All had now passed over Laing's Nek and down the mountains into the valley. Here it was warm, but as disagreeable as ever, in fact more so, for it was rain, rain, rain, day and night, and the thick clouds of mist were actually rolling along the ground. At times we could not see twenty paces ahead of us, so it was necessary to move cautiously, because we knew that the English were falling back toward Dundee just ahead of us. Thoroughly soaked to the very skin, all plowed through the mud, felt their way through the mist and clouds, passed Danhausser, and camped about seven miles from Dundee. On the following day, the clouds were motionless, but resting heavily on the adjacent mountains and foothills, while the valleys were quite clear. It was apparent to all now, that a battle must take place, and that, too, in a very short time. Just as all horses were saddled and the artillery inspanned, and ready to move out, about two miles to our left and front we discovered a column of English emerging from a cloud on the foothills across the valley. Every Boer that happened to see them put spurs to his horse, and after them he went. Of course a lot of the Irish boys followed suit in great haste. The English whirled about and took refuge in a great stone cattle kraal. In five minutes the rifles began to speak on both sides--in another five minutes a French cannon was sent out, and fired a couple of shells, and five minutes later the white flag was waving above the heads of the English, and all was quiet again. Colonel Moller with his 196 well trained Eighteenth Hussars, had surrendered to forty untrained farmers. We now learned that Lucas Meyer, who had taken a road much to the east of us, had attacked Dundee, and been forced back because General Daniel Erasmus, who was to co-operate with him, had failed to show up. Colonel Moller had been sent out to follow up the Boers, and according to his own statement had lost himself, and hadn't the slightest idea where he was, although Dundee was only six miles away. Of the 196 Irishmen captured, eighty-five begged to join the Irish Brigade and fight with the Boers. I wanted to take them on the spot, but the Boer officers did not consider it right, because, they said, if any of them were afterwards captured, the English would surely shoot them. When first captured, all were half scared to death and the first thing they wished to know was whether the Boers would shoot them or not. When told that they would be sent to Pretoria, where they would probably spend most of their time in playing cricket and football, they were, one and all, positively delighted that they had surrendered. They said that their officers had told them in Natal, that the Boers were savages, worse than the Zulus, and that so sure as any of them were captured, just so sure they would be killed.