It
was this feat that established his reputation among British, Boers,
and black men in South Africa.
Throughout the night the men of the patrol lay in the mud holding
the reins of their horses. In the jungle about them, they could hear
the enemy splashing through the mud, and the swishing sound of
the branches as they swept back into place. It was still raining. Just
before the dawn there came the sounds of voices and the welcome
clatter of accoutrements. The men of the patrol, believing the
column had joined them, sprang up rejoicing, but it was only a
second patrol, under Captain Borrow, who had been sent forward
with twenty men as re-enforcements. They had come in time to
share in a glorious immortality. No sooner had these men joined
than the Kaffirs began the attack; and the white men at once
learned that they were trapped in a complete circle of the enemy.
Hidden by the trees, the Kaffirs fired point-blank, and in a very
little time half of Wilson's force was killed or wounded. As the
horses were shot down the men used them for breastworks. There
was no other shelter. Wilson called Burnham to him and told him
he must try and get through the lines of the enemy to Forbes.
"Tell him to come up at once," he said; "we are nearly finished."
He detailed a trooper named Gooding and Ingram to accompany
Burnham.
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