Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost LegionHamilton-Browne, G.
History
Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost Legion
Hamilton-Browne, G.
Māori (New Zealand people) -- Warfare; New Zealand -- History -- Anecdotes; Zulu War, 1879
death about the way he had entertained Mad Conway and the counterfeit
Colonel. It was, however, to be the last escapade of the latter, as
the poor fellow was shortly afterwards killed while gallantly leading
a desperate rush at Sekukuni's Mountains.
I, however, had started telling you about my personal experiences
with Mad Conway. Well, after I met him at dinner, I saw a good deal of
him, and one day he asked me to come for a drive with two of his
friends, who owned a very smart turn-out, to a well-known drift across
the Vaal River, where there was an hotel. We were to start on a
Saturday afternoon, stay there the night, and return the next day. He
promised me a lively time, as two of the team of four horses were
unbroken, and the other two, although splendid animals, possessed all
the vices that gee-gees can be either born with or acquire. The
distance was about twenty-five miles, the road was good, across a
dead-level flat, which, like most of those in Grigualand West, was
thickly sprinkled with ant-heaps, from about a foot to two and a half
feet high. Well, perhaps the characters of the horses and that of the
two other men who were to accompany us, both roaring blades, to say
nothing about the well-known recklessness of our Jehu, might have made
a nervous old gentleman give pause and refuse the invite; but then you
see at that time I was not a nervous old party, and although I have no
wish to claim an inordinate amount of pluck or recklessness still as I
was blue mouldy for the want of a bit of divarsion, and knew Conway to
be one of the best whips in Africa, I gladly accepted. The start was a
trifle exciting, our two companions turning up just about half-seas
over, while the horses promised to act up to their evil reputations.
However, the trap was a brand-new Cape cart, and the harness of the
very best, so that after some little circus play Conway managed to get
the nags to move off, and we started. The drive through the diggings
was accomplished, thanks to Conway's masterly management, in safety,
for although we scattered like chaff many groups of niggers, we only
upset two Parsee pedlars and one Chinaman, the balance of the damage
done being the demolishment of a coolie's habitation, which was
constructed out of material that at one time had been paraffin and
sardine tins. This accident caused the pious Hindoo who owned the
shattered tin-heap to swear horribly and spit just like an angry cat;
but I don't think we killed anybody. When we reached the veld and were
on the broad, open waggon road, the horses, thanks to the splendid
handling of our charioteer, settled down to a swinging pace. There was
but little chance of our meeting anyone, the scores of high-heaped
produce and wood waggons trekking into Kimberley being, at that time
of day, all drawn off the road and outspanned, as were also the empty
waggons homeward bound, and I firmly believe we should have reached
our destination in safety had it not been for the conduct of the other
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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