SOUTH AFRICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12621, 2 October 1901, Page 2

SOUTH AFRICA.

The* following letter, datedKroonstadt, June 28, lhas been received by an- Oxford resident from Mr H. C. Thompson, who left that district to go to South Africa with Captain Hughes, and who has since been promoted to he a lieutenant in the Prince of Wales's Own Light Horse, the company for which Captain Hughes was recruiting:—, ...•.■..::::::: "You-will no doubt be glad to hear that I like the life here very much, and that I have never enjoyed better health in my life. I should like you 'to make this letter public, as a false impression seemed to be on the minds of a great number of New Zeailanders in regard to Captain Hughes. You know how the New Zealand Government treated Captain Hughes. "Even after Lord "Kitchener had cabled out to arrange/ for the men's passages to be paid, they refused to assist Captain Hughes to help our loyal young men to go out and fight for the Empire. After leaving New Zealand Iliad a really good time in Sydney recruiting. By the time Captain Hughes 'arrived there I had the required number of men to make up the full number, and a fine lot of men they were. Being mostly men-who had been 'on their own,' they were very suitable for the kind of work here in South Africa, as they could .act for themselves in any emergency. Our duties at© chiefly acting as rear or advance guards, or working on the flanks of the main body, and men who have shown the pluck and independence these men have by paying their owni passages to South Africa, in spite of the many obstacles put in their way, aire bound to do well. We had a. lot of drill on the boat, and the way the men picked it up showedtheir intelligence and anxiety for proficiency. On arrival at Durban we were met by three officers of thie regiment, sent down 'by Colonel Owen Thomas, commanding Prince of Wales's Own Light Horse, to receive us. We were immediately marched to 'the office, where we all <took the oath of allegiance to the King, and > were enrolled. A special lunch was kindly provided, and then we entrained for Maritzburg. Here the mean, were all fully equipped l in three hours. Our duty started 'straight away by taking trains through to as near the front as the railway will serve. -On our way up I was greatly pleased to find the respect and esteem that Captain Hughes is held in. .He is;so well and favourably known right up between Maritzburg and Kroonstadt that his influence was enough to obtain carriages for the men instead of horse trucks. On arrival here at Kroonstadt we were met by quite a crowd, all'arrangements having previously been made for us, and we were marched straight into camp. Captain Hughes halted the men, and the Colonel came cut to welcome us. He said that he was proud to see suehl a splendid lot of men before him, and gave tliem a word of praise for the pluck they had shown in coming over at their own expense, and in spite of the obstacles placed in their way« in New Zealand. In regard- to Captain Hughes, he said: ' I daresay you knowyour captain was with me in the fight through Wepener, and I cannot say enough in his praise. He did splendid service under ms for the twelve months' campaigning, proved himself a plucky and good soldier. lam right down pleased to see him back again, and' no doubt you will be as proud of him as I am.' The men were much moved by the Colonel's words, and I think they really do appreciate their skipper as he deserves. All Australasians aire to ba attached to the Prince of Wales's Own in future. Captain Hughes has just left for Durban, to meet? thirty more men from our part of the globe. The fighting is going on all around here. We lost ' a sergeant yesterday, aind had ten men wounded. The game seems to be to get the best cover you can and shoot straight. Should you hear of any'meh coming over here you might send me a cable, and I will arrange for them to be sent up from the coast." •