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But while the others were shooting at the enemy on the white kopje, one of our men went by himself to see if there really were any khakies left there. He kept under cover wherever he could behind the rocks and behind the walls of an old kraal and came close up to the kloof without being fired at.
Thus, the enemy would either get reinforcements from Pretoria or escape when it got dark. Both our flanks kept up a constant fire on the slopes, and on the white kopje, but the shoulders were too high for a proper aim, and the khakies lay fast behind the boulders and in the clefts of the rocks.
But what if the enemy, prepared for our arrival, were to pepper at us unexpectedly from a different direction, or to point their Maxims at us? The greatest mistake of all was that we took our horses right up to the hill on the other side of which the khakies were.
I stooped quick as a hare, and immediately rose again. The enemy now surrendered, I believe to the number of two or three hundred of the Northumberland Fusiliers, called the 'Fighting Fifth' on account of their courage and bravery. We also took on the mountain a heliograph that the enemy had broken. The khakies acknowledged that we had taken the position with the greatest possible speed.
Towards morning those of us who were not on guard were waked out of our sleep by a loud cry of 'Hurrah! from the throats of a few hundred Englishmen who were blowing up two cannon on a mountain to our right, close to us. We sprang towards our positions, stumbling and falling over stones, not knowing what was going on, and expecting the khakies at any moment.
My horse was overworked, and had changed its pace into a heavy gallop, a sure sign that it would not last much longer. When I looked round, I saw a few khakies riding on ahead, making our burghers 'hands-up. Fortunately, someone released a spare horse; I mounted it without a saddle and made good my escape, but was incapable of riding for several days after.
From over the mountains, to the south of the town, the bombs came flying as a gentle warning from the khakies that it would be better to surrender in order to avoid a great calamity. It was sad to see how few horses there were at the foot of the mountain. Here a group of four, there of ten a sign that the number of burghers in the positions was very small indeed.
I asked him, 'Uncle, are you sure that our lager is in the hands of the khakies? to which he answered, 'Nephew, I saw with my own eyes how they rode up to the waggons and made all our people "hands up!" and he continued to give us a minute description of the occurrence.
It was a good thing that the Commandant made us travel so fast, for we had only just outspanned at Pienaars River the following morning when the khakies' bomb-Maxim began firing at the outposts of General Grobler's Waterberg commando, which was stationed there.
Suddenly, however, they turned off in the direction of their main-guard, because, as I afterwards heard, they were threatened by eight of our scouts. But the khakies were nearing me, and I was obliged to lead my horse into a mealie-veld and to lie down full length in the rain.
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