dvanced scouts. The
reconnaissance, which was marked only by an exchange of shots between
the patrols, revealed little, but it was generally believed that a
considerable portion of the army investing Ladysmith was moving, or was
about to move, southwards to attack Estcourt, and endeavour to strike
Pietermaritzburg. The movement that we had awaited for ten days
impended. Accordingly certain military preparations, which I need not
now specify, were made to guard against all contingencies, and at
daylight on Wednesday morning another spray of patrols was flung out
towards the north and north-west, and the Estcourt armoured train was
ordered to reconnoitre towards Chieveley. The train was composed as
follows: an ordinary truck, in which was a 7-pounder muzzle-loading gun,
served by four sailors from the 'Tartar;' an armoured car fitted with
loopholes and held by three sections of a company of the Dublin
Fusiliers; the engine and tender, two more armoured cars containing the
fourth section of the Fusilier company, one company of the Durban Light
Infantry (volunteers), and a small civilian breakdown gang; lastly,
another ordinary truck with the tools and materials for repairing the
road; in all five wagons, the locomotive, one small gun, and 120 men.
Captain Haldane, D.S.O., whom I had formerly known on Sir William
Lockhart's staff in the Tirah Expedition, and who was lately recovered
from his wound at Elandslaagte, commanded.

We started at half-past five and, observing all the usual precautions,
reached Frere Station in about an hour. Here a small patrol of the Natal
police reported that there were no enemy within the next few miles, and
that all seemed quiet in the neighbourhood. It was the silence before
the storm. Captain Haldane decided to push on cautiously as far as
Chieveley, near which place an extensive view of the country could be
obtained. Not a sign of the Boers could be seen. The rolling grassy
country looked as peaceful and deserted as on former occasions, and we
little thought that behind the green undulations scarcely three miles
away the leading commandos of a powerful force were riding swiftly
forward on their invading path.

All was clear as far as Chieveley, but as the train reached the station
I saw about a hundred Boer horsemen cantering southwards about a mile
from the railway. Beyond Chieveley a long hill was lined with a row of
black spots, showing that our further advance would be disputed. The
t