On Friday, December 1, 1900, I drove out of Lichtenburg after taking leave of my friends. The oxen were put to the waggon; the children got into it. I had still a couple of milch cows that I could take with me. I and my daughter followed behind in my carriage. It was raining hard as I left my village behind, not knowing whether ever I should step foot in it again. Lord Methuen’s order had been that I was to go ten miles away from the village and not to come nearer. Next day I came to the place where Commandant Vermaas and his commando were staying. He told me that I could go to his farm and remain there as long as I liked; but as my husband’s work then lay for the most part in the Rustenburg district, I preferred to go on, instead of staying at the commandant’s farm. So I went from there to Kafferspan, a place about eighteen miles from the village of Lichtenburg. When General De la Rey heard that I had been sent out of the village he sent my son Coos to come to fetch me. Then I heard that on the 3rd of December 1900 they had captured a convoy near Magaliesberg and had struck a good blow at the English. I said, “That is right! It is not only I who have been in adversity; they too” (the English) “have had their reverses.” I went from there to Zuurfontein, a place belonging to Mr Kritzinger, not far from Rustenburg; he gave me a house to live in. The people there were all kind and friendly. After I had been staying with Mr Kritzinger about a week, General De la Rey arrived with his staff; it was a great delight to see them all again. It was a good thing for them, also, that I was out of the village. But after having remained a few days they had to go off again to join the commando. Where I was living was not very far from the English camp; it was a mountainous district, and we could hear the cannon shots distinctly every day. On the 13th of December General De la Rey took General Clement’s laager, at a place called Nooitgedacht, behind the hills, and for a short time after that there was no more fighting. As Christmas was coming nearer and nearer, I had been wondering what sort of a Christmastide it would be for me; but as the English still kept quiet, General De la Rey and his staff came back to us again. They arrived just the day before Christmas, and once more I had the great joy of having my own dear ones round me. There were a great many people on the farm where I was then staying, and on Christmas Day many friends came together there. As soon as Christmas was over they all went away again to the commando; but, as there was nothing to be done that week, our people all returned for the New Year, and, owing to this, we were also able to spend a happy, though quiet, New Year’s Day together. A little while later they heard that many English laagers were trekking up, and that the place where I was staying lay right in their way, so that I had to pack up everything in the greatest haste ready for flight. The day was just over when I