We returned to our work by dawn, but we had found the distance so inconvenient, and adding so greatly to the labour, that I had orders to pass the next night, with my men, on the plain, so as to be nearer our work, and accordingly we selected the ruins at Eastlands farm for our bivouac. It was, however, only a choice of evils, for the night was bitterly cold on this high ground, and the darkness had come on so quickly that we had not had time to collect sufficient fuel to keep us warm, though we had had enough to show us that our little party of thirty men was watched by mounted Kaffirs, who, as the night closed in, hovered round nearer than was quite agreeable. Having posted sentries and outlying picquets, and made arrangements in case of an attack which the Dutchmen with the waggon were confident would be made, I sat down by my fire alone, but, finding my own thoughts very indifferent company, soon turned in, though the hyænas and jackals kept up such a mournful howling that it was impossible to sleep. Each morning a company of the Rifles joined us from camp, and thus our labours were continued for nearly a week, detached sections from the company on the heights accompanying us as we worked lower and lower down the hill.
A large drove of commissariat cattle ascended the Pass one day for Colonel Buller's camp, and as they came up I found it was escorted by a strong party of troops and Fingo Levies, under my brother's charge. Having handed them over to the Rifles, we had a chat over the united contents of our haversacs, exchanging the gossip of camp and post, after which he left us to return to the Blinkwater; before he had gone half a mile down hill we saw the Kaffirs creeping from the mountain, as if to intercept the party at its foot, of which, however, we gave him timely warning by a Corporal's party of the Cape Corps.
Our principal amusements, besides acting as engineers, and directing general proceedings, were sketching, and rifle practice at the monkeys and lories hopping about in the thick forest, and at the enormous vultures sleeping on the high crags that towered above us on the opposite side of the narrow ravine. Snakes were abundant here, as indeed everywhere else, and among others we killed a "boom slang," a long slender viper of a brilliant grass green, which dropped from a tree under which we had lighted a fire. This and the cobra and puff-adder are the most deadly of all the snakes of the country, but though they are all very common, and were frequently found in our camps, we never once heard of a single accident occurring among the troops, though Clifford, of the Rifles, had a very narrow escape; one day sitting with a party of officers on the ground, and carelessly resting his hand on the grass, he felt something moving, and turning round, to his surprise found he had got his hand on the neck of a large puff-adder! without withdrawing it, he coolly drew out his clasp knife with the other, and severed the beast's head from its body.
Having finished our task, we returned once more to Post Retief, where we found a large and jovial party of the Rifle Brigade.
At three o'clock, on a cold morning, towards the close of the month, a small party of us, bound for Fort Beaufort, mounted our horses in the square of our little Fort, and riding out of the gates, which were carefully secured after us, proceeded down the glen along the rocky little streamlet, that rushed and foamed past the Post. The mountain peaks stood out sharp against the dark blue sky; the stars shone brightly, and the clear air was so keen that we were glad to put our horses into a trot to keep up the circulation. The party consisted only of D. A. Commissary-General Bartlett, and myself, with three after-riders; as our safety consisted more in secrecy than numbers, our first object was to get down before daylight. After a sharp ride of ten miles across the table land, as we reached the crest of the hill the first streaks of day were faintly visible, warning us that we had no time to lose if we wished to clear the Pass. Up to this point we had cantered carelessly along, laughing and talking, but now it was necessary to be cautious. Having tightened our saddle-girths and unslung our rifles at the head of the shadowy road, which with its overhanging trees looked like the entrance of a dark cave, we proceeded in silence down the steep path cut through the bush. We had gone but a few hundred yards, our eyes hardly yet accustomed to the gloom, when a dark figure crossed the road a little in front, and disappeared in the bush. To have fired would only have been to betray ourselves; so we held on our course, keeping a sharp look out. When half way down we came suddenly on a Kaffir fire in the bush on our left, not more than five or six yards from the path; round it lay several black fellows, rolled in their red blankets and karosses, sleeping soundly, after watching probably the greater part of the night. Almost at the same moment the glimmer of a second fire showed through the underwood on the opposite side of the road a little beyond; holding up my hand to caution the escort, we moved stealthily along, looking carefully to our horses' feet and almost holding our breath. As we passed the second fire, round which also lay the sleeping forms of our deadly enemies, a large dog rushed out, but luckily without barking; had he done so all was up with us, being only five to a score, and the hill too steep and rocky for a gallop. Fortunately he contented himself with sniffing at the horses' heels, and the ground being damp and soft we passed noiselessly by, and soon turning a sharp angle in the road were out of sight. By seven A.M. we arrived in Colonel Napier's camp in the Blinkwater.
On our return two days after, we had some difficulty in getting up the Pass from the extreme slipperiness of the road after a heavy rain; and when we gained the top the clouds hung round us so dense that we could not see twenty yards in any direction, which was however all in favour of my solitary ride for the next ten miles, as just at this point the Mail Escort turned off for Colonel Buller's camp.
For the next fortnight, when not patrolling, we went out buck shooting on the open hills, which abounded with oribee and rheebok; or rode over to the Rifle Brigade camp, dining with them in the snug little cottages they had built of wattle and daub, neatly thatched over, and fitted with doors; the windows made of calico, and the interiors furnished with rough tables and chairs of camp manufacture.
On the 14th, I started with a few mounted Boers, for the Blinkwater, en route to Graham's Town; and at Beaufort learned the news of an attack at the notorious Koonap Hill, on a party of Sappers and Miners, escorting Minié Rifles and ammunition from Graham's Town up to the troops on the Frontier. Seven of the men had been killed, and several wounded. The greatest excitement prevailed in the town.
Twelve miles further, at Lieuw Fontein, where the post-riders rest two or three hours, was a party of Fingoes on their way to the scene of the above attack, to follow up the spoor; and preferring to take my horse, which I had ridden throughout, at their more leisurely pace, marched with them all night, reaching the Koonap Hill at daybreak. We had the greatest difficulty in getting our frightened horses past the fatal spot. The scarped road was obstructed with dead horses, oxen, and mules, shot in the conflict. Two waggons had been turned over, and the bodies of a couple of Hottentots lay dead in the middle of the path, which was covered with pools of blood; and for half a mile further, strewn with torn uniform, blood-stained linen, flour, coffee, sugar, and commissariat supplies.
At Fort Brown, whither the dead and wounded had been conveyed, we found a fatigue party digging graves for those who had fallen. The waggons which had been brought off, riddled with balls, stood in the square. From Captain Moody, R.E., the officer commanding the party at the time of the attack, I had a full account of the affair. It appeared that when nearly half way up the Hill, a volley was suddenly fired on the escort, from the bush on the lower side, into the advance guard, killing four of them at once. The attack then became general, the Sappers fighting gallantly under their Captain, making a fresh stand as they were driven from waggon to waggon, till overpowered by numbers, and having seven killed and nine wounded out of thirty, they were forced to retreat to an empty house near the ruins of the old Koonap Post. There they barricaded themselves, and remained for about an hour, when relief arrived from Fort Brown, where the sound of the firing had given the alarm to the garrison.