orst of it was that he asked me to wind up by offering a prayer.
I felt as if I would gladly have welcomed the earth opening beneath
me. I had never been in such a predicament before. To refuse, to have
pleaded exoneration from this solemn duty, would have been fatal, for
a Boer general is expected, amongst other things, to conduct all
proceedings of a religious character. And not only Boer generals are
required to do this thing, but all subordinate officers, and an
officer who cannot offer a suitable prayer generally receives a hint
that he is not worthy of his position. In these matters the burghers
are backed up by the parsons.

There was, therefore, no help for it; I felt like a stranger in
Jerusalem, and resolved to mumble a bit of a prayer as well as I
could. I need not say it was short, but I doubt very much whether it
was appropriate, for all sorts of thoughts passed through my head, and
I felt as if all the bees in this world were buzzing about my ears. Of
course I had to shut my eyes; I knew that. But I had, moreover, to
screw them up, for I knew that everybody was watching me. I closed my
eyes very tightly, and presently there came a welcome "Amen."

My old commando was now obliged to find a new commandant and I had to
take leave of them in that capacity. I was pleased to find the
officers and men were sorry to lose me as their commandant, but they
said they were proud of the distinction that had been conferred upon
me. Commandant F. Pienaar, who took my place, had soon to resign on
account of some rather serious irregularities. My younger brother, W.
J. Viljoen, who, at the time of writing, is, I believe, still in this
position, replaced him.

At the end of June my commandos marched from Balmoral to near
Donkerhoek in order to get in touch with the British. Only a few
outpost skirmishes took place.

My burghers captured half a score of Australians near Van der Merwe
Station, and three days afterwards three Johannesburgers were
surprised near Pienaarspoort. As far as our information went the
Donkerhoek Kopjes were in possession of General Pole-Carew, and on our
left General Hutton, with a strong mounted force, was operating near
Zwavelpoort and Tigerspoort. We had some sharp fighting with this
force for a couple of days, and had to call in reinforcements from the
Middelburg and Boksburg commandos.

The fighting line by this time had widely extended and was at least
sixty miles in length; on my right I h