all necessaries at Zandspruit, where the commandos were to concentrate;
so many of us took neither pots, pans, nor mugs.

What a disillusion it was to find on our arrival at Zandspruit that
there were no tents, and as yet no provisions of any kind! So we were
initiated by having to pass the first nights of our commando life on the
open veld with insufficient food. And in the daytime our work was cut
out for us, as every other minute our horses disappeared--lost among the
thousands of horses that all looked exactly alike in the eyes of an
inexperienced townsman. Then it meant a running and seeking, an
examining of marks and tokens, until the stupid among us were obliged to
tie ribbons to our horses as a means of recognising them. And one, the
story goes, even tied a nosebag, with a bundle of forage, to his mount
so that it should not run away.

At length the provisions began to arrive, but the pots and pans were
still scarce and we could not even drink a cup of coffee till a tin of
jam or meat had been emptied.

We were just beginning to feel comfortable, when the time stated in the
ultimatum expired, and we had to cross the boundary of Natal. General
Erasmus was at the head of our commando. We spent the night near
Volksrust in a cold hail storm and rain. Those first days we are not
likely to forget. They were wet, cold days, and we were still
unaccustomed to preparing our own food and looking after ourselves.
Fortunately, we had the opportunity, a few days later, of supplying
ourselves with all necessaries at Newcastle.

Before we crossed the boundary General Erasmus had addressed us and told
us the news of our first victory--the taking of an armoured train at