columns came to remind us that we were strangers and intruders.

As we have related our experiences in other chapters, we shall not here
enter into details. For at least seven months, after we had crossed the
river, the enemy continually harassed us. We hardly enjoyed a single
day's rest. During the day we had to fight, and during the night we had
to trek. One thing was plain: the enemy was determined to silence us
completely. That they did not succeed is almost passing strange. If 300
Britishers were to have entered the two republics, would they have
proceeded very far?

General Hertzog had, at the same time, invaded the western province of
the Cape Colony, but, being far away from the railway line, the British
did not worry him very much. They all seemed to conspire against my
small band, and had the additional advantage of railways on every side
of us. Deeper and deeper into the heart of the Colony we were driven. We
marched in a southern direction. Whither? We did not know, only forward.
And so far did we push on that at length the vast expanse of the Indian
Ocean loomed in the distance, and reminded us that it was time to
retrace our steps, for we could certainly go no farther on horseback. So
we slipped through the pursuing columns, and returned to the districts
of Jansenville, Graaff-Reinet and Cradock.

In February we were not so hotly pursued. De Wet had entered the Cape
Colony from the north-west; and like a magnet he drew most of the
British forces irresistibly to him. This gave us a short rest, which
was, alas! only too short. For De Wet, as well as Hertzog, had to fall
back on the Orange Free State, and with redoubled energy the British
came upon us like a mighty avalanche. The reader can hardly realise
what we had to undergo these first eight months in the Cape Colony.