"
"What were you doing there?" Chris asked.
"I had a farm near Newcastle at that time, and two of my waggons had
been taken up by the military for transport purposes. I was not on the
hill, as you may suppose, or I might not be here to tell the story. I
went forward with Colley. It was just the same then as it was at the
beginning here. There were plenty of colonists ready to take up arms,
but the military authorities would have none of them; they could manage
the thing themselves without any aid from civilians. They knew that the
natives had over and over again beaten the Boers, and what natives could
do would be, merely child's play to British soldiers. Sir George Colley
was a brave officer, and I believe had proved himself a skilful one, but
he knew nothing whatever of the Boer style of fighting, while we
colonists understood it perfectly, and could match them at their own
game. As it turned out, the British soldiers on that occasion did not,
and it made all the difference. If Sir George Colley had accepted a few
hundreds of us, who knew the Boers well, as scouts and skirmishers, the
affair would have turned out very differently; for, as you know, they
did not succeed through the whole affair in taking one of the places
held by our colonists.
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