The Boer leader was now more anxious to escape from the
Colony than ever he had been to enter it, and he rushed
distractedly from point to point, endeavouring to find a ford over
the great turbid river which cut him off from his own country. Here
he was joined by Hertzog's commando with a number of invaluable
spare horses. It is said also that he had been able to get remounts
in the Hopetown district, which had not been cleared--an omission
for which, it is to be hoped, someone has been held responsible.
The Boer ponies, used to the succulent grasses of the veld, could
make nothing of the rank Karoo, and had so fallen away that an
enormous advantage should have rested with the pursuers had ill
luck and bad management not combined to enable the invaders to
renew their mobility at the very moment when Plumer's horses were
dropping dead under their riders.
The Boer force was now so scattered that, in spite of the advent of
Hertzog, De Wet had fewer men with him than when he entered the
Colony. Several hundreds had been taken prisoners, many had
deserted, and a few had been killed.
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