women and children.

Here we heard that Moselikatse was advancing to make an end of us, so
we made our laager as strong as we could, lashing the disselboom of each
waggon beneath the framework of that before it and filling the spaces
beneath and between with the crowns and boughs of sharp-thorned mimosa
trees, which we tied to the trek tows and brake chains so that they
could not be torn away. Also in the middle of the laager we made an
inner defence of seven waggons, in which were placed the women and
children, with the spare food and gunpowder, but the cattle we were
obliged to leave outside. Early on the morning when we had finished the
laager we heard that the impi of Moselikatse was close to us, and the
men to the number of over thirty rode out to look for it, leaving but a
few to defend the camp.

About an hour's ride away they found the Kaffirs, thousands of them, and
a Hottentot who could speak their tongue was instructed to call to them
and ask them why they attacked us. By way of answer they shouted out the
name of their chief and began to charge, whereupon our men dismounted
from their horses and opened fire upon them, mounting again before they
could come near. So the fight went on until the laager was reached, and
many Kaffirs were killed without any loss to the Boers, for luckily in
those days the natives had no firearms.

I remember that we women were moulding bullets when the men rode in,
and very thankful we were to find that not one of them was even wounded.
While they ate something we washed out their guns, and at intervals near
the places where each man must stand behind the waggons we piled little
heaps of powder and bullets upon buckskins and pieces of canvas laid on
the ground; also we did all we could to strengthen our defences still
further by binding ox-hides over the waggon wheels and thrusting in more
thorns between them.

Then, as the enemy was still preparing to attack us, the Heer Celliers
called us together, and there in the laager, while all knelt around him,
even to the smallest child, he put up a prayer to God asking that we
might be forgiven our sins, and that He would look upon us and protect
us in our great need.

It was a strange sight. There we all knelt in the quiet sunshine while
he prayed in an earnest voice, and we followed his words with our
hearts, every one of us, men and women, holding guns or axes in our
hands. Never had human beings more need for prayer, for through