== "We arrived at Kakamas," he writes, "after a long and wearisome trek through Bushmanland, a company of about eighty, consisting mostly of raw farmer youths.
"We remained in camp for about six weeks, and, in the first week of October, orders came from Maritz for 200 troops, comprising the Calvinia, Clanwilliam, and Kenhardt men, to strike camp and trek toward the German border.
"Two days later the remaining men in camp, consisting of the Kakamas members of the Defence Force, some Kakamas Volunteers, and our own troop, altogether about 300 men, likewise trekked in that direction. After two days' riding, we came to a farm called Blokzijnputs, where we met the first 200 men.
"The village of Keimoes was crowded with German troops; our men and officers were walking and talking among them on the friendliest possible terms, and the German and the old Transvaal Republican flags were flying side by side.
"In a very short time we were made fully aware of the position. The act of treachery which led up to it was being freely discussed by everybody, and then I realized that `we' — I say `we', for I never for one second doubted that most of our men would refuse to turn rebels — had been caught like rats in a trap.
"But a further shock awaited me. About half an hour after our arrival we were summoned to fall in before Maritz, who then addressed the crowd.
"He first spoke about the Government wishing to force him over the border with a lot of untrained and unarmed youngsters, and went on to say that he refused to sacrifice their lives.
"After a bitter attack on the characters of Generals Smuts and Botha, he denounced the British Empire as a whole, and wound up by declaring himself an out and out rebel.
"He stated that he was going to fight against the Union and Imperial Governments for the independence of South Africa, and called upon all who were unwilling to follow him, or `had the English feeling in them', to stand on one side.
"Ten Loyal out of Six Hundred"