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In passing through the various mines and the village of Randfontein we met with hearty expressions of goodwill from the mining population, who professed a desire to help if only they had arms. Ten miles from the start I received intelligence from Colonel Grey, at the head of the column, that Doornkop, a hill near the Speitfontein mine, was held by 400 Boers, directly barring our line of advance.
Colonel Grey succeeded in shelling the Boers out of their advanced position during the next half-hour, and blew up the battery house. Under this cover the column moved off as far as the first houses of the Randfontein group of mines, the Boers making no attempt to intercept the movement. Night was now fast approaching, and still there were no signs of the promised help from Johannesburg.
Jameson's force pushed on during the night on the main road to Johannesburg, they would have succeeded in reaching that town without difficulty. As it was however they camped for the night in the direction of Randfontein and in the early morning struck away south, attempting a big detour to avoid the road which they had tried to force the previous night.
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