South African Memories

Everything of interest that has happened to me in life chances to have been in connection with South Africa. In that land, where some of my happiest days have been spent, I have also experienced long periods of intense excitement and anxiety; there I have made acquaintance with all the charm of the veldt, in the vast country north of the great Zambesi River, hearing the roar of the lions at night, and following their "spoor" by day; and last, but not least, I have there made some very good friends. Only a few years ago, when peacefully spending a few weeks at Assouan in Egypt, I was nearly drowned by the capsizing of a boat in the Nile; again the spirit of the vast continent (on this occasion far away to the north) seemed to watch over me. For all these reasons I venture to claim the indulgence of the public and the kindness of my friends, for these recollections of days in South Africa, in which shade and sunshine have been strangely mingled, and which to me have never been dull. To sum up, I have always found that life is what you make it, and have often proved the truth of the saying, "Adventures to the adventurous."

I am indebted to Colonel Vyvyan for statistics respecting the Mafeking Relief Fund; and to Miss A. Fielding, secretary to the late Countess Howe, for a résumé of the work of the Yeomanry Hospital during the Boer War.

S.I.W.

THE STUD HOUSE, HAMPTON COURT. September, 1909.

CONTENTS

I. FIRST VOYAGE TO SOUTH AFRICA--CAPE TOWN

II. KIMBERLEY AND THE JAMESON RAID

III. THE IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF THE RAID--THE RAIDERS THEMSELVES

IV. JOHANNESBURG AND PRETORIA IN 1896

V. THREE YEARS AFTER--LORD MILNER AT CAPE TOWN BEFORE THE WAR--MR. CECIL RHODES AT GROOT SCHUURR--OTHER INTERESTING PERSONAGES

VI. PREPARATIONS FOR WAR--MAFEKING, AND DEPARTURE THEREFROM

VII. IN A REBELLIOUS COLONY--VISIT TO VRYBURG DURING THE BOER OCCUPATION--I PASS OFF AS A DUTCHMAN'S SISTER

VIII. BETRAYED BY A PIGEON--THE BOERS COME AT LAST

IX. HOW I WAS MADE A PRISONER--IN A BOER LAAGER

X. EXCHANGED FOR A HORSE-THIEF--BACK TO MAFEKING AFTER TWO MONTHS' WANDERINGS

XI. LIFE IN A BESIEGED TOWN

XII. LIFE IN A BESIEGED TOWN (continued)

XIII. ELOFF'S DETERMINED ATTACK ON MAFEKING, AND THE RELIEF OF THE TOWN

XIV. ACROSS THE TRANSVAAL TO PRETORIA DURING THE WAR

XV. PRETORIA AND JOHANNESBURG UNDER LORD ROBERTS AND MILITARY LAW

XVI. MY RETURN TO CIVILIZATION ONCE MORE--THE MAFEKING FUND--LETTERS FROM THE KING AND QUEEN

XVII. THE WORK OF LADY GEORGIANA CURZON, LADY CHESHAM, AND THE YEOMANRY HOSPITAL, DURING THE WAR--THIRD VOYAGE TO THE CAPE, 1902

XVIII. FOURTH VOYAGE TO THE CAPE--THE VICTORIA FALLS AND SIX WEEKS NORTH OF THE ZAMBESI

APPENDIX I. MAFEKING RELIEF FUND

APPENDIX II. IMPERIAL YEOMANRY HOSPITALS, 1900-1902

CHAPTER I

FIRST VOYAGE TO SOUTH AFRICA--CAPE TOWN.

"Oh that mine adversary had written a book!"--JOB xxxi. 35.

The above words, written by one of the greatest philosophers of olden time, have often impressed me, and I have frequently quoted them when asked why I did not write an account of the interesting travels and adventures I have had in my life. It has therefore required a great deal of courage to take up my pen and record a few recollections of South Africa. I felt that, were they ever to be written at all, it must be before the rapidly passing years diminish the interest in that land, which in the past has been the object of such engrossing attention; and that at the present time, when the impending Federation of South Africa has at length crowned the hopes of those patriots who have laboured patiently and hopefully to bring about this great result, it might be appropriate to recall those days when Englishmen, who had made South Africa their home, had much to contend with, even before the fierce struggle to keep "the flag flying" in the years of 1899-1902.