After a day in Pretoria we realized that, in spite of the shops being open and the hotels doing a roaring trade, notwithstanding the marvellous organization visible on all sides, events were not altogether satisfactory; and one noted that the faces of those behind the scenes were grave and serious.  Louis Botha, it was evident, was anything but a defeated foe.  This gentleman had actually been in the capital when the English entered, and he was then only sixteen miles away.  During the previous week a severe action had been fought with him at Diamond Hill, where the English casualties had been very heavy.  The accounts of this engagement, as then related, had a touch of originality.  The Commander-in-Chief and Staff went out in a special train, sending their horses by road, which reminded one forcibly of a day’s hunting; cab-drivers in the town asked pedestrians if they would like to drive out and see the fight.  The real affair, however, was grim earnest, and many were the gallant men who lost their lives on that occasion.  All the while De Wet was enjoying himself to the south by constantly interrupting the traffic on the railway.  No wonder the Generals were careworn, and it was a relief to meet Lord Stanley,[37] A.D.C. to Lord Roberts, with a smiling face, who, with his unfailing spirits, must have been an invaluable companion to his chief during those trying weeks.  One specially sad feature was the enormous number of sick in addition to wounded soldiers.

Of the former, at that time, there were over 1,500, and the recollection of the large numbers buried at Bloemfontein was still green in everyone’s memory.  The origin of all the sickness, principally enteric, was undoubtedly due to the Paardeberg water in the first instance, and then to that used at Bloemfontein; for Pretoria was perfectly healthy—­the climate cool, if rainy, and the water-supply everything that could be desired.  As additional accommodation for these patients, the magnificent and recently finished Law Courts had been arranged to hold seven or eight hundred beds.  Superintended by Sir William Thompson, this improvised establishment was attended to by the personnel of the Irish hospital, and Mr. Guinness was there himself, organizing their work and doing excellent service.

One evening we were most hospitably entertained to dinner by Lord Stanley, Captain Fortescue, the Duke of Westminster, and Winston.  As it may be imagined, we heard many interesting details of the past stages of the war.  Winston, even at that early stage of his career, and although he had been but a short time, comparatively, with Lord Roberts’s force, had contrived therein to acquire influence and authority.  The “bosses,” doubtless, disapproved of his free utterances, but he was nevertheless most amusing to listen to, and a general favourite.  The next day we saw him and the Duke of Westminster off on their way South, and having fixed my own departure for the following Monday, and seen most of the sights,