The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-05-28

| sisted on our continuing the journey,
but our progress was necessarily slow.
Next morning we again followed the
| railway, and had gone about five miles,
when we were suddenly surprised by
dog barking loudly in front of us; and
| this suggested. as afterward proved to
| be the case, that we had got into the
neighborhood of small Boer comman-
J do guarding the line, which at this
| point runs through cutting in the hills,
| parallel to which flows a river We lay
| in the grass until we heard the patrol
| coming down the line to inquire into the
cause Of the dogs perturbation, and
then we deemed it advisable to take to
the water. Dropping in up to our necks
we concealed ourselves amid the reeds
which grew along the edge. The patrol
and his dog came within a few PAGES of
u.s. but remaining absolutely still for
half an hour we succeeded in evading
his further attention. AS soon as the
guard moved away we swan to the 9TH
er side and climbed up a rocky kopje,
thus destroying our trail We selected
as a place of concealment bushy spot
a few hundred yards away. Doses of
quinine and opium saved us any i'll con-
sequences from the wetting beyond a
slight attack Of rheumatism but once
the sun came out even this malady dis
appeared
At nightfall the following day we re-
stunned our wanderings and having suffi-
Gent experience of railway patrols we
resolved to make ur way by compass
and stars to Glands river, the next sta
ton. This experiment took us much
out of our way, and we only got to the
vicinity of the station towards day
break Thoroughly done up, and with
little time to spare, we hid in the first
convenient spot that could be found,
which happened to be a small clump of
blue gum trees About dawn we heard
voices, and realized to- our dismay that
we were in the very middle of a Boer
farm, During the morning young
Dutch lad, with a dog, passed and re-
passed within six feet of us. On one
occasion the dog growled at us, and, the
boy calling out what appeared to be
name, we assumed that he had noticed
us and was summoning assistance
Luckily we We're mistaken. At night
fall we succeeded in getting outside the
precincts of the farm and lay down
beside a steep gradient on the railway,
hoping to catch the night mail down. |
AS by two a. m. it did not appear we
concluded it had ceased running during
the night, and this we subsequently
found to be the case.
Next day we lay up in an ant-bear
hole under a broling sun. After sunset |
we quilted our uncomfortable retreat,
and avoiding the patrols and following |
the line we passed Bronkhorst Spruit,
the scene of the massacre of so many
men df the Ninety-fourth regiment, un-
der Colonel Anstruther, in 1880, and |
found a suitable hiding pace in what |
might be termed a snipe bog. 1t had |
the disadvantage of containing rather !
more water than was pleasant and af- |
forded no protection against the suns |
rays, but it was safe from the observa-
ton of travellers, which was the main
thing from our point of view. Even
here, however, we ran some danger of |
discovery. AS luck would have it, a
Boer came to the bog for the purpose
of shooting, and a bird actually flew
right over our heads. For a few mo-
ments we conjured up the possibility
of his finding his way in our direction
in search of game. Happily for our
peace of mind, he was not an enthusi-
astic sportsman and retired without fir
ing a shot. Next night we pushed on |,
wards, and experienced great difficulty
owing 10 The darkness, in crossing the
Wilde river, which has several tributa-
ries, but it proved our good fortune
eventually to strike the drift. 1t was
to take advantage of the
railway bridge, as the guard overheard
our footsteps and came out with his
lantern to discover whence the sounds
proceeded About daybreak we visited
q coal siding, but came across no load
ed trucks for Delagoa Bay. That day
we passed i'll another swamp, and in
the evening we returned to the siding
only to be again disappointed in finding
no trucks marked 'Lourenzo Mar
Quez.'
BY this time we were well-nigh fam
ishing, the meals Of the two previous