CHAP. XI. 
THE PASSAGE OF THE FISH KIVEP. 
81 
the infantry. Both Armstrong and myself had volun¬ 
teered, and went back in this manner, accompanied by 
Captain Walpole, Royal Engineers, who obtained on 
this day the name of the 6 English Lion.’ 
We reached the leading wagons at a moment when 
there was a complete block. Several of the oxen in the 
leading teams had been shot, and until they could be 
cut loose from their yoke-gear and pulled by main 
force out of the road ne other wagons could pass. It 
was while doing this that Walpole’s peculiar bravery 
became conspicuous. During all this time we were 
under fire from the Kafirs in the thick bush, without 
being able to see any of the black devils themselves. 
You had to take the oxen by the horns and tail, and 
so pull them by main strength out of the road. • 
Walpole was short-sighted, and carried a double- 
barrelled pistol.' The Kafirs would creep up and fire 
from the edge of the bush ; Walpole would make a dash 
at the spot where the smoke was visible, stoop down, 
open the bush, and look for the Kafir. Probably at 
that moment another shot would be fired at him from 
the other side of the road, when he would bound over 
there, just as a lion bounds to where the balL strikes, 
and the same search would take place until another 
shot would be fired at him and the same thing re¬ 
peated. Nothing reminded me more of a lion or a bull¬ 
dog than this brave folly; for directly the Kafir fired 
G 
