s health
over and over again.

[Illustration: Sergeant Davis, evidently with All we wanted.]

Sergeant Davis, champion forager of the Army, also put in an
appearance here, having met with no end of adventures and
misadventures since the Colonel had sent him back to the
Kimberley-Mafeking Railway. As usual, he had a fine lot of stores,
and, also as usual, just what we wanted: baccy, chocolate, biscuits,
sjamboks, stamps, etc., etc.

An uneventful march of fifteen miles, with a halt at Reitfontein, was
only noticeable for a particularly cold night and the final splitting
up of the Irish Brigade, the Connaughts and Borders being ordered to
Pretoria.

On the 25th our long march came to an end with a twelve-mile step into
Heidelberg. The band of the Derbyshire Regiment played us in, while
our old friend, General Bruce Hamilton, rode out to meet us. We halted
on a slope about three-quarters of a mile outside the town, which in
its essential features is remarkably like Krugersdorp, the streets
being lined with tall blue-gum trees, and the plan of course
rectangular, with the usual market square in the centre.

There had been a fight here, and we found Captain Carington Smith
again amongst the wounded; this time, as already mentioned, with a
bullet through his other knee, but as cheery as ever, and smiling away
at seeing us all again. Lieutenant Adrian Taylor, of the regiment, was
also here, and very glad we were to see him once more. Like Captain
Carington Smith he was detached from the regiment throughout the
campaign, serving with the M.I., and was about a month later very
severely wounded near Parys when De Wet crossed the Vaal with Lord
Kitchener at his heels. Still another Dublin Fusilier met us at
Heidelberg--Major Rutherford, Adjutant of the Ceylon Volunteers, who
had come over in command of a detachment of that corps.

In addition to all these, General Cooper (our late C.O.) and his
A.D.C., Lieutenant Renny, R.D.F., were also coming up from the south,
while the 1st Battalion, who had helped to win Alleman's Nek, were not
far off.

On arrival at Heidelberg we had marched just 300 miles in
twenty-seven days, and although we had not pressed in any way, we had
come along fairly well seeing that we were not bound on any specific
object, such as the relief of a town, or the participation in a siege
or battle. We averaged just over eleven miles a day, including halts
at Lichtenburg (two days), Frederickstadt and Kru