With Buller in Natal, Or, a Born LeaderHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
With Buller in Natal, Or, a Born Leader
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
South African War, 1899-1902 -- Fiction
There was no attempt whatever at uniformity of dress. Most of the men
wore high riding boots. Some of the young men from the towns were in
tweed suits, the vast majority wore either shooting jackets or long
loose coats; some were in straw hats, but the elder men all wore large
felt hats with wide brims. They were all, however, similarly armed with
rifles of the best and most modern construction. Their general
appearance was that of a large band of farmers of the roughest type and
wholly without regard for their personal appearance.
It was fully an hour before the train moved again. Then it was shunted
on to a siding while the Boers entrained with their horses on a long
line of waggons which had just come up, and which started on its way
south as soon as they were on board. Then the emigrant tram crawled on
again. There was another night of wretchedness, and in the morning they
arrived at Volksrust, the frontier town. Here they were again closely
searched for arms, and what provisions remained among them were
commandeered, or as the emigrants called it, stolen. However, they knew
that their troubles were now nearly over, and did not grumble when they
were informed that the train would go no farther, and that they must
make their way on foot to Newcastle.
They were told tauntingly that they might find some of their friends
there if they had not already run away, and that if they stopped at
Pietermaritzburg for a week they would have another journey down to
Durban as prisoners. All were too glad to get out of the clutches of
the Boers to utter complaints which they knew would be useless, and
they went off at once. The prospect was not, however, a pleasant one.
Newcastle was nearly thirty miles away, but they hoped that at least
they might obtain shelter and rest and food for the women at some of
the scattered farms. At first their progress was slow, for after being
for more than two days and a half packed up like cattle, they had
almost lost the use of their limbs; but gradually the pace was
accelerated. Men took the little children on their shoulders, others
helped the women along. Charlestown, on the British side of the
frontier, was already occupied by the Boers, who hooted and abused them
as they passed through. At Laing's Nek there was a Dutch commando with
some guns.
Two miles on the women could go no further, and they halted at a large
farmhouse which had been deserted by its owners. All the men, however,
who were alone, determined to push on at once to Newcastle, and
promised they would send vehicles of some sort to take them on if they
could possibly be obtained. Mrs. King and the other ladies authorized
them to pay any sums demanded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account