At Rorke's Drift could be seen, in good repair, the
graves of the gallant men who fell in defending the passage through the
river against the Zulus after the British disaster at Isandhlwana.
While at Nqutu we received news of the fall of Bloemfontein and the
death of General Joubert, as well as of De Wet's victory at Sanna's
Post, the latter the only bright gleam that relieved the daily darkening
horizon of our future.
I now obtained a few days' leave of absence. My substitute left Glencoe
early in the morning, accompanied by a mule waggon. The trolley duly
arrived at sundown, but the substitute was absent. It appeared he had
taken a short cut, as he thought, and had not been seen since. Bethune's
mounted infantry was hanging about the neighbourhood, and we feared he
might have been raked in. At midnight, however, he made his appearance,
wet to the skin, after wandering to and fro in the chilly mist for
hours. I immediately handed the books and cash over to him, and went to
bed till four o'clock, when I saddled my horse and started for Glencoe,
on leave and on my way home. Carefully nursing my mount, I reached
Dundee at noon. After a short rest we went on, and reached Glencoe at
one o'clock, none the worse for the morning's ride of almost fifty
miles.
Here I learnt that a plan was afoot to attack the British camp at
Elandslaagte, which lay quite open and unprotected, as if it were part
of an Earl's Court exhibition.
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