WITH THE "SILENT" SIXTH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12538, 27 June 1901, Page 7

WITH THE "SILENT" SIXTH.

' LOST ON THE .VELDT.

.i. .. RECORD COOKING. la a, lofctcr from Pistersburg, daJbedl April 10, Jamea Robertson, of the Sixth Qaor~ .■fcingont, writes to Us parents'at 'ltewBrighton as follow*}: —We 'arrived-"bore •fter a long march from Pretoria, and will be very glad of a rest few a, -while. We inr no fighting <xa the way up—only a EttJe "sniping" mvr and again, and our Kurch waa comparatively uneventful. We |ot on all right, for tucker. Plenty of pigs, 'Xwrb, oranges, bananas, and all kinds of fruit. I«n getting a bit "mixedi," as pigs and fowls are not fruit; but let that go. • We are name too particular over bere in the matter of phraseology, and in this came a knowledge of grammar don't count. ' TKb Boers wont 'fight now unless they get ' • chap on bis " lonesome," audi then they try to «nipe hami when be isn't looking'. Toe only adventure we had on our-.way vp was when we .got about nine miles froo* P. P. Rust, where we found th&<*a?lway ■ bridge blown up. About twenty of us bad ,to !.' train" it in consequence of our ; <bo:rscs 'getting: knocked l up, chasing some 'Boers , 'ot« very rough country. ■ ■

-' ELEVEN GHOSTS.. ■"' After a delay of about *lix hours, while tbe bridge was being repaired, we gob a '■tut again, bat hain't gone fax when, another explosion occurred, which delayed us till next morning. Fortunately bo one was hart. Just heiorei dark we captured 11 Boera, 150 catti© and 5 waggons. In the Warning we put the Boers in a truck ahead •f tbe ■ train, so lifliat' they would tell us I .Jf,-these were any more mines ahead; but -..evidently they didn't know, as there was another explosion about two miles from ..■Where we started, ' and if; I never saw g'boet* before, there were eleven of them .in -thei" front' track that morning. Two officer* and one private of the West A.usindiwK. were' kilted, asad one New-'2eW-jsirider *ownd«A ''•£ Our boys, had, a bit of a fight yesterday, but' ts soon 3* we got tbe. pom-pom into action! tbe Boers were off, and we-couldn't

■w tfteir. ftsela for dust. " , ■ An adventure on patrol. ffi another letter, dated! May 8, from 6ilv«rton, 'he says r—We are at present camped about seven miles from Pretoria, 'where ire will remain fox abou'6 ten days . waiting renw<mt» from Cape Colony. We bad a,v^ry.haitf..march'.from Pietersburg to iMs place. After leaving Pietershurg w« camped at Oliphant's River, having travelled for a week, mostly at _ night. H«ra< wte 'found plenty- of • forage in the »Wpe of fowls and wateftneloms. One wight, such of us as had fit horses were ordered to niddlo. ttp and proceed to an outer camp. Saving an, excellent little feorW 1 was anvoagst tfcie (number. On meeting tie outpost we" were, told there was a Boer convoy about forty wiles distant, so ofl-we went after them. Securing' Kaffir guides, wo cam* upon the" waggons next morning,* only to find thai ih© men from Kitchener's column (had! captured them the day before. Thin we left in search of cattle, a mob of which we found the same evening and started to drive home, but tearing that Boers were in the - vicinity, four "of us were sent out to reconnoitre. • "Then we were unable to pick up the main column, and two of our,men, wont off at . a gallop to.find them, so my mate and I iwe're left ■ alone. Being in the enemy's country, and night coming onj we decided to He dowrj in. tha open and; have .a sleep. In the morning we" 'made" an- early , start, feeling a hit hungry, and 1 (having had no breakfast) with a considerable " vacuum" in "the region of our waisttelts. - After about two hours' travel wo came on four fowls, about lOOyda away, "right in de jnSddle ob de road," and. you would have laughed,-to seepua dodging-about amongst the rocks so as to .make sure, of getting a good, shot _ at. them. My mats -gave the order : to fire, and, taking careful aim, we brought down two of them. I tell you it ' 'was " all right." We got to work on those %yro fowls and had," them cooked and eaten in about the quickest time on record, and 'after having an excellent breakfast went the rest of the way without anything uai'tal we struck the river, wbzre we got some '■watermekms. . Next liay we ehot; some /pigeons, which kept us going till we struck an outpost of the Australians the following morning. They treated us " all right," "ftad we arrived in camp the some day. We were the first of '•&» patrol to reach' camp, -and after us the others kept dropping in, ■two and three alt a time, most of 'them having Icat'theineelvies in the same way as -we did.

HORSE SICKNESS. ', ■ Hoi-3e-rickne39 is a terrible thing over ■here. Out of the six hundred beautiful .'horses we brought over with us only about 'two hundred are left. You may sea their 'dead bodies" lying by the side of the road, and .1 have counted; as many as fifty "of them in a 'day. I have been very fortun.ate in being able to keep my own. pony in; good ord*r all the way through, and I would be very sorry to lose him. When a horse' ha*.been your constant companion for -many months; and has- endured all sorts of hardships along with you, and has helped you many a time to' get out of a "tight comer," it is like parting with your, best friend to lose him. SOUTH AFRICA. : ' ' ,

This is a grand "country—what I have »e-iu of it at anyrate, and suite me- splendidly. I haven't had a day's illrass since ' I arrived, and I have often wondered why so many of our fellows should be " knocked under" by fever. I think itmust often berths - .result/of their own .'carelessness in taking ;no"' "precautions to. prevent it. I hope'the war will soon be over, as it gets u bit monotonous b5Wg in the saddle day after day. I don't know where we are likely to be ■ent to next. There are very few Boers ' where we are at present, and 'they only show themselves when they want to surrender. -Things have been a bit "slow" 80 far, but there i« no knowing 'what may be in store for us yet.