CHAPTER IX.
HOW I WAS MADE A PRISONER--IN A BOER LAAGER "Ah, there, Piet! be'ind 'is stony kop, With 'is Boer bread an' biltong, an' 'is flask of awful dop; 'Is mauser for amusement an' 'is pony for retreat, I've known a lot o' fellers shoot a dam' sight worse than Piet."-- KIPLING.
Provisions at Setlagoli and in the surrounding districts were now fast running out, and Mrs.Fraser announced to me one morning she had only full allowance of meal for another week.

In that colony no meal meant no bread, and it was, in fact, the most important factor in the housewife's mind when thinking of supplies.

While on this subject, I must remark what very excellent bread is that made by the Dutch; no matter how poor or dilapidated the farmhouses, large loaves of beautiful, slightly browned bread are always in evidence, baked by the mother or daughters.
The non-existence of the railway was beginning to cause much distress, Dutch and English suffering alike.

In fact, if it had not been for the locusts, unusually numerous that year, and always a favourite food with the natives, these latter would also have been starving.

As every mouth to feed was a consideration, I determined to see if I could personally induce the Boer General to pass me into Mafeking.