| Oat hay, per 100 bundles | 15s. to 18s. according to quality. | ||
| Manna hay, | " | 10s. | |
| Blue grass, | " | 3s. | |
| Straw, | " | 7s. | |
| Mealies, per 100 lbs | 5s. | ||
| Potatoes, per sack of 150 lbs. | 10s. | ||
| Milk, per bottle | 6d. | ||
| Eggs, per dozen | 1s. to 1s. 3d. | ||
| Fowls, each | 1s. to 1s. 6d. | ||
| Ducks, | " | 2s. to 2s. 6d. | |
| Geese, | " | 3s. to 3s. 6d. | |
| Turkeys, | " | 6s. to 8s. | |
| Butter, per lb. | 1s. to 1s. 6d. | ||
Saturday, 13th October.—Many exciting things have crowded themselves into the last few days. The Boers who had slipped away from the Vryheid district are again moving north, and are reported in some force at Waterfal on the Elandsberg, 20° N.E. of us. They are said to have a Pom-pom and two Creusots; it seems to be the Wakkerstroom commando and Swaziland police, some 300 strong; the Ermelo commando has also moved on to the Barberton district. These commandos have been raiding cattle and horses every day, keeping well out of reach of our guns; many rumours of their intent to attack us at Grass Kop have been brought in but we are quite ready for them. This raiding has had the effect of bringing all the Dutch farmers and their sons flying back to their farms to look after their stock; they are highly indignant with the looters, have all surrendered and taken the oath at Volksrust, and ride up here to the foot of the hill every day with many reports and much advice about their former comrades' movements, and how to attack and kill them! Many old Dutch women have come also to the hill in tears over their losses from Boer marauders and say they are starving. All this gives Major Dawson and Lieutenant Poynder, Adjutant of the Queen's, a great deal of work and many walks down the hill to interview these people.
Our Naval camp has been strengthened by building stone sangars round our tents to prevent any risk of the enemy creeping up and sniping us in our sleep; still, with barbed wires round the hill, hung with old tins, and trenches and sangars to protect the position, we feel pretty safe, although the gallant Cowper of the Queen's has gone down with one company to reinforce Sandspruit and we miss him greatly.
To go back a few days, I must now mention that on the 11th October came a wire from Admiral Harris to Halsey telling him to arrange the return of our remnant of Naval Brigade to Natal as soon as possible, our brother officers and men who were with Lord Roberts on the other side having left Pretoria on the 8th and arrived at Simon's Town. This wire, as may be imagined, caused us much joy up here after a year's fighting, and I personally celebrated it with the Queen's by a great dinner on some partridges and pigeons that I had bagged down hill on the 10th.
To cap this telegram I received one forwarded on from Standerton next day: "Admiral, Simon's Town, wires, Burne appointed Victoria and Albert Royal Yacht; he should proceed to Durban whence his passage will be arranged." This came as a surprise to me, but at my seniority to serve Her Majesty once more on her yacht, where I was a Sub-Lieutenant in 1894, is a very great honour. I cannot well get away however just yet, as arrangements are being made for the relief of all guns by garrison gunners, and I am intent to "see it out," and indeed I must do so in order to turn over all the ordnance and transport stores and accounts for which I am personally responsible, and which after six months mount up a bit. I expect therefore to leave this hill and the front with our Naval Brigade next week, and then for "England, home, and beauty" once more. I shall hope, when able to do it, to revert to my gunnery line by-and-bye, as it has stood me in good stead in the past.
Monday, 15th October.—Another wire from Halsey, who is at Standerton, telling me he hoped to arrange for our leaving together on the 18th for Durban, so we are busy preparing, and I send off to-day my returns of ox transport, which show that out of 84 oxen we have lost 17 in action and otherwise. Old Scheeper, the Boer farmer at the bottom of our hill, whose son is Assistant Field Cornet with the Wakkerstroom commando, has sold me his crane and is making a cage for it. I shall take it down to Maritzburg and present it to the Governor (Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson), who has done me kindnesses in two parts of the world. I am also busy packing up my collection of Boer shells and relics of Colenso, Vaal Krantz, Almond's Nek, and Grass Kop. We may yet be attacked before leaving, as Boers were reported about ten miles off last night moving south along the Elandsberg. Sir Redvers Buller passed through Sandspruit on the 14th en route for Maritzburg and England, so it is quite on the cards that I may go home in the same ship which will be interesting.
Friday, 19th October.—Still not relieved. The railway line has been cut two nights running between Paardekop and Standerton, and about a mile and a half of it torn up, and this perhaps accounts for the delay. We hear that General Buller has had a great reception at Maritzburg as he deserves and that he goes on to Durban this week; he is undoubtedly the "Saviour of Natal," as they call him. The Governor accepts my Transvaal crane for his garden, so I shall take it down in the cage I am having made for it and leave it en route down at Maritzburg.
Saturday, 20th October.—Anniversary of Talana Hill. Sir Redvers Buller arrived to-day in Durban and had a great reception. All the newspapers praise him, and the earlier and difficult days of our rebuffs on the Tugela are wiped out in public opinion by subsequent brilliant successes. The General is, indeed, immensely popular with the army he has led through such difficult country and through so much fighting and marching. Very pleased to meet at Volksrust to-day Captain Fitz Herbert of the South African Light Horse who came out with me in the Briton a year ago. He was originally in the Berkshire Regiment, but joined the South African Light Horse at Capetown and was taken prisoner by the Boers at Colenso. His experiences with the Boers for four months as a prisoner were, he tells me, somewhat awful. The first week he was handcuffed and put in the common jail for knocking down an insolent jailer, and he had to live all his time on mealies, with meat only once a week. He shows the marks of all this and is quite grey.
Sunday, 21st October.—A wire at last ordering us to leave on Wednesday for Durban. Off I went, therefore, to Volksrust to close my ordnance accounts with my middy, Mr. Ledgard, from Paardekop, who had met me with his papers. Hard at it since the 15th, turning over stores, making out vouchers, answering wires, and writing reports.
Tuesday, 23rd October.—I gave over my guns here and at Paardekop on Sunday to Lieutenant Campbell and Captain Shepheard, of the Royal Artillery, and to-day we are all busy packing, and doing the thousand and one things one always finds at the last moment to do. As we are off at 7 a.m. to-morrow, to catch the mail train at Sandspruit, the Queen's are giving me a farewell dinner to-night, while Bethune's Horse are dining my men. Rundle, French, and Hildyard are reported to be closing in all round in a circle (this place being the centre), and 5,000 Boers within the circle are being gradually forced slowly in towards us. The many men who come in to surrender report that the main body will be obliged either to surrender or to attack us somewhere to get a position. I wired yesterday to General Hildyard, who is at Blood River, sending my respects to him and his Staff on leaving his command, and I received a very kind reply to-day: "I and my Staff thank you for your message. I am very sorry not to have seen you before you leave, but I hope you will tell your gallant officers and men how much I have appreciated their cheerful and ready assistance while with me during the campaign."