CHAP. XIII. 
MURDER OF FIVE OFFICERS. 
101 
was a narrow gorge between the ridge, on which the 
troops halted in the night, and the Sohota Mountain, 
a table-topped hill, detached from it, with the heads 
of two wooded ravines running in opposite directions 
from the neck itself; thus it was not only a low neck 
between the two highlands, but it was also narrowed to 
a small space by these two ravines. 
The column of troops, with which was his Excellency 
the Lieut.-General and head-quarters staff, reached the 
end of the ridge of comparatively open ground about 
midnight. I pointed out that in the dark we could 
proceed no farther, as the neck itself was bushy, and 
the road down the defile most intricate; we therefore 
fired several minute-guns; and as there was no response, 
the troops returned to camp, the General directing 
that another column of troops was to march at four 
o’clock in the morning to follow up the search and 
attack the enemy. 
The next morning the General again accompanied 
the troops, and as staff officer I led them to the exact 
spot from which we had returned a few hours before. 
We reached the end of the first plateau, or ridge, as 
daylight broke, and on the tops of the trees in our 
immediate neighbourhood were seen the great carrion 
vultures of South Africa waiting only till the sun rose 
to pounce down on their prey. I knew at once what 
we had to expect, and led the column down the steep 
