecided edging.

As we stood gasping for some breath of air to relieve the burden of
oppressive heat, it seemed that the valley was some great stew-pot of
the _inferno_, and that Hopetown was simmering at its bottom.

The brigadier cantered up to the advance-guard, and throwing his reins
to his orderly, made a brief survey of the topographical approaches
to Hopetown.

_Brigadier._ "Well, there is not much of De Wet left in this corner of
the world. All the commandoes[35] of the Hunt seem to have forgathered
here and to be having a day off. What a hole of a place--ideal, no
doubt, from the Dutchman's point of view. Why, the smell of it reaches
up here. But here comes a robber in a pink 'beaver'; we shall soon
know all about it."

A diminutive boy in staff kit cantered up and demanded information
about the column.

_Staff Officer._ "What column is this?"

_B._ "The New Cavalry Brigade."

_S. O._ "Never heard of you. Who told you to come in here? Who
commands you?"

_B._ "Steady, my fledgling, one question at a time