attack us with unerring certainty and suddenness. All at once one of our
scouts, who had been riding far out on our left flank, came flying in with
the news that the enemy was in the kopjes in front of us, and he further
added that he thought they intended to surround our party if possible.
Captain Cameron ordered the men to split into two parties, one to move
towards the kopjes on our right; the other to fall back and protect our
retreat, if such a move became necessary. Mr. Lambie and I decided to move
on with the advance party, and at a hard gallop we moved away towards a
line of kopjes that seemed higher than any of the others in the belt. As we
neared those hills it seemed to us that there were no Boers in possession,
and that nothing would come of the ride after all, and we drew bridle and
started to discuss the situation. At that time we were not far from the
edge of some kopjes, which, though lying low, were covered with rocky
boulders and low scrub.

We had drifted a few hundred yards behind the advance party, but were a
good distance in front of the rearguard, when a number of horsemen made a
dash from the kopjes which we were skirting, and the rifles began to speak.
There was no time for poetry; it was a case of "sit tight and ride hard,"
or surrender and be made prisoners. Lambie shouted to me: "Let's make a
dash, Hales," and we made it. The Boers were very close to us before we
knew anything concerning their presence. Some of them were behind us, and
some extended along the edge of the kopjes by which we had to pass to get
to the British line in front, all of them were galloping in on us, shooting
as they rode, and shouting to us to surrender, and, had we been wise men,
we would have thrown up our hands, for it was almost hopeless to try and
ride through the rain of lead that whistled around us. It was no wonder we
were hit; the wonder to me is that we were not filled with lead, for some
of the bullets came so close to me that I think I should know them again if
I met them in a shop-window. We were racing by this time, Lambie's big