r Viljohn?

And then as I passed them the whole group would salute very civilly.

We stopped at Dullstroom that night, where we found some lodgings for
the captured British officers. We were sorry one of the Englishmen
had not been given time to dress himself properly, for we had a very
scanty stock of clothes, and it was difficult to find him some.

The next morning I found half a dozen prisoners-of-war had sustained
slight flesh wounds during the fight, and I sent them on a trolley to
Belfast with a dispatch to General Smith-Dorrien, informing him that
four of his officers and 250 men were in our hands, that they would be
well looked after, and that I now sent back the slightly wounded who
had been taken away by mistake.

I will try to give the concluding sentence of my communication as far
as I remember it, and also the reply to it. I may add that the words
"The Lady Roberts" had been chiselled on the naval gun, and that many
persons had just been expelled from Pretoria and other places as being
considered "undesirables."

My letter wound up as follows:--

"I have been obliged to expel "The Lady Roberts" from
Helvetia, this lady being an "undesirable" inhabitant of
that place. I am glad to inform you that she seems quite at
home in her new surroundings, and pleased with the change of
company."

To which General Smith-Dorrien replied:

"As the lady you refer to is not accustomed to sleep in the
open air, I would recommend you to try flannel next to the
skin."

I had been instructed to keep the officers we had taken prisoners
until further orders, and these four were therefore lodged in an empty
building near Roos Senekal under a guard. The Boers had christened
this place "Ceylon," but the officers dubbed it "the house beautiful"
on account of its utter want of attractiveness.

They were allowed to write to their relatives and friends, to receive
letters, and food and clothes, which were usually sent through our
lines under the white flag. The company was soon augmented by the
arrivals of many other British officers who were taken prisoners from
time to time.

The 250 captured rank and file were given up to the British
authorities at Middelburg some days after, for military reasons.

"The Lady Roberts" was the first and so far the last big gun taken
from the English, and we are proud to say that never during this War,
notwithstanding all our vicissitudes and rever