A Yeoman's Letters

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Transcriber's note:

Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. All other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been retained.

Text enclosed by equal signs was in bold face in the original (=bold=).

The original book did not have a Table of Contents, and one has been created for the convenience of the reader.

A YEOMAN'S LETTERS

by

P. T. ROSS

* * * * *

SOME PRESS OPINIONS.

=DAILY TELEGRAPH.=--'... Nothing better of this kind has yet appeared than "A Yeoman's Letters," by P. T. Ross.... Bright, breezy, and vivid are the stories of his adventures.... Corporal Ross not only writes lively prose, but really capital verse. His "Ballad of the Bayonet" is particularly smart. He is also a clever draughtsman, and his rough but effective caricatures form not the least attractive feature of a very pleasant book.'

=STANDARD.=--'In "A Yeoman's Letters," Mr. P. T. Ross has written the liveliest book about the War which has yet appeared. Whatever amusement can be extracted from a tragic theme will be found in his vivacious "Letters." He seems one of those high-spirited and versatile young men who notice the humorous side of everything, and can add to the jollity of a company by a story, a song, an "impromptu" poem, or a pencilled caricature.'

=SCOTSMAN.=--'The war literature now includes books of all sorts; but there is nothing in it more racy or readable than this collection of letters, what may be called familiar letters to the general public.... In spite of its subject, there is more fun than anything else in the book.... But a deeper interest is not lacking to the book, either in its animated descriptions of serious affairs or in the substantial gravity which a discerning reader will see between the lines of voluble and entertaining talk.'

=CHRONICLE.=--'Our Yeoman is a droll fellow, a facetious dog, whether with pen or sketching pencil, and we laughed heartily at many of his japes and roughly-drawn sketches.'

* * * * *

[Illustration: CORPL. P. T. ROSS.]

A YEOMAN'S LETTERS

by

P. T. ROSS

(Late Corporal 69th Sussex Company I.Y.)

Illustrated by the Author.

"And you, good Yeomen, Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture; let us swear That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not."

Shakespeare.

Third Edition.

London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Limited. 1901.

Printed by Burfield & Pennells, Hastings.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD. The Sussex Yeomanry.

PART 1. On the Trek.

WITH ROBERTS. The Occupation of Johannesburg. Pretoria Taken. Diamond Hill and After. Back to Pretoria. Entertaining a Guest. The Mails Arrive. The Nitral's Nek Disaster.

WITH MAHON. A General Advance to Balmoral and Back. To Rustenburg. Ambushed. Heavy Work for the Recording Angel. Relief of Eland's River Garrison. Join in the great De Wet hunt. After De Wet. The Yeoman, the Argentine and the Farrier-Sergeant. Commandeering by Order.

WITH CLEMENTS. Cattle Lifting. Delarey gives us a Field Day. Burnt to Death. The Infection of Spring again. Death of Lieutenant Stanley. His Burial. Promoted to Full Corporal. Petty Annoyances--The Nigger. A Wet Night. The Great Egg Trick. Our Friend "Nobby." "The Roughs" leave us for Pretoria. The breaking up of the Composite Squadron. Life on a Kopje. Death and Burial of Captain Hodge. Camp Life at Krugersdorp. Lady Snipers at Work. Treatment of the Sick. Veldt Church Service. Comradeship.