unfounded, and they were most polite. The driver muttered something in
Dutch, whereupon the leader came to the door, and said in broken
English: "Peeck neeck--I see all right." I am sorry to say one of the
gentlemen of our party muttered "Brute" in an audible whisper; but,
then, he had undergone a short, but a very unpleasant term of
imprisonment, with no sort of excuse, at the instance of a Boer
_Veldtcornet_, so no wonder he had vowed eternal vengeance. Luckily,
this officer did not hear, or else did not understand, the ejaculation,
so after a civil interchange of good-days we drove on.

After about three hours we reached a shallow ford over a wide stream,
and our driver informed us that this was our destination. Leaving the
carriage, we walked up to some rocks overlooking the stream, which
seemed an inviting place for luncheon; but we were quickly driven away,
as thereon were lying seven or eight carcasses of dead horses and mules.
Curiously enough, the vultures, or "aas-vogels," had left the skins on
these poor beasts, for I remember noticing how their coats glistened in
the sunshine. This sight was not very conducive to a good appetite, and
a little farther on we saw another pathetic spectacle: a very deep
trench, made in the past by some gold-prospector, had been filled in
with rocky boulders, and was covered with withered ferns. Here lay those
who had fallen of the Chartered Company's Forces. No doubt by now the
space is enclosed as a tiny part of God's acre, but at that time the
rough stones in the deep grave, and the faded flowers, seemed to enhance
the dreariness of the scene.[10] As to the locality of the final
encounter and surrender of the Raiders, there was not much to interest
any but military men. Standing on the top of the eminence before alluded
to, one could see the Boer position and the sore strait of their foes.
Whether the column had come purposely towards this drift, as being the
only possible ford for many miles, or whether they had been guided