General De la Rey fell ill once more and had to join me and take to his bed. Early one morning I had just got up when suddenly we heard the sound of firing. The English were then only one hour’s distance from us; they had covered a great deal of ground in the night, and had been for five or six hours in the saddle, hoping to catch the burghers at Tafelkop. General De la Rey sprung out of bed. The horses were saddled in a moment, and off they rode. The firing was coming nearer and nearer. I thought to myself, “I am in for the fighting to-day,” but all the same I began packing everything into the cart as quickly as possible. Very soon I was in flight once more. It looked as if things were going very badly, for all round me people were hurrying as hard as they could. It began to rain. The waggons and the mule carts came tearing past, and it began to look as if I were going to be left behind. It was raining heavily. The booming of the cannon sounded closer and closer, and the danger became greater every moment. Then suddenly my waggon stuck fast in the mud, and I could not go on any farther. It kept on raining, and the burghers kept coming on in greater numbers. They stopped by my waggon and tried to drag it out of the mud. The fighting kept on, and I told them to go away and leave me before they too were forced to share my fate. “No,” they said; “that we will never do. What would the General say if we were to leave you here and the ‘khakis’ were to take you?” The oxen would not pull any more because they stood in so much water. Then the people took hold of the wheels and they managed to drag it out. After the waggon had stuck fast I went on farther in the spider. There were now so many waggons and carriages all close together that it looked like a big commando. In the afternoon we stopped to rest; the rain cleared up for a little and we had something to eat. Very soon came the order to get ready to start again. We had not gone very far when the waggon in front remained leaning against a steep bank, over which it had to climb. It was raining heavily again. I thought, “How will things go with us to-day, we have so many hindrances, and the ‘khakis’ keep on advancing?” However, there were a good many burghers, and they helped to get the waggons across. My spider also came to a standstill against the rocks, so that they (the burghers) had to drag it out. We were in danger, and yet we really enjoyed ourselves so much that time went quickly. It took several hours before all the waggons had got through. Then we drove on more quickly, and by sunset we came to where we meant to spend the night. I drove to a house to wait till all the waggons had arrived. There was so much water round the house that it was impossible to tell where there were ditches or hollows. When driving towards the waggons I went into a deep ditch and my driver was thrown off. I and my little son remained sitting in the carriage; the horses started off.