Shortly afterwards, despairing of holding the _kliphok_ any longer, they ran down to the foot of the hill for their horses, and saw that the rest of the burghers were already fleeing some eight or nine hundred paces in front of them, and that their own horses had joined in the flight.

There was now only one course open to them--to surrender to the English.[54] I ordered the burghers to retreat in the direction of Kroonstad, for by now they had all fled from Roodepoort and Honingkopjes--a name which, since that day, has never sounded very _sweet_ to me.[55] During the morning I received a report informing me that there were large stores at Kroonstad belonging to the English Commissariat, and that there was only a handful of troops to protect them.

I had no thought, however, of attempting to destroy the provisions there, for I felt sure that the British troops, who had but just now put us to flight, would make for Kroonstad.

They would know that the stores stood in need of a stronger guard, and moreover they would naturally think that we should be very likely to make an attack at a point where the defence was so weak.
Obviously, under these circumstances, it would never do for us to go to Kroonstad.
Accordingly, as soon as darkness came on, I turned suddenly to the west, and arrived at Wonderheuve late at night.

I found there Veldtcornet De Vos with the prisoners of war.
Meanwhile, as I had anticipated, the vast English army marched up along thirty-four miles of railway to Kroonstad.