APPENDIX
I
THE POTCHEFSTROOM ATROCITIES, &C.
There were more murders and acts of cruelty committed during the war
at Potchefstroom, where the behaviour of the Boers was throughout both
deceitful and savage, than at any other place.
When the fighting commenced a number of ladies and children, the wives
and children of English residents, took refuge in the fort. Shortly
after it had been invested they applied to be allowed to return to their
homes in the town till the war was over. The request was refused by the
Boer commander, who said that as they had gone there, they might stop
and "perish" there. One poor lady, the wife of a gentleman well known in
the Transvaal, was badly wounded by having the point of a stake, which
had been cut in two by a bullet, driven into her side. She was at the
time in a state of pregnancy, and died some days afterwards in great
agony. Her little sister was shot through the throat, and several other
women and children suffered from bullet wounds, and fever arising from
their being obliged to live for months exposed to rain and heat, with
insufficient food.
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