Thus very few of them were without rifles the following day.

Our feelings cannot be easily described. There were forty-six men who
had to go on foot. A large number had no saddles. I lost all my horses.
The only hope we entertained was that the British Government would soon
restore our property. What we regretted most was the loss of our men.

Two of our pickets were caught, the remaining six, when charged and cut
off, had taken refuge in a deep ditch, where they remained until the
enemy had left, and then found their way back to the commando.

My next escape, though not exposed to the enemy's fire, and perhaps not
even known to them, was probably the narrowest I had during the whole
campaign.

We were again hard pressed by two columns. Our horses being very tired,
we were obliged to rest them for a short while, even at the risk of
falling into the hands of the enemy. Our way led through a valley,
bordered on both sides by huge mountain ranges which for at least six
miles ran parallel.

On the side of the road, half-way up the valley, was a farmstead where
we off-saddled and gave our horses some fodder. The two columns which
were on our track had been coming nearer. Fortunately darkness was
setting in. When the front column was a short distance from us, we
saddled and went to a dense bush close to the road. In that bush we
delayed, till the first column had passed us and advanced some distance.
As the second was only one or two miles behind the first, and as we were
not sure whether it would also pass, we fell in behind the first; there
was but one road.