Commission.

At 9 p.m. the column started on another night march, the battalion
supplying the rearguard. It was weary work waiting on those occasions.
Tents were struck, and coats, blankets, &c., packed on the waggons an
hour before the advance-guard was due to march off, after which there
was nothing to do but lie down on the ground in the bitter cold, and
wait till all the transport had got away. Nor did the advance-guard
have very much the best of it, as they of course arrived hours before
the waggons, and had their shivering turn in the early morning, at the
other end of the march.

By 10 a.m. the column arrived at Klerkskraal, a small and very widely
scattered village on the banks of the beautiful Mooi River, a stream
of the clearest and most delicious water. Companies were sent to clear
out the neighbouring farms as usual, and a good deal of information
was gathered about a considerable quantity of the enemy, who had been
trekking through for some time past in small groups.

A dozen fine Indian tents, the gift of Rai Bahadur Boota Singh, of
Rawal Pindi, were handed over to us here for the use of the officers.
Very welcome they proved, as our old ones were nearly worn out.

Sunday, September 9th, 1900, was a day that will live long in the
annals of the battalion. It was given out that in view of the hard
work done by the troops, the day would be treated as a day of rest,
almost immediately following which order came another, detailing two
companies of each corps to go out on the unpleasant foraging duties.
The roster declared that 'G' and 'H' companies were next in
succession, and these two companies started immediately, officers and
men snatching a hasty and very scratch breakfast before starting. They
were out all day, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., during which time they were
gathering in supplies of straw, fodder, &c., together with all carts,
waggons, and harness in a serviceable condition, burning such as they
could not carry away with them. At about 5 p.m. a heliograph message
recalled them to camp, in reaching which they had to cross a small
stream with a snipe-marsh on either side: the waggons of course stuck,
but the men set to with a will, impelled doubtless by a keen desire to
get back to their dinners in camp, and dragged them out one by one
with ropes. A dismal surprise was in store for them. For even as they
came in sight of the camp, it was struck, and in place of the dinners
they had so fondly anticip