When at last we struggled over Olifant's Nek, it was to find the
pass held by friends, not foes, many signs of the enemy's occupation,
from plundered farm-houses to hundreds of biscuit tins, strewing the
ground.
Our waggons were drawn up in a line behind the mountain, and we manned
the passes, confident in our ability to hold them. But we were too
wearied, and the enemy too persistent. On the third day they forced the
weaker of the passes, and we were forced to fly once more. Had the
British continued their stern chase our capture were almost certain;
strange to say, with success within their grasp, they held their hand,
halted, and followed us no further. In the retreat the Free State and
the Transvaal commandoes took different directions, myself remaining
with the latter. We marched all night, past frowning kopjes, and camped
in a thick mimosa forest at dawn.
Here the commando decided to remain for a while. I obtained a pass from
Liebenberg and set off alone to make my way through the dense bush to
Middelburg.
The first day I discovered De Wet's "meagre commando," about a thousand
men, who had been ordered to conceal themselves here and feed up their
animals, whilst De Wet himself, with the other half of his force,
scoured the country to within ten miles of Johannesburg.
In the evening I arrived at a mission station, where the only whites
were the missionary's young daughter and her youthful brother.
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