The quickness of our advance, too, was of the utmost importance. From
the moment we started, the enemy was given no opportunity to pull
himself together and look about him. Hunter, Paget, Clements, and Rundle
dashed into the Fouriesberg Valley exactly together. Directly we had got
through, Hunter detached the main part of his column, the Highland
Brigade, under Macdonald, and sent it with several guns as hard as it
could pelt to back up Bruce-Hamilton, knowing, now that we had carried
our end of the valley, that the pressure would come at the east end.
Meantime, while Macdonald marched, we waited. We even retreated two or
three miles, and for twenty-four hours lay on the pass and slept. Then
we got up and began sauntering up the big irregular valley along the
Basutoland border towards Naawpoort Nek.
It was a moment of infinite expectation. Bets were laid on the amount of
our bag. The general impression was that we should get some of them, but
that the main body would, somehow or other, escape. We had so often
toiled and taken nothing, that this sudden miraculous draught quite
flabbergasted us. And what must have been the feelings of the poor
Boers? They tried Naawpoort Nek: no exit. They knocked at the Golden
Gate: it was locked. Then back they turned and met Hunter sauntering up
the valley, and we gave them the time of day with our cow-guns, and told
them how glad we were to see them.
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