g. At 3 o'clock in the morning we halted in a hollow place
where we would not be observed, yet we were still a mile and a half
from the enemy's cordon. Our position was now more critical than ever;
for should the enemy discover our departure, and General Plumer hurry
up towards us that morning, we should have little chance of escape.

During the day I was obliged to call all the burghers together, and to
earnestly address them concerning the happenings of the previous day.
I told them to tell me candidly if they had lost faith in me, or if
they had any reason not to trust me implicitly, as I would not
tolerate the way in which they had behaved the day before. I added:--

"If you cannot see your way clear to obey implicitly my commands, to
be true to me, and to believe that I am true to you, I shall at once
leave you, and you can appoint someone else to look after you. We are
by no means out of the wood yet, and it is now more than ever
necessary that we should be able to trust one another to the fullest
extent. Therefore, I ask those who have lost confidence in me, or have
any objection to my leading them, to stand out."

No one stirred. Other officers and burghers next rose and spoke,
assuring me that all the rebels had deserted the previous night, and
that all the men with me would be true and faithful. Then Pastor J.
Louw addressed the burghers very earnestly, pointing out to them the
offensive way in which some of them had spoken of their superior
officers, and that in the present difficult circumstances it was
absolutely necessary that there should be no disintegration and
discord amongst ourselves. I think all these perorations had a very
salutary effect. But such were the difficulties that we officers had
to contend with at the hands of undisciplined men who held exaggerated
notions of freedom of action and of speech, and I was not the only
Boer officer who suffered in this respect.

About two in the afternoon I gave the order to saddle up, as it was
necessary to start before sunset in order to be able to cross the
Olifant's River before daybreak, so that the enemy should not overtake
us should they notice us. We dismounted and led our horses, for we had
discovered that the English could not distinguish between a body of
men leading their horses and a troop of cattle, so long as the horses
were all kept close together. All the hills around us were covered
with cattle captured from our "bush-lancers," and there