Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914 edition. Excerpt: ... the limit of endurance During the four days that we still remained in this camp, we had the flesh of the oxen which had given out and rice for our three meals a day; there was no other food. There was, to be sure, water enough for the time being; but as the hordes of the enemy with their great herds of cattle had lived for weeks around these same waterholes, the water had become badly polluted. Thus it happened that in a few days every tenth man fell sick of dysentery. I kept fairly well, but once, when searching under a bush for a little grass for my half-starved horse, I got wounded by a thorn in my hand, which swelled up and looked bad for some days. Apparently the whole place was infected--the water, the ground, the bush, and the air. Then came the news that the enemy, after overcoming and passing the great stretch of waterless country, where thousands of them had perished, were situated far to the east on the farther side of the sand field by some miserable water-holes. The general decided to follow them thither, to attack them and force them to go northward into thirst and death, so that the colony would be left in peace and quiet for all time. We now advanced into broad steppes to the east, marching, as was our usual method, with an immense baggage train of ox-teams, Cape waggons, carts, and drivers, which carried along all our means of supporting life in the desert. Of these steppes, where no white man before us had ever trod, little was known except that they were very poorly supplied with water. On the way a large supply of fresh horses reached us, so we were all mounted again. It was the fourth horse I had ridden, and the lieutenant, who had been on many and long reconnoitring expeditions, was mounting his sixth. We were four...
