LETTERS FROM OUR BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2397, 8 February 1900, Page 11

LETTERS FROM OUR BOYS.

The following letter, dated Arundel, 21st December, 1899, written by the late Sergeant Hourley, received by his brother, Mr J. M. Gourley, has a melancholy interest: —

I am writing from a place about 659 miles from the Cape, with nothing but dust and rocks around us. We trained 616 miles, and rode the rest. We detrained the horses at Naauwpoort, where we stayed about a week. We then rode on, bivouacking one night on the way here. It is all right sleeping outside. I very often take it on. Of course it is qiute a luxury to take your clothes off, as under the present circumstances we never know when we will be called out. I am very glad to say that the Boers are not very fond of attacking in the dark. We are about 3000 strong here, all mounted men, with the exception of the Royal Plorse Artillery and one regiment of infantry. 'The New Zealanclers compare most favourably with the regulars. In fact, I must own I ani greatly disappointed with them, and the majority are not up to much as riders. We can beat them bad, and the authorities reckon us the very best at reconnoitring and patrolling. It is very rare that a party of us go out without bringing something home. One paper here called us the " white-haired boys of the British Army," and said that we never thought of getting home without a prisoner, or something of the sort. People said that we would never get to the front. Well, I can assure you that that is a mistake, as we have been very much in it since arriving here. I tell you, it is no joking when it is simply raining bullets all around you. It is surprising how soon you get used to it. On Monday, while out, we were attached to the Royal Horse Artillery, and were shelled by the Boers. They fired some 30 shots at us without doing any harm. The furthest from us was not more than 50 yards, so you see there was not much room to spare. It was a most peculiar feeling at first, but yoii soon get used to it. It was very hard luck my horse dying. ... I am going to ride a pony commandeered from the Boers. My boys collared about 13 this morning, while out as a special escort to General French. J list fancy, Monday will be Christmas Day! I don't know what sort of a dinner we will have. So far our allowance of food is half a loaf (2lb loaf) and lib of meat a > day, with tea or coffee at breakfast, and tea — not much for a man when he is sometimes 10 or more hovirs in the saddle, but still we live through it all. The, following extracts are taken from a letter written by the late Sergeant Gourley to -his sister, Mrs A. Ross, Maclaggan street : — Africa is the worst country I have been in — nothing but dust. I have not seen a blade of grass since I arrived. . . General French is in command here. He is a fine general, and fond o£ fighting. We left Naauwpoort at 5 a.m. on the 2nd, and got as far as Hartebeest- • fontein farm during the day. The 6th Dragoon Guards arrived, some 600 strong, and our boys assisted them to debark their horses, in fact, our boys did it all. The colonel who "was in command shook hands with one of my lads fo_- 'getting- into a -truck where four horses were clowii, and getting them out. He said he was the best man he had ever seen amongst horses, and did not know what they would have done without him-. Next day -we got up at 3, and started' for 'Arundel, where we first got sight of the -Boers; • Last Friday week we were roused : at 1.30 with the object of attacking the Boers and trying -to get into Colesberg, but from what "I can hear the attack had to be abandoned" "Owing- to the New South Wales Lancers being late, which was very annoying, as it was a good chance lost. There are plenty of Boers ebout here. The number is supposed to be about 10,000, while we have a force of only 2900. Nevertheless, we can keep them at a distance. The only bit of real bad luck I have had since I left home took place last Sunday when my horse, which I had named Mac, died. He had done real well on the boat, but as soon as he landed he went clean off his feed. About two days before he died he starting eating, and would eat anything he could get, and somehow he must have got hold of something ■which poisoned him. It is a great loss io me, as I have not got another yet, as the remounts left are no good. One day last week all hands had to saddle up at 11.30 p.m., when we were to go to a certain place and take some Boers prisoners. The New Scmth Wales major was in charge. Just before daylight Major Robin declined to go any further, and a good thing, too, as the road we had to go was through a gully, and, as it happened, the place was overrun with Boers. It is certain that some of us would not have got back. Anyhow, we were destined to have a lively time that day, as while we were crossing the desert we were fired upon by the Boers, and the bullets just showered about us. Luckily, no one was shot. One fellow had his horse shot in the thigh, and another, Trumpeter Johnston, had his hat knocked off with one. So far as I could see, none of our fellows seemed to flinch. We got back to camp that day at 4.30, p.m., after some 15 hours in the saddle. We were sent to attack a farm supposed to be inhabited by Boers. When we got there we found the place empty, so some of my division commandeered two turkeys. One they gave to the officers; the other they cooked and stuffed. It was a real treat. Yesterday was the anniversary of Majuba Hill, and I can tell you wfe were kept at it strong. The Boers kept ami 05'ing us the whole day. There was only one death — that of a captain in the Inniskilling Company. Of course, whenever there is any fighting going on, the ambulance is always about, but we never seem to trouble. The only thing that troubles the lot is to get at the Boers.

The following extracts are taken from a, letter written by Trooper Seelye, and dated Arundel, December 19 : —

We are still at Arundel, where we have been under canvas for over a week now. . . We wero on the march some miles further on, when we were fired on, and had to retire here. I was on the rear guard that day with some baggage, and so was right out of it. The camp covers acres of veldt, and to walk lound it would be quite an undertaking. The dust is the worst we have to put up with. In all the horse camps the suiface gets cut up, and there is a sort of sandy dust a few inches deep everywhere. As there is always a breeze in the middle of the day and a boiling hot sun to say it is unpleasant is pvitting it veiy mildly. The evenings are perfection, though. The wind drops, and the air is very mild, and we always say that it is worth while going thiough the heat of the day to get the full enjoyment of the evening. I geneially strip off and have a bath then in a canvas bucket about 2ft in diameter, and get another to throw buckets of water over us for a finish. I have a pipe then and turn in. . . We are having a couple of days' spell, principally on account of the horses. We have been starting out at all sorts of times lately. One night we were called up at 11, and it is nothing unusual for us to leave at 2 or 3 in the morning, and stay out till the next afternoon. Of course, we take a day's rations with us and a feed for the horses. As we are riding all the time, it is liot so tiring, and after we have fed our horses and ourselves we can always turn in. The only woik we have to do now is to look after our horses. . . The tucker is good enough — a pound and a-halt of biead per day and a pound of meal (sometimes bully beef, but generally fresh mutton), jam occasionally, and about /two teaspoonfuls ot mm every second night, and when we go out a pound of biscuits. There is a store at Naauv. poort, where we can get sjtoflj »fi fWS, Slay, ffii' pjuaelvfia, go. J Sffl g&U

able to keep up my reputation in the eating line. | The following extracts are taken from a letter dated December 18, Arundel, written by Trooper Macpherson to Dr Macpherson, of Dunedin : — . We have returned from our first serious en- • gagement, and I am sorry to say we lost one of our men ; but I suppose his time had arrived. We have had the pro\id distinction cf being mnde an escort brigade attached to the .Royal Horse Artillery — one of the most impoVtant positions in General French's colurni!. We got the artilleiy into position before daybreak. Our long-range guns have not arrived. It was two howitzers that came up yesterday. One gun shelled a farmhouse, and we were ordered to occupy it, and engage the enemy on a kopje about 1200 yards. After, being at the kopje a few minutes the general ordered us to retire, and again to advance to the position. In the meantime the Boers had occupied the kopje within 400 yards of our house, and opened a terrific fire. We rushed into the scant cover of the fruit trees and hedges, but the i Boers' fire was awful. They poured in about ,50 shots tcuour one. . . It seemed incredible that none of us were hit until we were ordered to retire. Part of my bandolier was shot away, and a shot went through my water bottle. On running back to our horses poor Bradford was pipped. The other three of his section declare that he was dead. One of our men rushed back thiough the thick of it to pick up a man who was crushed by his horse that was shoe dead. 'A lot of our horses were wounded, but we only lost one. Sergeant Grant, who was' close to me at' the house, said to me, "By the Lord, Ms.c, if half of us get out of this we arc lucky " ; and he is one of the coolest men we have. I did not mind the rifle fire so much as the shells from their " Long Tom." When ■we were clouding the R.H.A. we could see . the smoke fiom the Boer guns four miles away, and then for 15 or 20 seconds you are wonder- ] ing if the shell will fall in amongst the crowd. It made me feel as if my " inwards were crawl- ■ ing tip into my neck." You hear them coming like a syren whistle, and if they pass over ■ you duck your head down after they have passed. They come so fast that we have no 1 time to duck until they are over us. Sixteen -shells fell in front of vis from 20 to 50 yards from us; but I think only two of them burst. They did no damage; but, by gad, they make one feel uncomfortable. When we retired out of range with the R.H.A., General French came up and said: "Major Robin, officers, and men , of New Zealand, — Words cannot express my J thanks and the high esteem in which I hold you. Yoiu courage and coolness surprises me, etc., etc." We were forced to retire from the ; position, but our rifle file from the house killed a. good many. The second shot I fired emptied a saddle. He had just mounted for some purpose or other, and I got a dandy shot. He ■ put his arms up and fell back over, and the horse came over the top of the kopje. I don't think any of my other shots did any good, ' although I fired 26 rounds. The R.H.A. fue must have done considerable havoc. Their shells were bursting in splendid positions. Our ambulance waggon has gone out to try and get Bradford's body, and we may get some , fuller particulars of the Boers' loss when it ' returns. December 19. Our, ambulance came back last wight, and we are glad to learn that Bradford was not j killed,- but was shot in the hip and on the j neck. He was taken a prisoner, and the Boer • doctors, dressed him at the farmhouse. We ; will try io exchange "liirri" for" one of their ■ prisoners," although any Boer prisoners that ' we hays dpn't want, to gp back. They are quite , satisfied to remain with us. I am afraid we ' will not get Bradford till there is a general I exchange of prisoners. . . . I rin in Ser- ! geant Hazlett's division. There are 32 of us, and I feel sure that everyone of them will stick 5 together. Hazlett is one of the best in the world, and we would do anything for him. i General French has given us two days' rest, ' which our horses badly require. General War- , ren is coming to assist us with about 8000 men, principally infantry, and I suppose when we get our long range guns up we will make I an advance or get cut to pieces. It is quite \ impossible to estimate the strength of the : enemy, but the number is very large between j here and Colesberg, and their position is very | strong. A lot of the New Zealand contingent j are bad with diarrhoea, and five or six are at j the base hospital in De Aar, with minor acci- | dents. This is a beautiful day. It reminds , me of a winter's day in Sydney. It is just , warm enough to go about in one's undershirt, j Yesterday evening the sun was clouded with ; locusts, and then we had a shower of ram ; which lasted about 10 minutes. Our tent was , infested with all sorts of insects last night, including scorpions and centipedes. I turned j out, and slept with my friend the mule con- > ductor, on one of the waggons. A storekeeper j from Naauwpoort has just come into camp with a load of stores. He came to the New Zealand camp first, and we bought him out in about half an hour. He must have sold £300 worth. Our tent got £8 worth, and there are only six of us in a tent. I am with the farriers. I have to make up any medicines required by the horses. There are 14 men in all the other tents. They are packed like fish in a tin. . . . Sergeant Hazlett's division has commandeered 4000 sheep, 450 head of cattle, and a lot of horses and mules, so we will have a bit coming to us for blood money when the trouble is over. "We are permitted to make the following extracts from a letter received on December 17 by Dr Macpherson from his brother with the New Zealand Contingent: — We are having a day off from active work, that is unless the Boers make an attack on the camp. They have been very cheeky during the past three days. They have been found at daybreak within a mile of our camp, but quickly cut under cover of theiiv cannon, or behind a kopje. They won't stand our fire. They come out in large numbers at night to try and cut off our patrol parties and cossack posts. 1 had a very tough time last Thursday. I was one of a patrol party of five. We left camp at 2 a.m. to find out the position of the Boer's camp, so that our artillery could get on to it at daybreak. We located it, and started for camp, but ran into about 60 Boers on a kopje that we must pass. We got opposite to them before we were seen, and then they opened fire on us, and for about three minutes the bullets were whistling about our ears, and tearing the ground all about us. One of the paity had the rim of his hat torn. I have got a rattling good horse. He jumps like a deer, and is keeping • very fit. The ground in places is very dangerj ous. There is some sort of cat that burrows and undermines the ground in large patches. Many of our boys have bitten the dust in these j holes. Any game such as the ostrich, springbok, and hares are veiy quiet. We can get within a chain of them anywhere. The country is terribly dry, but I have seen some Dutch farms, where irrigation in a primitive style has been tried, yield some grand grain ciops. The Dutch farmer appears to have had an easy life. They have nice homes, built of white stone, with flat roofs. They have good fruit gardens, and any number of black boys to do their work. I think their greatest coat is their food, which consists of mealies, which they grind and bake. They build huge kraals of stone, into which they j put their rfieep and goat 3at night. Their 1 horses and cattle, in fact all their stock, is in J grand condition. The Cape s-heep, which is a j cross between a goat and sheep, is worth 255, i and the mohair which is cut from them is HorJli #bout la gsj, a jiawvl. i'ho liraala pxt\

cleaned up at intervals, and the manure ia pressed into square blocks, sundried, and then used as fuel. Any houses we have looted have been splendidly furnished. I got a silver watcli and gold chain, and a large bundle of loveletters in a house last Sunday, and a lOgal jar of fig jam on Monday. The letters are most interesting. The girl appears to have been engaged to no less than three men. General French, who is in command of the forces here, is very well satisfied with the New Zealand Contingent, and has given us a lot of important work. I was holding his horse in the field one day, while he was having lunch, and overheard a few of his remarks about us to a lieutenant-general thus: — "They are the most independent crowd of men I have met. I spoke to them once about so much chattering and swearing at each other in their ranks. They take no notice; it still goes on, yet they never lose their place in the ranks, and take good care that they are not left behind. As for gallopers, damn me, if ever I saw anyone like them. It is a pleasure to have such men with me." — (I may say a galloper is one who carries orders from the general to the officers in command). Our boys ride straight to where they are directed; it makes no difference though they have to pass within 400 yds or 500 yds of th« enemy's fire, which the regulars will dodge, and crawl round kopjes. We can give the regulars points in many things. Of course our drill is awful in comparison. No two of our horses will pace alike, yet we all get on very well. We have had some awful dust storms, and our uniforms are in a terrible state with dust and dirt. By Jove ! orders have jiist come that the New Zealand Independents have -to turn out. at 1.30 a,m. to-morrow to escoit the Royal Horse Artillery. Our long-range guns and lyddite came up this morning, and I expect we will have a willing go to-morrow, and try and drive them back to Colesberg. We are all anxious to get into a township again, where we can get some food other than dry biscuits and tinned beef. So far, we have had very good water, but the 4oz of nun we get is hardly enough to kill the microbes. Martial law is strictly enforced, and no spirits are sold to soldiers. Our conductor of the mule drivers gets me a bottle of Cape smoke (a brandy made out here) occasionally. It is a rather crude tipple, but not too bad in the water-bottle. The Dutch tobacco is good when one gets iised to it. It is sold in canvas bags at Is 6d per lb. We can buy American tobacco from the ordinance supply for Is 3d a lb. I must close now, as it is near evening stables

We have been permitted to make two short extract* from a letter by Major Robin to hi: people in Dunedin. The letter, like the previous ones, is scribbled in ink pencil on thin paper, and bears date Arundel, 20th December. In one place the major expresses_ regret that he cannot be everywhere with his men, and a little further on he says: —

Tell the boys it is rather a pleasant sensation to be under fire— an elating glass of champagna effect, with a corresponding feeling of relaxing after all is over; when one feels the want of a cool drink, only we have to do with warm water, or, if one has luck, some cold, warm tei in the water bottle instead. I forgot to say what -a strange thing an engagement ig. The boom of the guns, the rattle of the volleys, •and independent falling away to desultory fire, then rising' again "to highiMteh". The puff of sruoke-.of the bursting shell, the poor patient horses falling — the general whole we have so often 'read of." The realisation is somewhat different. .It felt .grand. Perhaps it was the feeling of hungei and tiredoutness, the knowledge of the affiotfn't of work still to be done, that took. Ahe._roin»nce..of- gay and glitter out of the original. Trooper W. Black, late Otago Hussars, writing from Arundel, under date December 17, says:— "We are in the thick of it —out every day and at all times through the night, sleeping with our clothes on. I never had my clothes off for over a fortnight, and washed myself, perhaps, once in two days, so things are not too smooth; but I think we shall pull through all right. . . . The old general thinks the world of the New Zealand boys. A party of eight of us were out yesterday, and myself and Wilson ran 20 head of cattle and three horses belonging to the Boera from under their, eyes. . . . One captain got shot yesterday, and rode over half a mile before he fell off. We had a great ' scrap ' the other day, and we knocked them all to bits." A letter from Corporal sCownsend, of the Otago Hussars, same date, says: — "This hot climate is playing up with our horses ; we hav6 about 50 on the sick list unfit to ride. . . . Most of the men have been more or less ill, and one of our chaps got shot and carried off by the Boers yesterday. The climate seems to suit me all to pieces We have got one of the Permanent Artillery men as head cook, and they picked out four men to help him — four who were not affected by the climate, and I was unfortunate enough to be one of them. I told the regimental sergeant that I couldn't even boil water; but he said, ' I don't ask you what you can do — I want you to do it.' Two of us went to Major Robin about it, and he said we were as good as regulars now ; and if General French heard us talking about not liking this or that, well, he (Major Robin) would be very sorry for us. However, he made the head fellow a sergeant and the rest of us corporals. . . . We get out of stable, sentry, fatigue, and other duties, and all we have to do is to make coffee in the morning and tea at night. Now an(*. again when we are camped we boil meat ant potatoes, but it is^ mostly tinned meat and shi] biscuit. If it wasn't for the stuff we buy, w would be half-starved. ... I had a narrow shave the other day. They have a horribli habit of starting about 1 o'clock in the morning when they want to have a skirmish with the Boers. . . . Well, we had taken a farmhouse the day before, about five emiles from where we are camped now. and 80 of us left ai 1 o'clock to camp at this farm; but the Boera had come back through the night. If we had gone on a few minutes longer than we did before finding out, we should have been in Colesbsrg a day or two ago. We are trying to get there as it is, but we want to go altogether. General French thinks we are the best scouts in South Africa. . . . Our horses want a few days' spell badly . . . standing on the hot sands cracks their fetlocks and makes them lame. . . . We don't think anything of being fired at, unless we are retiring, when there is a very chilly feeling goes up and down the backbone."

Corporal Muir, writing home, tells his people to look out for the sketches in the Witness (appeared in the issue of January 11). He says: — "You will see a horse caught by the hind leg. My squad were on guard duty that night, and the fellow with the overcoat on, holding the lantern, is myself. The trooper on guard at the bullion room door when that sketch was made is Trooper H. Orbell."

Advice to Mothers! — Are you brokm d\ your rest by a sick child suffering with tLi pain of cutting teeth? Go at once to a chemiol and get a bottle of Mrs Wixslow'p Soothing Syrup. It will relieve the poor sufferer immediately. It is perfectly harmless, and pleas.\:il to the taite; it produces natural, quiet sleep by relieving the child from pain, and tho litth cherub awakes "as bright as a button." Ii socthea the child, it toftens the gums, ollaya all pain, relieves wind, regulates the bowels, and is the best known remedy for dysentery and diarrhoea, whether arising from teething or other causes. Mrs V\ 7 i,iislow's Soothing Syrup is sold by medicine dealers everywhere aj Is Hd per bottle. — Ajdvs