Only Kaffirs were available as servants, but, in spite of this, an
excellent repast was always produced, and the dwellings were full of
their home treasures. Prints of the present King and Queen abounded, and
among the portraits of beautiful Englishwomen, either photographs or
merely reproductions cut out of an illustrated newspaper, I found those
of Lady de Grey,[18] Georgiana, Lady Dudley, and Mrs. Langtry,[19] most
frequently adorning the walls of those lonely homes.
At last, at the end of September, a wire informed us that hostilities
were expected to begin in Natal the following week, and I left for
Mafeking, intending to proceed to Cape Town and home. On arrival at
Mafeking everyone told us an attack on the town was imminent, and we
found the inhabitants in a state of serious alarm. However,
Baden-Powell's advent reassured them, and preparations for war proceeded
apace; the townspeople flocked in to be enrolled in the town guard,
spending the days in being drilled; the soldiers were busy throwing up
such fortifications as were possible under the circumstances. On October
3 the armoured train arrived from the South, and took its first trip on
the rails, which had been hastily flung down round the circumference of
the town. This train proved afterwards to be absolutely useless when the
Boers brought up their artillery.
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