And so we rode on, hour after hour, through the night, till we well-nigh
fell asleep in our saddles, and at length, about two o'clock in the
morning, we reached the waggons to find the young Boers fast asleep
in our bed. We kicked them out, and, after swallowing some biscuits,
tumbled in ourselves for the few hours' rest which we so sadly needed.
On the following morning, Thursday, two of the party bade farewell to
our hosts at the fort and started on one of the quickest possible treks,
leaving our companion to proceed across country to the fort established
by President Burgers, or "Porocororo," as the Basutus call him, at
Steelport.
We returned to Middelburg by an entirely different route from that
by which we came. Leaving the valley of the Olifants to our right, we
trekked along the high-veldt, and thus avoided all the fever country.
Roughly speaking, we had about 120 miles of country to get over to reach
Middelburg, and we determined to do this in three days and two nights,
so as to get in on the Saturday night, as we were much pressed for time.
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