ck-horse. Many officers and men, however, had lost all hope of
escape.

It was about the 20th of April when the British approached so close
that we had to fight all day to maintain our positions. I gave orders
that same night that we should burn our waggons, destroy our guns with
dynamite, and make a dash through the enemy's lines, those burghers
who had no horses to mount the mules of the convoy. Hereupon about 100
burghers and an officer coolly informed me that they had had enough
fighting, and preferred to surrender. I was at that time powerless to
prevent them doing so, so I took away all their horses and ammunition,
at which they did not seem very pleased. Before dusk our camp was a
scene of wild confusion. Waggons and carts were burning fiercely,
dynamite was being exploded, and horseless burghers were attempting to
break in the mules which were to serve them as mounts. Meanwhile a
skirmish was going on between our outposts and those of the enemy.

It was a strange procession that left Mapochsberg that night in our
dash through the British lines. Many Boers rode mules, whilst many
more had no saddles, and no small number were trudging along on foot,
carrying their rifles and blankets on their shoulders. My scouts had
reported that the best way to get through was on the southern side
along Steelpoort, about a quarter of a mile from the enemy's camp at
Bothasberg. But even should we succeed in breaking through the cordon
around us, we still had to cross the line at Wondersfontein before
daybreak, so as not to get caught between the enemy's troops and the
blockhouses.

About 100 scouts, who formed our advance-guard, soon encountered the
enemy's sentries. They turned to the right, then turned to the left;
but everywhere the inquisitive "Tommies" kept asking: "Who goes
there?" Not being over anxious to satisfy their curiosity, they sent
round word at once for us to lie low, and we started very carefully
exploring the neighbourhood. But there seemed no way out of the mess.
We might have attacked some weak point and thus forced our way
through, but it was still four or five hours' ride to the railway
line, and with our poor mounts we should have been caught and
captured. Besides which the enemy might have warned the blockhouse
garrisons, in which case we should have been caught between two fires.

No; we wanted to get through without being discovered, and seeing that
this was that night hopeless, I consulted my offic