Basutas.

Such, briefly, was the state of affairs when we left Simon's Bay; and it was with feelings of some excitement that we looked forward to joining the gallant little army, which as anxiously expected our arrival.

CHAPTER III.
LANDING—MARCH UP THE COUNTRY—FIRST BRUSH WITH THE REBELS.

On the fourth day after leaving Simon's Town, we dropped anchor in Algoa Bay, opposite the town of Port Elizabeth, which, though rather a dull-looking place at first sight, with its background of bare sand-hills, improved on better acquaintance.

Here the troops were transferred to large boats, from which again, one by one, we were all carried ashore, through a tremendous surf, sitting astride on the shoulders of naked Fingoes; tall, athletic fellows, adorned with armlets and necklaces of brass and beads, and wearing pendant in front, a most grotesque and sometimes elaborate ornament, which as much astonished our men, as it excited their merriment. Our landing on the 16th of the month was an odd coincidence, as we had sailed from Cork on the 16th of March, and crossed the line on the 16th of April.

Towards evening the whole of the troops were landed, and our tents pitched on the top of the bare bleak hill behind the town.

Most of the bedding having got thoroughly soaked in passing through the surf, many of us slept in our plaids on the bare ground, which some of the youngsters rather preferred, as a hardy soldier-like sort of thing.

Here we were detained three days, unable to procure sufficient oxen for the baggage waggons, as in consequence of a long drought and scarcity of pasture the cattle had died off in hundreds, those that survived being in such a miserable plight that two could with difficulty do the work of one in ordinary condition.

The camp was besieged from morning to night by crowds of various races, Africanders, Hottentots, Malays, and Fingoes, as different in costume as in complexion; some gaily dressed in startling cottons, with gaudy douks or bandanas on their woolly heads; others with large brass skewers stuck Chinese fashion through their long black hair; some wrapped in a simple cowhide, or dirty blanket; and many with little encumbrance beyond their brass and copper ornaments, or the naked little niggers tied on their backs. Horses of all ages and descriptions, from unbroken colts to broken-down screws, and of all colours, from a "voss" to a "blue schimmel," were paraded for sale, and trotted up and down, spurred, "jambokked," and gingered all day long. As every officer required two animals, one for riding and another for his pack-saddle, the demand greatly increased the already high prices, and we had to pay at least double their ordinary value.

On the fourth day after landing, tents were struck at eight in the morning, and we marched through the long straggling street of Port Elizabeth, accompanied for some distance out of the town by a motley crowd, screaming and dancing round the band. A long train of about thirty lumbering waggons, each drawn by ten or fourteen of the largest bullocks we had ever seen; carrying immense and most inconvenient-looking horns, brought up the rear. Naked little "voorloupiers"[1] led the teams, which were driven by dwarf Hottentots flourishing enormous bamboo whips eighteen or twenty feet in length, the incessant cracking of which was like the report of so many pistols, as they descended with volleys of Dutch oaths on the backs of the unfortunate oxen answering to the names of Schwartlande, Bluberg, or Scotlande.

The country was most monotonous, and but for such features of novelty as strange shrubs and plants presented, uninteresting enough, being little more than a succession of bare sandy flats, and low hills sprinkled with bush, here and there a large salt-pan, and occasionally clumps of aloes and elephant tree,[2] a large bush with round fleshy leaves of an agreeable acid, the favourite food of the elephant, which only a few years back inhabited the whole of this district. The sun was scorching hot; clouds of fine sand, raised by the moving column, floated round, filling eyes and mouth; and altogether the men (judging from their remarks) appeared to entertain a very indifferent opinion of Africa.

After fourteen miles we came to the Zwartkop river, and crossing the drift or ford, encamped among the scattered mimosas, bristling with gigantic white thorns, on a piece of short, smooth grass, at the foot of a hill, completely covered with aloes, drawing up the waggons in line, and knee-haltering the horses, which were turned loose to feed with the oxen till dark.

A brilliant moon rose early, and we sat round a cheerful camp-fire, smoking our first pipe in what might be called the bush; the long lines of tents and white-topped waggons peeped from among the dark trees, bright fires encircled by red coats shone everywhere; the oxen tied to the yokes lay grouped together, the horses stood sleeping, the Hottentots scraped their fiddles and screeched under their waggons, and in the distance the sentinels paced up and down their beat; while above the general hum, rose every now and then the loud laugh and merry song, finishing occasionally with the mournful howl of a jackal.

Next morning, after ascending the steep winding road cut through a forest of large African aloes, we marched to Coega River, where, learning that there was no water to be had for the next twenty miles, we were obliged, on account of the oxen, to halt for the day. We had good sport at buck-shooting, and I got a beautiful tiger's skin from a native who had but just stripped it from the carcass of its late owner.

Owing to the general reluctance that had hitherto been displayed to turning out of bed in the middle of the night to march, we were aroused the following morning at one o'clock, by the effectual but not very agreeable mode, of pulling down the tents at the sound of a bugle, without the ceremony of asking those within whether they were prepared for a public appearance.

It was still bright moonlight when we fell in, and so bitterly cold that our half-frozen fingers and toes had hardly recovered their natural warmth when we halted for breakfast, after a five-miles walk in rear of the snail-paced waggons.

After two or three hours' grazing, the oxen were inspanned, and our march continued for fifteen miles through dense bush; the laborious track ankle deep in soft sand, and so narrow in places that the waggons could barely brush through, the men being obliged to march in file. The sun was by this time intensely hot, and we were without a drop of water to moisten our lips, which were swollen and blistered by the heat. Towards noon we came to a "poort," or natural hollow between high banks covered with aloe and dwarf euphorbia, the sand thickly incrusted with salt. The reflected heat of the sun was intolerable; not a breath of air was stirring; all around was still as death, and the atmosphere so stifling that many of the men were on the point of fainting, though a few hours before benumbed with cold. Shortly we came to a muddy stagnant pool, literally hot from the noontide sun: but so great were the sufferings of the troops, that they rushed almost into it, throwing themselves down by sections on the miry banks, and greedily drinking the fetid green water.

In the afternoon