The party rode fast back to camp, for their spirits did not admit
of a leisurely pace, and they left the natives to follow them more
deliberately. The news had already been received in camp by the return
of officers who witnessed the scene from a point near to that which the
lads had attained, and its occupants were in a frenzy of delight. The
Colonial corps were especially jubilant. This was the anniversary of
Majuba Hill, the blackest in the history of the Colony, and one that the
Boers in the Transvaal and Orange State always celebrated with great
rejoicings, to the humiliation of the British Colonists. Now that
disgrace was wiped out. A position even stronger than that of Majuba,
fortified with enormous pains, defended by artillery and by thousands of
Boers, had been captured by a British force, and although it was as yet
unknown in camp, the old reverse had been doubly avenged by the
surrender on that day of Cronje and his army.
Late that evening an order was issued that Lord Dundonald with a
squadron of Lancers and some Colonial corps, in which the Maritzburg
Scouts were included, were to reconnoitre along the line of railway. All
felt sure that no serious opposition was likely to be met with; the
defeat of the Boers had been so crushing and complete that assuredly few
of the fugitives would be found willing to again encounter the terrible
artillery fire, followed by the irresistible onslaught of the infantry.
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