At three o'clock the moon rose, and I awoke the bivouac by shouting--"Inspan." Instantly all were alive; the Hottentots tumbled out of their waggons, the men jumped to their feet and folded their blankets, the sentries were called in, and in ten minutes we were "trekking" across the plain. As we descended the little hollow of the Clu-clu, enveloped in a thick fog, the change was most extraordinary, the chilly raw air striking through us instantaneously, and as suddenly ceasing on our emerging from it on the opposite side. In many places the bush by the wayside glowed with bright scarlet clusters of the bignonia,[12] which wreathed among the trees. Suddenly Fort Beaufort opened on us, in the centre of a green plain below, the fine mountains of the Elandsberg and Tyumie forming a noble background. We found the town looking wretchedly dull and deserted, the garrison being reduced to a small detachment only of the Cape Mounted Rifles, besides the Levies. The Commandant ordered the Commissariat to have the waggons loaded by dark, as the General had directed their return by moonlight. We accordingly started at nine o'clock the same evening, but with only half the original escort, the Fingoes not making their appearance at the appointed time, their invariable custom on such occasions, remaining behind, making merry in the kraals of their friends, with a glorious disregard of time, and orders. An attack was fully expected, as well on account of our reduced numbers and heavily-laden waggons as from the fact that our errand and return were as well known to the enemy as ourselves. At midnight we halted to let the oxen graze for a couple of hours, while the men threw themselves down on the grass to snatch a little sleep. At two we were off again. Dark glens, hill, dale, and bush, were passed without interruption, and we were once more on open ground. The encampment having been moved during our absence, I rode forward with the _Conductor_ (a most valuable assistant, attached to each train of government waggons), for about two miles, cantering from one rise to another, looking out for the fires, which we at last discovered at a considerable distance, and turning back, put the waggons on the right track, and reached the camp at daylight. For a week we remained stationary, patrols going out almost daily to different parts of the neighbourhood to check the enemy, who would suddenly appear in the most opposite directions; one day, for instance, attacking a train of waggons in the Mancazana, and killing seven of the escort; and two days after, firing on the post riders between Fort Beaufort and Graham's Town, killing six on the spot, and wounding three others.