Laying a field cable as it advanced, the Cavalry Division turned on its northward sweep, and soon after noon sundered the telegraph wires which connected Jacobsdal with Bloemfontein. Patrols were pushed out towards Jacobsdal and ascertained that this place was held in no great strength. At Wegdraai was a splendid well full of cool water, but the orders were peremptory that it was to be left for the Sixth Division, and so, notwithstanding heat and thirst, the column had to move on, though this was the only well on the arid plain between the Riet and Modder. The horses now began to show signs of great suffering, as well the poor beasts might, for there was neither shade nor verdure to break the intensity of the heat and vary the monotony of the dull brown steppe. The veldt grass was parched and brown--as brown as the veldt itself--and presently, some troopers, dropping matches in it as they passed, set it ablaze. A great sheet of flame swept with the wind behind the cavalry, but as the men rode faster than the fire could travel, little heed was paid to the conflagration. By this fire the field telegraph was destroyed and communication with Lord Roberts lost, while the heat and smoke it caused were further sources of trial. It was only because the Boers offered no serious resistance that the results were not far worse. At one point the scouts were suddenly driven in, and almost without notice heavy firing broke out. The British line was taken between two fires, and choosing to perish by the shots of the Boers rather than in the flames, dashed forward, when the enemy fled; but for some instants matters looked critical. The front covered by the cavalry as it went forward was one of enormous extent. "From flank to flank," wrote Captain Boyle, a Yeomanry officer with General French's headquarters, "the distance was so great that at times the General's gallopers could not move their horses out of a walk, though the message was important." Horses were dropping out right and left, the artillery in especial suffering. [Illustration: _Walker & Cockerell sc._ Night, Wednesday Feb. 14th. Night, Thursday Feb. 15th.] [Sidenote: Rondeval and Klip Drifts seized.]