Here we remained all day in the incessant rain, _slushing_ about in the mud, and trying to keep our feet warm by pacing up and down as on board ship, for it was not safe in the thick fog to venture far enough from the camp for a walk. We busied ourselves also in trying to make the fires burn better; collecting stones, and building them up so as to raise the wood from the flooded ground. A cloaked and dripping cavalry express enveloped in steam, arrived in the afternoon from the Heights with a letter from the General, to know why we had not marched, as the covering party at the top of the pass had been waiting for us several hours. Shortly afterwards a second equally damp party came in with a despatch, "to be forwarded immediately" to Fort Beaufort, ordering the 60th Rifles to move to the Blinkwater the following day. Next morning we made another attempt to get the waggons off, but after an hour's work had only got about 200 yards from the bivouac, and continued for the next three to crawl along at this snail's pace, suffering very much in our thin clothing from the frost. On entering the foot of the pass at its upper end a party of Kaffirs, perched on the summit of an isolated sugarloaf hill on our left, shouted to us, "_Nina Ez'innqulo ez'ingafanela ukuze apa kanjako kulendhlela leyo!_" (You Tortoise warriors had better not again attempt to come by this path.) Every word being perfectly distinct, though at first we could barely distinguish their forms; then they upbraided the Fingoes, "_Nina Amafingo yinina ukuba niya silwa tina? Gokuba nina ezisicthloba zetu kanjaka sasimika amazimba nemasi kumi, nokuba nina inyabulala sina jeninja._" (Why, Fingoes, do you fight against your friends? We gave you corn, and plenty of sour milk, and you fire at us as though we were dogs.) The ready retort, sung out with measured distinctness was, "_Waza wapendula amanfingo, nina Amaxoso hiyenza amaqoboka tina into ufanela ukuba womtu wa nika uku 'dhle kwamasheshi ake, asibulela tina_." (You made us your slaves, Kaffirs; a man must feed his horse; we do not thank you.) We desired our spokesman to inform them that if they intended to prevent the white faces coming that way they had better be prepared at once, for another war party was coming the same path to-morrow; to this they replied by firing a shot at us, which fell among the bushes a few paces short; a long shot, even for a Dutch roer, which from the report we had no doubt it was. Many of these heavy clumsy-looking weapons carry a four-ounce ball, and are of enormous length and weight. The nominal charge of powder is as much as will cover the ball placed on the flat palm of the hand, but as it is poured by guess out of the rough cow-horn powder-flask it generally exceeds even this liberal allowance, and if it does not dislocate the shooter's shoulder, or knock him down, seldom fails to send him reeling. On this challenge several of our long range rifles were immediately brought to