the baggage on at an early hour) we had an easy drive of twenty-eight
miles with some excellent horses (most kindly lent to us by the
Commandant), to the rail at Prince Albert Road. We outspanned only once,
at Boter's Kraal, where the final escort met us, the sergeant coming up
to salute and to tell us that he and his men "had searched the kopjes
thoroughly since 4 A.M., and had seen no Boers to-day!" but at Boter's
Kraal they told us of a recent visit from Pyper's commando.
Thus ended our 150 (odd) miles of driving across the Colony in this
"sort of a war," without once having had the excitement of seeing any
armed or hostile Boers. About thirty hours in a hot and dusty train
brought us into Kimberley.
The dull old Karroo country looked much the same as when I saw it ten
years ago, except that every few hundred yards on the line a blockhouse
is standing, and a sentry in his shirtsleeves marches up and down with
his rifle, while the rest of the garrison (some half-dozen men) come to
look at the train, and to sing out "Papers." They have a terribly
monotonous life, and one throws them every scrap of literature one
possesses.
XLIX
KIMBERLEY, SOUTH AFRICA,
_January 1902_.
I think it is just about ten years since I was here last; and _how_ the
place has changed! Many of my old friends have left, and so many have
died that I am beginning to be almost afraid to ask after any one in
case I should hear of his death.
Of course they have been through all the horrors of a four months'
siege, and there are still many marks of the Boer shells to be seen; one
of them had made a hole through our backyard wall and buried itself in
the kitchen wall: Peter (the cat) found this hole very convenient when
going out to visit his friends.
Many people still preserved the bombproof shelters or "dug-outs" in
their gardens, where they used to take refuge when the shelling was
going on, and then go back into their houses at night to cook the food,
&c.
There is a big steam hooter at De Beers Mine, and, during the siege,
whenever the lookout men saw the Boers preparing to shell the town, the
hooter was sounded, and every one scuttled into shelter; and even now,
whenever the hooter sounds, people start up and look inclined to run.
The civilians here cannot say enough for the way Mr. Cecil Rhodes worked
during the siege; and his thoughtfulness and consideration for the women
and children were beyond all praise. At one time he had many hundreds of
them in safety down one of the mines, 1000 feet below the surface, and
he took infinite pains to send them down suitable supplies; they were in
fairly airy chambers, and had a good supply of electric light, &c. Of
course the military people are not so enthusiastic about his assistance,
but, naturally, they would not appreciate a man who always liked to have
his own way, and do what he thought best--and who did it too!
The first thing the Boers did was to seize the waterworks, some miles
from the town, and cut off the water supply; but the mine-owners came to
the rescue by pumping water from a good spring in one of their mines
that had caused them years of annoyance by rising and making the working
of that mine a great difficulty; so the water question never caused them
much trouble, though the Boers were constantly trying to damage the
pumping machinery.
Though the water supply was fair the food supplies were very low; and a
rich family, whom I know, told me they were intensely grateful to a
neighbour who sent them a quarter of a bottle of port wine and half a
packet of cornflour as a Christmas present. They were at that time
drawing half their ration of meat in horseflesh, and, though some people
say they could never touch it, I believe it was not at all bad, and one
girl told me that a little donkey was "quite nice."
A good story is told of a colonel who was then up here. One night at
mess he said, "Gentlemen, I am sorry to say we were only able to draw
half our ration in beef to-day; this joint I am carving is beef, at the
other end of the table the joint is horse: if any one would prefer to
try it, perhaps he will carve for himself." No one got up, so the
Colonel had to carve (small helpings) for all the mess. After they had
finished an orderly came and whispered to him, and he said, "Oh,
gentlemen, I am sorry to find I have made a mistake; I find this was the
horse, and the cow is still at the other end of the table!"
There was so much sickness in the town that the doctors had a terrible
time. In most cases it was suitable food rather than medicine that was
needed, especially amongst the little children; and, besides the
sickness, there were a great many wounded constantly being brought in
from the trenches, or from skirmishes, and every available building was
turned into a hospital.
I have just been reading Dr. Ashe's book, _Besieged by the Boers_, and
it gives a good idea of the daily life up here, showing how men tried to
go on and do their daily round of work in spite of the shells that were
falling and killing not only men but women and children around them.
The thing that Kimberley people are most proud of is the big gun "Long
Cecil," which was most cleverly designed and made in the De Beers
workshops during the siege, the shells for it also being cast there;
until that was built they had _no_ guns of sufficient size to reply to
the 100-pounder that the Boers were using with so much effect upon the
town. It must have been a huge surprise to them when Long Cecil began to
scatter shells amongst them, each one inscribed, "With C. J. R.'s
compliments!"
The cemetery is sadly full of "siege" graves, and so many little
children's graves amongst them. Strangely enough one of the De Beers
engineers (an American) who was chiefly responsible for the building of
"Long Cecil," was killed by a Boer shell only a few days after the gun
was completed; and, just as an example of how we were surrounded by
enemies even inside the town, I will tell you about his funeral.
In such a hot climate as South Africa it is always necessary that the
funeral should take place within about twenty-four hours of the death;
so that it is quite possible to be talking to a man in his shop or at
his business in the morning, for him to be taken suddenly ill and die
that evening, and the next day, before you have heard of his illness,
for you to meet his coffin on the way to the cemetery.
Well, this poor engineer was a very popular man, and the Commandant
thought that many people would wish to attend his funeral, so he gave
directions that it should be at night, for safety from the Boer shells.
Late in the evening, when it was quite dark, the funeral left the
hospital; but it had no sooner started than a rocket was seen to go up
_in_ the town, evidently a pre-arranged signal--for almost at once the
Boers began to drop shells around the cemetery, but fortunately no one
was killed.
Perhaps you have heard in England of the little girl who knew so much
about martial law that she strayed into the Provost's office one day in
December and said, "Please, sir, may I have a permit for Santa Claus to
come to our house!"
All food seems to be frightfully expensive still: we have to pay about
8s. for a single fowl or duck, 4s. a dozen for eggs, and 2s. 6d. a pound
for butter.
We have a white woman as cook, and our black boy rejoices in the name of
"Moses." I had not been here many days before "George" came to see
me--the boy I used to have ten years ago. It is extraordinary how these
natives know when one returns, even years afterwards. Of course George
wanted to come back, but I found he was in a good place, so I told him I
was soon going back to England, and I did not take him on.
I have had two offers of rather good posts out here, but I think I must
go home for a time at any-rate.
There is a huge refugee camp just outside Kimberley. I am afraid they
have had an awful lot of measles in these camps, and there have been
many deaths from it; measles were almost unknown on the scattered Boer
farms, and now that these people are crowded together in close quarters,
with their traditional objection to fresh air or cleanliness, it seems
impossible to make them take precautions against infection.
As a rule, the people in the refugee camps have rations quite as good,
and often much better, than the troops, but they do not thrive on them;
still, it was impossible to leave them on the farms, for the only way to
prevent the Boers from keeping up their supplies was to take or destroy
the crops, and, after that was done, it was impossible to leave the
women and children on the farms to starve.
Now they are sending sisters to work in these camps, and they are doing
all they can to help the people, but I fancy it must be rather uphill
work, as many of the Boer women are so very suspicious and bitter. I
daresay you have heard of the woman who urged her husband to go and
fight, saying, "I can get another husband, but I can't get another Free
State."
I have had some interesting drives round the country with a lady who was
here all through the siege, and could show me where the fighting had
taken place; and one day some officers gave a very jolly picnic at a
place called "The Bend," about seventeen miles from here, on the Vaal
River.
It was very hot weather just then, 90° to 95° in the shade, so we
started at 5.30 A.M., and had breakfast and lunch out there. A mulecart
loaded with provisions--delicious peaches and other fruits which had
been sent up from Cape Town--had been despatched in charge of four
orderlies (all armed). We rowed on the river and prowled about under the
trees; and altogether it was quite the nicest picnic I have ever
enjoyed.
One of the officers of our party had the honour of being the youngest
Colonel in the British Army; he has been promoted so rapidly during the
war.
They had all had a rough time of hardship, but they meant to enjoy
themselves that day, and I think they did; but they kept their revolvers
handy even when rowing up the river.
I had been told that I was entitled to an "Indulgence Passage" home, as
I have served during the war, and that would mean that I should have to
pay only about £5 for my mess on a trooper, instead of paying about £35
for a passage on an ordinary mail-boat; so I went to the railway staff
officer, and he was most kind in arranging about it for me, and (after
communicating with Cape Town) he told me that if I would see the P.M.O.
when I arrived down there, he would probably be glad if I would do duty
for the voyage, and then I could travel quite free, and receive pay
(instead of having to pay my mess bill). He also gave me a free railway
pass down to the Cape, which I had not at all expected.
Now, I must pay some farewell calls; and then, once more, I shall soon
be on the move again.
It really does seem as though the war will soon be over now. We hear
that some troops are still coming out, but there appear to be more than
enough sisters for the work that has to be done.
L
S.S. "ORIENT" (_en route_ for HOME),
_March 1902_.
I was very sorry to say good-bye to Kimberley, but I was also getting
very home-sick, so early one morning I once more joined the train, to
stroll across the Karroo and down to Cape Town.
I had armed myself with a large stock of literature, kindly given to me
by friends, and also by the librarian of the Kimberley Public Library
(who gave me a noble stock of back numbers), and this I distributed to
the men at the blockhouses on the way. Poor fellows, they have a trying
time of it, they must be very wide awake and alert, or any night the
Boers may cross the section of line for which they are responsible, very
likely leaving a little dynamite to wreck the next train; and yet for
weeks and perhaps months never a Boer may come near their particular
section.
The trains were still not supposed to travel at night, so we tied up
about 6 P.M. on the first day at De Aar. After dinner I was just
thinking it was very slow, not knowing any one in the place, and I
thought I would go to bed, when I saw a General strolling along the
platform, and with him a young officer whom I soon recognised as an old
Pinetown patient, and whom I was very glad to meet again.
The General soon departed, and then Captain ---- took me for a jolly
moonlight walk round De Aar; he was still a little lame from his wound,
so was acting as Adjutant for some Yeomanry there. It was pleasant to
hear about many other old friends, and also a little about the course of
the war in that part of the country.
The next day, as we proceeded down the line, we passed some troop trains
going up with men who had just arrived fresh from England--I think some
of the Scots Guards, the Manchesters, and the Lancashire Fusiliers. Some
of them were tightly packed in open waggons, and appeared to think they
were having a rough time already, but, as the weather was warm and dry,
they were not so badly off. They seemed very glad of the few papers
which I could give them, as they had seen none since they landed. Their
chief anxiety seemed to be as to whether they would have the chance of
firing off a little ammunition before the war is over.
That night we tied up at Matjesfontein, and I much regretted I could not
stay a day there to explore the battlefield; but I did not know which
day they wanted me for duty, so I had to hasten on.
The next morning I arrived in Cape Town; and, after a "wash and brush
up," I went to see the P.M.O., who was most kind, and said that if I was
willing to do light duty on the voyage, I certainly need not pay for a
passage. If I was ready, he would like me to go on board the _Orient_ on
the 12th (it was then the 8th).
I had a few very pleasant days with some friends at Rondebosch; but I
was unable to get about much to see other people, as I was again very
seedy with dysentery, and had to doctor myself rather severely in order
to get ready for duty on the 12th.
I came on board that morning at 10 A.M., but there was such a gale
blowing that we did not get away till 5 P.M. the next day.
There are about thirty officers and between 500 and 600 men on board,
almost all of them invalided home, and it is awfully sad to see so many
"wrecks" of the war.
The P.M.O. is a major of the R.A.M.C., and he is just as strict with the
orderlies as the major I worked with at Pinetown; so the men are well
cared for, and I am enjoying working for him.
I was the first sister to join the ship, and, as I found the cabins
would be very full, I asked if I might act as night sister, and thereby
I secured a cabin to myself.
I have had plenty to do most of the way, as there have been several men
and one officer very ill all the time; but we have had no deaths on the
voyage, and most of the patients seem to be mending now.
On my first night on duty I had been round the hospital, and then I
thought I would take a look at the convalescent men in the swinging cots
(ninety of them), and I found there a poor colour-sergeant, who had been
out only a few months, going back with hopelessly bad heart disease from
overstrain; he was unable to lie down, and so breathless and blue, I got
him transferred to the hospital, and was able to make him comfortable
with pillows, &c. He has been such a good patient and has improved a
little, but I fear he can never work again, and he is a married man.
There are two quite young lads who have been having epileptic fits
frequently on the voyage--I suppose brought on by exposure to the South
African sun.
A young Yorkshire farmer of the Yeomanry was invalided home as a
"phthisis" case, but he came into hospital the day after we sailed with
a temperature of 105°, and he has been desperately ill with enteric all
the way (severe hæmorrhage, &c.). He must have had fever for some time
before it was diagnosed--the temperature being attributed to his chest
condition. He is still very weak, but I think he will pull through.
One night I was told that a man in the swinging cots was "rather
peculiar," so I went down to see him first thing, and found his cot
empty. I flew up on deck, and met some stewards, who had collared him on
the upper deck. We made him snug in a safe corner of the hospital with a
"special" for that night. Then, there was one poor fellow who had lost
an arm, and two who had each lost a leg--one of the latter a
sergeant-major, who was wounded at the same time that Colonel Benson was
killed at Vlakfontein. He was a Kimberley man, and the poor man's wife
and two little children were all killed by one Boer shell during the
siege of Kimberley. He is going home to get fitted up with a cork leg,
and will then return to South Africa.
Perhaps the saddest cases of all were the eleven lunatics we had on
board. They had to be very safely kept with special guards and other
precautions; and, in case they should try to go overboard, they had a
high-railed enclosure on deck as an airing ground. Some of them are very
mad and violent, but some seemed so nearly sane that it was a question
whether they had not pretended to be mad in order to be sent home.
I was not supposed to visit these men in the night, because, to get to
them, I should have had to go a long way through the troops' sleeping
quarters, but the medical officer went to see them on his last round,
and, every two or three hours, I used to stay in the hospital while the
wardmaster went along, and brought word how they were.
One night the medical officer went along, and when he returned he told
me he had found their door unlocked and no guard on duty; fortunately
they were all asleep. The next day this tale was about the ship, and
very soon it was altered to the following version--"Last night Mr. ----
had found that all the lunatics had escaped; he and Sister thought it
better not to make a fuss. Instead, they caught the first eleven men
whom they met and locked them up; they were not the _real_ lunatics, but
they had been bribed with extra 'skoff' to play the game and say nothing
about it: but the real lunatics were still at large!" After that, if any
one came up to a man rather quietly, there was a big jump, and "Hullo!
are you one of them?" and then a great chase round the deck!
There were some hard cases, too, amongst the officers; two of them who
had thighs broken by Boer shells, but were just beginning to walk
again--one, however, with a short leg, and the other with a stiff knee.
A Yeomanry officer, badly shot in both arms, had one hand still quite
useless; but I hope an operation may improve matters. He had had a
dreadful time in the jolting ambulance waggons, unable to hold on, or to
save himself with either hand.
Then, there was a young doctor who once, when our men were surprised and
many of them taken, was going round dressing the wounded, when some
Boers came up and shot the wounded as he was dressing them, and
afterwards led him out several times saying they were going to shoot
him, but eventually he got safely away. There were two officers shot
through the lungs, but I think they will recover in time; and there was
another young fellow shot in the region of the spine, and paralysed all
down one side and leg; and yet another (quite a boy) shot in the thigh
and paralysed on that side. Neither of these two could move without
assistance; and, though they were all wonderfully bright and cheerful, I
know I often found them lying awake for hours together, and it is hard
for a young Englishman to face the thought that he may never be able to
walk or ride again, even when he _has_ received his wound in defence of
his country.
As I finish this letter, we are just anchoring for the night in
Southampton Water, off Netley Hospital; and, curiously enough, it is
March 3rd, the very day I sailed for South Africa two years ago.
To-morrow we hope to land at Southampton.
After a little time at home, I hope to persuade a sister of mine to pay
a visit with me to another brother in the United States, and to some
relations in Canada and Nova Scotia; then I must settle down to some
steady work in England.
I would not have missed nursing through this war for a great deal. We
have often had rough times, and anxious times, and of course I have not
been able to do much, but I have been able to help a few men to recover
their health and strength; and, perhaps, also to help a few in their
last hours, men whose own relations would have given much to have been
in my place, where it was not possible for them to be. And, however
busy I was, I could at least find time to remind them that ... "God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
_pain_."...
Still no one, who has not seen it, can realise the sorrow and the
suffering that war entails; and I am _almost_ inclined to agree with a
man who was in Kimberley during the siege, who helped Mr. Cecil Rhodes
in his work there, and who afterwards, when asked if he was not glad
that he had had the chance of assisting Mr. Rhodes in his great work,
said, "Yes, but when I think of all the suffering those unfortunate
women and children had to endure, I think if I was ever again in a
country where war was imminent, I should take a ship to the other side
of the world, and stop there till it was over!"
I fear that we are not likely all to be able to do that; but I trust
this war will have had the effect of making people think, and that
should there ever be another war in our time, we may be better prepared
for it.
War must always mean suffering, but the suffering might be enormously
lessened if we were better organised in times of peace.
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