CHAP. XVII. 
THE BOOMAH PASS. 
145 
then attacked the Kafirs in turn ; hut the natives very 
soon knew when they had lost the advantage, and con¬ 
sequently disappeared. The column, however, became 
encumbered with more wounded; and the men were 
so utterly exhausted from the great heat and thirst, and 
from biting off the ends of the cartridges .(for we still 
in those days carried the old 4 Brown Bess ’), that Colonel 
Mackinnon marched on to the Quilli-Quilli River, in 
the open valley. Here he intended to halt and give 
the troops their breakfast; but the Kafirs collected in 
such masses of cavalry and infantry that the troops 
could not light fires, and could only halt under 
arms. After this halt the troops had to march up a 
long winding valley and over a neck of land between 
wooded ravines towards Bailie’s Grave. The rear was 
very much pressed by large bodies of the enemy, and 
the Cape Mounted Rifles had to charge several times 
to keep them in check. Napier, Carey, Boyes, Whitmore 
(who commanded the rear guard), Stuart-Wortley, and 
others distinguished themselves greatly on this occasion. 
As we approached the bushy neck alluded to the 
Kafirs gaining confidence, were pressing the rear very 
hard, and the wounded who were being carried all 
fell more to the rear than they should have done. I 
noticed that some of the young soldiers were getting 
unsteady, and I remember raising myself in the 
blanket, putting up my arm, covered with blood, and 
