The evening times., 1900-02-28

Portable. We have passed through great
Geal Of hsrdships already. and what VIII
the future bring us? II is no longer
Transvaal. but South African war OF in
dependence. We left our homes in such
hurry that We scarcely had time 10 pro-
vide ourselves with necessaries even Tor a
few days. After VIC had been on the from
tier fourteen days We crossed ii on the
morning of October l.. With lot Of
turnings We passed Majuba and Laing's
Mex close to the burial grounds and monu-
ments to the memory of those who fell ia
the so war We passed the night close &c
General Col!ev's resting place with strange
feelings.
advancing 40 Dundee.
The weather was continually vet. cold
and thundery We had to sleep on the wet
ground with only blanket 10 cover AS.
and very little more to eat but dry bread,
so ! can assure you II was not very invlt-
ing Slowly We advanced with the guns.
The inhabitants had all left except a few
farmers. We broke open the shops which
we passed and took all provisions and to-
bacco. II was a rough time, but We did
nothing of which We need be ashamed. We
took Newcastle, which We found abau
doRed. and a quantity of booty. After this
we advanced TO Dundee, hut stopped few
days at a place about one and half
hours distant from there. Friday. October
%, part of our army under General Lu-
cas- Meyer attacked the British with 3.G00
men with a few guns and Maxims. but our
general-Erasnlus- n0 gtve him timely
assistance, so we only heard the roar OF the
guns. If we had Joined them in time We
could have turRed this fight into brilliant
victory to our arms As it was, they
fought from a. N. until sunset. and then
our troops slowly retired.
We lost thirty-one killed and between
forty and fifty wounded. The British lost
over COO and for days they carted their
dead and wounded away. Nearly a week
after the fight we still found forty very
much decomposed Bodies That same day
800 Lancers came our way. Two friends
and myself took our positions, and by con-
tinually firing turned them. Our numbers
having grown 10 fifteen. We succeeded in
bringing them to a stsndstill. and kept
them in their place for over an hour. By
that time we numbered eighty and one
gun. When the fourth shell fell close 10
them they hosted the white flag. and we
tcck them all prisoners Coming hack to
our camp We were told that il We could
capture any horses from the enemy they
would become our property. The night
following / captured one in the British
camp. and brought il safely back. After
this we bombarded and took DulSee.'
The Rnsuto Cavalry.
Trooper Frank Parks. OF the Cape
Mounted Rifles, writing to the Morning
Leader" from East Griqualand. says: Il
have plenty of work 10 do, and l am hardly
ever out of the saddle. Last week I was
wet through for three days; not a dry
thing TO put on nor anything dry to sleep
in and our food is not of the best. In
stead of giving us bread they serve us out
-four. How can can make bread and
cook meat in a storm on the veldt? | have
been fortunate enough TO catch a spy from
Barkly He has not been tried yet. I do
not think the Beers will come into East
Griqualand because they are frightened
of the Basutos. who are the finest light
cavalry in the world. They can ride down
an almost perpendicular mountain on their
ponies They showed the English what
they could do in the Basuto war
Red Cross nurse. of Colchester. tells
of the visit of General Roberts and Cen
eral Kitchener to the Majestic, proceeding
TO England with sick and wounded men
from the front Their arrival caused a
great deal of excitement, especially Gen.
eral Roberts. Yho is a great favorite with
every Tommy: indeed ! may say every
one that knows anything of him. Before
leaving the vessel he enquired into the
nature of each individual case, and left
many a soldier with smile, in spite of
his sad condition. A more touching scene
it is impossible TO deScribe-the grand old
man taking leave of his boys. His crepe
badge. which he was wearing for the
death of his son, brought many tears to
their eyes"
On the day before the Colenso battle
Sergeant Baugh watched the play of the
artillery on the Boer trenches, and thus
records his Impressions: Il borrowed the
captains field glasses and went up on the
hill by our guns, but was chased away by
artillery officers. When they chased me
from one side of the hill l always man.
aged to get UP the other side. They let
me alone at the finish. Well, the shooting
was splendid. | could see our shells burst |
ing right in their trenches. But what l
could not make out at the time was why
the Beers did not reply. 1t did not strike
me that l might get hit if they did shoot. l
found out afterward that their guns would
not shoot as far as ours. All the time we
were shelling l only saw about thirty of |
the enemy. and after our guns put four |
shells among them nothing could be seen |
Of them
The Rush for Water.
Describing the rush for water after the |
battle Color Sergeant Baugh concludes: 81
took party down to a stream to get wa
ter. l will not tell you what it is like to |
be thirsty when you can hardly speak and |!
your lips are as black as mine. When / |
reached the stream l saw lots Of others the |
same. At the waters side it was enough |
to make one i'll. Wounded men who had |
managed to get there were lying down,
some dead beat and asleep, others groaning |
with their wounds. In the water muddy |
as soup) were three horses; two were dead |
d,d